Lipton and NBA

Two night shoots back to back. The Dixie Chicks one was for a Lipton Iced Tea commercial. The Christina Aguilera one was for an NBA promo that I did see myself in believe it or not. There was a great shot of my back with my arms raised. But it was quick and probably I’m the only one who knows it’s me…’cept maybe Jen if she remembered the gold velvet 60s coat I was wearing.

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent shortly after this shoot:

On Thursday, I was on a Lipton Iced Tea commercial with the Dixie Chicks. Sounds, nifty, right? Read further…

It was up in the mountains of Chatsworth on the property of the old Spahn Ranch–some folk will recognize that as the home of the Manson family. Yeah. Nice place to start with.

It was an all night shoot. Exterior. 40 degrees outside. There were 500 of us. The wardrobe people were picky even though there were no changing rooms. I didn’t actually change clothes, I just added over what I was wearing. 3 shirts, 4 pairs of pants including leather and tall boots. I really was not interested in freezing.

There was hay and mud everywhere and holding was about a quarter mile away from the set so we were only allowed to go back when it was time to eat.

Anyhow, it was miserable. The Dixie Chicks were sweet and nice and even sang a capella for us once. However, the camera crew must have had their heads shoved so far up their asses that they lost track of them. It took an average of 30 minutes for them to move two cameras each time they moved. So, that amounted to standing there in 40 degree weather until 3AM to work in spurts of 30 seconds divided by lapses of 30-40 minutes.

Yeah, even the most experienced extras were saying that was the worst shoot they’d ever been on. The union extras were all incredibly full of themselves and production kept trying to put them where they’d get the best camera time. I had been literally front and center in the same exact footprints for 10 hours when one union chick started to give me hell.

I was not in the mood for it at all. She told me that I was in her spot and that she was going to get the director to move me. I told her to go ahead and do that. He could ask all of the ADs, the stage crew, the extras around me as well as the Dixie Chicks themselves where I had been standing for “continuity purposes” as she’d said. I didn’t move. Yeah, she hated me the rest of the night, but I was waaaay too cold to care.

And three hours later when they made the non-union extras back up to make room for the union extras in the front, I didn’t care about anything anymore and I backed up quietly and she tried to get another rise out of me which didn’t happen. Then, as my luck seems to have it, the Director brought out the principal actors and placed them right directly behind and to the side of me. Yeah, I ended up with more camera time than that mean union chick. I’ll bet she didn’t get any at all because she was in the front at that point.

Yeah, I know I shouldn’t have, but I actually kinda felt good that for once, the good girl who was always honest got the last word. So, if you see a Lipton Iced Tea commercial with the Dixie Chicks… Look either front and center for the back of my head or look to the right of the bright red headed girl in the audience. That’s me.

As further irony would have it, the commercial got pulled because one of the Dixie Chicks said something controversial. I don’t even remember the whole thing, I just know it got pulled.

On to the NBA promo:

I figured I’d be having to go through the same thing the following night because it was going to be a similar situation–a concert. But, it was wonderful.

Friday night was a NBA Playoff promo with Christina Aguilera. It was at the Staples Center. There were 900 of us this time, but at least there was lots of food (including M&Ms) and not only were there lots of chairs, but they were comfortable.

It wasn’t 40 degrees and the camera crew had their shit together. We’d film for 90 seconds and then wait about 10 minutes in between. The only camera time I got would be from behind. I’m wearing a fuzzy gold coat center in front of the camera and bebopping along to Christina’s song.

We worked for 5 hours and were released… We got paid for 10. It was nice. It was such a switch from the night before that I felt like I could have worked the full ten and even put in overtime. It was great.

I wish all of my huge calls had been this nice. I guess juxtaposed with my worst-gig-ever the night before, anything would’ve been fantastic!

Good Morning Miami

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent the day after this shoot:

I helped out with Good Morning Miami on Wednesday. I was off-screen sound effects so to speak. No big deal. Got to see Fran Drescher in person, though. She was really great.

Actually, I was paid to watch the show and laugh along with whatever was funny. Pretty silly when you think about it, but it was an easy day and I have yet to do another one like it. The warm-up comedian was great and was cracking some downright hilarious jokes. I recall bringing my notebook, but never getting it open because I was having so much fun.

Carnivale (1)

The following is from an email sent shortly after this shoot:

I was on the new HBO series Carnivale. I think I got some pretty good camera time whenever possible because I kept grinnin’ and jokin’ with one of the camera operators and he kept telling me which way to scoot in order to be in the frame. I was sitting next to a lady who stands up and says two lines so I got perhaps a second of camera time. I was also in front of another lady who had lines in a prior scene so they were getting her reactions separate from the crowd.

