96 Tears

Hey, Willie!! What hath God wrought?

My question is not why there is an ALF: Season Four DVD box set complete with commentaries, deleted scenes and all the normal DVD extras.  My question is not who would waste their hard-earned money on such a heaping pile of worthless shit.  My question is this:  How the fuck did this show make it FOUR seasons???

(And I'm totally aware that the person raising this question ironically owns all three seasons of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND.  I just gotta' know.  Were we THAT retarded back then?  Was there no Cosby equivalent to thin out the ranks?  C'MAHHHHN!!)

CAN YOU SPOT HAN'S MARTINI SHOT?: Adventures in MIDNIGHT Epilogue

martini shot (noun) - a Hollywood term that describes the final take of a scene. According to Dave Knox, author of "Strike the Baby and Kill the Blond" the Martini Shot was so named because "the next shot is out of a glass", referring to a post-wrap drink.

Last shoot was in late June.  Weird.  Since then, the trailer has come out, my hair and fingernails have grown longer than I thought possible, I've opened and closed a Fringe show, I've had a table read of my screenplay ALTER EGOS: THE SUPER and, altogether, time has passed slower and slower.  It's all relative, I guess.  Bumped into one of the main writers for MIDNIGHT, Matt Anderson, who lives in LA now and was here for a weekend.  He asked how it was going and I gave him some amusing MIDNIGHT "on the set" stories that are pretty much detailed on my last blogs, he laughed and we shared a smoke and a similar opinion on Christian's (the director's) creative decisions.  Good guy, Matt.  He's hooked up and signed to write with the same creative team that just put out YOU, ME AND DUPREE.  Hope this next one puts him on the map.   

Wednesday (8-16) - my call today was 3:30 pm at Landroval.  The description of the scene was simple.  MAG (Charlie) has beaten up "The Prisoner" AKA "The Hunter" (Sweere, who is actually supposed to be POSSESSED by "The Prisoner") and CHUZAURA (Dawn) and I (KRUCE) show up just in time to revive him and take hold of "The Hunter."  It is referred to as "the bridge scene," as we are on a bunch of soft, spongy rock that leads to an wooden bridge, which looks out to a huge cyc wall covered in "green screen" green.  There's nothing complicated about what I have to do.  I stand back while Dawn revives Charlie, they have a few words, Dawn leaves, I rouse Sweere from his ass-whooped position and walk the bridge.  Still hot as FUCK in that warehouse.  I have some cool conversation with Sweere after we've shot our thing about the new Guthrie and his involvement in it, specifically a cute girl he's been eyeing who works at the "Q" restaurant, but who is a professional glass blower and was paid to make some for not only the restuarant, but also the gift shop.  We shoot the shit about Matt Anderson and how Christian shot down a lot of his scripts because they were too "Joss Whedon."  We both shrug and figure that it's Christian's baby and who are we to argue.  We got WORK.  We talk about how this is our wrap day and we'll be sad to see it go, but how people are already talking about the buy-out talk from GenCon.  Okay, lemme' back up.

So, the MIDNIGHT entrouage hit Indianapolis by storm, touting the second largest booth there, complete with source books, game manuals and a big screen TV with the MIDNIGHT trailer playing non-stop.  Christian and the guys were talking to some folks at Sci-Fi, who were more or less telling them that the possibility of putting it on Sci-Fi is VERY do-able in one way.  We would continue to produce it here, but on "spec."  On that basis, they would work a way to get it shown on their network.  That's the easy way.  The harder ways are still being kept from us (the cast), but are being bandied about by them (Christian and the business peeps).  Regardless, knowing that the website is up and people are recognizing this thing as a real work makes me seriously happy. 

