I am writing this while I lay on my back in my living room, my iBook sitting atop my chest…because this morning, Anne and I were doing some planting, and I threw out my back.
How did I do that? Oh, I was doing something very manly and difficult…I was lifting a half-empty watering can and moving it. I was bent at the waist, and when I turned to put it down, I felt my back sieze, and I fell to the ground…it was very “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
So we spent the day trying to get my hips to relax, and take the pressure off my back. Thankfully, my parents live nearby and I was able to sit in their spa for an hour…I’m feeling better, but I’m nowhere near 100%, and I am really freaked about working tomorrow…I checked the schedule and I’m sitting for most of the day, but damn, man, sitting really hurts.
And can I just say that typing while laying on your back isn’t the easiest thing, either? It’s yet another nail in the coffin of my camwhore dreams.
So the gallery opening last night was really fun, and CROWDED! My friend Sean said that there was a bigger turnout than he had ever expected…oh, and the show was amazing. It’ll be open until the 30th, so if you’re in town, you should check it out. I met a few WWDNers there, so that was spiffy. I hope you guys enjoyed the show. It was the first opening I’ve taken the kids to, and they really dug it. I think it helped that there were pictures of skateboarders and punk rockers all over the place. I don’t know if they’d appreciate a Mark Ryden or a Clayton brothers show…but we’ll find out soon enough.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I work all day with Chef tomorrow…so I’ll have some lame fanboy stuff to share with you all.
Update: I just saw this over at boing boing. Coolest. Thing. EVER!
Day Nine
All this week, we
Day Eight
It happens sooner or later on every shoot.
The long hours, the pressure from production to finish the day and stay on time and on budget…people start to lose their patience, and they get cranky.
It happened today. Were tired, and, were all trying to make a bigger movie than the budget will allow, so I think everyone is feeling the pressure, and cracks are beginning to show.
Fortunately, everyone seems to understand that were all cranky, and why were cranky, and we havent turned on each other, yet. Its the time when please and thank you go a very long way to keep us all sane, and everyone seems to be aware of that.
It really says a lot about the cool people on this crew and in this cast, that even though were wiped out, and the production has set some very tough expectations for us (13 pages today!)were all still playing on the same team.
So even though were all in danger of reaching Donner Party status, the work hasnt suffered, and everyone remains supportive of each other, which is cool. Weve even managed to work some cannibal humor into the day to lighten the mood.
I like feeling like Im on a team, and that Im part of something much larger than myself. On days like today, that camaraderie is really tested. Fortunately, as far as I can tell, were passing the test.
The scenes today were mostly between me and Maureen, and our long personal history is adding this great extra dimension to our performances. We have this great trust in each other, and weve been allowed by the director to improvise a bit within the scenes, so they have this great natural, conversational quality which I hope translates into the final product.
On the way home, I pulled into my neighborhood, which is swarming with children and their parents, trick-or-treating. I drove slowly towards my house, smiling and waving at numerous Spider Men, Buzz Light Years, and a few vampires.
When I got to my house, I felt really sad…Nolan and Ryan had already carved their jack o lanterns, and they were out trick-or-treating…but my insanely cool wife hadnt carved hers, yet…because she was waiting for me. As soon as they get back, the carving will begin.
Happy Halloween, everybody!
Day Seven
Youd think that, after working as an actor for 23 years with some pretty impressive people, Id just stop feeling star struck, just take it in stride when I have a scene with someone who I really admire.
Of course, youd be wrong.
Each time I have a scene with Isaac Hayes, I get this flutter in my belly, the same way I did when I had scenes with Patrick on TNG or Robin Williams in Flubber, or Ron Jeremy in Mr. Stitch. I catch myself between takes, mind wandering, thinking, Oh man! This is so cool!
We had a scene this morning, and this other actor, a brilliant man called John Reilly, is in the scene with us. John turns to Isaac, and says, I saw you on this awards show, and you were covered with FX smoke…what show was that?
Isaac looks at him, and smiles, and replies, You mean the Academy Awards?
Maureen and I explode into laughter, and I say, Oh, yeah. that awards show. Did anybody see it?
