Sunday, August 23, 2009

Bogey at 12 O'Clock

"So", the chief assistant production assistant known affectionately to the extras as, 'Ming the Merciless', said to me, "when you hear 'background' drive into the intersection, take note of the prostitute, drive around her (don't hit anyone), go through the intersection as far as the van, and stop. Think you can handle that?" I probably should have just nodded, humbly, or maybe kissed his ring - but instead I actually said, 'Sure, no problem' and that was a big problem. Despite my growing awareness that the chances of an extra actually being on camera, in focus, closer than 100 yards from the action being filmed was about one in a hundred thousand, I thought it was actually going to happen. I was waiting, engine running, about 20 yards back from the intersection in question, at 3:30 a.m., watching the assistant director blocking out the scene with the silver Volvo and the prostitute. No problem meant - to their ears, that this odd-looking older man (anyone 30 or over is older than about 90% of the production assistants)in the maroon Camry was about to lose his mind with excitement, speed through intersection and take out, at a minimum, the prostitute, two PA's, and the Kraft table. Most of the other, younger extras would have probably either said nothing, or babbled incoherently - and they liked that. So, after 6 hours of waiting in the bottom of a Unitarian Church, and another two hours parked on a side street in one of the more interesting areas of Lowell, and 20 minutes spent idling at an intersection while preparations were made to record about 20 seconds of film, I was told, 'hold on' (mysterious messages coming non-stop into the earbuds of the production assistant) and then, 'pull over to the site and turn off your lights', and then - most disappointing of all, 'okay, they're just going to have you park it."

At least the Camry was in the shot - maybe: parked about 25 yards from the intersection. Later, a junked out Ford (the undercover cop's car, I think) was parked just in front of the Camry, and close-ups of a short scene with Christian Bale were filmed (though probably the Camry was not visible at all).

They called it quits on this night, just before 5 a.m. So what did I learn, from my first overnight shoot? That - though older than most on the set, I can handle it. In fact I enjoyed the late night setting, the odd people it attracts - the kind of rock and roll spirit to this particular and probably most movie production sets (though movie sets are necessarily today a nerd's paradise as well, with the majority of the workers electro-mechanically inclined, flat screen monitors everywhere, all of the PAs wearing headsets and using 2-way radios, smoke machines, cranes, generators, banks of light). I thought during, and afterwards that I should have brought my saxophone, and practiced on the streets of Lowell. I wish I had a laptop with me, and a wireless card - because I would have liked to have offered some live blog action. (but then, you have to be careful that you don't risk losing these items to thieves - when you are called upon to do your part. I did 'Tweet' with my cell phone, but I don't think I have that down yet: and I was overly concerned with the length of those messages and erred on the side of shorter. Mostly I tweeted about the food (again), and boredom, waiting, and.. the time.

(Money Note:) Don't expect to make much more than minimum wage as an extra on a movie shoot. 'The Fighter' paid a standard $64 for eight hours, and as you generally went 10-12 hours, you could make about $100 for the day, supplemented by payments for your car ($20 if they lured you in with the promise of extra work, more if they really wanted your car). Diane's silver Volvo - which was used all through this long night, on several scenes (including, I was told, a scene in which Christian Bale's character attempts to have sex with a prostitute in the front seat) earned her close to $600 for the night's work [50.hr]. She said their term for a car to be used by the actors in a scene, was a 'picture car'. Diane herself was not interested in Extra work, and spent the night with her gadgets (Kindle, Blackberry, etc.)

But what practical things did I learn? Honestly, I learned that like everything in life, its often who you know, not what. I would seriously suggest that, when you're on set, that you make an effort to figure out who you need to know and then try to get to know them: schmooze a little, kiss up a little, hang out a little because despite their low pay and low status on set, at certain points those PAs (production assistants) are going to get to choose who goes where and does what. I think having been on set for a few days before the overnight gave me just enough familiarity with the head wrangler so that, consciously or not, he chose me to have a chance for that 'drive-thru'. I think that the final decision though, was not his - and I note that in the end the three cars chosen to go through the intersection during the Volvo/prostitute scene, were all driven by young women. Was this poor continuity? Did it make sense for three young women to be driving, by themselves, in the wee hours, through a tough neighborhood in Lowell? Wouldn't it have been more likely that a homely middle-aged man like myself, would have been prowling those streets? Maybe it was a moot point, in that the drivers of whatever vehicles were chosen, would not have been visible. I'm not sure. I don't know. There is so much that goes on on a movie set that is, from the outside, arcane, mysterious, or just hidden from view.

-Pictures: #1. Food, of course. Look closely, that's our menu for tonight's lunch (served from 12:30-1:30am. Shrimp, roasted chicken, Prime Rib, Tortellini, Strawberry Shortcake.. were just some of the offerings. #2. That's Go-Go Gadget Diane, whose silver Volvo was the star of the evening. #3. Will Sasso is in the house! Well no, but someone who looked a bit and sounded a lot like the MADtv actor. (sorry Will, it was a long night and I didn't write your name down). 'Will' was one of the driver/extras, and he had a 1981 Mercedes Diesel that - though it sounded like it was gasping for air as it idled, was really in very good shape (25 mpg!).

