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Friday, December 08, 2005
Interview and Shoot
My blog reports at MySpace at the time were uncharacteristically sketchy about the
Monkeys in Space
shoot.
Apparently all I wrote was that I had the interview and the probable night shoot, and nothing about the shoot itself.
From Central Casting I was called for my availability for an interview: if chosen I would work immediately.
Eventually I got my calltime: 6:30pm.
If selected (according to the hotline recording), I'd work "to about midnight."
The character for which I'd be interviewed was that of a lab technician.
As always, I don't mind night shoots, but this not only would have me miss
(down at USC),
the first public screening of
For Whom the Bell Tolls
on the big screen
(big compared to a TV screen at any rate...),
but that if I could not find someone working the show from whom to get a lift back to Hollywood when I was wrapped
(or at least substantially more local to Hollywood),
I'd either have a very long walk or
(for the first morning bus around 5:30am'ish),
a very long wait....
I arrived at the Earl studios around 5:50pm, and was given an Interview voucher
(a regular voucher, just on its own as a separate aspect: whoever is selected gets a second voucher for the actual shoot).
There were two other gentlemen also being interviewed.
Of the three of us, only one did not bring his own lab coat
(I certainly had mine with me).
They were filming on the sound-stage, and eventually, around 6:15 or so, the three of us were brought around pretty close to Video Village
(where the director and producers, et al, watch what the cameras see via monitors).
While technically close, we were far enough away that it seemed we were waiting to be seen.
We stood there for about thirty seconds, and the AD stepped back up and politely took us back to holding, as though they wanted to see us a little bit later.
After a few moments on our own, we collectively wondered, "Was that it?
Was that the 'interview'...?"
It turned out, it was.
I was selected; the other two had their vouchers signed and they departed.
As anyone listening to the audio commentary on the
DVDs for the series,
it is well settled that Fridays tend to go late into the night, generally often for Randy-alone scenes.
This was one of a number of quick sequences, Randy trying to take on real jobs on his own, several in a row, one of which is that of a cosmetics test subject.
For the scene, I sit as an assistant of sorts, viewing through an observation window.
As a joke button for the scene, the elderly lab coated man with Randy laughs to me, calling me Darren, about how Randy had just mistakenly called him "doctor."
I was wrapped near 1am'ish, informed that the shuttle driver would not take me close to any late-night bus routes
(specifically, Van Nuys Boulevard).
I hiked up to Roscoe and headed east, arriving at Van Nuys Boulevard around 3:30am or so, thankfully moments before the next to-Hollywood bus arrived, otherwise I would have had to wait there for another hour.
Understandably, this was more Featured than my previous gig with the series.
A few month earlier, the exact date of which I've misplaced, I was booked on the early episode
Barn Burner,
in which I just sat at the bar at the Crab Shack.
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