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Dana and I were scheduled to be extras two nights this week...Wednesday and Friday. Today we found out that the Wednesday shoot has been cancelled, but the Friday shoot of the candlelight march is still on.
chattyDana and I are signed up to be extras for the film "Milk" this week, so today we hit the used clothing stores in the Haight so I could find some appropriately 70s duds. I found a brown corduroy jacket with big labels, an approriate shirt and some old school Converse tennies. I've got jeans that will work.
Afterwards, we wandered over to the Castro to see what the first big night of crowd shooting would be.We wandered over to watch them filming tonight. They were shooting a protest that started in the Castro, and then was led by Harvey Milk to City Hall. It was a BIG shoot, as there were something like 1,500 extras!
It was kind of thrilling, seeing all those people yelling and chanting for equal rights. It's been over 30 years, but we're still not there...something that kinda hits close to home the night before an election. At the same time, it was like watching a live silent movie because in some takes they needed to get dialogue from the actors, so the crowd had to shut up. As they started "Background" the crowd would start chanting "GAY RIGHTS NOW!" to get in sync, and on the 4th repeat (just after "Action!") they all fell silent and just mouth it again and again. Weird.
Sean Penn looked totally different tonight, as this scene was set some years after the one we saw being shot last week, and he's now clean shaven and short haired.
http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/milkmarch.jpg
In the photo linked there you can see Sean Penn in red with the megaphone. Dana and I were standing just off the left side of the picture's edge, against the wall. You only see a tiny portion of the crowd in this photo. The people filled up the intersection and down Castro Street past the Theater (see how pretty the sign is now!).
Stubbly...growing in the beard for a more 70s look. Note the 70s signage!
The set dressing is always kind of fun here. I noticed that they've pulled out the busstop shelters, and they cover the WALK/DON'T WALK lights with unlit artwork that looks like the older style signs. Best of all are the 1970's gas prices they put up on the corner!
The good old days of cheap gas and polluted air!
Tonight Dana and I stood in front of Eureka Federal Savings on the Castro Street and watched police brutality across the street. A dozen or so cops started pushing people around in front of the Toad Hall bar, and then things got out of control. Clubs came out, people burst out of bars and ran across the street to fight back. The air was filled with shouting and police whistles. Harvey Milk ran across the street and pulled someone out of the fray.
Right off, if you know this neighborhood, you'll realize that Eurkera Federal Savings and Toad Hall are long gone, and Harvey Milk's been dead for 29 years.
What gives?
Well, as the cops and queers slugged it out, there was a yell of "cut!" and four or five people ran into the fray, bringing it to a halt because the actors, extras and and stuntmen couldn't hear the "cut" over the din of yelling and police whistles.
There was applause, everyone pulled themselves together, and it happened again. And again.
The Gus Van Sant production of "Milk" has arrived in San Francisco. The film is a biopic about Harvey Milk, "the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet", according to Time magazine, and how he came to be a political figure, and how he was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone in 1978.
What I witnessed was the filming of a scene set in 1973 when the cops decide to harrass the gays who've been taking over the neighborhood, and it gets out of control.
Speaking of the neighborhood, the reason I saw the filming was because I'd been wandering around the Castro with Dana, checking out all the modifications that the production had been making in preparations for filming. The aforementioned Eureka Savings and Toad Hall bar are long gone, as are Havey Milk's Castro Camera, Double Rainbow ice cream, Aquarius Records. China Court... but they're all back for a fleeting moment, even just as signs and facades. Even the Castro Theater got a face lift couresty of the production and its sign and marquee are now boldly painted and all the neon is reactivated. What with the period cars, period costumes, period trash cans and pay phones...if you stand and look in the right direction it's like a time warp has popped you back 30 years. Trippy!
Stuntman and actor confer. Note vintage cars and vintage cops across the street.
As someone who loves film, it's a treat to see how the location is dressed to transform it. In some cases, signs have been repainted, in others, covers have been made to disguise modern entrances. One business has its windows covered in what looks like green contact paper and yellow tape to simulate paint, which will look fine on camera but looks cheap as heck in person! Given how much graphic tape I've used in one of my short film projects, I get a laugh seeing it used in the same way in a Hollywood production.
During the filming we saw several members of the film's cast, including Sean Penn (who plays Milk) and Lucas Grabeel.