Oh, I almost forgot. For me one of the more memorable events of this overnight occurred around 11:30 or so when I decided to walk down to the set (about 3 blocks) away, to see if I could see what was going on. There were various 'check points' to pass through where real police were diverting traffic, and PAs were keeping out anyone not part of the production. But having been on set for several days, I had become familiar with many of the PAs and I had no problem getting down on to the Street (Warren Ct) and close to the action (It was an exciting scene where Christian Bale's character, Dickie Ecklund, is arrested by undercover police after being caught - in the act, with another prostitute in the silver Volvo. There were screeching tires, police sirens, dialogue that included "put the gun down Dickie", etc.) So I watched a few takes, and then headed back to the church basement. I knew I wasn't going to miss out on anything, because we wouldn't be used until they moved on to the next scene. On the way out I ran into our 'handler' - who we affectionately referred to as 'Nero', and I remarked to him that it was an interesting scene. "What are you doing down here?" he asked. "Oh, I just came out for some air, and to see what was going on," I said, un-apologetically. He fumed and flustered a little, then said I should not have left the church because if I had been gone when they had needed me I wouldn't be able to work. I told my fellow extras what had transpired and predicted, "Just watch: when he comes back he'll single me out as a bad boy". Sure enough, just before 'lunch' was served, Nero returned, remarked that he had missed us all and then, seeing me, said "Oh, here's my little Lookie-Loo". A few minutes later he left the church again, and I said loudly, 'Oh my God, did you hear what he called me. I am now the lowest of the low. There is only one rung lower than extra," I said, "the Lookie Loo". "Not true," one of the film crew (a 'set dresser') who was waiting in the church, interjected, "there is one thing lower than a Lookie-Loo. A Bogey!" It was the first time I had heard that term used, but it was self explanatory. A 'Bogey' in its original usage, was an unidentified plane that appeared on the screen of an air traffic controller. Likely an enemy aircraft. On a film set a 'Bogey' is someone who wanders into the film and ruins a shot.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Around and round and round and.. oh my my

The title is a quote from the Stone's 'Let's Spend the Night Together': the full line is something like, 'we can have fun just foolin around and round and round and.. oh my my'. It's what you would call, in this case, ironic juxtaposition, in that my experience yesterday (Aug 20, 2009) as a driver/extra on the set of the Mark Wahlberg/Christian Bale film "The Fighter" was anything but 'oh my my'. It was, certainly, round and round and round.

But let's stay positive. For inexperienced would-be actors such as myself, there is always something to learn, 'on-set', even its learning that you never want to do 'that' again.

From the beginning then... This was about the fourth time that I had received a request from Boston Casting to use my old car - a low-mileage, 86 maroon Camry, on the "The Fighter'. On the first occasion they were considering it for a 'leading role': that is, they were selecting the cars that would be utilized throughout the film for the lead actors. They brought in ten cars and the Camry didn't make it but - they paid me $150 for three hours of my time. Later, as filming progressed, they asked me two other times to bring the car in for 'extra work', as it fit the period, but both times they canceled (never telling me until the morning of the shoot) because its color - I learned, was too close to that of that car chosen for Mark Wahlberg (who plays the lead, fighter Lowell-born 'Irish' Mickey Ward) This fourth time however, no one raised that issue, I did receive confirmation ahead of time, and I reported to the designated marshaling site on West 6th Street in Lowell, at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

(Lesson #1: always have a cell phone number for someone involved in the actual filming process - not a casting director, because as happened here, all the cars showed up to the right address, but the address was wrong)

Eventually we made it (about a half mile away) to the right location, where we parked and went inside for orientation. Soon, as I noted elsewhere, you begin to see why movies cost so much - and why, tangentially, the food is so good. To film a simple scene inside a donut shop you need not only the actors, directors, camera operators, lighting specialists, sound specialists, wardrobe people, makeup artists and - those damn extras. But you also need people to wet down the street, fog the windows of cars in the scene (eliminating glare), street washing trucks, detail cops.. Okay, I'll stop there and speak to only what was required to have about a dozen cars driving endlessly by the donut shop while filming went on within. There is a guy telling you where to park, at first. And a guy going around replacing your license plates with ones that fit the period, and several more people in the street directing traffic, and several more at various locations to tell you to turn around and go back, or wait. You also need to arrange with the city to have the streets blocked off in all directions at certain times. Meanwhile, while all this is going on, the drivers literally cooked. It was 90 plus that day, and given the age of our cars most didn't risk running the AC (if they had it), as all the starts and stops and short runs seemed a perfect recipe for overheating. So it was only the drivers who overheated. I drank at least ten bottles of water, which just seemed to feed my sweat glands. I poured water down my back, and over my head, and splashed it in my face and drove round and round and round from - at the Top Donut, about 11-4 (it took them about two hours to get everything set up to be able to film us going round and round).

