Yesterday was spent doing random jobs, and when I wasn't doing that, I was getting to know the 10-14 year old kids that are starring in the ad (pictured below, w/ faces blurred just to be safe, even though they'll all be on national TV in a week or so). They're awesome, talented, and some of the nicest people on set. Their parents are great too-- not the "show moms" you'd expect. Dana said they weeded out the annoying/impatient kids/parents during casting, and I can see why.
They're all here except Leo, which is a shame because he's a total sweetheart and he helps me carry stuff around. :)
I do stuff like bring the kids juice in between takes, to keep them hydrated and energized after all the dancing they're doing. They work these kids hard!
But anyway, I spent a lot of time with the kids yesterday and today, but today was the first time I really got to meet the adults on set, in addition to the PAs I was working with yesterday. The way I met everyone could have been better though...
Dana gave me a clipboard and a bunch of release forms saying that everybody on this set had to sign one for the behind the scenes video footage that is going online as some webisode thing. Now, a bunch of these guys are Guild/Union workers, so the last thing you want to do is walk up and tell them they have to sign something. I learned early on the right way to approach people in order to get them to be okay signing a release.
Some people were nicer about it than others. A few flat-out refused to sign, saying they'd talked to the camera people already and made sure they were NOT to be filmed. A lot of people asked me what it was for and why the heck did they need all this information? Most people were pretty cool about it, though, if I came to them when they weren't in the middle of something, and if I called them 'sir' or 'ma'am' and thanked them a lot after. One guy followed me around, joking with the people I was trying to get to sign telling them to 'ask for money up front' before they signed anything. One guy (I won't say who, but he was pretty far up the ladder) refused to sign, told me I was doing it wrong, and then later when I went up to him again, signed the form Sammy Sosa. I noticed it pretty quickly, and knew I'd have to go get him to do it again, but I was too scared to approach him the rest of the day.
THEN, as if people weren't teasing me enough about being the 'girl with the clipboard' asking them to sign their lives away, I was given the task of going around and getting everyone to sign off on the sheet saying that they knew the safety rules and everything. Luckily, this time I wasn't walking up to random people with blank forms, trying to remember who I had and hadn't gotten to sign. This time, the sheets had peoples' names and positions written down on it, which meant I started to actually learn who people are and what they do. I'm on this duty again tomorrow, so hopefully when we finally wrap on this thing, I'll be able to walk around like I know people.
When I wasn't getting signatures (re: avoiding the intimidating people) or passing out juice boxes, I struck up conversations with crew members who weren't really busy. They were all super nice and helpful, asking me what I was interested in, how I got the internship, and telling me what they do and how they got started. I was talking to one of the cameramen who asked me what I wanted to do, and as I said "well, I really like editing," the VTR guy just so happened to be walking by. Later, I snuck back so I could look over his shoulder at his SWEET setup, and I asked if he minded if I watched him, and he said "now that I know you're into editing, you can go right ahead." He was really cool, and really on top of stuff. He said he didn't really know what was going on in terms of how what was being filmed at any given moment was going to fit into the ad, but by consulting with the script supervisor and getting timecode from the sound guy, he was basically putting together a cut on Final Cut Pro in between camera setups.
Enough technical jargon for now. I suppose that stuff's probably only interesting to me and maybe one or two other people who will ever possibly read this blog (do one or two other people read this blog as it is?).
I also got to talk a lot with another PA named Patrick near the end of the day. He told me about how he was going to college to enter the music business, but when his professor told him that no matter what or how much he studied, he'd be making people coffee to begin with, he quit school and moved down to LA. He landed an internship with Hans Zimmer's company for no pay, showed up every day whether he was told to or not, so that a few weeks later when he cut back to only 3 days a week, Hans came out looking for him, somebody told him that he wasn't there, and Hans said "why? Haven't you hired him yet?"
There are all kinds of stories like that about how people got into this line of work in all sorts of different ways, but Patrick talked with me for a while about how I just need to ALWAYS be there, and ALWAYS volunteer my time for no money, just to show people that I'm here and you can use me.
He said that the production people and other people on set were saying good stuff about me, like how nobody could tell that this was only my second day ever of being on a shoot. I'm not sure how much of it was just him being nice, but he said that he's worked on a lot of jobs with a lot of interns, and that usually he can tell when the interns just don't have it in them to make it, and he said that I've got it. He also said that this guy Chris, the head production supervisor, who is really dry and intimidating, was saying nice stuff about me. That really surprised me, 'cause he's another one of those few guys on set who I'm really intimidated by. Patrick encouraged me to stay on his and the other production supervisor's radar back at Radical even after the shoot, because they're really good people to get to know in this business.
I don't really know what I'm doing that's so special. Someone tells me to do something? I do it. I'm standing there with nothing to do? I ask whoever's closest if they have anything I can help with. Nobody needs my help? I ask people like the parents and the security guards (always good people to have on your side) if they want any drinks or snacks. They finish their drinks and snacks? I make sure there's a trash can there for them to throw it away. They don't throw it away? (and believe me, most of them don't) I come by and throw stuff away for them.
Like I said yesterday, I've got to find the right mix of being there to help and staying out of peoples' way. To me, that doesn't seem like anything extraordinary, it's just what seems right to do. I feel like that's what any intern should be doing, and I think as an intern, I could be doing a whole lot more.
But hey, at least I showed up today. The other intern on the call sheet didn't even do that.
SO, after another long day on set, Dana gave me a ride home (she promised to drive me by the Hollywood sign tomorrow after wrap). I got in, ate a bowl of cinnamon cereal for dinner (don't worry, Mom, they feed us so well at craft services that I really don't need a huge dinner), and here I am writing this blog post. Then tomorrow, I wake up before 5am and start it all over again. Dunno yet if there'll be a "Third day on set" post, but I suppose if it happens, it'll happen. I doubt I'll run out of stuff to talk about. ;)
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