The very idea of this thing continuing gives me goosebumps.  I mean, taking off that bedazzled jacket, the badass sword, the leather pants and that black pirate shirt for the last time really took its toll on me.  As I was getting undressed, I realized that Sweere and I didn't really get much of a send-off.  Traditionally, a cast members last day is announced on the set and, apart from some lame applause from the crew, you feel some sort of closure.  I think he and I just got a "You guys are done" around 7:30 pm while we were hanging in the lobby of Landroval.  After I got dressed in street clothes, I made my way back on the set to see Dawn get wrapped and as she was, Brandon (AD) let out a "Last day for Dawn and Sam."  I always thought that was kind of lame when it was done for other people, but, at that point, it really didn't seem as weak.  It did a serious number on my head.

I probably said goodbye to a number of people twice, even though it had been a skeleton crew for a while, what with the production winding down and budgets getting thinner.

But, doing a gig like this, expanded throughout a 4-5 month period really made me wonder.  Can you spot the martini shot of every character?  Their last day?  Is it visible?  Or of the entire production?  Is it actually possible to see the very last take of a film that you know backwards and forwards, watched 100's of times, and see it for what it really is, the LAST shot EVER?  I guess it's best that we can't.  Would we want to know?  The magic would be gone, right?  We would be able to spot the "man behind the curtain" then?  Would it even matter?

When I got home, I felt pretty empty.  I sat on the back of my Saturn, lit a smoke and watched a sunset that looked like it was matte-painted by our post-production guy, Matt Gilson.  I called a couple of MIDNIGHT people, got no answer or got cut off, went into my apartment and watched the rest of COWBOY BEBOP.

I hope this was not my martini shot. 

JUGBAND BLUES II

And to top it ALL OFF, the founder of PINK FLOYD died on my MUTHER FUCKING BIRTHDAY.

It's a fallen world.

Which One's Pink: R.I.P. Syd Barrett

     I was FLOORED today when I got an email from one of my best friends in Birmingham, who forwarded me the CNN website headline about the death of SYD BARRETT, founder and former leader of PINK FLOYD, at the age of 60.  All I can say is I'm really feeling this and it really hurts.  It's not the same pain and loss I've felt when friends and relatives have passed on recently, far from it.  This?  This is different.  I feel like I've lost some sort of piece of myself, like an important thing is now gone missing.  This is the first band I ever went batshit over, buying up all of their albums in every format and loving just about every single recorded inch of it.

     For those of you not familiar with this guy, don't feel too bad.  SYD was only with the band for the first album, "Piper At the Gates of Dawn," a handful of singles in-between and one solitary track on the second album, "A Saucerful of Secrets."  But he WAS PINK FLOYD from the very beginning, even came up with the name.  Like most Brit-pop bands of the time, FLOYD was simply revving-up R&B standards at first, but by the time SYD got in the driver's seat, they had hit a curve.  Although their first two singles ("Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play") did well in the charts, SYD had begun to experiment with lengthening songs to 17+ minutes when playing live and usually refused to play the hit singles in concert, instead blasting the audience with lots of feedback and improvised sections that even had people like PAUL McCARTNEY showing up at the UFO (a popular underground, "freak-out" concert hall) just to see what all the fuss was about.  By the end of the first album and subsequent tour, SYD was feeling the pressure and doing more and more drugs.  Piggy-backed on the fact that he was slightly unstable mentally, the drugs did more harm than good and most gigs found SYD staring off into the audience, strumming the same chord throughout songs or simply unable to go onstage.  A short-lived "five-man FLOYD" happened for awhile with DAVID GILMOUR taking over SYD's parts, while the sound guy turned SYD's mic and guitar off  GILMOUR was a close friend of SYD's who'd initially taught him how to play guitar years before.  However, the story goes that one night ROGER WATERS, NICK MASON, RICK WRIGHT and DAVID GILMOUR sat in the PINK FLOYD van, on the way to SYD's house and the question arose as to whether they should actually pick him up.  Someone said, "No, let's not."  And they never did again.

     The second album, "A Saucerful of Secrets," is only the aforementioned four WITHOUT SYD, except for one track that they'd recorded with him before his breakdown.  It was "Jugband Blues" and it ends the album in a really eerie way.  You just hear him strumming as the band fades away and you listen to the lyrics, wondering if he somehow knew he was being let go. 

