Sighing Like a Furnace

Photo by HSH Management Services Ltd


My second date with Russell was a more traditional dinner at a restaurant. Maybe that sounds like a letdown after the first date, but he had a rehearsal the next day and was pretty focused on his work. I never wanted anything grand and elaborate anyway. If you try to make each date bigger than the last, you will only fail. Starting at Disneyland would not make it easier.

The good thing about not being able to taste anything is that I am now the easiest person in the world to take out for a meal. In the past, I was pretty open to most nationalities of cuisine, but I was always in the mood for one over the others. Now, my roommate loves going out to eat with me because we can always go for whatever she is in the mood.

Russell took me to Felix, a vaguely European restaurant at the top of the Peninsula Hotel. It was Sunday night, not the most crowded time to go to overpriced restaurants, but we still had to wait for a table. That gave him time to talk about his craft and gave me time to look around at what should have been an elegant atmosphere.

The dining room was large and open with sufficiently dark lighting to make it a romantic spot. The most obvious feature were the huge windows with postcard views of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Island. For some insane reason, there were blinds on the windows. I understand the Chinese attitude toward sunlight, but putting blinds on these windows is like wearing earplugs to the opera.

While waiting for our food, I realized that 90% of our conversations were about acting. While working at Disneyland together, we mostly talked about acting and where we would rather be performing. After he left, we mostly talked about acting, the theater and movies. Even during our date at Disneyland, surrounded my enchantment, magic and Mickey, we mostly talked about acting.

Russell was doing rehearsals for a play I had never heard of by a playwright I did not recognize. He said that the play was not up to his usual standards, but he took the part so he could work on an Italian accent. That sounded like a strange reason to accept a part to me, but Russell said that the accent was his idea. Nowhere in the play is his character described as Italian, but he felt it was necessary to play him as one. He also wanted some of the other actors to do accents, but they refused. When Russell told me that they refused because they could not do a convincing accent, I doubted how true that was. It might be just as likely that no one else thought it was a good idea.

When I asked for a preview of Russell's Italian accent, he started performing what I assumed was dialogue from the play. The dialogue was not exactly Shakespeare, but that was not Russell's fault. More painful than the dialogue was his accent. There is not an inch of Italian in my ancestry, but I have been to Italy. I like to tell myself I can spot the difference between someone who genuinely speaks English with an Italian flavor and someone embracing every cartoon stereotype. “Look-a, is-a a spicy-a meat-a ball-a” is not Italian.

Russell had nothing good to say about his fellow performers. No one was as prepared as he was, none of them did their homework, they did not understand the play, the director was doing it all wrong. I have never seen any of them, so I can't agree or disagree, but I am not interested in what is essentially office gossip. He came across as someone who considered himself too good for that production.

I have seen Russell perform. He is not John Gielgud. But no one is. The goal is to work more and more and get better all the time. Russell is young enough to improve. I just found it disappointing that he was so dismissive of his colleagues when he is only starting out himself.

In an effort to change the subject, I asked him about music. I almost asked him about books, but that could easily segue into acting, and movies were obviously dangerous ground. Music seemed safe. Everyone likes something.

“I'm only listening to soundtracks right now,” he told me. “The Godfather II soundtrack really invokes the nuances of each performance. You can hear De Niro's anguish in the Immigrant Theme.”

I asked him about his family. When you are an expat, family comes up a lot. Most of us live nowhere near the people we grew up with. Russell's family was all in Australia.

“They're completely supportive,” he told me. “They know I need to work on my craft and this is where I need to be right now. I was always going to leave Australia. I'll mostly live in London or Los Angeles as I dig deeper into what I can give back to the world.”

I thought he was joking at first, but he was deadly serious. His acting was his gift to humanity.

When the food arrived, there was not much to talk about. I could comment on how it looked, but I had no idea how it tasted. For Russell, eating at an overpriced restaurant would help him play a wealthy character some day. I was surprised that he did not pick an Italian restaurant to immerse himself in the culture.

The food was expensive, and I told Russell I would pay for myself, but he said that was out of the question. He had a plan for the night and he laid it all out on the table. Dinner at a romantic/expensive restaurant followed by a night at his place where he already set out an array of scented candles and covered his bed in rose petals. He said that I could spend the night, but warned me that he had to leave early in the morning.

I asked him if he thought that maybe he was being just a tad on the remarkably presumptuous side.

“It's our third date,” he replied. “You know what that means.”

