Tuesday, a busy day on set for me
A blow by blow as I get breaks between shooting
of three scenes.
Here I am, after a 5:45 AM pick-up, dressed, run
through the works (hair and make-up) and having breakfast. Rain necessitated
that we switch the Tuesday and Wednesday shooting schedules. So, with short
notice, I am shooting the balance of my dialogue-heavy scenes all in one day and
one day early. I am due to leave for set in moments. It is rainy but not cold
out and am suffering a bit from some stomach upset from dinner last night. I
ended up having a beef carpaccio salad last night with Christina and Nicholas,
the only thing on the menu that appealed to me. Practically raw beef, while it
was succulent, seems to not agree with me. I think I will be eating light
today. I am also experiencing a focus issue so I am going to go back to my
script here and will write more on my next break.. The first scene up for me
today is where I try to convince the Janneys to run Ruffian in the match race.
Here is where the time i have spent with Christina and Nicholas will have a
noticeable effect.
And it paid off
well. The scene went well with several last minute script revisions and two
differfent versions of one line that would make one of the competitors look bad.
Seems there is still some concern about saving face when it comes to this
historic race. The line in question concerns a compensation offered the owners
of one of the horses that decides not to run in what ends up being the match
race. An alternate to the line that does not mention financially compensating
that horse's owners was shot as well as the original. There were several
incidents of this throughout the day. In fact, there were numerous rewrites and
revisions that were not delivered to us in advance of today's shooting. Upon
looking at the little sides we were given this morning, I found that great
swaths of my dialogue were altered or deleted. While disappointing, it seemed
to serve the script better by not giving Dinny an opportunity to come off as
smarmy. In a couple of other instances, it had the opposite effect and required
some finagling (subtext and intention alterations) to frame the character in the
proper light. Specifically, it was necessary to shift Dinny's goals to
benefitting the sport rather than him personally. By making him more selfless
in this regard, it negated any insincerity that might have appeared. I
hope.
We shot two scenes and then broke
for lunch. Phillip Devona is on set today. He is one of the actors against
whom I read for the role of Dinny. He is playing the NY Racing Assn.
Commissioner. How nice to see him again. He is a genuinely kind person and was
nice to work with on camera. Tomorrow, he is also shooting a day on
"Premonition" a Sandra Bullock film in Shreveport. It is always great to hear
stories of actors in this region working.
It is here I must express a concern
that is growing about this blog. I find myself worrying about whether what I
put in here might be read by directors and producers who have treated me quite
well but who may take offense at some of the things I say here. I will ask you,
if you are reading this, to understand that I say what I say here in order to
inform and educate my students. If you have a personal objection to something
please write me at keith@BeAnActor.com and I will do what I can to accommodate
you.
After lunch something
happened... my energy plummeted, my mind muddied, and my lines evaporated.
Perhaps it was simply the afternoon hours, last night disrupted sleep or, more
likely, it was the lunch going straight to my stomach along with all of the
blood from my brain. I must caution my students about this. When on set,
especially union shoots, the catering is usually exemplary with a great variety
of food available for lunch. If you indulge yourself, you will pay a price.
Daily you will find a lethargy settling in shortly after your lunch that can
dull your brain... much as I experienced. On a long shoot it is entirely
possible you will gain weight. After a month of such meals, and desserts, and
snacking at craft services, you will end the shoot a much plumper character than
when you began if you do not also build in time for exercise on your off hours
and eat lightly on set.
The scene I
shot after lunch was between Nicholas Pryor, Sam Shepard, Phillip Devona, and
myself. It is where Frank (Sam Shepard) comes in to tell us that Ruffian has a
fever and cannot run in the Frisette stakes. I respond in the end with a plea
for the sport, we need to bring people back to the track again. I fear I never
got that line right the whole time. We shot coverage from one side of the room,
then Nicholas, then Phillip, then my close up then Franks. Then they reversed
the wide shot and shot the whole scene from the other side of the room to follow
Frank's exit from the room. Sam is an interesting person. His nature is that
of a true horseman and this is at the kernel of his character. The peculiar man
he portrays is more at home, more comfortable in the company of his horses than
that of humans. Perhaps because human beings disguise their intentions,
motivations, etc. Horses follow simple rules. I hope to have a chance to talk
to him about this some time this week. His demeanor is not unpleasant at all
but certainly distant. He is congenial while working but between shots slips
away to be alone. This is certainly understandable and I have not tried to
invade that space.
Frank Whaley, he's
just not very approachable. I haven't been introduced to or introduced myself
to either of the leads. Who knows what next week will be like. I must also
admit to, when my energy flags, becoming incredibly insecure. As happened after
lunch. When I am unable to grab hold of the lines and run with the scene, I
feel as though I am not doing my job properly. This is hard to overcome. The
only thing I can do, any actor can do, is focus and try to remain in the moment.
If you focus on the mistake more
happen.
Also, I did something on this
shoot that I have not done before. At the beginning of each scene, rather than
the scene just starting, I always tried to find something to be in the middle of
on the start. In the scene where we were toasting Ruffian and CBS, as we all
stood with our champagne glasses... just before action was called I would dip my
finger into the glass to remove something that Dinny saw floating there. In
another scene, just before action was called I was looking for business card in
my pocket, in another putting down a cup of coffee... this just gives me a sense
of something happening prior to the first line... a sort of through line of life
to the scene.
We wrapped at 6PM which
is about 1 1/2 hours of overtime. A good long and hopefully productive
day.
Posted: Tue - March 28, 2006 at 06:48 PM