Lights, Camera, Action

                                                       
                                           July 28, 2014

Take 1: Camera rolling.  Pretending to write notes as part of my role.  Might as well make them real.  

 

Cameras being shifted: There are big lights on the set.  Already warm.  Was called for part that required wearing a swim suit.
 Opted for less revealing dress shirt and sport coat. Don't want to become an object and have my film career built on the foundation of my physique; want to recognized for my talent.

 

Take 2: Four  to six hours of filming ahead. This is going to be great fun but starting to remember how hot it was a
hundred years ago when I had to wear a sport coat and a tie at work. 

 

Take 3: Pretty funny script.  Hard not to laugh.  Wonder if my head is
too shiny.  Maybe not. No one has come towards me with a light meter, makeup brush or a cantalope knife.

 

Lights being muted: The man next to me was unlucky.  Took a pen that was offered that doesn’t work. He is pretending to write by
scribbling lines of circles.  He has an incredible head of hair however, so in the fortunes of the universe I figure the pen injustice is a wash.

 

Take 4:  The show's stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstien and the guest star are incredibly good at ad libing
humor.  Don’t smile, keep looking serious no matter how funny they have become..  

Porland, the moveable feast.

 

Brief break while director talking with
stars: Having been selected in Hawaii to drive our rental car through a scene of
Barnaby Jones in the late 70’s, our family waited a year to see our 4 second scene in that show. I can now say my television career has spanned 35 years.

 

Take 5: Never realized my inclination to fidget so much. It's good there are these minutes between takes; I can get all my
shifting done.

 

Take 6:  Sport coat is duplicating the effects of a sauna.  I wonder if Robert Redford started this way.

 

Take 7:  I just realized I’ve been listening to the actors exchange lines while affirmatively and continually nodding
my head.  I’m certain the next part that I will be offered will be as a dashboard ornament.

 

Lunch:  We are eating outside together, cast, crew and extras.  It was suggested we “Be considerate and respect
the actor’s privacy.”  This has been easier outside than while washing hands side by side at the sinks in the men's room.  

 

Having a great lunch.  Baked salmon, beef kabobs, spinach ravioli, roasted asparagus, grilled
peppers, cheeses, fruits, apple pie, and ice cream.  

 

In the lunch line another extra - a woman who had been in an earlier scene - told me that when she and
her friend arrived this morning they were so excited because they thought I was John Malkovich doing a cameo appearance , adding "but of course you're not" and then asking  "are you?" and
then saying "No, its just the beard that makes you look like him."  First time anyone has ever given me a present and then taken it away and then kind of given it back before telling they
only gave it to me by mistake in the first place.  

 

15 minutes to write and eat while not wearing the sauna suit.

 

Take 8:  The set has heated up. Have gotten my impulse to fidget and bob my head under control.  However - all
of this inner cellular activity has channeled itself to a tiny patch of unitchable skin on the side of my nose.

 

Take 9: Starred at the large round face of a light on the set a few minutes ago.  Thought for a second what a strange
journey this has been – this coming back  as I have and being able participate in something so improbable as today.

Take 10:  Incredibly warm.  Might have been a mistake not to take the swimsuit role, but at least in this sport
coat the scene I am in might make it through the editing room.

 

Take 11:  Day wrapping up I think.  Happy I signed up for this, so out of the realm of my life. Now tomorrow I
can say that I am an out of work actor.

 

Take 12: Have to stop writing.  Cameras are moving closer and we have to mimic a variety of expressions for editing
options.

 

“I’m ready for my close up Mr. Demille.”  

A little blog deviation today, but the experience was great
fun and educational.  The cast and crew of Portlandia  were wonderfully professional, hard working and very talented. 

 

This week my newsletter
2nd Tuesday will begin.  I hope you will take a look at it and join me in this new adventure by signing up on the top of this page.      

 

Thanks so much, 

 

Fred

 

 

Living a Finished Life © Fredrick Swan,
2014