At work

In the previous posting I used the expression "too coy" for describing my actions, but on reconsideration I don't think "coy" is the word at all (although I am actually a very shy person)> I think a better word in the circumstance would be "twee". It would be too precious, too twee, even for me to use the expression "filming" rather than the much butcher "working".

I was green as green on the first day of filming in London and am eternally grateful to David da Silva for the time and effort he put into coaching me through the day. David had come straight from the set of "Wolfman" and his hair style was appropriate to that film, so Fran, the film hairdresser, soon sorted him out with a short back and sides. David and Roger from Wales helped me enormously by sharing their hard won expertise, which other less generous souls may have kept to themselves, as after all I was a possible source of competition for future roles.

I took books to read and puzzles to do but all were abandoned in the excitement of learning new routines and meeting some fascinating people with wonderful anecdotes. I am a real sucker for theatrical and film stories: the one about Brendan Gleeson arriving on set as a large than life, hulking, jovial Irishman turning into a smaller Churchill with the Churchillian tones once the cameras started rolling.

I did rub shoulders literally with the star of the film, John Cusack. On the first day of shooting in London, he was part of a scene and we extras were ordered to return to our starting positions. One hundred and fifty people in swirling motion and one of them, yours truly, a little ungainly collided with the stationary star. He wisely had remained completely still during the changeover and I, in avoiding other extras on the move, bumped into him. This is a faux pas extraordinaire and visions of execution or summary dismissal sprang into my mind in those frozen micro seconds as I realised who I bumped into. He, to his great credit, simply looked slightly startled at this seventeen stone extra at his side and never uttered a sound. Luckily, my native wit came to my rescue and I mumbled the immortal "Pardon" and hurried away. As I was several feet away at the top of a very large staircase I thought I was going to be safe unless pursued by a hue and cry. I have learned that this is a no brain job and that one must do exactly what the Assistant Directors (ADs) tell you. When they say "Jump", the only allowable response is "How high?".

The ADs on this production were fantastic and their professionalism and kindness seemed to stem from the approach of Mikael Hafstrom the director. Michel Cheyko, or Mishka, is the first assistant director and he did most of the large scale organisation with the help of Andy, Sonny, Glen and Laura. The most important ADs for the background crowd were Michael and Clare. Michael, I believe, won a Bafta for his work in the film industry and on this experience I would say it was well deserved. No longer a young man, he was always full of energy and coached, cajoled and commended the large crowd with good humour. He handled us skilfully, giving praise when needed and geeing us up when tiredness crept in. David Whiting, in charge of costumes, spent most of the days in American uniform although was not appearing on screen, and was a main source of much amusement and good humour. Clare was the AD in charge of organising the crowd and spent a lot of time off set doing the paperwork, including the white chits, and phoning agents. One of the things I did notice was the production company preferred to inform the agents rather than us directly, so on the long drive home as described in the previous posting I would be texted with the details of the next day's filming. I also had a phone call from my team manager asking where a chit of mine was while I was in the portakabin loo putting in my contact lenses. Extras are not allowed to have their mobiles on the set and ADs develop a kind of antenna which detects mobiles in costumes. Julie Weiss , the designer, was particularly adept at spotting a concealed mobile. The reason the mobiles are clutched so avidly by the extras is that news of further work or further details of the production they are currently working on is constantly being relayed by your agent. My mobile has never been as busy as it was in that week.

I am not at liberty to divulge too much of what went on on set but the plot summary reads like this: A '40s period piece which revolves around an American expat who returns to Shanghai in the months before Pearl Harbor due to the death of his friend. Details can be found on www.imdb.com (The Internet Movie Database) for which I am indebted to Kat for putting my way. You have to search for Shanghai 2008. I was privileged to watch John Cusack, Li Gong, Chow Yun Fat, Franke Potente (from Bourne Identity) and Wulf Kahler. Wulf was by far the most approachable of the cast and I remember having a conversation about his work with Stanley Kubrick on Barry Lyndon (1975). I had asked about close ups and acting. The Barry Lyndon had been Wulf's debut close up and had been made difficult by the use of candlelight. However in the hands of "a good man" like Stanley Kubrick it was made easy. Oh, you can imagine, gentle reader, I was in seventh heaven during this conversation.

