My Life On The Silver Screen!
My Life On The Silver Screen!
Friday, July 17, 2009
On July 13th an e-mail arrived from the 2nd Assistant Director that changed my call for The Experiment from (mid-morning, Hollywood time) 8 am to 9:30 am. Attached were some slight script changes. None involved my scene. Also attached was a complete shooting script.
Costuming had asked me to bring some of my own clothing. Linda pulled, laundered, and ironed several outfits. I asked her to come with me, and I am glad she did. She saved the day for me more than once, but more about that later.
As we drove down Forest Avenue toward the Central Senior Center there was an array of huge white trucks parked on the street and in the Center’s parking lot. Lights and screens were set up on the sidewalks to control outside light that came through the Center’s windows.
We drove two blocks further to ML King Elementary School, the Base Camp, as it was called. I identified myself as an actor, and we were waved to a parking place. Only one was left. The parking lot filled with trailers, a power generator, and equipment trucks. Most were rented from Austin, Texas.
When I reported in, I was assigned to my own trailer. Yes, my own trailer - and my character’s name was on the door. Inside were a make-up table and mirror, a john, a combination TV/DVD, a fridge, a microwave, a closet, air conditioning, and a long couch. Linda neatly hung my outfits on a door.
Almost immediately, I was escorted to the hair and make-up trailer. Stylist Andrea Polite trimmed and styled my hair. Then make-up artist Shelley Banks subtly smoothed out of my complexion and added some coloring. This took most of an hour.
There was no hurry. We were told there was a delay because a new digital camera (known as “Red”) was causing the camera crew trouble. Back in my trailer we were greeted with an array of sandwiches, bottled water, and soft drinks.
As Linda and I waited I was given the worksheets and tax forms to fill in and sign. This meant I could get paid. By the way, the pay was very good for this gig since this was a SAG shoot. My contract identified me as a “Day Performer.”
The costume designer, Yasmine Abraham, arrived. She was French and a little more than flamboyant. She liked the denim shirt and jeans I wore until she decided there was blue in the scene before mine. We tried on a variety of combinations. There always seemed to be a conflict. Finally, she settled on my jeans, a favorite long sleeve shirt of mine, and a vest sweater, which they had in stock. In time that would change.
At about eleven a van picked us up to take us to rehearsal at the Senior Center two blocks away. In addition to the exterior equipment, the entry hallway was filled with more equipment and crews. I was escorted to the recreation room where the shooting was to take place.
At the same time I arrived, Adrien Brody arrived from his trailer. He is tall and thin, almost to the point of being gaunt. His beard was thick and his hair was long. We shook hands. I told him how much I admired his Academy Award performance in “The Pianist.” He said it had been a hard thing to do, but he felt that it was a story that had to be told. I mentioned that I had fought in World War II and had guarded a slave labor camp at the end of the war.
As he and I entered the Center’s Recreation Room, our stand-ins were asked to step aside. Yes, I had a stand-in, too.
Ten extras stood to one side as Paul Scheuring, the director, blocked our scene. Then we ran the scene three or four times without the extras. As we did a camera on tracks followed Brody as he approached me. Then the extras were added to the scene.
Brody is a completely relaxed person. His acting is quietly understated, his eye contact intense. He delivered his lines so quietly I could barely hear them. He had been body-miked from the scene before mine.
When the rehearsal finished, I couldn’t find Linda. I suspected that the costumer had changed her mind again and Linda went home to pull more of my clothing. I was right.
By now it was time for lunch so everyone returned to the Base Camp and the school cafeteria for an hour lunch break. It was a lavishly catered spread. More than a hundred crew members were there.
I had lunch with two cameramen, one being Julie Burt’s cousin! To those who did not go to Drake, Julie was a theatre student during my last years at Drake. Linda returned just as Brody joined the cast and crew at lunch. She had pulled most of the contents of my closet for the wardrobe designer to choose from and stowed them in the trailer. Linda was out of breath and eager to hear how my rehearsal had gone. As we left, Adrien stopped by to meet Linda and was gracious enough to pose for a picture with me. We three were able to talk a bit as we walked back to our trailers at “Base.”
After lunch there was a considerable wait while the camera crews picked up some shots from the morning. I was able to take a short nap while Linda browsed the area and talked to other members of the cast and crew. Mid-afternoon I was finally called back to hair and makeup to freshen up and prepare for the shoot. Once again the van picked us up and took us to the set. As I entered the hallway, Paul asked me to cut two sentences from my lines. They were good cuts. They made the scene move more quickly.
