Close to
Home
September 5 & 6, 2006
Episode: Homecoming
Sony Studios
Once again, I serve
on a Close to
Home jury, sitting in judgment,
ready to rip the freedom from some evil doer and consign them to
years of torment in the prisons of Illinois. Alas, the power I had
over the defendant is illusionary and any decision arrived at is not
my own. And I worry for the safety of my fellow jurists, for I
recognize the defense attorney as the long impersonated Senator Kelly
of X-Men. The man who
was killed off and replaced by the shape shifter Mystique.
Then again, it
could be just the actor, Bruce Davison, who played the roll and
happens to also have a recurring roll on this show. I spent the first
several hours, hearing and recognizing his voice, but not being able
to place it, until I went on set and saw him.
I've mentioned
before how common items are used to advantage on set. Today I saw how
tennis balls are used. The balls have cross cuts made on one end and
are placed on the chair legs. Now sliding chairs are not picked up by
sound.
Someone changed the
chairs on set that go to the lawyers tables, and the new ones were
lower, so the defense attorney and the prosecutor looked like little
children who could hardly reach the table top. Both actors called it
to the attention of the director and the correct chairs were brought
in. However...
The DP saw the
changes and pointed out that the wrong chairs were established in the
previous shots, and could not be switched out, so ...
Again the actors
were sitting there looking like little children. The DP finally
called for cushions of the small round type to raise the actors to a
more manageable height. Now able to see above the edge of the table,
the actors were ready to release their inner child and focus again on
channeling their legal eagles.
Help Me
Help You
September 7, 2006
Episode: #5 Couples Therapy
Paramount
You laughed with him
in Cheers, and
watched him abuse patients on Becker. Now see him play head games as
a therapist on Help Me Help You.
Of course, I'm speaking of Ted Danson, who is a light spirit on set;
and bid background a thank you, and job well done at the end of the
night.
We were shooting on
Paramount's lot in a theater near the Melrose front gate. The scene
was an award banquet for Bill Hoffman (Ted's character) who is
promoting his book, “The Doctor is in ... Love: Happy Marriage
in an Unhappy World”. Alas, just before its release, Bill and
wife Anne (played by Malcom in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek)
separate, complicating his life and making the acceptance of an award
problematic.
The clever “tech”
thing I noted on the set was the use of the table lamps as additional
set lighting. The candle lights on each of the table were all electric,
the wires hidden by plates and flowers. A segment
of the red lamp shade, on each one, was cut out to allow “white” light
to
help illuminate the people at the table who were facing the camera,
while the rest of the shade was whole.
If you decide to
look for me in this episode, I should turn up at the banquet when
Bill and Anne are seated at their table, with another couple who just
joined them. I'll be standing behind them at another table. Be sure
to look for my face floating in the background.
House M.D.
Sept. 08 & 11, 2006
Episode: Son of Coma Guy
20th Century
Fox Studios
Shannon is the 2nd
2nd on this show, and when I checked in, she said that she
recognized my name on the skins (the call sheets of what
background/cast/crew were booked). I commented that, “That's a good
thing right?”, and she laughed. Note she didn't confirm or deny my
comment.
This was a couple of busy
days for several reasons, including misbehavior and multiple episodes
working at the same time. I was in the “A” Unit, which was
shooting “Son of Coma Guy”, while others were in “B” Unit,
shooting scenes from a previous episode. Catch up time. It did get a
little confusing as to who was supposed to be where, and who got to
eat what food. The Craft services folks order food according to how
many people are involved in an episode, and so, if you are on “A”
Unit, then the food for that group is charged to that episode. There
was some frustration on the part of Crafty when “B” unit people
would come up and eat “A” Unit food and vice-versa.
One background actor got
to the set late, and decided to ask Hugh Laurie (the star of the
show) which Unit she was in, and how to get to the correct stage. She
may have been the same one that, having arrived late, stopped by
Crafty first for food before finding the AD (Shannon) and asking if
she was on the right set. She was not.
On Friday night/Saturday
morning, when the show wrapped, I was one of the first into a van and
on my way to the parking structure. After 11:00 PM, there is no
longer a studio shuttle, and the production provides vans to
transport crew and background, so the idea is to 1) de-prop, 2)
return your wardrobe, and 3) get in the van all in a reasonable time.
Just as the last van was getting ready to take the last of the
background to the parking structure, the wardrobe gal runs up and
tells the PA (Drew) that she has one unclaimed voucher (our means of
being paid). The stage was shut down, props had finished up and gone
home, the paper work was completed and the only reason 10 background,
several PA's and AD's, wardrobe and the van driver weren't on their
way home was because someone was not accounted for. The search began,
and thanks to an observant van driver, the lost background was seen
wandering over by stage 9, chatting on her cell phone. First question
out of her mouth was, “Oh, are we wrapped?” No only did she get a
dressing down from production, but she was informed by her fellow
background, as to what they thought of being delayed by 15 minutes.
She didn't come back the
next day. Wasn't invited to play.