Actor Growth

Wow I was on this set for a long time yesterday. It was for a CBS tv pilot called “The Good Wife”. From what I gathered it had something to with a politician who went to jail for some reason and later in life the wife goes into the world of being a lawyer. I was then reading some info on the Internet and it sounded close enough to what I heard. lol.

My schedule started at 11am and ended at almost 2am the next day. The set wasn’t too bad to work on overall. I met a lot of interesting people too. One note was that one of the person in charge of managing us informed us that this production was very picky/fussy about how things had to be.

Everything from the costume to getting the shots exactly right. They then said because of that the small group of us who were there was specifically hand picked to work on this as this production required definite professional and they wanted to make sure they brought in the right people. That was a cool gesture I thought.

This is the first time where a makeup artist used a spray on makeup on me. Was weird. There were some heated moments I saw where the costume department was being hackled in changing people to certain types of looks from the creative staff. Since the show was being shot for 12+ hours a day non stop they were then complaining that they simply don’t have time nor do they have a large variety of set clothing items.

Again, it was enjoyable overall. I met quite a few aspiring filmmakers too on set which might turn into some possible future work or collaborations. I am booked for another production tomorrow, so let’s see how that one turns out.

Looks like I am going to a set tomorrow for some simple background work and as of now I still haven’t got an exact time to be on set. These are the worst when they wait all night just to tell you that you are needed at the very early morning.

Just part of the lifestyle of the work I suppose. Although, most of the time it can mean that the day won’t start until later but can possibly finish past midnight. Either way, not much sleep for you.

One thing about working in film that I have noticed is that when you have been at it for awhile everything seems typical where it is just work. However, for the people around you they seem to get so excited to see someone they know working in say a movie or TV show regardless of how small it is.

I guess most people’s assumption is that if you are say an “actor” that it automatically means you are making say millions for the work that you do or that you are famous to a certain degree. It’s usually not the case though as there are tons of actors that do something else as their main income source and at the same time there are a lot of unknowns.

It’s good to have support though for people who are excited for your career growth. Kind of adds the pressure too though huh? Seems like every time you bump into them they want to know the latest film you were in and if you are a big star yet.

One thing that you have to look out for when it comes to shooting a film that takes days to complete is the continuity of your appearance. Example, imagine filming this one scene that requires days to do. As you know, things like your hair grow or imagine if it is styled a certain way. You pretty much have to say trim it every few days to make sure it is consistent throughout the shoot.

I had that happen once in school where we shot part of a film and then took like a two week break. Afterwards, I had to make sure that the haircut I got was very similar to what I had on the day of the shoot. Time consuming I must say.

Can’t imagine what it’s like for makeup artists too when it comes to projects that require things like scars and other wild getups.

Today I got an interesting e-mail as a person that I auditioned for a few months back contacted me and was interesting in having me on his film. While it was a volunteer film and sounded fun, unfortunately I couldn’t accept it in the end as something came up that conflicted with my schedule.

But the thing to take away about this one though was that although I didn’t get the part when I audition for his other film, because I auditioned for it he remembered me for future roles. That can be the case many times too where when you audition for a part that you don’t end up getting it can still open up new opportunities.

The important thing is that you get your name and face out there while portraying yourself professionally so that people remember you for other potential opportunities.

One of the things my last agent did in an attempt to promote me was that on my digital resume he inputted his own comments on the top on how I was this dedicated actor that has worked hard on my craft. Therefore, I would be a valuable addition to a production.

Now since I changed agencies recently my new agent had a look at this. He told me that this was the first time he has ever seen anything like that and thought it was kind of useless.

His reason was that the casting director would automatically assume that you are a great person/actor for the agent to want to submit you for the part. Therefore, it makes no sense to write that comment on your resume.

That made sense to me. So in the end he took it off completely. What this does show too is how various agents do things differently to try and get you seen. It’ just a matter of finding out who’s techniques are best for you.