     There are tons of stories about his post-FLOYD days.  One where he showed up at PINK FLOYD gigs, glaring up at GILMOUR (his replacement) in the front row, barely blinking.  Some have to do with the fact that none of the hardcore PINK FLOYD fans of the late '60s thought that PINK FLOYD would ever amount to anything without SYD.  Others involve failed bands that he started and gigs he never showed up for.  My favorite is the one where he showed up at Abby Road studios in '74, where PINK FLOYD were recording the "Wish You Were Here" album.  His head and eyebrows were shaved, he was nearly 300 lbs. and he carried one item:  a guitar.  He sat in the lobby for nearly 30 minutes before the FLOYD were told about him.  They went out, greeted him and he asked when he they wanted him to play on the album.  Pleasantries were exchanged and the subject was dropped, but as he left, the FLOYD still weren't sure what they'd seen.  Strangely enough, that album contains "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wish You Were Here," two songs written about SYD well before he showed up at Abbey Road.

     Pretty much four albums of FLOYD material revolved around the SYD BARRETT mythos thanks to ROGER WATERS.  And these are some of the best-selling albums of their careers (if not of all time).  I can't think of another band in the history of rock'n'roll who had to recreate themselves so severely after the loss of such a crucial songwriting icon, much less one that went on to succeed so incredibly for so long.  They certainly had to try on a number of musical hats before they arrived at their trademark, progressive rock sound and it's easy to hear SYD's influence for a while there.

     I don't think PINK FLOYD would've been quite as successful had SYD NOT burnt out at that point, though who's to say.  If he hadn't, there never would've been "The Wall" or "Dark Side of the Moon," quite possibly.  ROGER WATERS might not've become a massive dictator and destroyed the group in the way that he did.  The band might've just been another psychedelic footnote, like most of the bands of that time.  DAVID GILMOUR probably wouldn't have made it, gigging here and there in pub bands, still a fabulous guitarist, but never becoming famous.  Artists like MARC BOLAN (T-REX) and ROBYN HITCHCOCK might not have had the sound they quietly stole from BARRETT.  Hell, who knows?  That's all "what ifs," I guess, alternate universes and possibilities.

     Now, as I read the CNN article, I can only see this image of SYD standing on the corner, outside his mother's house, a house he would live in until the end of his life, just waiting for PINK FLOYD's van to come pick him up for a gig he'd never get to. 

If you'd like to know the whole story about SYD BARRETT and the early days of PINK FLOYD, I suggest the following books:

"A Saucerful of Secrets"  by Nicholas Schaeffer 

"Crazy Diamond"

"Inside Out"  by PINK FLOYD drummer, NICK MASON    

WHAT'S THE OPPOSITE OF HOTH?: Adventures in MIDNIGHT VII

THURSDAY (6/29) - Ah, another scorcher on set.  While getting a smoke with Crist during a LONG ASS break, we discussed the actual existence of soundstages with AIR-CONDITIONING.  It definitely sounds like a fucking pipe dream when you're trapped in a warehouse with absolutely NONE and massive flood lights bearing down on you.  When not on deck, I'm constantly cooling off in the make-up room or in the lobby of Landroval.  The make-up room was a great sanctuary since Crist was playing the streaming video of the dumbass Fox field reporter taking a header at a grape-stomping festival, squealing and shrieking like a battered seal as she hit the ground.  Sick, funny shit.

This is mostly the reverse of yesterday in terms of shots.  Also, it is the reveal of the "brand" worn by OLEN (Chris) from yesterday.  That was the absolute final shot of the day, but leading up to it were reverse shots of my scene with him, but close-ups and over-the-shoulders of me.  Also, Dawn was only able to stay for a few hours, so they shot a lot of her arrival with legate guards (her first appearance in the film) and had us reacting to it after she left for an audition.  This was supposed to be after MAG had just sliced off OLEN's head, at the same time, setting him on fire.  When they set up the flicker box for the effect during my scene with MAG, they realized that they didn't use it for CHEZAURA's (Dawn's) scene prior.  So, the flicker box, manned by Peter, was used very liberally. 

