Shark (Recall)
Aug. 14, 2006
Episode: LAPD Blues
20^th Century Fox

There are times that a production gets behind, and when that happens, they need to catch up just like the rest of us. As I told you last week, James Woods was out for a day he was scheduled to work, and there were many elements of the scenes we were doing that required his presence. Today, James Woods was on set, and we were ready to go, and the jury (of which I am a member) is a major part of the filming for the day.

The Director on this episode is one of those that only takes two or three takes, most of the time, and is also willing to come out to the set and talk to the background. As he set up each scene, he would tell the background actors what was happening, and what he needed from background. Most Directors talk through the First AD, so it was kind of nice to work with this fellow.

One of the problems we had on set involved two of the actors with long hair. Sophina Brown who plays Raina Troy, and Jeri Ryan who plays Jessica Devlin, both have long hair, and both were having trouble with it getting in their face during some shots. Sophina's problem was solved with a hairpin and tucking in behind her ear. Jeri's problem was that when she bent down to talk to James Woods, all of the hair on the left side of her head cascaded down over her face. This required hair spray, and careful positioning just before the shot, so as to keep it from dislodging before the shot was finished.

During one of the takes, a camera was placed at the end of the jury box, so that the shot taken was through the jury to the gallery beyond. The camera started at the top row of the jury with it's focus at the back of the gallery across the room. Then it would refocus, and bring the shot up to the juror closest to it. After that shot, the camera would dolly down to the front row of the jury, refocus on the back of the gallery again, then bring this second shot back to the jury, and the background actor sitting in the foreman's seat. As the camera focused on her, a tear drop would slide down her cheek, thus conveying the emotion we all felt by the admissions of the witness. The truth is, that just before the camera slid into the second position, a crew member would, quick as a bunny, pop onto the set, put a drop of “tears” into the gals eye, and when the camera focused on her, a simple blink started the tear on its way. Ah the magic of Hollywood.

And last is a short tail of a happy Director who called cut. Cameras were in place, and the actor, James Woods, in this case, presented the emotional climax to the scene, taking away the breath of those sitting in the gallery and jury. The witness carried his own weight, and we were all, “in the moment”. The last line was uttered. The camera followed Woods to his seat. And the Director calls out, “Cut, Print that. That was perfect.” There was only a brief moment of silence, and then the first AD reminded the Director that this was a rehearsal, and the cameras were not running. After the laughter died down, we did it again. This time the cameras were, indeed, running.

My Name is Earl
August 16, 2006
Episode: Jump for Joy
Location: Strip Club in North Hollywood

You never quite know how much technology has changed your life until one day you do something that you could never have done when your were younger. Take, for instance, the discussion we were having on set about one of the guests on this episode of Earl. Burt Reynolds. We all know Burt. “Gunsmoke”, “Deliverance”, “Smoky and the Bandit”, and “The Dukes of Hazzard”, plus a 150 other T.V. shows and Movies. A group of us were discussing Burt, and one of the guys asked when we thought he was born. I said in the 30's, another guessed 1938, and another guessed 1932, but how to know for sure? Well, 30 years ago, it would have been tough to find out without asking the man himself, and you don't go up to the star and ask their age. But...today, you whip out the cell phone and either text message someone at home, or give them a quick call. I texted Linda, then gave her enough time to look it up on the “Internet Movie Data Base” (IMDB) and called her. Burt was born on February 11, 1936. That's how much the cell phone, computer, and Internet have become a part of our life. The guy that asked the question was ready to call his friend. The friend lives in Texas. Remember not to use this power for evil.

Another bit of technology is the one thing that none of us want to do without. That would be the air conditioner. One set, either on location or in the studio's sound stage, the AC is one of the things that keeps us all from melting into our socks. Enough heat is generated by the lights on set, that the AC is vital, and so it was that while sitting next to the AC unit for this location shoot , I asked the guy in charge of it a few questions. The unit they used on location is a “20 ton” unit, which burns 240000 Btu's per hour. The AC unit cooled the air and drew out water from it enough that the water just poured out it. (See the picture).

And the last thing about the technology of the location shoot has to do with the Honey Wagons (that would be “out house on wheels”). I have been doing background for a year now, and finally, I have an answer to one of the questions I have been wondering about. What makes the lights go on when you use the Honey Wagon? After being rather oblivious for a year, I was provided with the answer when I noticed that the light went on as I stepped into the little room. The floor has a pressure plate that triggers the light, fan and air freshener when someone steps on it. Gosh. Good thing there wasn't a snake down there.

I didn't get to see much of Burt acting, but I did have to watch the “dancers” (played by real dance club gals) do some of pole dancing that was part of the scenes in this episode. You know, when you sit there for hours, and you can't leave, and the gals do the same thing over and over, the whole skimpy outfit thing just gets a little stale. I knew I was in trouble when I found myself watching the script supervisor, who was wearing jeans, and a tee shirt, and wasn't bouncing all over the stage.

