I should get in Equity
I got up at 7:00am this morning (a SUNDAY! *gasp*) to go to some village I STILL can't remember the name of (begins with a C). They have a preserved old railway station with working steam-train. I was invited by my old (circa age 14) English teacher Mr. Robertson, who called me on Friday after running into my mum at work (she's in the offices of a local prison -- I don't know why he was there...).
A local ex-teacher who my parents know quite well has written a book called "No Thankful Village," about a local village losing nearly all of its male population to the First World War. It's all from factual accounts but has been turned into a play to be shown at my dad's school plus a local TV station has decided to make a docu-drama about it (possibly for national broadcast) mixing Ken Burns-style voice-overs and photos with dramatised scenes. Mr. Robertson is involved (he directed me in Bugsy Malone back at school...) and when mum told him I wasn't really doing anything outside work he asked if I wanted to come along for this Sunday morning shoot (last day of filming, apparently).
Mum found a suitably-styled shirt in a charity shop, I put on my non-jeans trousers and non-trainers shoes, and went along to be a wartime-era local person in scenes where the soldiers are going to or coming from the war.
It was very, very cold and increasingly rainy all morning but the shooting itself didn't take too long. We must suffer for our art... I was thankfully able to wear my winter coat because it apparently wasn't too out-of-place. I stood on the platform waving at the train pulling away, stood at the top of some stairs cheering a returning hero, stood on a verge behind the hero making a speech because I was tall enough to obscure the "Somerset Models This Way" and "No Dogs" sign, and I stood at the side of a road to cheer the soldiers marching off behind a vintage car whilst making sure my head obscured the yellow public footpath marker on a telegraph pole.
Despite the weather it was fun to be involved in something like that and I chatted with quite a few people there who knew a hell of a lot more about the story of the thing than I did. Mr. Robertson had asked me if I wanted to help out with the stage production and I'd really like to, if only for something to do, but it's during my last full week of work and my shift will clash with it. Still; in January when I'm back looking for something to do (personally and professionally) I may well look into any amateur dramatics groups in the area.
As well as looking for potential anachronisms around the station, I was wondering why a man of my age was standing around cheering and not marching off to war himself. I figured if anyone asked, I was a conscientious objector.
The programme is apparently going to be shown sometime in the new year, they hope, which could basically be any time from February. In any case, I'm sure my parents will hear about it through school in time for us to ensure we've got the video set, then I'll be able to put the tape on slow-motion and show anyone who visits my waving hand coming up from behind someone's head or my feet on the grass in the corner of the screen. By the time I'm making Oscar acceptance speeches, I'll be sure to remember all you little people who've been there along the way.
:)