Movie-ing Along
Ho, LJ!
Been a pretty interesting summer so far, and wow where's the time flown? and even though I've managed to accomplish some things on my Summer To-Do List, it's not nearly what I'd hoped, especially in the area of writing. :-( Ah, c'est la vie, I guess!
Oh, my poor car I've just found out is too damaged from my recent accident to repair. It's a write-off. Wahhh! It's like losing a trusty old steed! Fare Thee Well, dear Dodge Shadow. Thank you for the safe travels these past years! :-(
(but at least I've mostly gotten over my angst regarding the end of the Harry Potter novels, and the deaths of Remus Lupin and Snape et al a bit more. I think writing about that grief here rather helped in expunging some of that negative emotion, in fact. Still sad and slightly disappointed in how they were handled, but better appreciating why and the rest of the story as well.)
And Happy Birthday this past week to
sasha_anu and
damo_in_japan! Hope you had a great one, guys!
I've been struggling to get more summer film work, as is usually my main summer job, but this year the work is a bit on the thin side. Been able to do this and that, here and there. No big movies this summer to work on for me, alas, but I've done some background performing and some Production Assistant work on some TV movies and commercials, but nothing really worth reporting about here.
SEEN a few fun summer flicks however, starting with Spider-Man 3 (ehhh, all right) in May, and getting better with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, (liked it far better than #2, though Norrington's death still bugs me) Transformers (was worried about and eager for this one all at once as an old bigtime TF nut, but it was more good than disappointing, and Go, Optimus Prime!), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (oh, so short! So much missing from the book! But liked it quite well anyways, but grrrr that so much with Sirius and Lupin was cut out!), Stardust (very enjoyable and yep, recommended!), and Hot Rod (kind of a quirky hoot!). ( & I got free passes to the latter two, which is always a treat. There are some perks to working at my ComicShop and in the Film Biz!) I enjoyed each of these, but I think the actual best movie I've seen this summer so far has been Pixar's Ratatouille. Simply a marvellous little film, with incredible animation, fun storyline, educational to boot, and a cute protagonist. (of course, I'm rather biased towards little furry critters, though I'm not usually an advocate of rats themselves.)
Hot Rod, (I still think of that Autobot from the the original Transformers movie) as an interesting aside, I was quite wanting to see, even though it's not normally my kind of movie. But some of you might recall about a year ago last summer that I got to actually work on this movie, and wrote about it on LJ here. It was shot here, (well, mostly out in the small town of Cloverdale, where the set for Smallville is) and I worked for about three days on the flick as a background extra. Three VERY hot days, but good ones. That's the movie where I had to learn to sing the chorus to an old '80's tune by Aussie songster John Farnham (and couldn't get that song outta my head for WEEKS - and oh joy! It's back!) and where I was injured being tramped on during the fake mob riot scene. My poor paw ached for days after that fall I took. (oh, and if you'd like to actually hear that song, - it's insidious, I warn you, here it is at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99P7TTvpO1g ) It was also the last film I worked on with fellow Extra Anne, my friend who died unexpectedly this past Spring.
Well, I got to see the movie on Wednesday night at the advance preview, and even I found certain parts hilarious. (I don't usually go for 'dumb humour' movies, but there was enough cleverness and cuteness in the script to keep me entertained for the most part.) And although the scenes I was there for seemed drastically cut down from what I remember shooting, it was cool to see how it turned out. (If you see it, I was there for the big climactic stunt scene, the riot, a concert, and in some townspeople shots.) And I did indeed catch a glimpse of myself, which is usually kind of rare. (also caught myself in a Season 10 episode of Stargate: SG-1 this spring, which was kinda cool.)
In fact, it's a little disconcerting, because this week a blitz of commercials came on TV advertising Hot Rod, and I keep spotting myself in one of the them (not close up or anything; I just happen to remember where I was walking in one shot, and what I was wearing.) Not too often that happens, I tell you! :-) My friends totally embarrassed me in the theatre when I appeared right behind the main actors. (and weirdly enough, I was one of three in the whole theatre who won one of the prizes. I never win stuff! Typically, however, it's quite the lame prize, and I can't even use it. a mail-in DVD rental thing for one month from a major Video Rental outlet, but without a credit card - or any free time this month - I can't take advantage of it, and it expires already by August's end. Also gave away the movie poster I got as I have zero wall space for it!) Ah well. Just winning for a change was rather nice.