We were escorted to the waiting room where various directors chairs were in place. Of course the expected chairs marked “Adrien Brody,” “Paul Scheuring,” and others were there. Two chairs were marked “Cast,” and we were told to wait while the crews finished setting up. Linda stayed with me and we chatted with cast and crew while we waited. Adrien arrived and took his seat. He chatted with us while we waited, and spent some time texting as well. Finally we were called to the set.
Now the extras were in place. Our two stand-ins moved aside, and were ready for the first shoot. First, I stood up at the climax of my scene. Then Paul asked me to remain seated. There was a timing problem. The scene, which is an exchange between my character – an old veteran against the war – and Brody’s involved our talking across a worktable where seniors are making anti-war signs.
We did several takes. Then, Brody and I were dismissed while they set up for a new camera angle. Our stand-ins went to work, standing in the sweltering lights. A special break room was set up for the actors, the director, and ADs. We had the option of waiting for at least half an hour or being driven back to our trailers. Brody stayed with us. We talked a little about the production. Forest Whittaker, another Academy Award winner, had arrived. The Experiment will be shooting entirely in Des Moines and will be here for 5 and half weeks. They are building a prison set in a warehouse downtown.
The changeover involved removing half the worktable so they could shoot Brody moving up the table toward me. This took most of an hour since the tracking shot had to be rehearsed – with stand-ins – and the lighting had to be adjusted.
Again we did perhaps ten takes. Again, we were dismissed while they reversed the shot. As the AD said to me. “This is your big scene.” This time the camera would be entirely on me. Of course, there was another long wait. I remember the English actor Edward Hardwicke saying, The acting I do for free. I'm paid for waiting.”
It was getting late and the time booked for the Center was running out. Again, Brody and I did seven or eight takes. We had a timing problem. At the beginning of the scene Brody staples one of the signs and lifts it so he can carry it with him. In lifting the sign he covered my face in long-shot opf my first line. I delayed the line to let the sign clear. That gave Brody a long pause to deal with. Scheuring asked me to take a second longer pause, and Brody adjusted. By now Brody and I had worked out the rest of our timing as the camera followed him or centered on me.
Scheuring seemed pleased and congratulated me as did several crew members. Brody and I had a last exchange and he volunteered to pose for more pictures, suggesting that Linda be included in one of them.
In our final chat I found out that Scheuring is a Chicago Cubs fan. I invited him to join our back-of-home-plate gang. He seemed amenable to the idea of having a prime seat.
I was checked out at Base Camp, turned in my pay forms, and Linda and I drove home at 8:45. This remarkable day took more than eleven hours.
Inside the Center, they were shooting another duo scene with Brody and a local actor, Steve Matthews. He had been called all day for one line in my scene and was just now getting to work. No extras were involved, so it probably went quickly. I don’t know when they wrapped, but the crews and talent met the first day objective – 3-3/8 pages of the 108-page shooting script.
The crews worked quietly and efficiently. I never heard one voice raised in anger all day. The sheer professionalism of this crew of about 100 was amazing. In addition, they were always pleasant in our brief interchanges. I have no idea of what the budget for The Experiment is, but the leads cost – two Academy Award winners, Toby Maguire, and current teen heart throb, Cam Gigandet do not come cheap – nor does constructing a prison set! Now I can understand those long, long rolls at the end of films.
This was one of the more exciting days of my life. I had acted before but never with an Academy Award winner.
I am so pleased that Linda shared it with me. In addition to having her reassuring presence with me, she was indispensable. What a long partnership we have had as a couple and as colleagues! I see why actors have personal assistants! Everything comes at you so fast amidst all that waiting. I had one great advantage. I was married to my assistant during that long, long day.
Acting for the screen involves so many lines of attention and focus – the lines themselves (often changed during takes), mustering your emotions again and again, the blocking and its often change, knowing where the camera is, and timing interaction with your fellow player as you match camera movement. This is all a far cry from stage acting. There, you have continuity, continual focus and concentration, and extended moments. For film you are working sometimes by sentence to sentence amidst dozens of crew members.
At my age, I think playing an extended stage role would be most difficult, of not impossible. On film, I think I could work for many more years. I will not get too enchanted. I am primarily a writer now. This one day in my life probably was my first and last hurrah for film acting.
Linda and I were very, very tired, but we were exhilarated. It had been a good day, and that is an understatement!
Eleven more features will be shot in Iowa before the first of the year. The casting director, who set up the job for me, said she would be calling me often.
Could it be that at 83 I am beginning an acting career?