Film, day #2
Yeah, so I got up this morning thinking “WHY OH WHY do I do this to my self? Oh, right. Because this is my job and my work is erratic and when it comes up I should take it. Right. I remember. Then WHY OH WHY didn’t I choose to be an accountant!?? Can't do math. Right. Ok then. Off to work.”
I always take the job and I always regret it the morning after. It’s my way.
So as I’m driving to one job – the teaching one – I get a call from my other job – the Cancer Center one – telling me that there’s some work that needs to be done ASAP. So I offer to come in between my first job – teaching - and my third job – film – to do a little of my second job. Oh good, today will be fun!
I teach my class – pajama pants for my sewing one students – race over to my second job and spend a frantic hour pounding out a long complicated patient note with the dictating doctor at the height of his OCD way of stuttering/repeating himself/spelling all the words I already know how to spell and then the repeating the spelling (grrrr…) and every minute thinking “Get. On. With. It. so I can get to my third job!” and then finally on to the film where everything was in complete chaos.
Basically picture a good sized double hotel room that’s been pressed into service for 4 wardrobe people and clothes for a cast of 30 (+ multiple extras), washer, dryer, office equipment, dyeing equipment, the whole works for two weeks – and that's the room that had to cleaned out and emptied into a truck today. Lori – the designer – and I looked at the truck, she told me where she thought some of the costumes should go, rather generally, and then said “it’s going to be tight so use your best judgment.” That was officially all the instruction I got. And I was now in charge.
Well, here’s a small secret. I like being in charge. I do some of my best work in charge. And I especially like to work when I’m being left to my own devices. Being in charge and getting left alone to do my own thing? It’s the best of all worlds. So I got someone to boss around, someone who fortunately took direction well and didn’t have any pesky opinions of their own, and the two of us packed that whole truck by ourselves this afternoon. And in between I did more dyeing and more sewing so I was quite productive.
I also got to organize the truck (really, it’s a big huge trailer), label everything and decide where it was all going to live for the next two months. That was a little tricky as I’ve never had anything to do with film, ever, so I have kind of no idea what gets used the most… It’s almost like you have to crawl inside someone else’s head and figure out what they think is important and then arrange things the way they would want them, after knowing them one whole day. So it’s a bit of a crap shoot. But by 9PM, when dinner finally arrived, the truck was packed and they were ready to start the first day of shooting.
And of course I thought I’d be done with all this after this weekend but now they want me to stay on. Which is great except I don’t really have time. As it is, I went back to the Cancer Center at 10PM tonight to do more work for them since they are getting the short end of the stick while I go play at being in pictures. Having 2 other jobs is putting a crimp in my film career! And it doesn’t help that every other job I have pays better than film. But this has been fun, I must admit. However, Rent, the musical, is in town next week and I really want to work that show so I may have to squeeze it in somehow around all the rest of this madness.
And I’m doing a pile of sewing alterations for the film tomorrow because, well, because I’m crazy and apparently I don’t like sleeping.
But I learned the director hierarchy today so here it is. Director, followed by First Assistant Director (AD), followed by Second AD, followed by the Second AD’s assistant (the lovely Second Second) followed, on union shows, by the DGA who is in training and aspires to someday be a Second Second and work his way up the ladder. The costuming hierarchy is even more confusing with designers, assistants, key costumers, heads of costume, costumers, PAs and then all the technicians. I can’t keep it straight, yet.
Our first day of shooting is Saturday and I’m expected to be there all day – they have a 5AM call, yawn! – so more to come…
I always take the job and I always regret it the morning after. It’s my way.
So as I’m driving to one job – the teaching one – I get a call from my other job – the Cancer Center one – telling me that there’s some work that needs to be done ASAP. So I offer to come in between my first job – teaching - and my third job – film – to do a little of my second job. Oh good, today will be fun!
I teach my class – pajama pants for my sewing one students – race over to my second job and spend a frantic hour pounding out a long complicated patient note with the dictating doctor at the height of his OCD way of stuttering/repeating himself/spelling all the words I already know how to spell and then the repeating the spelling (grrrr…) and every minute thinking “Get. On. With. It. so I can get to my third job!” and then finally on to the film where everything was in complete chaos.
Basically picture a good sized double hotel room that’s been pressed into service for 4 wardrobe people and clothes for a cast of 30 (+ multiple extras), washer, dryer, office equipment, dyeing equipment, the whole works for two weeks – and that's the room that had to cleaned out and emptied into a truck today. Lori – the designer – and I looked at the truck, she told me where she thought some of the costumes should go, rather generally, and then said “it’s going to be tight so use your best judgment.” That was officially all the instruction I got. And I was now in charge.
Well, here’s a small secret. I like being in charge. I do some of my best work in charge. And I especially like to work when I’m being left to my own devices. Being in charge and getting left alone to do my own thing? It’s the best of all worlds. So I got someone to boss around, someone who fortunately took direction well and didn’t have any pesky opinions of their own, and the two of us packed that whole truck by ourselves this afternoon. And in between I did more dyeing and more sewing so I was quite productive.
I also got to organize the truck (really, it’s a big huge trailer), label everything and decide where it was all going to live for the next two months. That was a little tricky as I’ve never had anything to do with film, ever, so I have kind of no idea what gets used the most… It’s almost like you have to crawl inside someone else’s head and figure out what they think is important and then arrange things the way they would want them, after knowing them one whole day. So it’s a bit of a crap shoot. But by 9PM, when dinner finally arrived, the truck was packed and they were ready to start the first day of shooting.
And of course I thought I’d be done with all this after this weekend but now they want me to stay on. Which is great except I don’t really have time. As it is, I went back to the Cancer Center at 10PM tonight to do more work for them since they are getting the short end of the stick while I go play at being in pictures. Having 2 other jobs is putting a crimp in my film career! And it doesn’t help that every other job I have pays better than film. But this has been fun, I must admit. However, Rent, the musical, is in town next week and I really want to work that show so I may have to squeeze it in somehow around all the rest of this madness.
And I’m doing a pile of sewing alterations for the film tomorrow because, well, because I’m crazy and apparently I don’t like sleeping.
But I learned the director hierarchy today so here it is. Director, followed by First Assistant Director (AD), followed by Second AD, followed by the Second AD’s assistant (the lovely Second Second) followed, on union shows, by the DGA who is in training and aspires to someday be a Second Second and work his way up the ladder. The costuming hierarchy is even more confusing with designers, assistants, key costumers, heads of costume, costumers, PAs and then all the technicians. I can’t keep it straight, yet.
Our first day of shooting is Saturday and I’m expected to be there all day – they have a 5AM call, yawn! – so more to come…
posted by KBARRETT at 11:26 PM
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