A few less kid extras on set today, which pleased me beyond belief.  One little girl I talked to (can't remember her name), a possible relative of Jeremy's (pyro, P.A.), was really cool.  The only interaction I had with her was when I first walk into the seaside scene as Jim and Chris have their conversation.  She runs out of an alley I'm coming from.  Anyhoo, we had a fun little conversation about Jeremy's two Vespas and the one with a sidecar.  So, one little extra changed my perception of kids, I guess.

The day was LONG and one that lacked the kind of pre-planning and direction as previous shooting days.  I'm not saying that Landroval wasn't prepared, but it seemed like there was more "wait" than "hurry up" in the last two days' schedules.

Got a chance to hang a little with a guy named Justin, who had been an extra for the past two days.  Cool guy, but a little green.  The one thing he's got going for him is stick-to-it-iveness, that's for sure.  He's really slogging through the shit, printed-up headshot/business cards, blackberry full of MNTalent contacts, you name it.  I chalk it up to being younger, though.  The excitement wanes, I tell him.  Something John Hallum made me hip to a LONG time ago.  I admired his determination, however.  The fact that he's looking at the whole extra thing as experience is a good sign.  Hope he doesn't lose it too soon.

By the end of the day, I was tired as hell from doing nothing.  The "brand reveal" looked pretty sweet, with Lee on a ladder above me and Chris, a nice shot of the fish on some burlap and a quick rip of Chris's sleeve to reveal the slightly scraped-off legate brand.  It took a while to prep it so that could easily make the reveal, but when it worked, it worked.

I peel off the sweaty leather and make my way to yet ANOTHER shoot, this one for the Haley Bonar video, where I dress up in redneck gear and dig a grave for about an hour.

Babies don't sleep this good. 

HAN SOLO NEVER NEEDED AN APPLEBOX: Adventures in MIDNIGHT VI

WEDNESDAY (6-28) - WOW, lotsa' kid extras!!  Not saying I don't love kids, 'cause I ain't exactly allergic to 'em or nuthin', but JEEZ!!  This is the FIRST scene of MIDNIGHT, Baden's Bluff and I guess that Baden's Bluff has a LOTTA' families.  My scene (the first part of it being today, the close-ups and my shit tomorrow) is with OLEN (Chris Carleson, who I'd seen at Thirst and the History Theatre's "To Kill A Mockingbird") and as of Monday night they were looking for a last-minute replacement for the character after days were switched and the actor couldn't reschedule.  Chris is funny as shit, but stone-cold cool as the legate on the run, selling fish by the sea as MAG and I discover the "legate brand" on his arm.  He's MASSIVELY tall compared to me.  I keep asking for about three appleboxes so that we're eye to eye, but Lee (DP) moves the camera to an angle that makes us look relatively the same height.  As I walk up, the only thing in my head is the "Gilligan's Island" episode where the Skipper is the giant in a Jack in the Beanstalk dream Gilligan is having and Gilligan is actually played by Bob Denver's real-life son, who is, of course, dwarfed by Skipper.  I'm Bob Denver's son in this scene and I'm supposed to kind of "rough" OLEN up (basically grabbing his arm, pulling up the sleeve and exposing the "brand").  I guess KRUCE has a lot of strength for a guy built like Richard Dreyfuss.  We did TOO many takes of this and I was pretty much melting, as usual, because it was so hot in this warehouse.  Also, a great actor, Jim, who auditioned for the upcoming TMJ production "Alter Egos Episode One," is a character, KENARD, who kind of warns OLEN of the coming legate invasion.  Great guy, great actor, great "type."  The medium shot that I stroll into was low stress, though Christian is one of those directors that doesn't want PART of a scene.  He runs the WHOLE DAMN THING, no matter what kind of set-up.  Just a different way of working, not knocking it.  But by the time we'd ended the day, I was pretty wiped.  I'm just glad I'm not an orc because of all of the prosthetics and wardrobe they had to endure yesterday. 