Alas, we didn't finish the filming we needed to do, and were recalled for Friday. They could not film at the strip club on Friday, so they had to rebuild part of the set back in the production's studios. About 10 background actors were called back, and on Friday, we got to the studio at 8:00 PM, where we waited until nearly 11:00 to be told that we were not going to film the scene we came in to film, and instead, will be recalled again within the next few weeks. We'll finish this tale then. Maybe. I hope. Oh, we'll see.

House M.D.
August 23, 2006
Episode: Fools for Love
20^th Century Fox

On set today, I noticed the backdrop that faces the entrance of the Hospital set on stage 15. I've seen this before because this is where holding is most often. I have done this show before, and all but once, on the 20^th Century lot. The one time I was not on the lot, we were shooting at UCLA in one of the large quad areas. I remember the building we were shooting in front of because I walked toward this building in every shot we did that day, and now, standing near the backdrop I saw the picture for the first time in context. I was so startled, that I said out loud, to no one in particular, “That's UCLA”. One of the regulars standing nearby told me it was Royce Hall, and sure enough, the plaques that were visible on the picture did say “Royce Hall”.

Now our AD in holding is Drew. Drew has a very methodical way of starting each day with background. He goes through the rules of the set. Two of the rules are:

"No talking on cell phones on set, or in Stage 15. Take them outside if you want to talk, and turn them off, or make sure the ringers are off when in this stage.."

"The tables and chairs outside (in base camp) belong to the actors and crew. Don't sit at them. If you want to sit down outside, take you chair with you."

So naturally, Drew had to chew out several background for chatting on their phones, or having them ring or vibrate on Stage 15. And at one point he came in and let us know that one of the background was on his way to the hospital with a gash in his head, because when he tried to get out of the chair he was sitting in outside, in base camp, he hit his head on the base of a 5^th wheel trailer.

At one point, the 2^nd AD came in and pointed out the when the red light is on, it does not mean, slow down, or look to see if anyone is watching or quick open the door and get in before the noise can follow you, it means, “Don't enter. Period.” Sometimes, you just gotta wonder about the choice's people make.

My Name is Earl (Recall)
August 25, 2006
Episode: Jump for Joy
Location: City Studios Los Angeles

One of the nice things about being called back to a show for the third time to capture a scene that was missed on the first time around (and being one of less than twenty background) is that the production gave us all (union/SAG and non-union) little yellow (SAG) vouchers. That makes two. One more and I will be eligible to join the Union. Still, no rush yet, as I have experience to gather, and more stories to tell.

The scene we were shooting is from the “Jump for Joy” episode that was near finished on August 18^th (Friday) when we went back to the studio to film and didn't. I don't know what episode they were working on when I got there this time, but each episode get a new director, and this fellow had to break up his shooting schedule to film two scenes that were not a part of his episode. He did so graciously. His shooting schedule went from maybe a 12 hour day to a 14 or 15 hour day because of this.

They had built the small part of the strip club we needed for the shoot, and while it was very close, it was not identical. I'm betting it will never be noticed in the episode. Stacy, the 2^nd 2^nd, started putting us on set, brought another background actor back and grabbed me for a nice spot right behind the actors. Can't tell if I will be visible, but could happen.

We shot the scene, with cameras set up in positioning to see the actors at the table, with one camera on Jason (Earl). Then they turned it around. The second positions for the cameras were a POV from Earls seat, handled to do quick pans from one to another of the three actors who were sitting at the table with Earl, and the other camera that shot some action taking place behind me. The camera operator came around the camera and asked me if he could move my chair, scooting it back about 6 inches. He went back to the camera, checked his view, and came back, again asking me if he could just scoot my chair back a little bit. He then returned to scoot my chair forward just a bit more than it had been originally, and went back to his camera. Only a brief moment later, the Director came up and asked me if he could move my chair, and pulled it about a foot to the right. Inside of 20 seconds, the camera operator was back, this time with a box (these boxes are used for anything and everything on the set includeing putting actors on them to make them taller), and asked me if I would stand, where upon, he took my chair, put the box down and asked me if I would sit on it. I sat, my knees nearly even with my chest, and my head about waist high to anyone standing near me. “Too low”, he asked the Director? “No, just shoot it”, answered the Director, and we were off.

I think the second camera started on me, and rose to the hight of the actors in the scene behind me, but I was dutifully watching the dancing that was going on (in my imagination), over on the stage where in reality, many crew and lookie-loos were standing. That was my task for the day, and it was finished with the Director's holler of “Check the Gates”. I had Stacy help me up from my spot near to the ground, got my SAG voucher for the day and went home. Who knows what I'll end up doing to get my third voucher, but I am an actor, so likely, I will do it.