It was actually our second date.

“Disneyland counts as two,” he decided.

Either way, I did not know what that meant. Is there some international rule no one ever told me about that everyone is required to have sex on the third date, or second if the first is at Disneyland?

“Everyone knows it,” he told me. “If you're mousy or something, I'll settle for a blowjob.”

It was April 1st, but he was not playing a prank on me.

The thing is, Russell was a decent person. When you work at Disneyland, you can participate in their Voluntears program. Disney cast members go out into the community with people who know what they are doing and take children on nature walks, visit hospitals, take poor children to the theater, go swimming with disabled children, that sort of thing. I saw Russell at some of those events. They were never a job requirement. It was all voluntary. Creepy, self-involved, prima donnas don't do that. Unless their PR managers and cameras are nearby. Russell does not have a PR team. Yet. And no reporters anywhere care what he is doing.

I knew that somewhere, maybe deep down, Russell had a good heart. But he was also a desperately horny dog. He needed to get some as quickly as possible.

I ruined his plans. Not only did I pay for my meal, but he had those rose petals all to himself. I don't think I was mean, but I let him know that there would be no third/fourth date. I pointed out that prostitution is legal in Hong Kong and bars are everywhere. If he really needed sex right away, there were plenty of options. He claimed that he wanted a relationship, but that was not the impression I got. He never asked me anything about me that did not involve acting. He knew that I was in a serious car accident and had brain surgery, but he only saw it as something I could use if I ever play an injured character someday. Everything turned back to acting, somehow. Even his scented candle plan showed that he was not thinking about me per se. Any warm body would do.

I understand dedication. When you want to do something artistic for a living, you really have to work at it. Artists don't have patrons anymore. You have to climb that mountain by yourself. But if you want other people in your life, you have to have a life. Hopefully, Russell will meet a wanton actress who likes reciting dialogue during sex.

“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli. Take the cannoli!”

Hailey's Novel Diary – 7/24/17

If you are an actress invited to the Golden Globe Awards, what do you wear? I would be tempted to just pick something out of my closet or, more likely, borrow something from my roommate. But it turns out there are a few rules you are supposed to follow.

If you are walking down the red carpet, someone will send you a list of designers who want their latest collection to be seen. Naturally, there is a hierarchy. Nominees get a longer list than presenters, who get a longer list than A-list invitees, who get a longer list than all those people no one recognizes. If you are a nominee, you get first dibs, and might even get a famous designer to make something specifically for you, assuming everyone expects you to win. The greater your chances of screen time, the more the designers are interested. If your name is Meryl Streep or Jennifer Lawrence, they might even pay you to wear their newest dress.

Once you have decided on a few designers, they will send several options out to you. The higher up you are on the food chain, the more options you have. Once a nominee or presenter has chosen a dress, no one else will ever see it. They have been doing these awards shows for decades. They know how to keep any two people from wearing the same thing. Even if you ignore the designers and pick something out of your closet, you have to clear it with the show before anyone steps on the red carpet.

Sharon Stone wore jeans and a t-shirt to an awards show one year. Not only did that freak a lot of people out, but it pissed off the show's producers because she was scheduled to wear something else. There were no duplicate outfits. No one else showed up in jeans and a t-shirt, but she broke protocol. Coincidentally, she is not as famous as she used to be.

Keep that in mind, just in case.

They never dress like this anymore.
It would not get enough Twitter likes.

Hailey's Novel Diary – 7/19/17

What would you do to be famous? There was a time when people gained notoriety by actually accomplishing something. Explorers were known for discovering new lands and shipping passages. Scientists were known for discovering gravity and planets. Today, people seek fame by posting cellphone videos on Youtube.

But if you are an actor, how do you get people to notice you? The traditional route is to study your craft, work hard, pay your dues and rise through the ranks until you get bigger roles and more recognition. Jack Nicholson's first jobs in front of the camera were soap operas. His first movies were low budget horror and westerns. It was writing screenplays that led to better acting roles. He did Five Easy Pieces 16 years after moving to Hollywood.

Today, everyone wants their first acting job to be the lead role in a giant summer blockbuster that breaks all box office records and wins a million Oscars. If that is your plan, good luck.

A popular route to celebrity for people who want to be famous for the sake of being famous is to make a sex tape. I doubt they are as popular as they used to be, but they worked wonders for great thespians like Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton. Their sex tapes made them household names, and started a wave of copycats.