The scene is set in a tent where a fellow and a few cohorts were “healing” people. It was all a hoax, but during the Depression, people in these hick towns so removed and such would pay to see a show like that in hopes that they, too would be healed.

I was supposed to be disabled and in a wheelchair, but according to the DP (Director of Photography) I was too cute. So, they traded a hag of a woman into my wheelchair and I ended up in a much better spot. I was a little annoyed at first because it always seems that I’m never pretty enough nor ugly enough. It all evens out eventually, though.

It was a very long day sitting in a very hard wooden folding chair from the 1930s, but all in all, not too bad of a shoot.

I bought Carnivale Season One on DVD and grabbed a couple screen captures from that day. This particular episode was called “Tipton”.

 

 

And, yes, my hat really was that ugly! I was just glad that I didn’t have to stand all day because my shoes were rather uncomfortable.

Motorola

The following is an excerpt of an email I sent shortly after the shoot:

On Saturday, I was in a Motorola industrial commercial. I dunno where they’re gonna use it–trade shows or something perhaps. It was shot on digicams. They had something like 6 going nearly every take. And the director was rollerblading around with the camera as well. All in all, it was a pretty cool shoot.

I’d gotten out late from the Division [11:45PM] and had to be at Motorola early [6AM] so I only got about three and a half hours of sleep. So, because of that, I remained eager to do whatever they wanted. I was so sleepy just sittin’ around, that it was better to run around and make a fool of myself just so I’d manage to stay awake.

Anyhow, the commercial had a couple stunts. They did a 360 with a Mercedes and using a ramp, tipped over a stake bed truck- which dumped about 400 brightly colored bouncing balls [ranging in size from 6 to 16 inches in diameter] down the street.

As an extra, I was one of the people trying to escape the balls. So, I spent about 8 hours being pelted by rubber balls all the while trying to keep as many balls in the frame as possible and not get hurt.

I talked with the stunt guy in between takes as well. I went up to him afterward and asked if I could come back the following day and he said sure.

So, I hung out the following day and there was a stunt woman there who has been in the business forever, essentially. She was the stunt double for Will Robinson on Lost In Space. Yeah, she’s been around awhile.

Anyway, I spoke with her and she gave me the honest truth about women in the stunt world–not very encouraging, I might add–and we just talked in general about what to do in the Industry. I’m just gonna take it all as it comes. Mostly, she said not to give up my day job… 🙂

And believe me, I have zero plans for that!!!!!!

West Wing (1)

The following has been cobbled together from an email written shortly after the shoot and my memories of the day:

I was in one of Rob Lowe’s last episodes on the show. I spent a lot of time in the trailer they called holding, listening to various stories from people who’d been on the show a lot.

My favorite story was about an extra who was hungry. He quietly went over to the craft service table, grabbed one donut and took a bite. The crafty at the time smacked the donut out of the guy’s hand, all the while saying that extras weren’t allowed to eat from the table. The poor extra was mortified, worried he’d be thrown off the set, but he really was hungry, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the donut in the first place.

Well…Martin Sheen overheard something of the scuffle and approached, asking what the problem was.

Then fired the crafty on the spot because it wasn’t right to deny a person food just because he was an extra.

Yeah…Martin Sheen is a hero in the eyes of us background actors. I heard a few other stories about his heroic deeds, but unfortunately can’t remember them right now.

And now on to Rob Lowe and the scene where I played one of his office staff. I got about an eighth of a second of screen time in the finished product. A little bit of freeze frame and whole lot of knowing where I was and I’m actually seen for a change.

This screen capture shows me doing what’s called a wipe… It’s a very fast and very close cross in front of the camera. It’s generally used to help cut from scene to scene, but in this case it was to show that the office was very busy.

I’d forgotten about the wipes I’d done until I watched the episode. This other screen capture is from when Jen just happened to notice me. I’d assumed I wasn’t in the finished product because I was hardly used for more than wipes. Somehow, I made it in for split second and here I am in my prime–surfing through my folder of fake paperwork while pretending to look busy…just like many office jobs I’ve had!

Here’s some of the kind of stuff that no one really hears about… When the director was making him and the other actor (whose name I can’t remember) do the scene over and over to the point where Rob Lowe started to forget his lines, he got all fussy about it and actually told the director he couldn’t do it anymore and wanted to move on. I wasn’t shocked, it was just funny to hear a big Hollywood star whine like a baby!