Lucas Grabeel in red, and that's Sean Penn with the ponytail and his back to the camera...really!
Dana and I have signed up to be extras on two different production days starting next week. I'm letting my beard and moustache come back in, and stopped shaving my head so that I won't look anachronistic. Now I just have to find some suitably 70s looking clothes...
A busy and long Saturday. Ran around and had brunch with Jim, then went to stage one of Matt's Bithday March to the Sea and Tommy's (along with Jim and Becky). Jim departs and Becky and I move to stage two of the march at the Buckshot bar where we play too much shuffleboard. Becky later drops me at Dana's, and he and I cab it to La Trappe for stage three. The plan from there is to cab it to or catch a ride to the Clay Theater for a midnight Rocky Horror screening, but by the time we're done at La Trappe it's clear that Matt, his wife, nor his guest are in any shape to drive, so I take the keys and drive them home, collecting my car on the way. I am thanked profusely by Matt and crew, and they stagger into his house, no doubt to drink more.
Dana and I head to the Clay, and after standing in the rain for too long we get situated, and Dana starts worrying that he's forgotten a window open, and further worries that the rain will ruin his hardwood floors, so he grabs and cab and hurries off to check. Mind you, we came to Rocky Horror because he's never seen it with an audience doing the things that a Rocky audience do, and at first I'm afriad he's going to come in so late he'll miss too much of the experience. However, the cast that performs with the film do an intro that is so long that by the time the film starts, Dana is back.
After throwing toilet paper, blowing noisemakers, waving lights, tossing playing cards, and dancing the Time Warp, the theater's a disaster and we're bushed. We get back to his place, get the dog walked, and crawl in bed. Oh, and Dana wants to see Secret Identity Crisis and the Behind the Scenes bit.
It's 4 a.m. by the time we get to sleep. Zzzzzz
Sunday's more leisurely... thank goodness!
happyFor nearly two months now I've been looking forward to the show RiffTrax Live! as part of the larger SF Sketchfest program. For them's unfamiliar with RiffTrax, there are the brainchild of Michael J. Nelson, former head writer and a star of TV's Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). And like MST3K, RiffTrax is about making fun of bad movies...while the movie is showing. In short, Mike and his cohorts talk back to the screen, hoisting the film on its own petard..or any other petard that happens to be handy!
Well, last night was the night of the show...at last!
But first this setup.
I had invited my friends Terry and Carol, and Becky to the show. I also invited Dana—the guy I've been dating. Dana was only dimly aware of MST3K, but I was pretty certain he'd like it. We all went to dinner beforehand. Then, well fed and well lubricated with cocktails, we strolled down Market Street to the Castro Theater to get Riffed. There we were confronted by a long line, so we devised a strategy as we walked in. Becky and Carol would secure snacks, and Dana and I would split up to find seats. He'd go for the floor, I'd go for the balcony. Thanks to cell phones, we were able to coordinate and get everyone together. Hooray for modern technology!
The house organist started by playing the theme to Star Trek The Motion Picture, and then ran through a bunch of other pieces, and then hit on the original Star Trek theme. I mentioned to Terry that the latter theme sounds like a pastiche of Blue Horizon, but he looked back at me dumbfounded. I blame the cocktails.
The show got started a little late, but once the RiffTrax boys were introduced and ran to the stage, all was forgiven. The men in question are the aforementioned Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo on MST3K) and Bill Corbett (Brain Guy/Crow [2] on MST3K). They opened the show my briefly discussing Ed Wood, then talked about why the film they were to riff upon is titled Plan Nine From Outer Space, and proceeded to rattle off what plans one through eight were. One involved the reanimation of dead ferrets, but that failed because dead ferrets are more pleasant than live ones.
Once the film got going it was just like an episode of MST3K, except that the three figures were facing the audience instead of of the screen, and they all looked human, instead of a man and two robots. Well, I should say almost like an episode of MST3K, because there were no break for commercials or skits. This was wall to wall riffing. Poor Bele Lugosi's drug addictions were picked upon mercilessly, as were the aliens' dance tight uniforms. The alien commander was described as "Dr. Smith's gay-er brother". After drawing the audience's attention to a cop who flagrantly mishandles his gun and uses it to point at people and things, one of the guys started the best running gag of the evening, making "bang" sounds in time with this character's gesticulations. A minute plus of just well timed "p-chow" sound effects had us all in stitches.