But I think people forget that Pamela Anderson was already moderately famous before her sex tape. She was also a Playboy model, so I don't know why anyone was excited to see her naked. That is as rare as seeing Lindsay Lohan drunk.

Paris Hilton kind of bothers me. She was born with every advantage, yet she blew it all just to have 15 minutes. If all she wanted was fame, she could have gotten it by using some of that money to do something worthwhile for humanity. I would not expect her to cure cancer, but I'm sure we could all think of a better use of a billion dollars than a camera and hotel room.

Beverly Hills Hotel

Gil Turner's

Hailey's Novel Diary – 7/16/17

Stella Adler was one of the founders of method acting in the United States. Most people think about Lee Strasberg when you talk about the method. He was one of the first people to bring Stanislavski's system to the United States. But then Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner broke away from Strasberg when they thought he was focusing too much on parts of Stanislavski's training that Stanislavski himself came to reject.

In the most general terms, Lee Strasberg wanted actors to think about emotional moments from their lives and use that emotion on stage. If your character's father is dying, think about when someone in your family died. Stella Adler wanted actors to imagine the circumstances of the scene. If your character is a banker, go to a bank and learn what they do. Sanford Meisner wanted actors to react with other actors in the moment. Study your character to the point where you know how they would react in any given situation. Each approach is similar, and more or less based on Stanislavski's system. The audience would never be able to tell what the actor was doing, but it's obvious to the actors if their partner is using a different technique.

Acting with someone who uses Strasberg's method is like acting with a wall. When fully immersed in their own emotional memory, they can block out everyone else around them. Actors who use the Meisner technique are the exact opposite. They pay careful attention to everything their partner says and does. Adler students are closer to Meisner, but not as in the moment.

When I started acting, I thought Strasberg's method was the way to go. It makes sense. If you have to act an emotion, just imagine something in your past that brings out that emotion. But the younger you are, the less likely you will have a similar experience. Shakespeare as a teenager is very difficult for someone with no life experience.

When I got a teacher who used the Meisner technique, I knew that was the way to go. It made even more sense. Rather than think about yourself, you react to the other characters around you. Ophelia is not crazy because she has a chemical imbalance. She is crazy because Hamlet drives her crazy.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I found that with Strasberg's method, I could never cry on stage. Thinking about a sad memory never did it for me. As soon as I went Meisner, I could cry on cue. Rather than make myself cry from a buried emotion, I was crying because of the character's situation. It suddenly got easy. It's also much easier to recover when you are crying based on the scene rather than something terrible in your past.

Hailey's Novel Diary – 7/12/17

Who are your biggest influences? That is a question you are going to get a lot if you do any kind of acting. My standard answers are Helen Mirren, Katharine Hepburn, Meryl Streep and Sally Field. More or less. Sometimes I will mention Edna Purviance, but that is more likely to confuse the interviewer. They all know Meryl Streep.

In having one of the characters answer that question, I chose Jennifer Aniston. There is no hidden reason. She just seemed like an actress most people probably don't look up to as their acting idol. I'm not mocking Jennifer Aniston. I have nothing against her. She simply popped into my head when I thought about actresses that people probably don't think of as their acting idols.

But it makes sense, in a way. If you grew up with Friends, and you are a big fan, you might think more of Jennifer Aniston than most people. I first learned about Alan Alda from M*A*S*H. He has done plenty since then, of course. And who knows. Maybe in 50 years, Jennifer Aniston will be universally admired for her work. It's theoretically possible.

The African Queen
Directed by John Huston
© 1951 Horizon Pictures

Hailey's Novel Diary – 7/10/17

Are there any acting schools in Los Angeles? Of course there are. I could have easily had one of the characters go to any anonymous acting school and no one would have ever questioned it. There are probably thousands of schools in Southern California.

But I like to at least picture a place in my head when I'm writing about it. I can write about the 405 freeway and picture a million parked cars, but I don't know of a single acting school anywhere in Los Angeles.

Since there are far too many choices, I picked one near a Mexican restaurant that I remember from my 2014 Los Angeles trip.

Casa Martin
Santa Monica, California

Hailey's Novel Diary – 7/8/17

I have always heard that Los Angeles is a good place for live theater. I'm naturally skeptical, especially since the history of Los Angeles revolved around the motion picture industry, and movies today are all about computer effects. But you never know. Most Americans have no idea how much theater and live music is available in Minneapolis, so it stands to reason that Los Angeles might exceed my expectations. Plus, the city has 4 million people. Some of them must enjoy the theater.

