Raines
October 31/November 01, 2006
Episode: Meet Juan Doe
Location: Raleigh Studios
Raines is about a policeman
(Jeff
Goldblum) who hallucinates about the victims of murder. He sees them
and carries on conversations with them as well. He isn't talking to
their ghosts. There are no spirits here either, these are full blown
hallucinations. They have no more information that he does about the
crimes. So it was kind of funny, (as much as anything can be funny at
6:00 am) that parking for the show was located at the Hollywood
Forever Cemetery on Halloween day, for a show about a cop that
hallucinates about dead people. Only the best for background.
This is one of those cool
time, when
you get to see someone you have enjoyed watching on T.V. and in the
Movies. Goldblum has been in several of my favorite movies:
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Transylvania 6-5000
The Fly
Jurassic Park
Independence Day
Goldblum is very much like
the
characters he plays. One of the things that happened a lot on set was
his quietly talking to himself as he often went over his lines. And
while you might have noticed that he is a tall man, 6 foot 4 ½
inches is really tall close up.
Also on set was Linda Park
who played
Lt. Hoshi Sato on Star Trek: Enterprise, so I got a double geek fix.
I play a detective on this
show and
because it is early in the shooting schedule, there is always hope
that I could return to do more episodes.
The set was also one of the
most
realistically built, I've seen in a while. You could walk around it
on the first and second floors, and forget that you were walking on a
set. Very well laid out.
This was also my first time
on
Raleigh's lot. This studio is the longest continuously operating
studio in the country. It started in 1915 as the Famous Players
Fiction Studio with a Mary Picford film, and yet, you will likely not
have heard of it. I am still surprised by the number of working
studios down here.
Justice
November 2 – 3, 2006
Episode: Prior Convictions
L.A. Center Studios
This is not the first time I've worked
at L.A. Center Studios. Last time I was there, I walked about the
studio at lunch just to stretch my legs. I have also seen the studio
on Numb3rs, because they use the office structure as the Federal
Building that the FBI is located in, in L.A. But what I didn't notice
was the row of sound stages where Numb3rs, The Nine and Justice all
film. I have got to open my eyes more when I take walks.
The 1st AD is David Trotti
who I made a point of walking up to and chatting with because he was
wearing a jacket with NX-01 on it. For those of you who don't pay
close attention to Star Trek, that was the construction contract
number of the Enterprise, on the show of the same name. David was 2nd
AD on ST: The Next Generation, Director Trainee on ST VI: The
Undiscovered Country, 2nd AD on ST: Voyager and 1st
AD on Enterprise. GEEK FIX.
O.K., on with the rest of the story.
Justice is another legal show, and I am
a juror again. This show makes the jury an important part of the
show, so we should be viable. But that means they may not want
someone as a juror too often. They have a good crew and cast. They
were friendly enough with the background actors and that is always
nice to see.
During one of the take where the
cameras shot over the shoulders of the jury, the back row was put on
“apple boxes”, which are wood boxes that come in different sizes.
These were small enough to put us below the level of the seats we had
been sitting in. This way, they were able to shoot through the heads
of both the front row (which sits lower than the back) and the back
row. Makes for a nice shot.
In this business, the actors are not
the only ones that are trying to get booked on shows, as all of the
crew must work to get a permanent spot on a show. If they don't, they
are day players, just like the background and visiting actors. Marla,
who was an AD in training (PA) on Standoff, finished that part of the
training program, and managed to get hired as the bottom most AD on
Justice. We're all part of the same dance, just different steps and
partners.
How I
Met Your Mother
November 8, 2006
Episode: First Time in New York
20th Century Fox
I have been trying to get on this show
for a while. Seems they want the young, trendy type, and alas, my
protestations aside (I can play young and trendy), it has been almost
impossible to get booked. But I have my secret weapon. Linda.
Allison Hanagan (Willow on Buffy:The
Vampire Slayer) and Neal Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, M.D.) are two
favorites of mine, and I was glad to see that they were on set with
the entire cast. Linda and I watch “How I Met...” and enjoy the
chemistry of the cast, and on set they seem to work and play well
together. The only moment of tension was caused by a background actor
who got into trouble when one of the actors asked the 1st
AD to tell the BG actor to stop taking pictures on set.
Many of the background had cameras,
because we were playing tourist at the Empire State Building, and
some of them brought their own along to use as props. As a result of
this, it was explained to the background that there were not to be
any photo's taken of the set or actors. This was explained to us as a
large group, and in smaller groups. The result was that the BG actor
in question had to delete the photos from his phone (he didn't have a
separate camera), and he was fired on the spot. Had we not been
warned, maybe that would have been harsh, but we were all told
clearly, photos were forbidden.
During the day I got to see two other
actors that I have enjoyed watching on T.V. Amy Acker (Angel) and
Alexis Denisof (Buffy and
Angel) who is married to Allison, both visited the set. Geek
fix!
My big lesson for the day had to do with the carrying of my prop, which in this case, was my briefcase. I had the best idea! Since I was going to take my briefcase with me as a prop, I could put the things I normally carry with me in a separate canvas bag into the case. Then I could stand on set for seven hours and hold the freakin' briefcase which contained all 10 pounds of books, magazines, printed papers of articles, a lint brush, keys, and other bits and pieces of added weight, first in my right hand and then in my left to the point that my shoulders have bothered me for a week after. All future “Best ideas” will be run by Linda for vetting.