Having watched MST3K on TV for years sets certain expectations, which one of the guys effectively shattered by using a very nasty expletive in response to an acknowledged "Permission to speak freely". It was the only curse word in the entire performance, but so unexpected the audience roared with laughter.
And then, it was over. I scored some loot (a disc full of RiffTrax tracks, and a Plan Nine poster autographed by the boys), and we all departed for home and beds.An evening well laughed.
Postscript
Just hit the RiffTrax site and found that the riff we saw will be offered as a Rifftrax track.
Christmas time is here by golly
Disapproval would be folly
Deck the halls with hunks of holly
Fill the cup and don't say when.
Kill the turkeys ducks and chickens
Mix the punch, drag out the Dickens
Even though the prospect sickens
"Brother here we go again"--Tom Lehrer
Seriously, I don't dislike Christmas, but after a solid month of endless Christmas carols, many with the schmatlz cranked all the way to "eleven", I'm ready for it to die a quick and painless (for me) death.
So, feeling this way, why should I subject myself to a program of holiday music sung by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus? Well, first, because it's live music, and second, it's not so sugary as to put me in diabetic shock.
As on last Christmas Eve, I joined Deb and Shana for dinner and then the show at the Castro Theater. This year we're joined by Jim and Becky (2), as well as my friend Skip. We have a nice, casual dinner, the stroll over to the theater for a program that is just thr right length that you feel you got your money's worth, but doesn't have you looking at your watch.
I have a good enough time, but the show isn't as good as last year's. I feel like they're trying a tad too hard to be inclusive, and touching on everything from Christmas and Chanakah to Kwanza, Wicca and Druidism. This yields a bunch of unfamiliar, and, frankly, flat music. They get in some fun bits and play around with some Christmas standards, but the show is just not as well put together or as well staged as last year. It's good, just not very good.
A bit of an anticliax after the Kinsey Sicks...but then, what wouldn't be?
sillyMet David and we made our way the the Herbst Theater (location of the signing of the U.N. Charter in 1945) to attend the holiday show "Oy Vey In A Manger" by "America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet", the Kinsey Sicks' .
(To see excerpts from a previous year's show, click here!)
Hi-larious.
I've heard these four "gals" on CD, seen them on video, and seen, met and heard two of them at a fundraiser party a few years ago, and liked them each time, but finally seeing them live was a big treat. Let's face it, in this era of amplification, "sweetening"and lip sync, many acts far are less impressive in person than you'd like. Not so with the Kinseys! Amazing voices; tight, four part harmonies; lots of silly and often downright rude humor. Half the group is Jewish, so the show careened back and forth between Christmas Carols and Jewish themed songs, with some straddling both camps (for instance, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town as a minor key as a cautionary tale to Jews: "He's seen Schindler's List, He's rented it twice; He's gonna find out each Weinstein and Weiss").
Trixie, Trampolina (v. 1.0), Winnie and Rachel: The Kinsey Sicks
A summary of the the songs I recall them performing:
Dragapella Chorus -- to the tune of the Hallelujiah Chorus
God Bless Ye Femmy Lesbians — about how gays dress themselves
I Had A Little Facial — to the tune of I Have a Little Dreydel
Crystal Time In The City — ending with "O little town of Meth...mayhem!"
Chanukah Medley
Jews Better Watch Out
Hock Your Wages
Where The Goys Are — sung to a blonde haired "victim" Rachael plucked from the audience
A Lay In The Manger
Oh! Ho-ey Night — "Oh, the night, when I did porn!"
Worry — a Jewish inversion of Don't Worry, Be Happy (RACHAEL: "What if I'm thrown in jail?! What if I'm forced to be Barry Bonds' bitch?!" and then looks alternately horrified and turned on by the idea)
'Tis the Season to Drink Stoli — about office parties gone wrong
Christmas Medley:
Vanna White Christmas
I'll Be Cloned For Christmas
O Come, Ye Unfaithful
Feliz Navidad Parody (so nasty I won't type the title)
Soylent Night — the song following a discussion of the Donner Party, which Trampolina found fabulous, and Winnie found scandelous because they "only served frozen food!"
