same shoot different tarmac
The funny thing about the film and television world is that nothing is what it appears to be. Yesterday I was out in the 124 degree heat for 13 hours. OK, that's not entirely true. I was in 98 degree and later 110 degree heat for maybe a total of 2 hours but in the actual sun for 20 total minutes. I was sitting in a trailer with luke-warm air-conditioning for most of the day. So I never really experienced the 124 degree heat. That, however, is not the point. The point is that I'm shooting an industrial for Toyota and we are almost exclusively using airports. The tarmac of the Inyokern airport, a hanger at the Santa Monica airport: these all double for some other place. The same shoot, different tarmac. In the end they are going to splice together the two locations into one and make it look like some top-secret Toyota testing facility. The irony of that is we were shooting in the shadow of the China Lake Naval testing facility. One of the shining accomplishments of this facility is the construction of "Fat Man" - the plutonium implosion device that was dropped on Nagasaki. Yeah, nuclear bombs! Yippie! Kazam! Wa hooo! One fictional testing facility in the desert oh so close to the genuine article.
We all know that nothing is what it seems to be in Hollywood. Hell, Hollywood isn't what it seems to be. To quite my friend Rebecca Metz - LA is just a grand backdrop, nothing's real in the city, it's all fake.
There's a statement that passes for a bad joke – nobody's actually from LA. To that end, even the trees are transplants. Palm trees are not indigenous to southern California. They were brought from Miami. Yup.
This industrial is not what it seems to be. It is Toyota’s way of saying “our truck is better than your truck.” But it isn’t an independent test, it’s a rigged shoot to make the crimson Tacoma come out shinning ahead! They even put that cool spray on the tires to make them sparkle. The other trucks didn’t get the cool spray. But in the end it can’t be false advertising, right? I think the jury is out on that one. This isn’t a commercial, it’s an in-house 20 minute film. So really they can say anything they want and, well, that’s that.
Toyota is sparing no expense, either. This Industrial is going to have some big has-been names. I think if I were to mention them I'd be sued so I'll wait until the thing hits the internet before I say anymore. The idea is cute, but trite – typical Hollywood. The script was probably written by committee, which translates to watered down drivel that is attempting to appeal to the widest demographic possible, which translates to watered down drivel. But it's an Industrial and not some great work of art so let's just leave it be and not speak ill of it any more than I have. In fact, I summarily take back all I've written because they are paying me well and I don't want it to seem as though I am complaining. I am not. I am very happy to have this job. Especially since I've heard we may be moving into an extra day of shooting!
A job is a job is a job. This business is very good and very bad. A painter is critiqued based on technique and aesthetics - but always on something that they produce. An actor is the painting is the actor so the critique - and more specifically, the criticism - is personal. It is a hard job especially for the jobbing actor who lives paycheck to paycheck - most working actors in the business. The mass majority are waiters or bookstore clerks For the select few who are getting paid the astronomical salaries this does not apply. They are critiqued, and sometimes harshly, but in the end, if they have invested well they are going to be able to pay the mortgage and take care of their kids college funds.
I will continue to work on the same shoot but different tarmac as long as I am able. Each shoot, each show, each film and each play are the same shoot, different tarmac. All fun, all exciting, all new and all full of their own difficulties. So in the end there is nothing I'd rather be doing that sitting here and getting paid to do what I love to do for 20 minutes in the blaring heat of the Inyokern airport located in the midst of the Mojave Desert. I have to head now because I'm needed on set.
We all know that nothing is what it seems to be in Hollywood. Hell, Hollywood isn't what it seems to be. To quite my friend Rebecca Metz - LA is just a grand backdrop, nothing's real in the city, it's all fake.
There's a statement that passes for a bad joke – nobody's actually from LA. To that end, even the trees are transplants. Palm trees are not indigenous to southern California. They were brought from Miami. Yup.
This industrial is not what it seems to be. It is Toyota’s way of saying “our truck is better than your truck.” But it isn’t an independent test, it’s a rigged shoot to make the crimson Tacoma come out shinning ahead! They even put that cool spray on the tires to make them sparkle. The other trucks didn’t get the cool spray. But in the end it can’t be false advertising, right? I think the jury is out on that one. This isn’t a commercial, it’s an in-house 20 minute film. So really they can say anything they want and, well, that’s that.
Toyota is sparing no expense, either. This Industrial is going to have some big has-been names. I think if I were to mention them I'd be sued so I'll wait until the thing hits the internet before I say anymore. The idea is cute, but trite – typical Hollywood. The script was probably written by committee, which translates to watered down drivel that is attempting to appeal to the widest demographic possible, which translates to watered down drivel. But it's an Industrial and not some great work of art so let's just leave it be and not speak ill of it any more than I have. In fact, I summarily take back all I've written because they are paying me well and I don't want it to seem as though I am complaining. I am not. I am very happy to have this job. Especially since I've heard we may be moving into an extra day of shooting!
A job is a job is a job. This business is very good and very bad. A painter is critiqued based on technique and aesthetics - but always on something that they produce. An actor is the painting is the actor so the critique - and more specifically, the criticism - is personal. It is a hard job especially for the jobbing actor who lives paycheck to paycheck - most working actors in the business. The mass majority are waiters or bookstore clerks For the select few who are getting paid the astronomical salaries this does not apply. They are critiqued, and sometimes harshly, but in the end, if they have invested well they are going to be able to pay the mortgage and take care of their kids college funds.
I will continue to work on the same shoot but different tarmac as long as I am able. Each shoot, each show, each film and each play are the same shoot, different tarmac. All fun, all exciting, all new and all full of their own difficulties. So in the end there is nothing I'd rather be doing that sitting here and getting paid to do what I love to do for 20 minutes in the blaring heat of the Inyokern airport located in the midst of the Mojave Desert. I have to head now because I'm needed on set.
posted by Adam Donshik at 12:17 PM
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