If I Only Had A Brain

So yesterday, I worked on this show. I arrived to set very tired because I only got 4 hours of sleep, and the sleep I did get was not restful.

So first shot of the day, I was told to walk from Point A to the table, stop at the table and sign up for a class, and then walk to Point B. The rehearsal went smoothly. But then the first real take after I sign up at the table, I turn around and the camera is right there in front of me. The camera guy says, "You weren't there before." Oops.

Take two, same thing happens. The camera man swears under his breath and says, "It was going so well." The 2nd AD tells me to move to my left a little bit so as not to block the sign. I say "Okay."

Third take busts as well, and they make me aware of the actor I'm standing next to at the table, who I didn't recognize because I don't watch the show, and who I could have sworn I saw him in holding that morning with the rest of us background. And I wish I had been awake enough to realize earlier that if the camera is stopping right in front of me, there's an actor there that needs to be seen. Apparently he needs to get around me but is blocked between me and a tree. The AD tells me to be aware of him and the camera and to move when he tugs on my sleeve. I try to get out of the way, but the fourth take busts as well. They tell me just not to stop at the table after that, which is fine with me because I'm stressing out that I keep messing up the shot for them. I felt that if I'd been more awake I could have been more aware and adjusted accordingly.

And then I saw the actor again in holding with us later on, but I was too tired to figure out if he was just a featured background, or if this guy in holding just looked very similar to the actor and I was too tired to figure out they were two different people. But I couldn't find the actor's name listed on the IMDb, so maybe it is the first theory.

Anyhow. Later in the day I was placed, along with maybe 15 other people, to walk past two of the principle actors who were sitting at a table. In between takes, the two actors would move their chairs into the shade, which was also completely blocking the walkway where me and 15 other people had to walk through during the scene. They'd move their chairs back to the table when they started the scene. After a while, one of them suggested they just leave their chairs in the shade. "Is there any reason we shouldn't? It's not a continuity issue. Let's just leave them there." I hesitated, wondering if it was worse to speak directly to the actors, or to allow them to leave the chairs in the way where it would ruin the shot because me and 15 other extras wouldn't be able to walk where we needed to. I gathered my courage, and said as respectfully as I could, "A lot of people need to walk through there. Sorry." Neither of them looked at me, but the other said to the first, "Well, there's your answer." And they moved the chairs.

In the afternoon, we were jumping back and forth between filming coverage for two different scenes. (Coverage in this case was close ups on the individual actors.) Again, I had been picked to walk by the principle actors and the camera for the second scene. Since they were jumping around, I had walked over across the street to the shade. I heard the PA yelling for a couple they needed to walk, so I assumed they were still on the first scene at that point. Then all of a sudden, I heard the PA yell "ISABELLE!" (She had taken my name down earlier when she assigned me to walk.) Oh crap! I jumped up as she yelled again, so I shouted in respectful response, "I'M COMING!" and I grabbed my coat and RAN. Again, I felt if I hadn't been so tired, I would have been on top of things and been at my place like a professional should be.

But, I wasn't the only one slowing the production down by far, and definitely not the biggest or most important factor. Not that gets me off the hook, but perhaps I don't need to be so hard on myself.