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Wednesday November 03, 2010
A week or so previously, my good friend
Maria Olsen
contacted me that she was working on a music video and had recommended me to the project's producer/director
Kevin McVey,
a friend on a few of whose projects she'd previously worked.
She let me know he'd be in contact and sure enough, he emailed me and we clarified my interest and availability.
Monday the 1st I received the location, calltime and callsheet
(listing
[Billie Piper resembling]
Kasey Shirk
as Production Coordinator, in case there were any problems on shoot day);
on which it listed Maria's character being Mrs. Williams
(I never actually received a script or outline of the music video's visual story).
Initially I was told I was playing a judge, though according to the callsheet I was playing a "Detective Tripper," a bit of synchronicity I found hilarious.
The character name is a completely inadvertant in-joke; decades ago
(literally, the mid 1980s),
back east a group of friends and I put together and wrote up a few scripts for a series of short "episodes" for a Star Trek universe spin-off
(homage and semi-satire),
titled Star Rogues
(ironically its flavour would eventually be reflected in the series Firefly).
For that series, my ship-navigator character name was simply Tripper: no first or last name or whether Tripper was actually my name or a nickname.
I noticed on the callsheet my calltime was 10:30am, which was a good thing to notice as the email simply listed the crew call as 10am, and at first I set my arrival for that.
When I saw I had a bit more leeway time, I shifted my bus arrival time more for 10am instead of 9:30.
Due to some apartment drama, I still left early, arriving in time to see a #60 bus just leaving from 7th and Flower as I emerged from the Red Line downtown.
After maybe twenty minutes or more, the 760 Rapid came by, which took to the familiar intersection of 7th and Alameda.
The production was being shot in an unused "renovated" factory within the gates of the famous American Apparel.
I was met by Kevin McVey who brought me up to the fourth floor; he was a bit surprised I was about 45 minutes early for my calltime.
The main crew call was 10am but many were already there, and shortly after ten talent began to arrive as well.
I had not been aware that the first callsheet I'd received had the wrong shoot location.
I went by the attached map how to find the place.
Friendly Rick Timber playing my partner Detective Roland
(as though our character names actually mean anything beyond the pages of the script),
did not come across the updated callsheet and relied on that, arriving "on time" with time to spare, but way back over on LaBrea.
Marie Olsen was slowed by traffic, though as with most productions, no one really was "late," per se.
Once Rick Timber had arrived and we were approved by wardrobe, they began shooting the interrogation room scene with us and
Jonica Patella,
playing Abigail.
The floor we were using contained several standing sets, as did other floors
(lots of hospital rooms and equipment and such on the first floor).
Here we had a police station, interrogation room, et al.
In the first scene Abigail provides the two detectives the indentification of who she accuses,
(played by
Sasha Stuber),
who later we bring in, and do interrogate
(all shot out of sequence, obviously).
Storywise, in between we go to our superior Commander Scott
(Jim DeVito),
who gives us the go-ahead to bring in
[Sasha's character].
Understandably, this is all visual: we have no lines as such other than gesticulations and occasional mouthing, though Kevin discouraged us from too much mouthing.
Occasionally Rick amusingly tended to go t'town with his mouthing, and were there audible lines, it'd seem he'd unintentionally just continue talking over anyone else trying to say anything.
Considering that indeed this was so low-budget we were only receiving copy and credit, it was more hurry up and wait than usual, though once they were shooting things went well and light.
Kevin was a very good director who knows how to communicate to his actors.
Kevin's Director of Photography
Christopher Pearson
went as quickly as he could, but amusingly got stuck trying to remember Jim DeVito's name, and kept calling him Peter.
The wrong name got so ingrained, particularly as there wasn't a single Peter in the cast or crew, that Chris began all but pissing himself off that he couldn't associate the name Jim with the actor, several times even calling him Peter mere seconds after repeatedly reiterating to himself aloud that the name was Jim...
The detectives were wrapped around 9:20pm'ish as the
(very goth)
band Motionless in White
prepared to do their main performance aspect
(they were filmed doing a few lyrics here and there in the interrogation room set and in the police station set).
Throughout our scenes, director Kevin consistantly liked what we were doing, and assured us that we'd certainly be working with him again.
As to copies we were told they would be ready "in about three weeks," so I figured I'd drop him a Hello email sometime in December.
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