Serenity

I wish I had more to report about Serenity, but mostly all I’ve got are one-liners. The whole story isn’t interesting enough and I’m so bummed!

As far as gigs go, yesterday didn’t really have that special magic that some gigs do. Everything felt exciting, but not in a story-telling kind of way. Hell, maybe I should just list out all the instances of niftiness I encountered. That way ya’ll can see that it was really great to be there even without an adventure or two stirring the pot. But because I can’t do a coherent story of the day, this is gonna end up being long, so you might want to get real comfy…

The costume department had trusted me when, during the fitting, I’d told them I could bring my own shoes, gloves and jewelry. They’d even written it on my costume tag and had given away the shoes they’d initially chosen for me. That was really cool of them. Usually, the costumers don’t trust the extras to have the ‘right’ stuff or to actually bring it.

I got to wear my pink Chinatown shoes, fluourescent green fishnet fingerless gloves, 6 dark silver twisted metal-and-flower bead necklaces, iridescent triangle earrings, and silver/grey jelly bracelets done up almost half my arm in what I call reptilian style.

After having my hair pin-curled and stockinged in preparation for wigging and after I’d gotten my costume on, while I waited to get my make-up done, I saw Nathan Fillion as he walked away from the catering truck with a plateful of breakfast. He was heading for his trailer and I was quite happily pleased that he looks even hotter in person- without his Captain costume on yet. Oh, and it was about 6AM…just for reference. 🙂

After having 40s “Rosie the Riveter” make-up put on followed by a black Betty Boop kind of wig, I went back to holding and tried to keep myself awake by writing in my mini-journal. At one point, I glanced up and Adam Baldwin walked in and opened each of the breakfast food warmer thingies. I guess nothing looked good because he left empty-handed. It was about 8:45AM and an odd juxtaposition because I really wasn’t assuming I’d see the cast before we got on stage. And if any of you remember the tv show Firefly…he was wearing an even sillier hat.

We were led onto Stage 12 some time close to 10AM at the Universal lot and my very first glimpse of Joss Whedon was as he directed Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Summer Glau, Sean Maher and Adam Baldwin…while standing in the open cargo bay of the ship Serenity. Oh hell yeah, that sight kicked ass and I really wish I could download the mental image in my head just so ya’ll could see it.

Imagine a short little video of Joss using his hands and walking up and down the ramp, describing what he’s looking for in a scene, Nathan nodding his head and the rest of the crew following intently, the big door at the back of the ship is open and the cargo bay is visible as well as most of the back end of the ship. It was at that moment, that I really realized I was on the set of Serenity…it was real…I was about to be in a Joss Whedon movie that even my husband was excited about seeing.

The 2nd AD [assistant director] placed me next to a giant wok where there were two cooked ducks…complete with beaks and twisted necks. I stood in that same spot for about 6 hours total throughout the day. I learned that in order to make it look as though the ducks were freshly being cooked, the prop guys put powdered walnut shells underneath and lit the powder with a torch.

The scent of burning walnut shells and smoldering cooked duck gets pretty old after the first half hour or so and the walnut shells don’t smell like walnuts anymore…and the smoke gets in your eyes to the point where you can’t help but blot the tears and worry that make-up’s gonna smear all over the place. I did okay. I’m a trouper. But I did request the smoke bump on my voucher. Coughing and crying from it tend to be worth those few extra dollars at the end of the day.

If I get seen at all in the main part, I’ll have to do freeze frame on DVD because the crew ran past where I was and my back was toward the camera most of the time. I tried to turn around, but it wasn’t always possible.

After the big shots were done, they did some vignettes. The 2nd AD kept me and another fellow to do some deep background work that probably won’t even be seen, but it was fun in any case. If I was quick enough walking forward and they use the vignette of the bicycle going by, maybe, I got a split second of camera time. I doubt it, but hey, I’m always hopeful.

The next vignette happened to be of the dead ducks in the wok. The cameraman loved my gloves, and jewelry plus a gold leaf glass the prop guys had given me to hold. When Joss came over to set up the scene, I could tell he wasn’t sure if he could direct us extras. If a director directs a non-union actor, that actor can get an upgrade. I’m in SAG, but he had no way of knowing that and it wasn’t like I was gonna announce it. Anyhow, as we stood there and he framed the shot, he said that the shot was all about the ducks and stopped short of specifically saying he didn’t want faces.

That was nice of him, I thought. I hope it wasn’t because he looked at me and thought I was ugly!

Anyhow, he did specifically say that he wanted to see hands, and fabric and drinks and pointed at my hands, fabric and drink for emphasis as he looked at me, too. It was nice to have been noticed by Joss, I just wish I hadn’t been in the company of imbeciles.

They only did one take with the dead ducks. The guy ‘cooking’ them wasn’t much of an actor and couldn’t handle working with tongs very well. Dammit. My one chance of getting my weird hands on screen with some dead ducks and it got botched. Ah well. Better luck next time?

As the walnut powder smoke cleared from my eyes from that darn wok scene, I stepped away, thankful that I wouldn’t be bothered with that stuff anymore. The crew was moving to a different vignette and I just happened to look up and see Nathan Fillion looking at me. I, of course, instantly wondered if my proverbial fly was down or something. I ‘checked’ and it wasn’t. I’d just caught him staring off into lalaland.

After the next vignette was done [which I wasn’t in], the 2nd AD released me, telling me to go to the prop table and turn in my sunglasses and that darn gold glass I’d been holding all day. As I near my destination, I have to pass by monitorland where the directors chairs are set up for the lead actors. And once again, I caught Nathan Fillion looking at me. I liked it. I liked it a lot, but let’s face it. I was wearing a Betty Boop wig and a bunch of weird stuff that while I might wear on the street on any given day, I certainly wouldn’t wear it all at once! I know he was just marveling at the costumery and I’m really glad I got to use some of my own stuff. It all became souvenirs of the wonderful, but sadly typical time I had as an extra on Serenity.

I’m praying there will be a next time…I’ve got my fingers crossed at least!

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