Los Angeles is no Broadway, but what city is? Maybe London comes close. But they have the Pantages Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre and probably more than a few smaller venues.

And with that, another chapter is finished.

Chapter 15 starts off with some serious career disappointment. One of the main characters is an actress, and the acting world is one disappointment after another. There is a simple rule for actors: if you can't handle rejection, don't go to the audition.

This is an easy character to write. I have been acting off and on for about a dozen years. I have gone to open calls and was immediately told I was too young, too old, too tall or too short. There is a scene in Tootsie when Dustin Hoffman is auditioning for a play and the faceless voice in the dark tells him that he is not right for the part. Tootsie tries to tell them that he can be whatever they want. The voice tells him they are looking for someone else, someone not him. That is exactly what it's like. Every production is looking for the right people and every actor is looking for work. When the actors outnumber the jobs 1,000 to 1, someone is going to be disappointed.

On the rare occasion you are offered an important part, but then changes demand that you take a smaller part, you have two options. A lot of actors let their pride take over and they quit. That is not the best way to get work. Some actors swallow their pride and take the smaller part. That is better for your bank account, but it also tells producers and casting directors that you can be pushed around.

Tootsie
Directed by Sydney Pollack
© 1982 Columbia Pictures

Hailey's Novel Diary – 6/27/17

I wrote what just might be the most awkward scene I have ever written. I wrote it, read it, said nope and rewrote it. Just for my own reference, it's the cottage scene at the end of chapter 11, or what is chapter 11 at this point.

It's awkward for a couple of reasons. It is supposed to be awkward for the characters, but it got really awkward for me to write. I think I slipped into some kind of Lee Strasberg method of writing for a second, which is funny because I have always been in the Meisner camp.

The best thing about writing, in my opinion, is that you can do anything you want. With acting, you get to play different people, but there are always limits. You usually can't play every character on stage and you probably have to stick to the script. If you are playing Desdemona, you can't tell Othello to stop being so gullible. But when you write, you can play every character, at least in your head. And they can do absolutely anything, as long as it works within the story.

I think I resolved my own awkwardness in the cottage scene, while still keeping it awkward for the characters. I will leave it as is for now and get back to it later.

The Woodford Cottage
Things happen here.

Hailey's Novel Diary – 6/24/17

I was reading an article the other day about sex scenes in movies. The article went out of its way to point out that all sex on screen is simulated. It mentioned Game of Thrones several times. I thought that was strange. Does anyone think the actors are actually having sex?

Then I remembered Bertolucci. He is a very minor character in this book, but his history is relevant to the point at hand. When Last Tango in Paris came out, a lot of people freaked out, especially over the butter scene. The film was censored in more than a few countries, and Bertolucci faced legal problems in Italy. People argued and debated the graphic nature of the film. Even today, there are segments of the internet that still think the sex in that scene was real, though it looks less graphic thanks to HBO.

Maria Schneider had a lot to say about it after the fact. I can see her point of view, but I think she used public ignorance to her advantage. She knew that all of the sex was simulated, of course, but she hated the butter scene. By insinuating that it was unsimulated, she could get people to accuse Brando, and mostly Bertolucci, of horrible crimes. And that's not right. Bertolucci humiliated her, on purpose, but Brando's penis never went anywhere it should not be.

I suppose it's good that people think sex scenes are real. That means the filmmakers are doing a good job. If the audience knew just how unerotic shooting a sex scene was, they would never get excited about what the characters are doing.

But then you have to wonder, do people think fight scenes are real? When Sean Bean dies onscreen, he does not really die. He is very much alive.

Not really doing it.

They're not either.

Maybe.

Hailey's Novel Diary – 6/15/17

I did a local TV commercial when I was in high school. It's not on my resume because it's stupid. And it was a long time ago.

I have used that experience for a scene in this book. Everything is different, from the ages of the people involved, to the product being advertised, but that tedious feeling of shooting a TV commercial is there. The end result might be 30 seconds of non-stop shaky cam and jump cuts, but it takes days of sitting around and waiting for a lot of people to get those 30 seconds.

Someone once asked a filmmaker who just made a movie about making movies, it might have been Robert Altman and The Player, why they did not show what it was realistically like to make a movie. Altman, or whoever it was, answered that it would bore the hell out of the audience. From the actor's point of view, most of the time on set is downtime. Being in front of a camera is anything but glamorous. Hopefully, I have shown some of that effectively.

