Herbie: Fully Loaded

In this Tale, I’ll combine last week and the week before…Yep, Disney’s dusting off the Love Bug. I don’t know much about the plot other than that Linsey Lohan is the ‘good guy’ and Matt Dillon is the ‘bad guy’ and they go from town to town, race to race.

I took part in two different towns. The first of which, I didn’t catch the name. The second, I think was Riverside, but I’m not positive. In both cases, there was a car show followed by racing, but the racing was fake. I’ll explain a little bit later.

The first town: It was a 2 day shoot during their second week of production so essentially, they were still getting into the groove of things. There were about 200 extras, some with cars, some without. Many with cars had never been extras before and didn’t know what to do or how to do it. This plus the crew’s newness to the project made for somewhat strange and interesting events.

The casting director had specified that our cars needed to be in tip top shiny condition…but then getting to the set, there was a mile long dusty/dirt road. Thanks.

Anyhow, in my ’68 Mustang Fastback, I was in the domestic muscle car group. The AD told us to go stand by our cars because they were setting up the shots. It was around 6AM.

They took one car from our group and then promptly forgot about us…for the rest of the day. We waited around for over twelve hours, but they never took another car from our group.

The following day, they didn’t want our cars at all so we ended up with the rest of the extras. We cheered for Matt Dillon, who after a bazillion takes finally started losing his lines…the last take before lunch. Poor guy. We were all feelin’ for him, but at the same time starving!

After lunch came the worst of it. Mind you, it was in the high 90s temperature-wise. We were in full sun, sitting on metal bleachers from about 1PM until about 6:30PM. My ass hasn’t been that sore in a very long time.

We were supposed to be watching a race between Herbie and Matt Dillon, but instead, there was a poor PA holding up a big stick with a yellow X on it.

When the director called “Action,” the PA ran as fast as he could and we cheered along with the announcer. Eventually, the PA got worn out and they used a van. Then a golf cart.

I have no idea why they switched vehicles, but I think we all felt pretty silly cheering the yellow X no matter what it happened to be on.

That’s the extent of that week for me.

The next week was different. A lot different, but same idea.

Once again, first day, I didn’t work at all. I just hung out by my car (my 2000 Prowler, this time) for thirteen hours. The average in time was 5:30AM, average out time was 7:30PM.

And I missed the milli-second that Matt Dillon admired my car and asked who’s it was. Darn my need for breakfast!!!! The guy parked next to me said Matt liked my car and walked around it, admiring it, wondering who owned it. Ah well. I guess it just wasn’t my moment to talk to him.

Second day, they finally pulled my car from the deep and put it near the car show.

I had to be a watchdog because extras were leaning on people’s cars, sitting in them…It’s just not cool to do that without the owner’s consent. Some people’s cars got scratched up pretty good. A tent fell on another one.

I was in my Prowler for this shoot and really worried that someone was going to sit on a fender and crack it. They aren’t cheap.

Luckily, the ADs understood and let me work near or within sight of my car. I didn’t have to police too much, but there were a few people who didn’t understand that at car shows, you just don’t mess with the cars.

Lots and lots of walking around the car show ensued. What they wanted was movement. Lots and lots of movement. Once again, it was in the 90s…and wardrobe wanted me to wear a black t-shirt. Thanks. At least there were a few shade trees this time.

I always stayed in deep background so I never heard what the scene was about. Essentially, Herbie pulls up to the show, smoking and running terribly.

I won’t give away what happened after that, but let’s just say that I did get to see Herbie having a mind of his own and it was really, really cool to see some of that Hollywood magic in action.

Oh! I almost forgot the most exciting bit… During the afternoon, we were all doing our usual walking around, looking at cars and all of a sudden [while the camera was rolling], a guy comes running at me with an AD, a PA and another guy chasing after him saying “Call security!” I thought I was going to get trampled and I had no idea why.

The guy got into an SUV and drove off like a bat out of hell. The instant rumor was that the guy was trying to steal a car.

Ten minutes later, I talked to one of the guys who gave chase. Apparently, the runner was a paparazzi posing as an extra and snapping pictures of the scene during filming.

I was thinking that in either case, I should’ve tripped him. He held up production for a good half hour with that stunt. I wonder if it was worth it. I did find out that he wasn’t the only one.

He was actually one of two guys that day and a third on the day before. I never thought Herbie would attract paparazzi, but I guess because it’s been so long since the last movie, there’s lots of buzz.