Macaroona — where the whole audience had to do a Jewish version of the Macarena in order to shed their holiday pounds
Jenny Craig Feel My Sorrow — wherein Trixie brings the house down by singing the soprano part of O Mio Babbino Caro, begging Jenny Craig to allow her to "pig out and not look shi-tty"
Papirossen — a song in the international language of love... Yiddish (RACHAEL to audience: "Something funny about Yiddish? Our people have suffered! ...Now it's your turn.")
Harried Little Christmas
We Arm The World — You can SEE IT HERE!My only disappointment was that of the two members of the group I'd met previously, the one who played Trampolina has left the group, so I didn't get to say hi. The new Trampolina ("Trampolina v.2.0") is fine and talented, though. I did get to talk to all of them after the show, and flirted shamelessly with Trixie. What a voice! What a face! She makes a hotter looking woman than many actual women. Scandalous!
Looked at my rough assembly of Flight Control, again. For the second time this week I discovered that when I did my shot logging I missed breaking down a large block of footage. The other night I found about 10 minutes I hadn’t logged, and today I found another 10 minutes!
This is actually good news, because the material I’m logging now is actually superior to some of the stuff I was using in the rough assembly. This material is from the last day of shooting when John, my actor, was most “on”. I can see I am going to do some replacing of shots in the rough assembly. Kind of exciting finding better stuff after you thought you’d seen the best you had!
While I was in Vegas over Thanksgiving—and did the obligatory drive-bys of the places we lived, the schools and churches we attended, and even malls were we shopped—it occurred to me to drive down one street where I recalled a friend of mine had lived. He was someone I thought about often when we first moved from Vegas into the BFE of northwestern Nevada, but a memory that gradually faded as life stated anew in a small town, utterly divorced from the only life I remembered before that.
Since I got back home, I’ve found myself really wanting to find that friend. I don’t have a single photo of him, can’t really bring up his face in my memory, and even fuzzy on his last name. But, this has become oddly important to me. I think it’s because, on some level, he's a roadmark to a life I didn’t have because my family packed up and moved away to a smaller town and diminished options. I feel like I was a pretty happy kid around the age I had that friend, and when we moved, I lost that and was stuck in a place where I always felt the alien. I’m certain I’m idealizing that past at the cusp of age nine, but, illogical as it is, that almost forgotten childhood friend is someone I really want to find.
In the modern world, no one’s really that lost to you, if you know how to look for them. It took me about 24 hours, but I have what is, I’m fairly certain, his and his parents’ phone numbers. I could know for sure with one phone call... yet, I hesitate. Were we really good friends, or am I misremembering that? What if he doesn’t remember me at all? I couldn't quite remember his last name, and I still can’t quite recall his face. Can I expect him to remember even that much? How awkward would that be, both for him and me? And how do you call someone up after not seeing them for 35 years? “Hello. We used to be friends in the third grade, and the last time I saw you was your birthday party in 1972. What’s new?” Is that putting someone on the spot? Is there a better way to do it? A letter with photos to jog his memory? Or should I just leave it alone...it’s just someone I knew as a kid, now as alien to me as any stranger on the street.
And so I ponder.
...not of God...of a film.
After a few long sessions, I got a relatively complete assembly of my unfinished short film Flight Control together. The shot choices aren’t final, as I need to review the footage again, but it’s the first time I got all the dialogue shots together and can play the whole story.
Looking at it, it’s impossible to really gauge if it works as film, because most of the footage is of my actor... this might sound weird, but the way the film was intended to be done was that a lot of what you’d see were the various readouts that the character—a flight controller—was looking at as he got information from and gave instructions to a pilot we never see or hear.
The only way I’ll get a real sense of how this would work is to have those readouts and displays...most of which I haven’t made yet.
One thing that is obvious is that I can’t use all the dialogue. I deliberately over-wrote the script so that I’d have dialogue to explain pretty much everything that is going on, in the event that the readouts didn’t make matters entirely clear. The rough assembly is clocking in at about 11.5 minutes, and I was really aiming for more like 8. Since I over-wrote, there’s a lot I can cut, starting with the professional technical jargon that sets the scene but isn’t essential to play out throughout.
This is going to be an interesting exercise... albeit in some ways a painful one.
