day one: Iggy in Filmland

Before I get started with this series, here's a quick disclaimer:

I'm not going to name any names, and I won't go into too much detail on the day's actual "work". Only because this project is still in production, and even though I'm not under any kind of contract or gag order, it's really the only prudent thing to do. Don't worry, though-- there's still plenty of cool things to talk about.

So here we go. Day one of my first real experience on a movie set.

I woke up bright and early at the inhuman hour of 5:30 am. Call time was 6:30, so I probably should have been up even earlier. I stumbled out of bed, ran a comb through my hair (or not) and jumped into my car to make the jaunt over the 10 freeway to a random parking lot in the middle of Koreatown. This parking lot was known as "base camp".

For those who are unfamiliar with filming terms, like I was, base camp is the place where all the production trailers, wardrobe/makeup, flatbeds, and catering are located throughout the day.

I grabbed a cup of OJ and a cold donut, and milled around with a few other bleary-eyed crew members until about 6:45. The 1st AD (aka the first assistant director, who's responsible for scheduling and organizing the entire crew) called a meeting for everyone, and we quickly went over the schedule for the day.

That's when I met my immediate boss, the key PA (production assistant). Really great guy who knows EXACTLY what he's doing, despite having been a PA for only three months. He wrangled up the other interns and briefed us on a few things we needed to do.

Each of us was presented with our own official walkie-talkie and headset, along with a packet of sides, which are basically the script revisions for the day's shooting. We were also given two fully-charged walkie batteries (referred to as "hot bricks"), with the knowledge that any PA must be prepared to swap out a battery for any crew member who needs it.

We also learned some other cool filming terms: (translated into whitey English)
"What's your 20?" - What are you doing right now?
"I'm taking a 10-1" - I am currently using the restroom.
"Copy that" - I understand.
"Standby" - Remain stationary and wait for a signal.
"Flood, go to 2" - Flood, switch your communicator to channel two.
"Rolling rolling" - The camera is rolling. Please do not fuck up the take.

After barely having time to digest all of this information, we were called out to set.

The first set-up (or location for one camera shot) was at a Tofu House. I didn't do much here; moved coolers and directors' chairs around, searched the flatbed for an extra set of sides (didn't find any), and froze my ass off in the 60-degree L.A. air with a wind chill of -42. God it was cold on Sunday.

The next set-up was across the street, and here I got a lot more to do. I was given the special intern task of moving the monitor from location to location, and setting it up so that it got live feed from the camera. This put me literally RIGHT next to all the action. I was feet away from the DP and the director, and often stood right next to the lead actors as they watched their own takes on the monitor.

After watching one of his better takes, Bobby Lee got excited and hugged me. "I did good!" he shouted, beaming at me. I flashed him a thumbs-up and said "Cool". Because I'm a smooth guy.

At another set-up I was called in to be a stand-in for Mr. Lee, sitting on his mark as they adjusted the lights and focused the shot. They weren't filming, but I still sat there thinking "God I'm on camera right now. The director and the DP are staring right at me. Just be cool". Then Bobby came over and they kicked me out.

He was a totally nice guy, by the way. Seemed to be in great spirits, and plus, during lunch he couldn't stop talking about Fallout 3. Apparently he's a huge gamer-nerd. He gets props for that.

Okay, here's my last Bobby Lee story: at the end of the day they had to paint his thumbs flesh-colored because he had all these bleeding cuts on them. I asked him "How did your thumbs get so bloody??" and he said "I bite them cuz I get so fuckin' nervous!" I had to hold the make-up paint set as the lady painted his thumbs.

But the last part of the day was, by far, the best.

It was after 5 pm; we'd been working for almost twelve hours. Finally, we were down to our last set-up. It was a street scene, filmed at the corner of Wilshire and Vermont.

Mr. Key PA had liked me from the start (as did most of the other crew members-- whether they thought I was good, who knows). I know he liked me because he'd already given me a nickname: "Flood". It wasn't a mysterious nickname. I was wearing a T-shirt that just said "flood", right across the middle, and so he started referring to me by my shirt. After three days of filming, most people on the set know me as Flood. Oh, well. The key grip calls me "Boy Wonder", but that one hasn't caught on... so it could be worse. At least I didn't get "Short Round" or something stupid like "Iggy".

So he gave me a pretty important job: wait around the corner and tell the background (extras) when to walk into the shot. I had to shout "Rolling rolling!" and "Action!", and then when the shot finished I had to say "Cut! Back to one!"

I did a good job doing that, I guess. So then I got to cross the street with the lead actor, and give him the signal to start. This job was even more important, for obvious reasons. While doing that I managed to talk to him a bit. He's a really enthusiastic, positive guy, and didn't laugh it off when I asked him what it was like to be "the big star". Every time I've seen him since then, he's greeted me warmly.

A few background actors came with us too. During one take, some of the background didn't hear the call to "Action", so I let them know we'd started. Key PA noticed and was impressed-- he had missed the call too.

After the shoot was over, he was telling everyone how "Flood came through in the clutch".

And that was the end of the day. 7:30 pm. Thirteen and a half hours after I'd showed up to work. Long day... but 100% cool.

Day two's update is coming up next.