I don’t know. I had fun, though! The hours were just way too long and way too hot.

UPDATE:I thought I saw myself in the deep background a couple times, but it was really hard to tell. I couldn’t remember for sure where I was during filming, so I can’t be positive enough that the little blur in the deep background really was me. There were a few people wearing black shirts.

This following capture wasn’t shot on the same day as the rest of that scene. They called in a few of us car people a couple months later and had us strategically standing in order to match the rest of the scene. I was blocked by the person in the big hat, but my Prowler is seen. Funny how both times, it’s through the foggy window of Herbie. Ah well.

Cold Case (2)

It was ‘Nobody Likes Lisa Night’. I have those kinds of calls now and then where I continually feel like a sixth grader raising my hand, waving it like mad while saying, “Pick me! Oh, pick me! Please!” and no one’s interested.

I got to the Warner Brothers lot more than an hour early because I’d expected to hit Friday traffic on the way in. But there was absolutely zero traffic. I drove between 55 and 60 the entire way there, intentionally getting behind semis just so I’d drive slower, but it was all to no avail. I was waaaaaaay early, but at least I could still get on the lot.

…That is if my stupid trunk would open. It took five whole minutes of jiggling the key in order to get the darn thing to open. (Yes, a new lock and key has now been ordered and should be arriving momentarily so I won’t have that stupid problem again.) Luckily, there was no one behind me waiting to get in. I was on a car call, so without my car, I could’ve been sent home, docked pay and probably banned from getting booked ever again. But all ended up just fine. The guards had a great sense of humor considering I was driving a ’68 convertible Mustang and wearing plaid burlap bell-bottoms.

But once on the lot, I got totally lost. The casting director had said to park in one certain spot, the guard at the gate had drawn me a map to another section and every time I stopped to talk to another guard, they either didn’t know where to send me or just pointed to keep me moving. I ended up on a side street in the backlot. Had I driven another block, I would have found a real parking lot and wouldn’t’ve had to worry about whether or not my car would be towed. But once again, all turned out well.

I grabbed all my junk and went to the wardrobe trailer to check-in. SAG background isn’t required to bring more than the clothes on our back, but I always bring more. I’ve got a huge wardrobe, so I might as well use it. And since I was supposedly only going to be driving through frame, I figured my stuff would be fine. Some of it was a tad fashion forward for 1968, but it wasn’t really that far off.

But wardrobe hated everything I’d brought. In turn, they gave me essentially a tent of a dress with a sash to try and make it look a little better. Oh well. I figured I’d be in a car. No one would see me in the ill-fitting dress anyway.

I shoved on to the hair trailer and the fellow was in absolute shock that us extras were in need of hairdos. He was a hoot while doing my hair, though. I was just thinking that everyone was putting in an awful lot of effort for someone who was only supposed to be driving through frame once.

While my masterpiece of a hairdo was being completed, Chad Lindberg [he played Jesse in Fast and the Furious] came in and started chatting up and running lines with the girl sitting next to me. He’s pretty cute in person and downright hilarious, joking around with the hairdressers and such. It was fun to be there and be invisible at the same time.

It wasn’t long after having my hair done that we were all shuttled to the set. I had to hike back and get my car, but there was enough time, so at least I didn’t have to run. And no one was mad at me for parking in the wrong spot. Luckily I wasn’t the only one. I was, however, the furthest one from the correct parking lot.

The A.D. asked for some cars. Mine, of course, was hated for one reason or another.

Then, he asked for extras. I, of course again, was hated. I sulked back to holding with my lower lip extended so far I nearly tripped over it. I looked the most 1968 out of everyone and yet I wasn’t wanted. Sigh. Pout.

After an hour in holding, I was called closer to set ‘just in case’. I remained there and was accosted by the wardrobe crew. Apparently, the reason I wasn’t chosen earlier was because I hadn’t been given a thick enough coat. The scene was supposed to be late autumn in Philadelphia but wardrobe had neglected coats on everyone. After trying on four coats, they finally found one that fit me. It was so great, I wanted to take it home with me. Red, white and blue plaid doubled up on itself. It’s too hard to describe, but it was really, really great and fit me like a glove.

But, I ended up sitting there in my makeshift holding close to set ‘just in case’ for another hour or so and never got used throughout all of the 1968 shots. Sigh.

Then, the AD looked at all the extras, pointed to me and had me sent back to wardrobe to change again. Sigh.