John laughs too, and explains that Isaac is one of his idols, so he has seen most of his performances, and theyve sort of blurred together across the years.
They talk about the performance, about how hard it was to see Isaac, and Isaac says, Man, Billy spent the rest of the night talking about that!
Billy is, of course, Billy Crystal.
When Isaac speaks of these hugely famous people he knows, he always refers to them by their first name, only, and he speaks of them the way youd speak of Dan from Accounting, or Jenny the girl from upstairs. Its very surreal.
The rest of the day is spent filming scenes with just me and Maureen. Its long and at times its a bit arduous, but very satisfying.
Theres a scene which really needs some help from us, because in the rewrites, its drifted from its original meaning, and has gotten sort of muddled and a bit confused. So maureen and I spend a lot of time just improvising, staying true to our characters and keeping things simple, and we ultimately discover several very wonderful moments which add great depth and meaning to the story and our characters. We are very fortunate to have a director who trusts us, and to trust each other, so we can follow the little inspirations which occasionally pop up during a take, knowing that well create something interesting and maybe even moving in the process.
Im happy when the day is done. I feel very satisfied with what weve done, and proud of the work weve turned in.
We also got the word from the Big Tough Executive Producer Guy Man Dude, and the word was that he loves the work he is seeing, and that this is his favorite of all the productions hes done for PAX.
Yesterday, I spoke of that seemingly endless waiting period when we dont know if what weve done will translate to the screen, and today I had a thought: the wonderful sense of satisfaction I enjoyed today cant ever be taken away from me, regardless of what happens with the final cut of the film. It is that feeling which compels me to create, whether it be as an actor, writer, or street-performing mime who is trapped in an ever-shrinking box.
That feeling is Mine(tm), and if the audience likes what we did, if everything comes together in just the right way and we end up with something memorable, well, thats just a bonus.
Day Six
The alarm was brutal this morning, and I moved through the first half of the day on autopilot.
Well, thats not entirely true. When I was on the set, my mind would wake up long enough for me to be present in the scene, from action to cut. Until after lunch, though, all the other times were spent in an exhausted haze.
I was so tired because I spent the evening yesterday with Anne and the boys, picking out punkins for Halloween.
I love Halloween more than any other holiday. I love the scary decorations, the spooky movies, and the costumes…oh, the costumes!
Anne is really skilled with the FX makeup, so we always end up as really horrible zombies, complete with gushing blood and spooky wounds…its hard to tell who loves it more: me or the kids.
I usually start decorating the house the last week of September, and by the 31st, the house is in full-on spook mode.
This year, though, between the Avon 3 Day and the movie, Anne and I havent had time to hang a single skeleton, or tape up a single mummy. Anne took the kids to pick out their makeup and costumes last week while I was on the set, so last night was my first chance to do anything Halloweeny with the kids. Even though I was exhausted from work, and I knew that I should have been learning lines and going to bed early, I wasnt about to miss out on time with the family…and I felt really great about that choice. As recently as a year ago, I wouldnt have stayed up to learn lines after theyd all gone to bed, and though I am positively wiped out, I dont regret the decision at all.
Tomorrow I have 7 1/8 pages, and since were shooting out of order, I have to work hard to ensure that I track my character correctly across the story…I love that stuff because its a challenge, but its also one of those efforts that I wont know the results of for months, until I see the movie. Thats a part of acting in places other than the stage which Id forgotten about: we work really hard all day long, for days at a time, and we dont really have anything to show for it, other than the occasional reassurance from the director, and the visceral feeling that we did something right.
Then its months of waiting, hoping that the composer, the editor, and the director bring to the screen what we thought we were making while we were on the set.
I only have to wait until the end of January to see this picture, and I dont think I will be disappointed.
I had some challenging scenes today; some real emotional stuff, where my character has to contemplate some life-and-death choices…heavy stuff, and I was able to use my real physical exhaustion to inspire my characters emotional exhaustion.
I also had some scenes with Isaac Hayes…and every time he spoke, I had to really focus, so I wouldnt start singing, suck on my chocolate salty balls in my head.
Heh, see how its in your mind right now? That was me, all day long.