Hailey's Novel Diary – 6/14/17

The next chapter starts out with a story that is based entirely too much on a story a friend told me after an unsuccessful audition several years ago. It's kind of a funny story after time passes and you can laugh about rejection. But I have to change it because it's too close to the truth.

What is wrong with the truth? Absolutely nothing. But it's someone else's story. I don't have the right to tell it. If I want to write something autobiographical, that's ok because those are my stories. If I want to write fiction, that's ok, too. As long as those are also my stories. It's not a copyright issue. It's common courtesy.

Remember Dreamgirls, the movie and musical? Diana Ross is still upset about that. And with good reason. If she ever wants to tell her life story, everyone will accuse her of ripping off Dreamgirls.



And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going
Jennifer Holliday



I'm Coming Out
Diana Ross

On Set 1015

This is my last real day on this movie. I am doing a small scene later on, but my character does not even need to be in it. They could have saved a lot of money by simply cutting me out of the scene and telling me to go home tomorrow. But I see no reason to point that out. They cannot already know.

Today is one of those days on set where the actors wait around a lot. Each setup takes time. The director and DP talk about the shot, which they have undoubtedly already talked about before showing up today. The DP tells the gaffer and grips where to put everything. It looks like this crew knows what to do, but this part always takes a while.

When all the equipment is where it is supposed to be, the boom operator and sound mixer check their earphones. The director tells the actors what to do and finally, after waiting anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, the camera rolls for a few minutes. Then we either do it again, most likely, or take another break and start all over with the next shot.

In the theater, you work out all the technical details in rehearsal. Come showtime, you just get out there and go. The pace is much faster with more action, which is a little ironic since most movies are edited to seem faster. To me, it is easier to play the character all at once. It is like telling a story from beginning to middle to end. When shooting a movie, you tell the story completely out of sequence. Your character can go to school today, die tomorrow, get married the next day and be born the day after that. The editor puts all the pieces in place. In a movie, you start and stop so often, it is easy to forget where your character is at any given point in time. The old joke is an actor asking the director, “What's my motivation?” There is a reason for that.

This is why some actors stay in character throughout the shoot, but I would feel crazy doing that. Being in character on stage makes sense. I cannot see myself walking into a produce store and saying, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears of corn.”

Jerusalem Hotel 2230

Today was the busiest day on set there ever will be. We shot a large sequence with the entire cast and, as far as I could tell, the entire crew. We closed down the entire top floor of a hotel. It was easily the most expensive day of production. It was nothing by Hollywood $100 million blockbuster standards, but for a tiny little movie in a tiny little country, this was a pretty big day.

From an acting point of view, I had it easy. Other characters are always the stars. My character was mostly in the background. I was an extra with a few lines of dialogue. And I loved watching every minute of it. I got to watch everyone perform without worrying about my character.

Most days on set are a lot of sitting around and waiting. Today, we had a tight schedule, so everyone moved at full speed. There were fewer breaks since the director had everyone divided into teams. While some of the crew was setting up the next shot over there, the rest of the crew was shooting over here. Instead of waiting around for the next shot, the actors had to rush from one set to the next. It was almost like working on stage. I loved it. Some of the movie actors were not as happy. They are used to a slower pace.

My big scene of the day was complaining about how stuffy and traditional people are in Jerusalem. My character, an American, wants to party and have a good time, but can't find any action. I find it more than a little amusing that I am playing a loud American who just wants to get laid.

The great thing is that there are no sex scenes anywhere in this movie. When I read the script, I was amazed that there was nothing about anybody taking off any clothes. There are several actresses from whom the studio would require at least partial nudity if this were an American production. If this were HBO, everyone would get naked. But this is a small independent movie very far from Hollywood. They care more about the story than using naked women to sell tickets.

On Set 1800

I went to a very nice Georgian restaurant for lunch. It is called Racha and is just across Jaffa Street from my hotel, near Zion Square. I was a little concerned about where to find food before I came here, but now I see it everywhere. Jerusalem is a big city full of people who love to eat.

I had some badrijani, pkhali, lobiani and all kinds of condiments I had never heard of before. I don't know anything about Georgian restaurants, but this one was pretty good. There was a lot of dill, mint, marjoram and thyme in everything, and that is fine with me.