I rushed back to the set after my pants had been pinned up, no longer threatening to trip me. And I finally got used! Yaaaaay! I walked down the sidewalk with another fellow who had been wondering all night if he’d ever get used, too.

By two in the morning, I really didn’t care if I was ever gonna work, but was glad I finally did. Even if it was only walking two car lengths five times in a row.

But then, as if completing the cycle, after my scene was done, no one told me that I was wrapped. I wandered aimlessly for awhile before discovering that I could go home. It was pretty funny, actually. Once the last take was done, the whole crew just disappeared down a dark alley. The few of us extras that hadn’t heard the plan were apprehensive about following, but we had no idea what else to do. Thankfully, we didn’t get too far when an AD informed us we were allowed to drive back to base, get changed and check out.

Lords of Dogtown (2)

I wish I had a bigger story about this one, but anyhow, I was on Lords Of Dogtown again. Last time, I was on Venice Beach with Heath Ledger. This time, the scene had the skater crowd and the whole day was spent sitting on a porch, watching the skaters crash.

Yep, it was a heavy stunt day and I do not at all envy those poor kids! The scene had a group of about 8 kids skate downhill in a wide alley, zig left, then down another wide alley. But one kid has to hit the curb, then two more kids sort of smash into each other and some garbage cans before continuing on. It was a thirteen hour day and I think the garbage can kid hit them things 200 times! And they’re the metal kind!

I was supposed to be driving, but as they set up the scene, they decided that they only wanted one car actually on the road. And boy oh boy was I envious! He was a stunt driver and he got to come to locked-up screeching halt as the kids poured out of the alley.

Someday, I’m gonna be that guy… Someday… I’m saving up to go to stunt driving school and after that, nothing’s gonna stop me as far as I’m concerned!

Another average day in the life of a movie extra. My favorite!

Lords of Dogtown (1)

It’s a predominantly hippie movie set in the early 70s in California. We were on Venice Beach, luckily it wasn’t too hot. I did bring a ton of sun block, though. Lots of people got burned, but I’ve already learned that lesson!

While working in the first scene, where a scruffy blond hippy guy drives a Cadillac around a corner, I kept trying to figure out if I knew any of the actors who were working. I was hoping I’d recognize someone. That always makes the day more fun. Well, it took four hours, but then I finally heard the scruffy guy say something… The only word I heard was “can’t” and it was said more like “con’t” because of the fellow’s Australian accent.

Yes, Heath Ledger was there! People were walking past him left and right without knowing who he was. Hell, if he hadn’t said anything I might never have figured him out! Well, at least not until a little while later. You see, Heath now joins the very few celebrities who have actually spoken to me. It was such a crazy moment, too. I mean, there I was sitting on the curb, minding my own business and this scruffy hippie guy comes running at me. He hopped up on the curb as he looked at me and said, “Excuse me. Pardon me.”

Yeah, and that was the one and only panty-melting moment of my day on set. His voice is like velvet in person. I watched the rest of that close-up scene and as far as I can tell, he is a kind of naughty partyboy, but never once was he rude to anyone. He was actually very nice and very down-to-earth, even pausing for a moment to chat with one of the street vendors about a painting. But I’ll bet underneath it all, he really knows how to let his hair down, so to speak. 🙂 The energy around him was alive with mystery and mischief as well as determination.

Be Cool (2)

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

I was on Be Cool again last night… Remember how last time I saw The Rock, he was rather flamboyant? Well, this time, he was sooooooo the other end of the spectrum and literally beating the stuffing out of a dummy with Vince Vaughn.

I didn’t actually get to see them destroying the dummy, I only heard all the grunting, short lines and echoing punches and kicks.

Then, when I was finally allowed around the corner, there was this poor mutilated dummy laying in a huge pile of its stuffing. I mean, with The Rock beating it up plus Vince, yikes! Vince is actually about an inch or so taller than The Rock, too. Big men…I felt real sorry for the dummy!

I also hope Vince doesn’t think I’m stalking him. I’ve worked on his last three movies: Starsky & Hutch, Anchorman, and now Be Cool…

Remembering back to that night shoot, this email left out a bunch of stuff.

The scene was a swing dance bit inside a club in downtown LA. I don’t know if I got any camera time, and sincerely doubt it, but nonetheless it was fun to see all the swing dancers doing their thing and at least acting like they were having a good time.

I was booked with my Mustang fastback which they’d parked in the background of the scene with the dummy. By the way, in the finished product, it’ll look like Vince and The Rock are killing a guy and putting him in the trunk of their car…rather than a dummy.

