Dancing to no Music

Although this weekend was pretty relaxed and family centered, last weekend we filmed a scene for the Cohort. Scheduling issues led to us having a lot of downtime after everyone’s makeup was done to simply hang out and talk. We caught up on each other’s lives, tv shows, but also on careers, the industry and our goals and ambitions. I know I say it all the time, but I absolutely love talking shop and hearing other people’s perspectives on this crazy life I have chosen.

As for the scene itself, I wasn’t supposed to have a line in it, but other people couldn’t make it, so I got one. I am getting a lot of lines on this webseries like this, and I am definitely not complaining. I had fun taking candid pictures with my selfie stick, and reacting to the action, even when I was completely off camera. Usually, I stay in character like that to help the actor who is on camera, but I think this time it was more just for my own fun. Either way, I had a really fun afternoon, with some great people.

On Monday, I got to experience a new facet of the casting industry, by acting sort of like the receptionist. I mostly greeted the people auditioning and had them fill out forms, but I also had to match their headshots to these forms, which was an adventure of its own. While some people looked exactly like their headshots and made it super easy, others did not. Sometimes I had to ask them to find their picture from my file, and other times I had to confirm that the one I chose was right. I never guessed wrong, but there were definitely some that I had to ask. I now have a tremendous appreciation for why it is important to be on time (read: early) for auditions, especially for commercials. For this one, people were being brought in as families, so one person being late threw everything out of whack. I hate being late and am usually abnormally early, but this is one more reason to be vigilant about it 😉

Come Tuesday, I was so happy that my mom and I had watched Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life over the weekend, because that is where my scene came from. The scene itself didn’t contain that many spoilers, but the backstory to things that are mentioned in it did. We did the scene about 3 times, still holding our scripts, but definitely getting a hold on it, with an amazing cold read by my scene partner. I just need to up the stakes a bit.

I went home and finished Nanowrimo before spending a couple of days doing background. It was a small production, a party scene, with lots of downtime and the most grateful crew ever. This was also my first extended experience with dancing to no music on camera. I have obviously done it many times in real life, usually to a song in my head. This time, it was a group of extras, who got a few seconds of a song, before the music was turned off and we had to keep dancing for minutes as if it wasn’t turned off. I had a blast on set, and the dancing was fun, I think, but definitely interesting.

“Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor.”

-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.