(Lesson #2: Driver and Extra?) One of the ways they lure you in - to get your car (which they really need), is to promise that when you bring your car in you will also function as an extra. Even if you are totally star-struck ,the idea of sitting in your car all day while, just a few feet away (usually inside, with the AC on, and gophers bringing around silver trays laden with crumpets, tea, cocaine, and issues of Popular Science. just kidding) the real acting is taking place. After all, you're doing this for the experience mainly, right? You want to learn the trade, get a chance to hone your skills, maybe even get to say a few words, like 'That'll be $1.99 for the donuts, and $1.20 for the coffee.." BUT the truth is that most of the driver/extras don't do anything but drive. Some get a little lucky, but don't count on it. So if you are looking for your big break and think that a twelve hour day sitting in your cousin's junker is it, think again!

Meanwhile, back on the set.. making the drivers feel like we were not at the lowest rung - crowds of onlookers stood - in designated areas, watching Top Donut. What was there to see? An occasional flash of an actor - usually as they transported them in big black SUVs, or the fancy star trailers that carried (I think) the Director around to the various locations. They certainly weren't there to see my vintage Camry going through its paces.

Did I mention the food. When we finally made it to the right location for the orientation earlier that morning, and after the wardrobe people had either approved what we were wearing, or re-dressed us, we had breakfast from a mobile cantina out back. Three kinds of eggs, several kinds of sausage, hash browns, fresh fruit, bagels, muffins, juices, coffee.. It was great, but I was reminded of an island in Lake Ontario, some 35 years earlier, where - as part of a kind of Peace Corp orientation six of us had gone to find a place to volunteer our labor. We found a family wheat farm, in need of harvesting (the oldest boy had broken his leg) and they told us to show up the next morning at 9. I was surprised by the late start, assuming they would want us there at the break of dawn. When we did arrive that next morning the farm owners laid on us the biggest, heaviest, whitest breakfast I had ever been confronted with: freshly milked milk in large, chipped off-white, perspiring pitchers; beige pancakes glazed with molasses; white-washed mashed potatoes; white sausage, diced and lightly fried potatoes the color of old lace. We ate and ate, and ate and as we did we slowly came to the realization that we were being fattened up for the slaughter. We were being fueled for a day unlike any other we had experienced. As soon as we had stuffed the last bit of pancake down the work began. Working until the sun was boiling in Lake Ontario we harvested field after field after field of wheat. Following closely behind the immense machine that cut and bailed the bundles, several of us would toss those bundles onto a trailer on which others from our group worked stacking the wheat. When it was stacked high enough, we'd take it to the barn and transfer it and then had back out again. The farmer's weren't task masters, but neither were they about to look a gift horse in the mouth. We could have stopped it at any time, but after the breakfast that had been served us, we knew what was expected of us.

Come to to think of it, that really was very similar to my day as a driver on "The Fighter" - I just didn't see it coming this time: I was blinded by the light, the klieg lights.

(Lesson #2: Be Prepared). Regardless of what you are asked to do, as an extra, or gopher - expect a long, grueling, boring day. I had brought a fold-out chair, a few books, a notebook and pens, a camera (careful, they are touchy about cameras on a closed set), Tylenol, reading glasses etc. All that and I was still unprepared for the heat. I should have used the old mommy's trick of a wet washcloth in plastic bag in a cooler. How sweet that would have been to be able to pull out a cold, wet washcloth and swab my face and neck. They were very good about getting us water, but even if my inner self was well watered, my outer self was suffering.

Did I mention the catering crews? Besides the specialists who provide fabulous meals at some point during the day, there are dozens of people on set who make sure that there is plenty of cold water, snacks, fruit, and more - all during the day. These people work as hard, and as long as anyone on set - and there isn't even the illusion that they have something to do with making movies.

[Pictures, from top to bottom: 1)Note the antique plate affixed over my actual plate. Wardrobe was responsible for giving all the cars their vintage green Mass plates. I ended up driving around Lowell with mine on.. 2)My view of the 'set' for most of the morning consisted of the Top Donut marquee seen through my moon roof. 3)That's Mr. Shogay, whose daughter graduated from Colby (as did my son Bob). A nice man and a practicing Carnegaist (making friends and influencing people). He owns an ice cream truck, a snow plow, and this classic, no frills pick-up. 4) That's about a third of the crew I worked with on Wednesday, standing before the real star - my 86 Camry. I was remiss in not getting everyone's names (on paper). If you're in the picture leave a comment with your name so I can be sure to get them right. 5) That last shot is poor me, after about 5 hours of stops and starts in brutal heat.]

To be continued...