Oh, and live (okay, DEAD, but REAL) fish on set.  A first for me.

On a better note, I found out that my official LAST DAY is on the 13th of July, so I can leave tomorrow knowing that I'm back for at least one more day.  Putting off the inevitable, that's me.  On a sad note however, this is Andrea's last day.  She's so super cool and really got my back when need support and make-up touch-ups.  We'll definitely get another five cheese, white sauce pizza at Psycho Suzie's sometime (and drinks, LOTSA' drinks).  Don't know if I mentioned this, but it was Katy's last day.  She was Emily's second on wardrobe and, like Andrea, is fun as hell on a brutally hot set, making sure that we look our best before cameras roll.  Two chics I hope I haven't seen the last of.

I gotta' shout out to Thaad and Peter for being my "fans" throughout the hot days.  They see me melting and just rush towards me with pieces of foamcore, fanning me like bandits as soon as they here "cut."  That cloak may LOOK badass, but it REALLY keeps the heat in.

Gotta' remember what I did today so I can redo it tomorrow for my close-ups.  Oh, and was able to work in the long fingernails for the second time (the first being on the Pepin "Rustic Road" shoot, where I pull an Elvin arrow out of an orc).  I'd been growing them out for the character for far TOO long and I get nothing but creepy stares and comments in real life.  I'll be glad to clip them, but not so glad to get rid of the hair (or the goatee).    

HAN SOLO WAS NEVER EXPOSED TO THIS MANY BREASTS: Adventures in MIDNIGHT V

MONDAY (6-26) - My shortest, most enjoyable shoot to date.  I was able to get off work about 30 minutes early, avoid rush hour for the most part and get on set before my call to kind of check out the newly constructed tavern.  It was another "extra-heavy" day, but a little bit more reigned-in due to the small size of the tavern, which looked more like an outdoor marketplace, but I'm sure that by the time "Digital Matt," post-production guru, gets done with it, it may look pretty badass.  He's worked miracles on some of the Pepin, WI footage that I've seen before color correction, adding mountain ranges and the city of Blackweir to footage of me and the other baddies on horseback.  As I look around the tavern set, I notice a number of "X's" above sight lines, which usually means that "Digital Matt" will be doing some of his magic later.

I can't remember the last time people on set were this content and in such good spirits.  I quickly assessed on (or two) reason(s) why this may be.  Short answer?  Tits.  Long answer?  Breasts.  Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, brings a geeky production crew on a D&D-inspired TV pilot together like women in low-cut, wench-style bustiers.  Mainly it was Emily (head costumer) and Andrea (make-up chica), but you'd think that MIDNIGHT had found space in the budget to hire Penthouse Pets the way Peter (grip, P.A., continuity) kept snapping shots with his camera.  Yes, they needed to capture every aspect of the production and, YES, continuity is important, but I don't think that Emily's "girls" shifted any between take 1 and take 3.  Andrea and I joked later that these were for Peter's "private" collection.  This was DEFINITELY "tavern wench" day and I'd mainly been looking forward to it, not because of the breasts per se, but because I had been gunning for Christian to use Emily as the wench that was on my knee for the scene, cause she's so dead cool.  It was also the first time that Andrea and Emily had leapt in front of the camera.  Great fucking characters, too.  Andrea played the pissed-off barmaid to a fucking "T."  Emily was supposed to be the wench on the knee, but they'd changed it to a wench on my arm, where IANA (Melissa) bumps into us and I take the slow burn right past the camera.  Originally, this was going to be a quick reveal, as you find out that I'd been eavesdropping on a conversation between her and GAELEN (I think).  This one turned out to be pretty effective, I believe.  Pretty straightforward for me and normally a "nothing" day.  30 minutes in make-up chair, 30 or so hanging with extras, waiting for various pick-up shots and the 45 minutes that my scene actually took, at most.  We got a few good passes and few that went awry, as Christian's directing style is sort of a "less is more" approach.  He tells us less, we try to overcompensate with the stuff we don't know.  He does minimal blocking and usually lets us figure it out as we go.  We're not burning film, so I guess it doesn't matter.  He wanted me to shirk off Emily as we walk into shot at the same time she grabs my chin to get my attention from IANA with a jerk of my head, but I thought it would be cooler to grab her hand, squeeze it, bring it off of my face and leer over my shoulder at IANA.  Kind of "Days of Our Live," what with the slow zoom into me.  I felt the grab of the hand would be stronger.  It seemed to work well with Lee (DP) behind the camera making it cool as Christmas.  A few good ones to choose from, I think.  As usual, after the fact and on the way home, I thought about 10 different, cooler ways to do the scene, but I ALWAYS do that, whether it's MIDNIGHT or some commercial audition.  I HATE doing that, but I can't stop it. 