Coincidentally enough, I had been booked for some background work and spent the bulk of that day running around the city as an Extra for a bunch of promo ads by CityTV for the new season of the series Ugly Betty, which was interesting in and of itself, really. A slightly more ... unique day than usual. And despite the terrific heat of the day, it was kind of fun! They'd divided up a hundred extras (mostly female, but some male too, which made things ... different) into four 'teams', and gave us locations and call times in 4 different corners of downtown. (my group started at the Harbour, which was far, but very lovely, actually) Then the producer/leaders assigned each team a camera which proceeded to follow us and film us as we marched/danced/skipped along the seawell and through the streets, interacting with tourists, pedestrians, construction workers, motorists, cafe patrons, and people getting married in a park. (fun)
Then all four groups converged in the centre of the city at the Art Gallery for a big fake Ugly Betty 'rally', and we did the rest of the shoot. Oh, and did I mention that every single one of us was dressed as Ugly Betty herself? We had to all wear identical ponchos (from the show, apparently, and boy were these hot under the August sun, made out of fleece!) and black long wigs, and big red eyeglasses, and fake braces! (and gah, my mouth was gummed up all day from the Fixodent they used to affix them to our teeth. What a horrible flavour. Gah!) Well, hot as the disguise was, it was kind of fun and rather liberating to not be recognizable when interacting with strangers who think you're absolutely crazy. :-) And despite the incredible heat, I can think of worse ways to spend a summer's day! (and I think I should maybe watch the show - from what I've seen last year, it's looks well done.)
So, that's my little filmic update for now. Hopefully there'll be a bit more Movie Magic for us all before summer's end, and for me, both on and off the set! (though no more stunt injuries, I hope!)
And if so, I'll do my best to share, 'cuz as John sings,
"Make a noise and make it clear! Whooooaaaaaaa!"
Pax the Stunt(ed)Wolf ;-)
Been a pretty interesting summer so far, and wow where's the time flown? and even though I've managed to accomplish some things on my Summer To-Do List, it's not nearly what I'd hoped, especially in the area of writing. :-( Ah, c'est la vie, I guess!
Oh, my poor car I've just found out is too damaged from my recent accident to repair. It's a write-off. Wahhh! It's like losing a trusty old steed! Fare Thee Well, dear Dodge Shadow. Thank you for the safe travels these past years! :-(
(but at least I've mostly gotten over my angst regarding the end of the Harry Potter novels, and the deaths of Remus Lupin and Snape et al a bit more. I think writing about that grief here rather helped in expunging some of that negative emotion, in fact. Still sad and slightly disappointed in how they were handled, but better appreciating why and the rest of the story as well.)
And Happy Birthday this past week to
sasha_anu and
damo_in_japan! Hope you had a great one, guys!
I've been struggling to get more summer film work, as is usually my main summer job, but this year the work is a bit on the thin side. Been able to do this and that, here and there. No big movies this summer to work on for me, alas, but I've done some background performing and some Production Assistant work on some TV movies and commercials, but nothing really worth reporting about here.
SEEN a few fun summer flicks however, starting with Spider-Man 3 (ehhh, all right) in May, and getting better with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, (liked it far better than #2, though Norrington's death still bugs me) Transformers (was worried about and eager for this one all at once as an old bigtime TF nut, but it was more good than disappointing, and Go, Optimus Prime!), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (oh, so short! So much missing from the book! But liked it quite well anyways, but grrrr that so much with Sirius and Lupin was cut out!), Stardust (very enjoyable and yep, recommended!), and Hot Rod (kind of a quirky hoot!). ( & I got free passes to the latter two, which is always a treat. There are some perks to working at my ComicShop and in the Film Biz!) I enjoyed each of these, but I think the actual best movie I've seen this summer so far has been Pixar's Ratatouille. Simply a marvellous little film, with incredible animation, fun storyline, educational to boot, and a cute protagonist. (of course, I'm rather biased towards little furry critters, though I'm not usually an advocate of rats themselves.)
