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Thursday November 15, 2007
Day One
Wednesday I got called and booked for the next day to play a paparazzi on the TV series Dirt, (episode 205, according to some sides at which I was able to glance), which airs on FX.
With an 11am calltime at Paramount, I was a bit concerned about officially crossing the WGA picket line.
I had another errand to run and bused down to Melrose and began walking east, on the south side.
I knew we were to use the Gower entrance, but I couldn't find Gower, having forgotten it doesn't go through to Melrose.
At Van Ness I went north and at the Lemon entrance (which had no picketers), I was allowed to walk literally through the lot to the Gower entrance.
At Gower, still on the lot, the security guys had no idea about a shuttle that was to take those of us there to set, I understandable presumed was to be on the lot somewhere.
I was directed to a soundstage, but no one there knew anything either, so I headed back to the gate from which I'd come, to find a security guard in the guard-house proper.
I arrived to find Jamie, who was searching for the shuttle as well.
We were directed how to get to the Gower Structure.
Jamie and I introduced each other; she's assistant to director David Arquette. We came to where we were told to turn right, but there was a building there.
Jamie and I walked by it but we quickly suspected that was where they'd wanted us to go: outside and off the lot.
Sure enough, the shuttle was outside and across the street.
We were filming elsewhere on location, south in the same gated community through which I went on my trip back to New Jersey this past Memorial Day week. Jamie was dropped off at the set and I went back to base camp, in the same church parking lot that basecamp was for Stealing Harvard.
I was still at basecamp by 10:45am for my 11am calltime (according to my Paramount pass, I had arrived at Paramount at 10:15am).
Along with a handful of others who showed up a bit later, we were given our vouchers, mine of which I filled out as wardrobe decided on my blue flannel shirt.
She pulled my green camo jacket as she really liked it (its various Star Trek patches notwithstanding), but realized a principal would be wearing such camo so understandably that negated my wearing mine.
When the full contingent of background were there, PA Drew signed us in officially, a bit surprised a fifth of us already had vouchers.
We got shuttled to the holding area near set.
There was just enough breakfast'y stuff we could partake: donuts and patries...
I had cold cereal as they had the little boxes and half-pint milk containers.
After a few hours, my calling service paged me to let me know I was recalled for the project for the next day.
"We haven't even been to set today yet!" I jokingly relayed when I called in to confirm.
In the late afternoon we walked over to set: a large mansion.
With working cameras we were propped, and set in place.
The sun went down behind the nearby house and we finally got to filming our bit, which essentially was taking photos from across the front yard where a principal character is departing his domicile, moving out.
We do not breach the grass, staying somewhat respectively on the sidewalk, clicking and flashing our cameras continually as we call out to him.
It was about five or six takes, and we were wrapped.
A few others were recalled for the next day as well.
One of us, the pleasant Philip Seymour Hoffman look-alike Jay Diamond, had gotten himself booked Friday for Ghost Whisperer, as (ironically enough), a burn victim, as (to an extent), I did when I worked the show.
He'd not yet worked the fun show, and indicated there'd be a fair amount of special effect make-up going on, due to a fire or such in the story.
I told him to say hi for me to Kandace, if she does his burn make-up [g].
It turned out Jay is well aware of Strictly Background, and a lot of the background [!] about the award-winning feature documentary was discussed.
Also on set was comic-book artist Arne Starr, so classic films and comics were also discussed.
He mentioned having his own website, but it doesn't seem to want to come up.
We were wrapped at 6pm (eg, enough time to shuttle us back to the Gower parking structure).
Food was ready for serving for cast and crew, but our having been wrapped, we were not invited to stay and eat, though at least for such and regarding time, we got a meal penalty.
Pleasant fellow backgrounder Jake Gyllenhaal look-alike Aaron Lynch offered me a ride home, which I accepted.
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Friday November 16, 2007
Day Two
The 9am calltime became 10am.
I woke up so awake that after checking my email an'all, I walked the entire distance to Paramount, just down to Willoughby and then east until Gower, and got there by about 9:30am.
About half of us from yesterday were recalled, and the location was several blocks west of the previous day.
The paparazzi await a fellow to emerge from his home, and we photography him as he gets into his car and takes off.
We had actually been able to have breakfast, and afterwards were told to come to set for being placed, and most of us brought our stuff.
I had my blue bag, and director David Arquette called me over (as with the bag I seemed really a Ready For Anything type photographer), and he hadn't initially realized the blue bag was mine.
So I was placed right by the camera doing a truck-dolly pan, and I ran across the street when the character Roy emerges.
We did several takes, as Ian Hart as Don, had some phone work lines for the start of the scene.
On one take his car simply wouldn't start, but this was fixed quite quickly.
Those of us who had cleared the initial shot were off to the side, albeit without chairs, so we just sat on the pavement.
At around 2:45pm'ish, the paparazzi were wrapped and back to basecamp where Drew signed us out "at 4pm" (as we were still well within the eight hour threshold).
The traffic was not as nightmarish as the night before, so we got back to Paramount relatively quickly, and Aaron had me back at my place by 3:30.
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