In the parking lot, while smoking and shooting the shit with Andrea, Christian came up and revealed that this Thursday was my wrap day.  No more MIDNIGHT, I guess for me.  The Baden's Bluff scenes are my last and also the first in the movie.  I was speechless and a little dazed.  I'd seen both Matts in the production (FURTIVE MAN and GALEN) wrap earlier that day with very little emotional baggage out in the open, either on their parts or the crew's.  But, for me, I'll really miss this.  You'd think that it'd be easier than, say, a theatre gig closing, where people tend to spend every night together during rehearsal and every weekend together once it opens.  But it's the fact that it's so sporadic and there's very little closure.  No closing night.  Just a wrap party, maybe, and the possible potential keep doing this for the long haul.  I've kept myself from saying that out loud like other people and almost hate writing it in a blog for fear of jinxing it, but I'd really like to see this move onto the next level, whatever that may entail. 

Looking forward to Convergence and the premier of the MIDNIGHT trailer.  Next couple of shoot days will be fun, even if they are my last two. 

THIS DOESN'T MAKE HAN SOLO GAY, DOES IT? - Adventures in MIDNIGHT IV

THURSDAY (June 22nd) - Okay, so I guess only being on set for 5 hours instead of 11, plus having half the crew, PLUS having Brandon (who's normally our AD) as the director helps a shoot go a lot smoother.  This was the MAG BED CHAMBER scene, according to the script, and considering that Charlie and I were the only talent called for this one . . . well, I guess you can make up your own innuendo here.  It was probably the smallest set in MIDNIGHT, comprising of MAG's cot, three and a half walls, a skylight and a desk with various evil props.  Atmosphere was added, as it always is (i.e. fog and lots of it ).  In fact, that's one thing I've failed to mention in ANY of these blogs, I believe.  Fog permeates every single corner of MIDNIGHT.  I don't care if you're in your evil bedroom, riding horseback, in a tunnel, inside of a tavern, ANYWHERE.  Fog is present.  It's just a fact of life.  Anyhoo, I get to the make-up room about 5:30 PM and we don't shoot the scene until about 7:30-8:00 or so.  Reason for the delay?  This is the first time we see MAG KILN in anything less than his evil, black shoulder pads and leather armor.  He awakens from a bad dream/premonition and finds KRUCE there, back from the tavern with nothing but bad news to report.  Since Charlie's arms are visible, Crist (make-up guy extraordinaire) and Todd (design genius and part-time orc/legate guard [maybe part-time isn't the best word]) are hard at work drawing badass tattoos all over his skin.  Plus, this is one of the first times we see MAG's branded legate symbol on his arm, which takes a little more time as it's raised on his skin.  I take some time to eat junk food, down a few sodas, talk to Alis, Katy and Andrea, smoke like a fiend and get a nice lowdown from Brandon about the scene.  He explains that he has the basic idea of shots that he wants, but it's just up to me and Charlie as far as where this odd, evil relationship is at this stage.  Chronologically, this scene is not long after the one we shot yesterday, where KRUCE is found by CHEZAURA and has to explain that the girl they are seeking got away.  I play it a bit meek when I have to report this to MAG, as this is KRUCE's fucking gig here.  This is what he's supposed to be good at, tracking down people, especially CHICS!!  They do a few passes at Charlie waking up, a few nice shots of me coming in through these cheap, yet effective TWIN PEAKS-red curtains, do my close-up and we're out of there around 10PM or so.  Not bad, really.  Apart from a weird "clicking/clacking" from some part of the warehouse that we couldn't really help, the sound seemed fine.  Charlie and I were eventually saying our lines to compensate for it.  Hope we don't have to ADR any of that shit.  Also, I noticed that tension was still in the air occasionally.  I think people are just being worked too hard and very little sleep is being had.  Hell, welcome to life, bitches.  Mostly, I think it's a couple of the women who are taking shit a little hard at times.  Not trying to sound sexist or anything, but the boys tend to sling the dozens around quite a bit and I think the guys have tougher skin.  Nothing that would cease production, just an observation. 

