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September 26/27, 2000
Music video shoot
Through Bill Dance Casting, I was booked as [a] "Depressed Man" on a music video for a Spanish-music artist named
Chayanne,
scheduled for a September 26th night shoot at the Downtown Los Angeles Second Street Tunnel.
With the then-recent MTA bus strike, thankfully the MetroLine Trains were running, so I was able to take the Van Nuys run on the Ventura Line down to Union Station.
I was early enough to eat on mine own (just in case no food was provided), and arrived for my 7:45pm calltime at 6:30pm.
As it was we did get a pretty good meal at 1:00am.
As it was, there was
quite a lot of press
there for Chayanne.
Well, about five or six interviewers and a few photographers.
They were frequently pulling aside director Simon Bran and interviewing him at first, to the point I thought he was the musical artist.
Eventually we were placed, and I saw Chayanne.
The video storyline, of what I could make out and what was told to me, is that he and his girlfriend have had a fight.
He gets in a traffic tie-up in the tunnel due to a car wreck ahead.
In other cars couples argue and (I guess) he realizes what foolishness it was to have such a petty fight or such.
He gets out of his vehicle and heads to the tunnel entrance to see what is the matter.
He finds it is his girlfriend's car that has been totalled.
Talk about "Oops"...
He goes up and sees the wrecked car, the gas tank of which ignites via a flash pot with a small white mushroom cloud.
He watches the ambulance leave, but finds his girlfriend alive in the nearby police car: they hug happily ever after.
The button to the ending has them hug, and a crane shot goes up, and we hear "Cut!" at which point the crane shot widens to reveal It's All Been Just A Movie or such.
Cute.
Before he gets out of the car, a steadicam scoots up around the parked cars to his vehicle.
During this shot I can just be seen getting out of the car I was given to use.
At least for that shot director Simon came over to me and asked me to get out of the car when "action!" was called.
My car is at Chayanne's car's ten o'clock position: one car forward and to his left, far screen right.
After he gets out he passes my car as I continue to look forward as though wondering what's causing the traffic jam.
Now some time passed (like the 1:00am "lunch") and they went to the front of the tunnel for him to find the car.
I was placed at the front of the crowd, which (until they started shooting), I didn't realize meant that apparently my character teleports or bi-locates to being directly in front of Chayanne.
Between nearly every take at the car, the moment there was a Cut, the photographers snapped shots of Chayanne, particularly at his car.
We wrapped just at 6:00am; I hiked back up to Union Station and made one of the first trains of the morning back up to Van Nuys.
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