Alrighty now, lets take a moment to get back into the habit of shameless self promotion shall we. I still got a couple months before I jump back in the saddle again, and have much of anything new to report, however I still got stories from my past exploits that I have , to my shame failed to share with you. Ive talked about the sewing circle qualities of the extras that you find yourself working with on set, so now lets cover what you all really want to know about......Meeting and working with celebrities. I will be the first to tell you that even once you put yourself beyond the novelty of being starstruck, there is always this curiosity of whether of not, this person whose work you have seen and enjoyed, is going to be the good guy or turn out to be a real tool. I can also tell you that when that person is going to be your boss for a day that curiosity has a way of turning into a full on fear. So far I have been quite lucky. On the day I met with and worked under Academy Award winner James Franco I was not sure what to expect, only that my little nephew was going to get a kick out of the fact that Harry Osbourne from Spider-Man was going to be my boss for a day. I got up dog early, as that seems to be a requisite for any film you find yourself working on, we got loaded into a pass van at the hotel for transport to location and I was still fuzzy headed enough to be amused over thoughts of Christopher Columbus as I watched the little blip that represented us, go completely off of the GPS map for about 4 or 5 miles as we made our final push to the location base. It was early February and the weather had done everything from snow to rain both prior to and during filming so any grogginess I still felt got breezed away as I got dressed and then redressed for the coming scene. For obvious reasons I wont elaborate on the scene itself, but I will say that the only chance I had to get starstruck before filming was not over my famous director but rather over the old school Ford Fairlane that I saw sitting there on set. That was one fine ass piece of machinery, and the first one I have ever seen up close and personal. After that I did not have time to be the spectator that gets to say Holy Sh*t thats James Franco It was more like Oh Sh*t the boss is coming, quick, look busy. Like a Spartan warrior he came charging up the hill, and if he was not as harnessed to the camera man as the camera itself I will never know just how he managed to stay attached to him without causing one Hell of a tumble, but he did. The look of passion was on this mans face as he watched every split second that came across the camera viewer. He was totally in the moment and totally enthralled by what he was seeing out of the films lead Scott Haze and rightfully so. Now in my early endeavors in film I have had to conquer this cat like trait I have of immediately whipping my attention toward what ever slight movement I catch out of the corner of my eye, for fear that it would be the camera and hence my fault for a blown shot, but in this instance that was not a problem for me and I believe that it had a great deal to do with the sheer energy and enthusiasm that James brought as a director, he seems to have a gift for sweeping people up into the moment and making them just as excited and happy about standing there in the damn rain as he is. Between takes he was everywhere giving direction to this group of extras, that actor, the lead, the two camera operators, and somehow managing to do so in the most laid back fashion despite the fact that the man had the erratic flight pattern of a bat, which was all part of the energy he brought with him that kept people focused. It was over just as quick as it had started. I had never seen such quick work done on anything I had worked on, before or since. I was glad that I did not meet him first, I think it would have taken away from the shock and awe of watching him work at making us work in such dynamic fashion. With the scene shot, and the rain coming down, it was lunch time. and we made our way back to base. He was the last to come back and eat and from the look of things, he had to be forced to, because he was too busy chatting it up in the rain with the extras and letting them get pictures. I was not among them, I dont know if it is because I get quietly starstruck in my own reserved fashion or if its because I cant turn off the What comes next? button when I work, but as he strolled into base he looked over at me just sitting there quietly smoking a cigarette and gave a devilish little grin. I wonder if he was doing what I had been doing all day since I got dressed for the scene which was making fun of how ridiculous I knew I looked in that get up. Maybe he just that damn happy with how everything had turned out. I dont know, but what I do know in measuring the man rather than the celebrity, I found him to be extremely dedicated, frenetically energetic yet laid back, friendly and very giving with his time in spite of the weather, which he paid for later toward the end of filming, funny and definitely a little mischievous, but an over all good guy and solid visionary to work under exactly what you might expect him to be from his candid interviews. That film is Child Of God and it has made waves at every film festival that it has shown in. I am still not exactly sure at this moment, I need to check when it finally makes its way into theaters on a national/international level, but when it does be sure to check it out. It will be my first time too, as I have not been able to travel to any of its festival showings, usually on account of distance and fighting the good fight for the local community theater. Its safe to say I will be anxiously awaiting its release.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:48:19 +0000
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