Brandon has a really good eye.  Not taking anything away from Christian, but Brandon is a different animal altogether when it comes to getting this shit done.  Hope to be directed by him in the future.  Incidentally, Brandon's comic, HORRORWOOD, just came out with its second issue.  Cool shit.

HAN SOLO NEVER SWEATS: Adventures in MIDNIGHT III

I realized that I've ommitted a shooting day from about a week and a half ago, but it was pretty uneventful.  Most of it consisted of me and Dawn sitting around a legate pit, her waking up and me saying something smart-ass, which is pretty much art imitating life on my part.  That being said, I figured I would skip it.

WEDNESDAY (June 21st) - Rough fucking day.  11 hours all told.  Two things do not a good shoot day make.  One, getting new pages to a re-written scene the day before shooting.  This BLOWS.  I don't like thinking about the lines.  They should be there, in the back of my head, ready to just come out.  Rehearsing this shit and getting it cold, by myself, is usually the best option.  The scene we did on this day was THE KRUCE scene.  It's the one where I have the MOST dialogue and it's the one where you get the MOST out of what this guy is.  This was the one that I focused on so intensely when I first got cast, going over it in the car, in my apartment, while in the shower.  It was down COLD.  Then, Tuesday I get an email with new pages.  An almost TOTALLY re-written scene.  Compound this with the fact that I had to work late and my call was 8AM on Wednesday, well, you get the idea.  Another reason for a bad shoot?  Heat.  It was balls-ass hot in that bitch yesterday.  Normally this doesn't affect me that much on these shoots, but it was a "cloak day," so we were in full regalia, our cloaks adding a good 10 to 20 degrees to the already muggy warehouse.  So, you've got an actor who's wonky on lines and a heat index of 70-80 degrees.  This spells water on the brain.  Props to my girl Andrea for keeping me cool with Sea Breeze on the back of my neck and cold compresses for my wrists (this actually works quite well).  I don't think  you could really see the buckets of sweat coming off me since the shit they shoot on is so friggin' high tech.  For the most part, the first half of the day wasn't bad.  A half city block of Blackweir is now in Landroval studios, on wheels no less.  Huge facades are moved back and forth depending on the angle needed to shoot from.  Fucking impressive.  We enter the town, stare down some filthy peasants, make a little chit-chat and I leave to drink in a nearby tavern.  Sounds simple, right?  Oh, HELL no.  Of course we get the wide, which takes a bit of tie, choreographing the extras and a little girl that Charlie (MAG KILN) stares down and has a weird flashback about.  Then, just as we get rolling, Dawn has to go to an audition and we're at lunch.  So, before Davanni's arrives, we shoot a C.U. of me giving MAG shit and shooting down an alley towards the tavern, presumably giving a wink to Dawn (CHEZAURA), who's obscured by a building supposedly.  Lines are fine at this point, but it isn't until she comes back and a long dolly shot is constructed that I start having trouble.  I think it was the heat and the exhaustion that it brings.  I felt fine, but there were HUGE brain farts going on.  AND extras were waiting and we were loosing time.  I just hate being THAT guy.  Also, Dawn mentioned that when she came back on set, there was this weird tension in the air, which I have to admit, I felt too.  It was like mom and dad were fighting and you were made to watch.  I'd heard of tempers running high as of late.  I think the honeymoon might be over.  Frustrations over the script and technical problems have been a looming cloud.  Regardless, the shoot went relatively well, I suppose.  As I was discussing it with Crist (my fucking ROCK) outside smoking, he gave me a huge boost by saying that it wasn't me, but the shaking writing of the script.  I tended to agree.  Although I was pleased with being giving more to say, having reviewed the old lines, it's pretty much six of one, half dozen of the other, one script to the next.  You don't learn any more about this guy in the re-written shit than you did in the original draft.