Anyhow, that was the night that spoiled me for trusting production people with my car. I was instructed to spend the night in holding after the swing dance part while they used the cars in the parking lot. Fine with me, but I got a little bored so I went out to watch the scene and saw the bit with the dummy.

It was cold that night, so I didn’t stay. Next time I went out there, my car had been moved. No big deal…except that they’d put it hanging out of the driveway, front wheels on the sidewalk, window down, keys in the ignition.

Now this car may just be a car to most people, but to me, she’s my baby. I’d been lovingly pouring time, money and lots of blood sweat and tears into this car since 1993…my dream car essentially…and they’d left her hanging out like that for anyone to easily steal if they’d been so inclined. And I would have been downright inconsolable if that had happened. To me, the car is not at all replaceable.

At that point, I locked my door and took the key. Thankfully, the AD was on my side. He totally understood my frustration and truthfully I wasn’t being a bitch, even though I was perfectly justified. Never once did I raise my voice or say anything mean. I wrote out my cell phone number and told them to call me from holding if they needed to move my car because I was certainly not going to leave my keys with them again.

The next time the car was to be moved was when I signed out. And honestly, I am grateful for the experience because I have had to explain to other productions why I am not willing to leave my keys with anyone. And because of that, they’re usually okay as long as I don’t stray too far from my car.

Had it not been for the car incident, the shoot would’ve been great. I mean, maybe four hours walking through a swing dance club and then ten hours bored, noodling around on my pda in holding is not a bad shoot at all.

Plus, seeing Vince and The Rock again…yum yum yum…

Kicking and Screaming

I just got home from a fifteen hour shoot on the set of ‘Kicking and Screaming’…starring Will Farrell. He as well as Vince Vaughn probably think I’m stalking him because I’ve worked on their last couple shows….It’s just rare to have such a long day be such a good day and actually get some decent camera time in the process.

Jen always asks how close I got to whichever star… Well, I was about three inches from Will this time.

And my piece of business…writing. I was writing in my notebook while sitting in a coffee house and Will is standing in a line right next to me.

The man is downright hilarious… a real comedic genius.

It was another one of those scenes where as extras, we’re not allowed to laugh, but as soon as the director hollered “Cut!” we all just busted up to get it out of our system. He’s very professional, very ‘in the moment’ and very funny. Before long, I think I’m gonna end up a Will Farrell fan!

The following is the actual words I wrote in my notebook during the filming of the scene. Boy, did I say what exactly was on my mind…not much!

Making it look like I’m busy… On the set of Kicking and Screaming… Will Farrell’s in this movie. It’s the second of his in a row. So strange. I’m listening to him make a big deal in a coffee shop. He’s playing a caffeine addict. He’s going on and on… It’s actually pretty funny. I’m writing through the break just so I can get onto the next page. Okay. Here we go again. I’m in the shot. I just don’t want to be too obvious. The guy is yelling. This is great. Here he goes again. Not a bad day. Loud. Very loud. But really fun. He’s ranting like crazy. It’s really a blast. But I also really gotta take a whiz…onto my next page. Still going. It’s downright hilarious. I hope they keep this stuff. It’s really a hoot. He’s still going. I’m even required to react to what all’s going on the scene. This is great. Keep going. Wow. Page after page. I’m diggin’ it. I–

After about five to seven takes, they must have gotten what they were looking for because what I wrote in my notebook cut off right there!

And here’s a deleted scene bonus… My 2000 Plymouth Prowler:

Be Cool (1)

Today, I was on the set of ‘Be Cool’. It’s the sequel to ‘Get Shorty’. John Travolta wasn’t there. I’d’ve loved to see him again. He’s a real sweetie. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him.In fact, of the three actors that were there, I only recognized one name…and recognized him, the man, as well despite the white satin shirt, light blue pants and red cowboy boots…and, my oh my… I really didn’t think I’d be quite so…ummm… impressed.

Yeah, luckily the weather was a little chilly so I didn’t have to blatantly fan myself because holy-moly The Rock is one super-fine man in person! Wow!

I didn’t see him actually acting in the scene because I was hard at work walking around in the background, but my goodness, I nearly ran into the guy on my way to grab a donut and I swear the man stepped right out of a torrid romance novel…well… from what I could tell with his clothes on at least! Tall and handsome and sexy and seemed rather nice–he was signing autographs for passers-by between shots while the make-up and hair crews touched him up.

