My First Real Movie part 4

When everyone and all the equipment were ready, we did the first take. I was awesome, not that it takes much to show someone to their table. The director didn’t like it and talked to the star. He seemed to be happy with me. He never really said much to me in English. Mostly “yes”, “no”, “ok” and “go again”. I didn’t get a lot of direction, but it wasn’t about me. The tension in the scene was between the good guy, whom I was taking to his seat, and the bad guy, who was already sitting in the background.

We stopped in the middle of the second take because someone knocked over one of the lights. The director was annoyed, but calm. The restaurant was a cramped space for so much equipment. He stopped the third take for some reason. I suppose he didn’t like something. He never complained about me, at least as far as I know.

Another take was killed when the star tripped and fell down. He’s supposed to be an action hero and he couldn’t walk to his table. I thought it was funny, but I didn’t laugh. Who knows how he or the crew would have reacted to the foreigner laughing at the big movie star. I’m new to movies, but I’m not stupid. I’m also acutely aware that any time an actor ruins a take, that only costs the production even more money.

This seemed to go on forever. We would stop in the middle because something went wrong or we would make it all the way through but the director didn’t like it. Either the sound was off or the lighting was bad or he didn’t like the way the camera moved. It was always something. It got pretty tedious after a while. In the theater, you do the same play repeatedly, but stretched out over days. Rehearsals can drag on, but the show is non-stop. In movieland, it’s the same scene over and over again in just a few hours. You work for a few minutes, wait for what seems like hours, work for a few more minutes and wait again. I got tired of showing that guy to his table. The funny part is, this was only the beginning of the scene. All the main action came later. I don’t know when they’re filming that, but I bet it takes a long time.

Eventually, we got a complete take that the director liked that didn’t have any technical problems. The director was very happy. He thanked me, and the wardrobe woman took me back to the dressing room. Some of the extras went back as well. They seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of us. Maybe they were filming the rest of the scene that day. Maybe the restaurant needed to open. I don’t know. I didn’t meet anybody that day who felt like they owed me any explanations.

It was all over in four hours. I waited weeks for this and now it’s done. They’re supposed to tell me when the movie comes out later. They’re still filming, so it could be a while. There’s a lot I don’t know. I still don’t know why they wanted a foreigner for that scene. A Chinese actor could have done it just as easily.

Now I just wait for Steven Spielberg to call me.

After about four hours on set, I was on my way to Paisano’s to get some pizza before going home. I had spent all morning in a restaurant, but I needed to go somewhere else to get something to eat.