YOU'RE PLUCKING MY LAST NERVE
January 30, 2104
I am giving serious thought to begin writing a book called HOW TO BE THE BEST BACKGROUND ACTOR YOU CAN BE.
I worked with two of those guys again last night and it got me thinking.
One of the thoughts I had was that if you are a self-centered jerk working on a television or movie set is not going to change that fact. It's only going to magnify your personality.
You are a background actor. There are rules. Whether you agree with them or not, there are rules. Whether you feel they apply to you is irrelevant. These rules you feel don't apply to you exist for safety reasons and for production reasons.
Here are some bullet points which eventually become chapters in my book:
~DON'T WANDER OFF. Stay with the group. A television or movie set is not your playground to explore whenever you are not being used. The P.A.'s, whose job it is to make sure you are assembled and ready to go onto set to work (the reason you are-remember?) don't have the time to play hide-n-seek with your flight ass. Stay with the group.
~STOP EATING. The crafts service table is not your own, personal refrigerator. There's one guy I've worked with a few times now. One of those happy-go-lucky guys who doesn't care how his behavior reflects on the rest of us. EVERY time I see him he has a coffee in one hand a cigarette in the other. I've seen him, seconds before they yell 'Action!' snuffing out his smokes and setting his coffee down to retrieve later. He's always stuffing his pockets with goodies for later. While the rest of us are sitting, like we are supposed to, this ass-hat is walking around doing his grocery shopping for the week.
~YOU A PART OF A TEAM. The whole 'free-spirit-I'm-a care-free soul' thing is getting old, Hippie Boy. 'Nuff said?
~HAVE SOME MANNERS. We are all in this together. We're all in this together working long, hard hours. You know what goes a long way? Simple little phrases like please and thank you make all the difference in the world. I listened to this young punk talking to, not just an elder, but someone who had hired them, with this condescending tone that just made my blood boil. Rude and demanding and condescending is no way to get things done, Ass-hat. Whoa re you to be that arrogant? It took everything I had to not walk up to him and pull his bottom lip up over his head. First day on set and that's how you are going to act? This is a Richmond, Virginia production. Skippy, so how about some freaking manners?
~YOU A PART OF A TEAM. The whole 'free-spirit-I'm-a care-free soul' thing is getting old, Hippie Boy. 'Nuff said?
I guess when all is said, people are people. They are going to be who they are no matter the situation. If you're an asshole, you are going to be an asshole sitting in a doctor's waiting room or on a plane that's crashing into a mountainside.
I love going to work on the productions I am involved with and I consider myself truly blessed to be able to do what I get to do.
There are professional people on set every day who work hard to make sure that not only does the production go smoothly but that we are taken care of every day we work.
These people, these Ass-hats (love that word!) frustrate me, but in no way dictate my experiences. I do my best to shut them out and work.
In some cases, individuals who had a less than desirable work ethic have not been asked back. There are a couple who seem to keep dodging the ax and I am hoping that eventually they will become bored and move on to their next experience in the Universe.
Maybe they will join the circus or hop a freight train.
Just keeping it reel, folks.
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved
I am giving serious thought to begin writing a book called HOW TO BE THE BEST BACKGROUND ACTOR YOU CAN BE.
I worked with two of those guys again last night and it got me thinking.
One of the thoughts I had was that if you are a self-centered jerk working on a television or movie set is not going to change that fact. It's only going to magnify your personality.
You are a background actor. There are rules. Whether you agree with them or not, there are rules. Whether you feel they apply to you is irrelevant. These rules you feel don't apply to you exist for safety reasons and for production reasons.
Here are some bullet points which eventually become chapters in my book:
~DON'T WANDER OFF. Stay with the group. A television or movie set is not your playground to explore whenever you are not being used. The P.A.'s, whose job it is to make sure you are assembled and ready to go onto set to work (the reason you are-remember?) don't have the time to play hide-n-seek with your flight ass. Stay with the group.
~STOP EATING. The crafts service table is not your own, personal refrigerator. There's one guy I've worked with a few times now. One of those happy-go-lucky guys who doesn't care how his behavior reflects on the rest of us. EVERY time I see him he has a coffee in one hand a cigarette in the other. I've seen him, seconds before they yell 'Action!' snuffing out his smokes and setting his coffee down to retrieve later. He's always stuffing his pockets with goodies for later. While the rest of us are sitting, like we are supposed to, this ass-hat is walking around doing his grocery shopping for the week.
~YOU A PART OF A TEAM. The whole 'free-spirit-I'm-a care-free soul' thing is getting old, Hippie Boy. 'Nuff said?
~HAVE SOME MANNERS. We are all in this together. We're all in this together working long, hard hours. You know what goes a long way? Simple little phrases like please and thank you make all the difference in the world. I listened to this young punk talking to, not just an elder, but someone who had hired them, with this condescending tone that just made my blood boil. Rude and demanding and condescending is no way to get things done, Ass-hat. Whoa re you to be that arrogant? It took everything I had to not walk up to him and pull his bottom lip up over his head. First day on set and that's how you are going to act? This is a Richmond, Virginia production. Skippy, so how about some freaking manners?
~YOU A PART OF A TEAM. The whole 'free-spirit-I'm-a care-free soul' thing is getting old, Hippie Boy. 'Nuff said?
I guess when all is said, people are people. They are going to be who they are no matter the situation. If you're an asshole, you are going to be an asshole sitting in a doctor's waiting room or on a plane that's crashing into a mountainside.
I love going to work on the productions I am involved with and I consider myself truly blessed to be able to do what I get to do.
There are professional people on set every day who work hard to make sure that not only does the production go smoothly but that we are taken care of every day we work.
These people, these Ass-hats (love that word!) frustrate me, but in no way dictate my experiences. I do my best to shut them out and work.
In some cases, individuals who had a less than desirable work ethic have not been asked back. There are a couple who seem to keep dodging the ax and I am hoping that eventually they will become bored and move on to their next experience in the Universe.
Maybe they will join the circus or hop a freight train.
Just keeping it reel, folks.
Copyright 2014
All Rights Reserved
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