Well, it was not an April Fool’s joke. Rather, it was the coolest thing EVER.
I know, I know, I am so bright-eyed and naive. One day, when I’m old and jaded I’ll look back on this entry and think “Tut tut, how young I was, to think Background work was so exciting. Dear me, is that the tea?” Because when I am old and jaded I will apparently also be British.
But it was really cool, my first film set! I arrived at the Jacob Javitts center at 3:15 (early) on Thursday to sign in. It was actually kind of funny, because I felt quite badass riding the train in my suit, and when I got off at 34th street, surrounded by other people in business suits, I blended right in, except for my Converse sneakers. And as the crowd got closer to the Javitts center, one by one people started breaking away until it was just five of us business-like people left. And we all kept looking at each other and smirking, wondering if we were all real business people, or fake business people on the way to a film set. Eventually we did speak, and discovered that we were all just actors in suits.
While I was on line to hand in my paper work I met a lovely girl named Crystal, and it was her first time doing background work too. So I decided she was my new best friend and we kind of held each other’s hands during the whole thing. We also met an older girl named Lorraine who had done thing kind of thing before, so we asked her many annoying questions. But she was actually one of the nicest people I think I’ve ever met at an audition. She offered us jelly beans and pretzels (because we both didn’t realize that we’d be there for 8 hours with no food) and was very pleasant and didn’t judge us because we were so young and naive.
The scene we were shooting was one in which Paul Giamatti was giving a speech to his shareholders. I hope I’m not in violation of any confidentiality agreements in saying so, but I won’t tell you what his speech was about. You’ll just have to wait for the film. Unfortunately, Clive Owen was not there. Pity, but I probably would have fainted anyway, so it’s just as well. The scene itself was probably about three minutes long, but it took them from 5pm to 11pm to finish shooting it.
I don’t think you’ll be able to see me at all. But there were these two projection screens with the company logo on the stage on either side of PG, and when they did occasionally swing the camera around between shots, I could usually spot myself on the screen. I’m truly in the middle, but I’m so ghostly pale that I pretty much glow. But I’m sure if there’s one shining face in the middle of the crowd, I’ll certainly be dulled in Post-Production anyhow. Bummer. Nonetheless, I’m in there, so tell your friends.
In between shots they raffled off Best Buy gift cards. They were for $100 and there were like fifteen of them. So that was very nice of them. Especially considering the horror stories you hear about the way background actors are sometimes treated. Although, given my extreme “I’m Just Happy To Be Here” attitude, I was really surprised to discover that a great deal of the people there were not there because they were serious about acting. Or at least, I can only assume that based on some people’s conduct. A lot of people were very punchy towards the end, yelling about wanting to go home and such. Very impatient.
What I’ve learned about film sets is that it’s a lot like Ten out of Twelve, which for those of you who may not know, is the day in a show when you bring in all the tech elements, mainly lights. This day pretty much consist of doing a few lines, stopping to adjust your position or the focus of the lights, or something wrong with the sound, etc. It takes twelve hours to get through a two hour play, if you’re lucky, because you have to keep stopping and starting, and doing things over again. That’s what film is like, because (as Tony Gilroy explained to us) the first time you do something is also the last time. The tech elements, the lights and camera etc, all have to be perfect throughout the whole process. It was really amazing to watch. Especially because it was Paul Giamatti, who is amazing. But it really hit home how to act in film, there is little to no room for mistakes. He was great every time, but if he hadn’t been, if he had messed up or hadn’t delivered, they would have had to set up the whole shot again, and we would have all been there even longer.
Sidenote: Tony Gilroy (director, who also directed Michael Clayton and the Bourne movies) is really, REALLY nice.
I start my improv class on April 15th. Tax day. Appropriate, considering I paid for this class with my State refund money. Feeling pretty good about The Career. Created a “Wall of Inspiration” the other day. Put up magazine photos, articles and quotes that inspire me. Look at it every day before I leave the apartment, and remind myself that I have what it takes.