And how’s this for lifestyle differences… After our lunch break, he sent his personal assistant to a sushi joint down the street. He wanted two pieces of yellowtail, a spicy tuna hand roll and something else I couldn’t quite hear. Kinda silly little tidbit that Rob Lowe not only likes sushi, he likes it enough to send someone to go get him some during filming!

…And while I was on the set, he nearly ran into me so, once again, I had a close encounter with a star. Jen always asks how close I got to whoever the star of the show was. I can say that I was about 2 inches from Rob Lowe.

Boomtown

The following is from an email sent shortly after the shoot:

The other day, I was on Boomtown. I guess I wore the right outfit. (thank you very much, Jason, for buying me that shawl thingie in Chinatown) I had on a simple dark green velvet cocktail dress with a velvety reddish/burgundy shawl that they absolutely loved.

In fact, I was seated at a side table and the 2nd AD switched me to one of the hero tables because the DP (Director of Photography {cameraman}) wanted to shoot over my shoulder. So, when you see the reporter girl and there’s a reddish looking shoulder in the corner of the shot, that’s me! I can also be seen directly in front of District Attourney Fisher while he makes his speech and DDA McNorris when he makes his speech as well. I’m at the same table as the reporter girl whose name I can’t remember. She was a hoot. Between takes, she was knitting a scarf for one of her friends. Too funny.

Of course, after all of that, I wasn’t even in the show for a split second! I couldn’t believe it. I was directly between all three principals and DDA McNorris (Neal McDonough) delivered his lines while looking right at me, but nary a frame of me landed anywhere but the cutting room floor. Oh well. I’m not an extra for the camera time. I do it for the stories, the adventures. I never know who I’m gonna meet or what I’m gonna do.

UPDATE: I was in the show afterall! Twice in wide shots: DA Fisher’s point of view and DDA McNorris’s. And, on freeze frame, in the scene immediately following.

Surviving Christmas

We were all wearing winter coats and despite California weather, didn’t completely fry in the sun. For once, it was cool enough to wear gloves, ear muffs, and super-heavy coats.

It stars Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate. And James Gandolfini and I can’t remember the lady’s name, but she played Winona Ryder’s mom in Beetlejuice.

Anyhow, that shoot was mainly what I now affectionately call Background Pinball. The scene is outside between Ben and Christina and us extras are Christmas shopping/bustling in Chicago. So, there are stores we can walk into and stuff, well, what happens at these kinds of shoots is that you walk over to one side, they send you over to another and then from there, you go to a store perhaps and then back out to where you came from and keep trying to not get in the way or look like the same person bouncing from one side of the screen to the other.

In the scene with Ben, Christina, James, and the lady whose name escapes me, I walked so close to Ben and James that they nearly ran me over–talk about a heart attack for a background player. Getting in the way of principle actors is very, very bad, but the director didn’t get all pissed off and myself and the guy I walked with did the same move exactly the same each time so I guess it looked okay.

We were just following orders from the 2nd AD (assistant director) and we managed to get ourselves right there in front. I’m wearing a tacky patchwork leather coat that they gave me. It must have cost a fortune because the tag said Saks Fifth Avenue. I just thought it looked kinda silly, but oh well… I’ll probably go see this movie when it comes out. Or at least rent it.

I rented it and good golly, the movie is awful… But the screen captures I got of myself aren’t half bad.

Notice how my scarf is normal in the first one, then falling off in the second. I was secretly mortified as it was falling off and hoping that the camera hadn’t seen it…and hoping that it wouldn’t be in the finished product, but, well…there I am. Thankfully, it didn’t blow all the way off and wrap around Ben’s head!

This was also the bit where I had to dodge Ben. On the rehearsal, he didn’t gesture and he didn’t go as far up. But on the first take, he swung his arm out to gesture at something and nearly clothes-lined me. Luckily, either he saw me or I ducked or both and there was no collision. Whew!

Also, another silly thing about this shoot. Notice in the pic above my scarf falling off that the guy following me is carrying a red gas can? We had no idea why props gave him a gas can except that perhaps it was red and shaped like a shopping bag. However, it inspired us. Notice the keys in my hand? We pretended that I’d gone shopping and ran out of gas and he was a good samaritan helping me out. I was showing him where I’d parked and we joked that once my car was gassed up, I was just gonna leave him standing there.

Ah well. We had to keep ourselves entertained somehow between takes!

After the movie released, I heard that it bombed pretty hard. I suppose it doesn’t help that it was released in time for Halloween rather than Christmas, but hey, what do I know about this stuff?

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