Panhandling Tips 1
Current mood: amused

Tip number one:

When approaching a potential donor, do not lead with "Could you help me? I just got out of jail."

11:33 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

my day in the movies
Current mood: content
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

So here's my first Myspace blog. Whee. I've been meaning to do this for a long time but I've just now found something to write about. And DAMN! I just previewed this thing and it's longer than I thought! Sorry 'bout that. My congratulations if you make your way through it. :-)

Yesterday I had my second gig as a movie extra. The first time was on the John Sayles film Sunshine State, also filmed in Jacksonville. This time I'm in Recount, an HBO miniseries about the 2000 Presidential election in Florida and all the hubbub around contested votes here. Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents, etc.) is directing and the bigger name folks in it are Kevin Spacey, Denis Leary, Ed Begley, John Hurt & Laura Dern.

In answer to your first question: The only "name" folks I saw were Roach and Spacey. I actually was in a scene with Spacey.

Your second question: Yeah, I think I'll probably be seen. I was pretty much right in front of the camera on several takes. Unless they scrap ALL the footage they shot I have a pretty good chance.

Your third question: I ended up being a protester. I was initially cast as a canvasser (the people who actually counted the votes & reviewed ballots) but somewhere along the way they decided that most of the folks who showed up that day were one type of protester or another. I ended up being a Republican protester. Go ahead and laugh. Accuse me of betraying my beliefs for a paycheck. Tain't true. The reason is much simpler: When they told us to divide up, hardly anyone went over to the GOP side, so I figured I'd have a better chance of serious face time there.;-)

So what was it like? Pretty cool but draining. We were out there for over 12 hours. It was about the same amount of time as my other extra gig. I will say that the Sayles experience was much cooler, but that was largely due to it being an indie production. There were a lot fewer extras on the previous one (30 or so versus 400+) and more of the "real" actors were out there with us - during down time I played tag football with Tim Hutton and teamsters, had lunch with Edie Falco, and gave Gordon Clapp a light. On this one yesterday, as I said above, Spacey was the only one around and he was only there for a short while. Again, since this is a bigger production, there are more people involved, more stuff to shoot, and more places for the stars to have privacy.

Oh yeah - Spacey is probably 5'7"-8" but looks much smaller. I will say the guy just exuded cool. When he was waiting between takes, he'd flip out a cig and looked like he was killing time til Frank and Dino got done so they could hit the baccarat tables. On one take of him walking the path between the protesters, he was looking at everyone in the crowd and I got caught by that Spacey Glare. You know - that mildly chilling/unnerving way he looks at someone right before Something Bad Happens? I thought you'd be reading about someone finding my head in a box for a split second.

Anyhoo, overall it was a neat experience. I liked seeing the contrasts between how two different sorts of films were crafted. Biggest difference other than the sheer largeness and more confusion on this one? The director didn't do as much of the vocal "directing" - shouting Action and Cut and all that - Roach's DP (didn't catch his name) did most of that while Sayles was more hands-on. Sayles did a lot of the individual blocking/positioning of the actors and extras while Roach seemed more about the Big Concept. Sayles was also more economical with the number of takes - we had to have done close to 100 takes on the 3 scenes we did yesterday. I guess the luxury of HBO money as opposed to Sayles' own company money made that difference (well, and maybe personal style came in on it as well).

Can't wait for the next one. Hope I can score a production hat or shirt then. ..

Currently listening : Going Way Out with Heavy Trash By Heavy Trash Release date: 04 September, 2007

5:58 PM - 6 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment