Friday September 17, 2010
One Day Project
I'd submitted for Roy Choi's USC student film project Test Day which had an interesting twist... the audition would be in the morning, and immediately... the project would be filmed. Despite the MTA seemingly conspiring to mess up my schedule (considering on the train there was the distinct odour of burning wires), my being a little late was no big deal as Roy clarified everything had been delayed a bit.
I auditioned for the role of the teacher in the no-dialogue short subject, for which I was cast, so by 11:30am we were set to film.
First they filmed the students and such, including but not limited to our protagonist being tempted to cheat of the test paper of Charli, a super cute Bournemouth Brit. My coverage was shot second Knowing that as a teacher supervising an in-class test, clearly said teacher would have a book to read, so I brought my copy of the hilarious In Search of the World's Worst Writers as a prop, as well as to read on the train and buses.
Lunch was called; mexican food was provided for the cast and crew, the former of whom seemed a bit baffled at the portions as it wasn't clear as to whether each was for specific people, so essentially they shared various dishes. Meanwhile, for me some Panda Express was procured, though had I know a special trip was to handle same, I'd have re-suggested Wendy's which was probably the same distance away from where the new food court or such apparently is located.
After lunch they finished up my coverage and such, and Roy took the students out for what I thought was just some hallway stuff; exiting the classroom, etc. It turned out they continued shooting outside... as I waited for about an hour, unaware that literally... I was wrapped...
I simply was not notified of the fact. That or Roy didn't think to mention it. When they returned, and it was announced filming was done for the day, I "presumed" that that was "my" official wrap time. Thankfully I was more amused than anything else, essentially being abandoned when I was no longer needed.
I came across Charli again as the #200 bus arrived, and she took my info to add me on Facebook. It turned out it was a major ack not to be wrapped when I was actually done. The MTA Red Line was having system wide issues, and everything was substantially delayed. When it finally arrived, there were only four instead of six cars (and at 4:20pm, it was already officially Rush Hour). Every car was jam packed. I had to battle just to get into one.
Also the issues made the trains have to go no faster than 25mph. I expected the buses at Universal to be a similar nightmare, but surprisingly there was no real problem there. The Rapid 750 was pulling around as I emerged from the station, and there was only a few people ahead of me.
So now I await for the project to be done, and to receive my copy.

Sunday May 15, 2011
DVD copy... soon
I know many actors who choose not to work on student film due to the sad fact that many student film makers tend not to send along the contractually-owed DVD copy of the finished product. Of the eighty or so student films on which I've worked, about a third I have never received the DVD copy. Sometimes, even after years, there is never a response to inquiries as to the status of a project. Other times the director simply goes to ground, having no integrity or honour.
When I update my student film page, I'll notice a project I've listed that has not sent me a copy. This time, noting Test Day, I dropped Roy Choi an email inquiring after it, and he quite quickly responded that he'd send that to me in the next couple days, which is way cool, considering how many student film makers aren't so honourable.

Wednesday June 15, 2011
DVD
I neglected to enter on the date it was received, but the DVD arrived at my rental box. I had not anticipated the short would be in black and white, which is no big, just unexpected. It was pretty funny; I've no idea if it'll be submitted to any film festivals.