At this point, I'm feeling the winding down process happening.  There are notes on the doors about how "Morning Is Coming" and MIDNIGHT is almost done.  Landroval is offering tech people permanent positions at Fantasy Flight Games, their main company.  Actors are talking about their next projects and more or less, people are getting ready to move on (although most of the cast has, since their shit has already been shot in full).  I hate this point of a production.  Normally it's because I have nothing lined up, but I actually DO.  I'll just miss these people SO much.  This is WORSE than a play.  At least you know the end date then.  Here, it's hard to say what needs to still be shot.  I'm in limbo and it's really tough. 

I go back in tonight for a short scene in MAG's bed chambers.  Hope it's cooler. 

SONG SUNG BLUE

     So, during the editing of our entry into the 48 Hour Film Project, Adam Fielitz and I, both lacking sleep and focus, were tossing out random thoughts to stay awake while Jim Snapko digitized the best takes of the day.  One thing we discussed is something that still makes me scratch my head, mainly because there's been no resolution.  Here goes:

     Whenever someone sings the NEIL DIAMOND song "Sweet Caroline" in a karaoke bar, the crowd will normally do the following:  A) blurt out a vocalized version of the song's trumpet part during the chorus (i.e. "bop-bop-baahhhhh") and B) include a completely fabricated "So good, so good, so good" after the actual line, "Good times never seemed so good."

     Where the FUCK does this come from?  How does is start?  Why THIS particular song?  And how is it possibly in EVERY SINGLE karaoke bar that I've EVER heard it sung in?  This is the God's honest truth.  Now I can't even remember a time when these drunken wastes of space DIDN'T do these two things to this DIAMOND anthem.  Hell, it's not even his best song anyway!! 

     Is it in the "Saving Silverman" movie with him and Jack Black?  I never saw it.  Maybe I'm just missing the pop culture train, but no thanks.

     I even encountered this shit when I heard the song on a jukebox at a non-karaoke bar about a week ago.  People just CHIMING OUT, like a bunch of lemmings.  I mean, what the living FUCK?

     Come to think of it, I even have a vague recollection of it being done (yet in a different, more obnoxious way) with BILLY IDOL's version of "Mony, Mony," where the crowd intersperses the line "Rock 'n' roll all night, get drunk, get stoned" after each line of the verse.  Kind of a less applicable, less intelligent response than the NEIL DIAMOND one, I'll admit.

     Are we THAT starved for attention in this society?  Has reality TV made EVERYONE want to be noticed?  Is that why most cities are so crammed with actors just taking up space and not worth a damn?  Am I going too far with this?  Am I not going far enough?  Is this why "American Idol" is doing so well?  I mean, are they doing this in karaoke bars in other counties, just with their equivalent to NEIL?  Where does this shit end?

     On a seemingly unrelated note, I've had the WEIRD AL YANKOVIC song "Slime Creatures From Outer Space" in my head for over two weeks now.  I don't think I've ever heard the song more than once in my life and even then, only the mundane chorus, which is the only thing stuck in there right now.  Someone please sneak up behind me and shoot me.