Hot Rod, (I still think of that Autobot from the the original Transformers movie) as an interesting aside, I was quite wanting to see, even though it's not normally my kind of movie. But some of you might recall about a year ago last summer that I got to actually work on this movie, and wrote about it on LJ here. It was shot here, (well, mostly out in the small town of Cloverdale, where the set for Smallville is) and I worked for about three days on the flick as a background extra. Three VERY hot days, but good ones. That's the movie where I had to learn to sing the chorus to an old '80's tune by Aussie songster John Farnham (and couldn't get that song outta my head for WEEKS - and oh joy! It's back!) and where I was injured being tramped on during the fake mob riot scene. My poor paw ached for days after that fall I took. (oh, and if you'd like to actually hear that song, - it's insidious, I warn you, here it is at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99P7TTvpO1g ) It was also the last film I worked on with fellow Extra Anne, my friend who died unexpectedly this past Spring.
Well, I got to see the movie on Wednesday night at the advance preview, and even I found certain parts hilarious. (I don't usually go for 'dumb humour' movies, but there was enough cleverness and cuteness in the script to keep me entertained for the most part.) And although the scenes I was there for seemed drastically cut down from what I remember shooting, it was cool to see how it turned out. (If you see it, I was there for the big climactic stunt scene, the riot, a concert, and in some townspeople shots.) And I did indeed catch a glimpse of myself, which is usually kind of rare. (also caught myself in a Season 10 episode of Stargate: SG-1 this spring, which was kinda cool.)
In fact, it's a little disconcerting, because this week a blitz of commercials came on TV advertising Hot Rod, and I keep spotting myself in one of the them (not close up or anything; I just happen to remember where I was walking in one shot, and what I was wearing.) Not too often that happens, I tell you! :-) My friends totally embarrassed me in the theatre when I appeared right behind the main actors. (and weirdly enough, I was one of three in the whole theatre who won one of the prizes. I never win stuff! Typically, however, it's quite the lame prize, and I can't even use it. a mail-in DVD rental thing for one month from a major Video Rental outlet, but without a credit card - or any free time this month - I can't take advantage of it, and it expires already by August's end. Also gave away the movie poster I got as I have zero wall space for it!) Ah well. Just winning for a change was rather nice.
Coincidentally enough, I had been booked for some background work and spent the bulk of that day running around the city as an Extra for a bunch of promo ads by CityTV for the new season of the series Ugly Betty, which was interesting in and of itself, really. A slightly more ... unique day than usual. And despite the terrific heat of the day, it was kind of fun! They'd divided up a hundred extras (mostly female, but some male too, which made things ... different) into four 'teams', and gave us locations and call times in 4 different corners of downtown. (my group started at the Harbour, which was far, but very lovely, actually) Then the producer/leaders assigned each team a camera which proceeded to follow us and film us as we marched/danced/skipped along the seawell and through the streets, interacting with tourists, pedestrians, construction workers, motorists, cafe patrons, and people getting married in a park. (fun)
Then all four groups converged in the centre of the city at the Art Gallery for a big fake Ugly Betty 'rally', and we did the rest of the shoot. Oh, and did I mention that every single one of us was dressed as Ugly Betty herself? We had to all wear identical ponchos (from the show, apparently, and boy were these hot under the August sun, made out of fleece!) and black long wigs, and big red eyeglasses, and fake braces! (and gah, my mouth was gummed up all day from the Fixodent they used to affix them to our teeth. What a horrible flavour. Gah!) Well, hot as the disguise was, it was kind of fun and rather liberating to not be recognizable when interacting with strangers who think you're absolutely crazy. :-) And despite the incredible heat, I can think of worse ways to spend a summer's day! (and I think I should maybe watch the show - from what I've seen last year, it's looks well done.)
So, that's my little filmic update for now. Hopefully there'll be a bit more Movie Magic for us all before summer's end, and for me, both on and off the set! (though no more stunt injuries, I hope!)
And if so, I'll do my best to share, 'cuz as John sings,
"Make a noise and make it clear! Whooooaaaaaaa!"
Pax the Stunt(ed)Wolf ;-)