It was actually kind of a strange day. There’s nothing like being booked with a particular car, going to start it up at 5:15AM and having the battery cable so corroded that there was no way in the world that car was gonna leave my driveway.

I had to call the casting director and apologize profusely. As luck would have it, my service had told me the wrong car to bring in the first place! I was off the hook and on the road. I made it just in time to hurry up and wait. Seeing The Rock and having to consciously remind myself not to drool was like karma making up for the car not starting.

And as I recall, when I’d spoken with the casting director, I told her that I only had one other new car because the rest were classics.

I guess she remembered that because I got booked again on Be Cool the following week with one of my Mustangs.

Without A Trace

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

Fifteen hours of pure boredom. I only worked for about two, maybe three hours.

They really only wanted our cars parked in the background anyway. I have no idea what the episode was about or anything. All I saw was a guy getting arrested by the FBI.

The rest of the scene took place in a house and all I could hear was a skirmish followed by the words, “Sit down! Sit! Sit!” Sorry, no good plot teasers or anything for anyone who watches the show. They did blow up a door and a window, though. That was pretty nifty.

The real tale this time is for those of you who happen to like Vin Diesel…

As I was sitting in holding, naturally a fellow struck up a conversation with me. We were in one of the older parts of town where there are Victorian homes…kinda run down and forgotten. Anyway, the fellow said that the house they used in the first party scene in Fast & The Furious was about five doors down from where we were working.

He then proceeded to tell me that he’d been Vin’s stand-in for F&F, A Man Apart, Triple X and that sequel they’re doing for Pitch Black. So, I ask the inevitable question… “What’s Vin Diesel like?” And we end up talking about the man for a good half hour.

Apparently, he’s very cool. He does do his best to stay out of the limelight just because he doesn’t like all the hype. The number one thing, though, is that Vin is very loyal. He actually requests this guy whenever he needs a stand-in. They flew the guy to Prague for Triple X… And to Paris for some other thing Vin was working on and for that, Vin called him personally to ask him to come with him… And he went first class, just him and Vin.

WaHoo! It’s always good to know when someone you like really is likable in more ways than just eye candy. Now if the man would just film something in LA that I can actually get on…

Threat Matrix

The following is from an email I’d sent to Jen:

So, yeah, last night aside from getting more good stuff to put into books, I did an amazing job and they loved all my 80s stuff…especially my 80s hair. You know how I used to do it with the one side flipped up, etc. I just did that again and they LOVED it. They said I had the best hair of the whole show.

As for stuff we need to add into books… We got to the first location with our cars and they initially had me park mine and then I was gonna be a pedestrian, but they last second changed their mind and wanted me to drive through. So, there I go trotting across the street and just as I get behind my car, my feet come completely out from underneath me. I did manage to hurt my wrist and elbow, but the fall was so comic, I just couldn’t mention it.

They’re all askin’ if I’m okay, and I’m laughin’ and giggling, saying I’m fine and I get in the car and do the stuff. And honestly, at the time, I was fine. It wasn’t for about 6 hours later that I started feelin’ it. Ah well. It was just such a Blaina moment. She’s eager to drive on set, so I think it’d be hilarious. We should put something like that in Driven To Distraction.

Okay, now for standing in… Well, sitting in and the scene after that I stood in. And you’re never gonna believe who for… First let me say that she’s about 4 inches taller than me and had long, poofy blonde hair. Yes, I looked NOTHING like her… Denise Crosby. Probably best known as Tasha Yar from Star Trek Next Generation. She’s way cool and she likes late 60s rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly.

I was just having one of those incredibly ‘on’ kind of nights. The guy I was standing in with was asking me where to go and what to do and the ADs loved me to pieces because I was always trying to fill empty spots and wasn’t afraid to walk between the principals and the camera. I seriously think that of the 4 or 5 different scenes where I walked in front of the camera, one of them has got to be saved from the cutting room floor. This episode takes place in 1983. Two American agents are tailing a Russian agent. This was 2nd unit, so that’s about all the information I have on the episode.

Havoc (1)

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent the day after this shoot. Southern California was on fire and I was working on a movie…

I’d driven in to downtown LA in my primered Mustang [most of which I’d had to reassemble just to be able to drive it] when, while changing lanes, I hear this nasty crackling/thumping noise. I knew it was my tire…and it was bad. Real bad as far as definitely gonna make me late for call time. And I’ve never ever in my theatre or film/TV career been late.

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