I also had to learn the art of miming conversation. The camera has you probably knows will be moved countless times in order to capture a scene from every angle. Once the soundtrack is laid down or another conversation is being filmed which will be superimposed on the original, the conversation in the background is mimed. This is much more difficult than it looks as whispering is not allowed as sound will pick it up. Movement has to be carefully done so there is no sound of footfalls. Barry aka Brad Pitt was brilliant at mimed conversation and despite all my theatrical experience I was hard pressed to learn how to do it. I fear I was OTT (but people will say that applies to my acting too so no surprise there). It is made even harder by the Ad requiring more energy in our performances!

I am off on a fortnight canal boat holiday on the Nivernais canal with the Penroses and the best beloved. No waiting for the summer holidays for us. I am taking a movie camera with me to hopefully record some of the fun and to keep my hand in with the film world. I hope to return to further work from my agent and to your esteemed and much appreciated company, dear reader.

Bonne vacance et bon voyage!

Getting to work

I had thought to string together a beautifully written account of last week's filming but in the end have had to settle for bits and pieces picked out of my logbook. I hope this is of some interest to my intrepid reader but it is also intended as an aide-memoire to me.

Firstly, I am going to refer to future work opportunities as "working" as "filming" is too precious, too coy, even for me. It is also a realisation that being a background or support artiste is bloody hard work. I was warned by everyone I know, especially by Kate, but you don't realise the truth of it until you are into your third 14 hour day on the trot. Parts of me ached that had never ached before. Fourteen hour days I can hear people scoff already! But if you add on the couple of hours at least to get there and the couple of hours needed to get back home and the nature of the work itself, it begins to take its toll. Mind you, I wouldn't swap it for supply teaching.

I had thought it would be 0700 to 1900 with the main problem getting there for the 0700 call time. I solved the Sunday filming in central London by staying overnight in Ealing with NIL (Nephew in Law) and his family before catching a night bus into Trafalgar Square (the square is a real hub for bus transport into and out of the centre at all hours) and then walking to the hotel. Andrew and Helen have offered me a permanent house guest status for London based work for which I am very grateful. It means arriving at 1730 for tea with Carys and Morgan, and then dinner at 2000 with the adults - how civilised is that?

However I should have been warned when the Sunday filming ended at 2100, changing out of costume and getting my chit signed by the assistant directors (AD's) and I arrived home at midnight. The location on the Tuesday was in deepest Buckinghamshire and multimap said the journey would take two hours. Luckily I allowed three hours - although more experienced hands say allow for double the journey time as it is best to arrive before call time and wait than run the risk of being late. I was lucky because the call was for 1045 but there were hold ups at Hindhead, Guildford and the M25, all exaggerated by the rain and the rush hour. I thought the ADs were being kind but realised that the crew need a 12 hour turn around before shooting can begin again. I realised this when we finished the last wrap at 0100 on Wednesday morning and I got home just after 0300! That last bit of the A3(M) was when I began to feel tired on the drive home - up until I had been driving on adrenalin and very loud music.

Filming - yayyyyy!

Had a wonderful day yesterday filming from 0700 till 2100 in central London. Details will follow in a later posting as today I am recovering and planning how to get to the next location in Bucks on Tuesday and Wednesday. The latter shoot is a night shoot starting at 1500 and finishing at 0300 the next day. I now understand why Wednesday and Thursday had to be pencilled in for availability. There is also Sunday 8th in heavy pencil as well. Yesterday of course was daily pay rate plus broken lunch allowance, plus holiday allowance (for a Sunday) plus travel allowance and, of course, overtime! My first day on set was not only exciting, interesting, absorbing, etc., it was also quite lucrative.
My location postings will probably be Friday and/ or Saturday of this week. I had thought I would spend most of the time reading but I met such an interesting crowd with such lovely anecdotes, literally rubbed shoulders with stars (one of those might be classed a newcomer's faux pas!) and great frocks! Keep tuning in for the next exciting episode.....