Right now I am at a house where we are shooting an interior scene. This is a very different atmosphere from the park scenes. Everyone is more relaxed and we all seem to be moving at a slower pace. I have no idea who owns the house, but I get the impression that we could stay here all night if we wanted to. The park was a public place that was very much open while we were there. I don't think we have the budget to close down a park. I don't even know if we were authorized to be there. The house has to be easier for everyone.

On Set 1200

We are still on location, still shooting. It has only been six hours, so I cannot complain yet. All the waiting around makes it seem longer. I don't really know what the crew does with all their wires and big boxes, but it looks like exterior shots are more work than interior.

We are at a park right next to another park. The parks are close to each other, but look very different. One park has a lot of walking paths surrounded by trees. Our park has a rolling water fountain and is across the street from the Old City. You can't see the Old City from the first park because of the trees, but you can definitely see it from this park. There is a giant rock wall right here. It is hard to miss.

It looks like someone is setting up for some kind of show outside the wall. It might even be a concert. I bet it is not going to be Roger Waters.

On Set 0930

We are still on location. We just did a couple of quick scenes. One was establishing shots of everyone walking around the area and the other was dialogue between a few characters. I had a few lines, but no big Shakespearean soliloquy.

The walking shots were a lot more complicated than I expected. You would think the actors just walk wherever they are supposed to go and the camera follows them. You would be wrong. A simple shot of people walking from here to there requires detailed choreography between the crew, actors and director. That takes blocking, rehearsing and a few takes in our case. Just to walk from here to there.

The dialogue scene was easier technically, but there was more human error. I made my share of mistakes, but I was far from the only one, thankfully. It is still not too late to replace me, so I might want to do a better job.

On Set 0530

I have spent years railing against people living life with their faces in their phones instead of experiencing the world around them. Right now, I am sitting with my face in a phone.

In my defense, I am sitting in a makeup chair in a small trailer with nothing to look at except my reflection in the mirror. I suppose staring at the phone is better than staring at myself.

We are shooting outdoors today, so hair and makeup have to be adjusted for exterior scenes. I never thought it made any difference. Apparently, since they use different lights outdoors, we also need different makeup. I just woke up and I have already learned something new today.

On Set 1600

We are on another break. We take a lot of breaks. Not because of any union rules. I have no idea what the rules are around here. We take breaks while the crew sets up the next shot. We are only shooting two scenes, but they are scheduled to take all day. Some of that time is actual shooting. Most is moving around equipment for the next shot and dealing with technical issues. Some of it is makeup and wardrobe.

Right now, I am about 40 years old. Or at least my character is. I have a few wrinkles glued to my face and I am wearing a slightly graying wig. Everyone else is older, too. There are prosthetic bald heads and gray wigs all over the place. Some of us are aging better than others.

This scene takes place 20 years after the scene we shot this morning. They are at opposite ends of the movie, but we are shooting them on the same day because they take place in the same location and are supposed to look similar. That makes it more interesting, from my point of view. I get to watch the actors change how they approach their characters in a day. To the audience, there will be a whole movie between the scenes. For us, it is all together.

On Set 1030

I am sitting in a house somewhere in Jerusalem. We are using a real house instead of a sound stage because that is how we roll around here. I think it might be cheaper to use real locations.

We are doing a scene where everybody is talking about this and that. It is all kind of tedious, really. We get a shot of people talking and then take a break while the crew sets up the next shot. Then we get another shot of people talking before taking another break while the crew moves everything around for the next shot.

This is a tiny independent movie, but a single scene can still take all day to shoot. If this were a big comic book blockbuster, one scene could take several days.

There is precious little to do in between shots. I could study my lines, but I have almost none in this scene. I wanted to call Lily, but I have her phone in my hand, so now I am typing this.

I have little to do in this scene, so I am mostly just watching everyone else's performance. I find it interesting how some actors turn on and off for the camera while others stay in character all day. This is very different from the theater. The crew works hard while the actors sit around, and then the crew sits around while the actors work.

And now I have to go. Some women have to play with my hair.

Jerusalem Hotel 2230

I had my first real rehearsal today. It was mostly blocking a scene that takes place in a dance studio, but I also had to do some dancing.

This is a short and easy dance scene, but they still have to choreograph everything with the camera and lights. Blocking the scene took several hours. Who knows how long it will take to actually shoot. That is another day. The scene will probably be on screen for 3 or 4 minutes.

Fortunately, this is a small production. If we had a bigger budget, there would have been more cameras, more equipment and more people. That would have only taken more time. If it were a Hollywood production, everything would be done on computers by a large team of animators a few months from now.