Adventures in Hollywood

Headshots

2009-07-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

I got some new headshots this weekend with Chris Malcolm so I could start getting started sending out postcards this week. I have another longer session scheduled with Vaney in two weeks that got pushed back. Luckily Chris was available to shoot a shorter session on Saturday. I went with the general girl-next-door look for these, with a few more goofy ones in there...

I'll probably redesign the site after my bigger session so I can see what color palette to use. So stay tuned for site updates and hopefully further news now that I can start submitting again!

Leading Ladies on IMDB

2009-07-06T14:15:00.001-07:00

It's up! But it's not finished. Still stuff missing, but gradually getting updated. It takes a while. I'm on there now though. Yay! Shannon's missing, but I think she is a new database entry since she's from theater.

Echo Game updates

2009-07-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Brian's coming close to being finished with The Echo Game. There's a write up and trailer at Dread Central and an official site now.

Missing Phone update

2009-07-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

They found Benji's phone! It was shoved down in one of the diaper bags and they missed it while searching at the park. Yay! He probably got a new one in the interim, but maybe he can return it since it's within a week of purchase.

Nikki's necklace is still smooshed though. Not everybody wins.

Life Between Inteviews accepted to Act On Film Fest

2009-07-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Nice!

And that's a wrap! Party!

2009-06-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

When we got home from the park Nicole and I picked up the gift, which was the backs of their director chairs with the movie and their names screen printed on them since they were blank before. We did them at Te Shurt and they had time done that day! Nice! We thought of putting them in long flower boxes with flowers on top, but the flower shop didn't have boxes. So we had the lady (April's Flowers I think) wrap them in the celophane around the flowers, which looked awesome. It was perfect. Then we wandered over to Pitaya and bought a new dress for the party. Yay sale rack! I got 2. Then I went back and showered while Nicole went to run more errands. After I was all ready I sat down and signed all the thank you cards Nicle had picked up for the crew. It took a while. We had a lot of people helping us. Then I caught a shuttle to the Krannert Center.

There were a lot of people there. I went to get a drink, but they were already out of my go-to Cap'n Morgan. So I had water and wandered over to get some food, which I subsequently dropped on the floor while trying to hold both my water and plate and eat at the same time. Oops! I cleaned up the messy part and the chips were just some crumbs left. Not too bad. I gave up on the snacks and got a beer instead.

I got all the leads to sign the card for our directors, though benji was late so we signed for him. Then we got up on the little stage and brought E and DB up and gave them the gifts. They were delighted. And they said some nice things and then we went back to mingling. Benji did show up after that, though without his phone. At least he seemed in ok spirits by then.

After a few hours we were shuttled over to Jupiter's II, a yummy pizza place, where we had the whole upstairs reserved. Nicole drove the car of some of the guests because they had been drinking, so I rode with them. Yay safety!

Lots of people were there as well, including some that missed the early party. I wandered around for a while handing out our thank you notes. Then we got done with those and I got some awesome pizza and drinks. It wasn't supposed to be open bar but a mystery patron picked up our tab. Woah! Thanks Mystery Benefitiary! There was pool, but I didn't get around to playing. There was a dance floor that I did hit up. Though as soon as I went over to dance they cut the music and announced there was a sample of the grocery store musical for us to see! Yay! So we got to see footage cut with the song- all very preliminary, the song isn't even finished, but still rad. Then it was back to dancing and I danced the rest of the time. And once again threw out my neck apparently. I also busted my new necklace. Doh! Oh well, it was well worth it. Lots of dancing! And eventually crying at the end. Wah!

But then we went back to the dorms and decided it was time for IHOP again! Woo! IHOP! So we stumble over there and get food. And others join us. Pete dances at Shaheen and almost turns her straight with the powers of dance. Lots of laughing and eating. Then later Shaheen picks up the check. She is the greatest. Not for that, just in general. I think we left around 4 or 4:30.

Then I had to pack. Yeah. I kind of didn't have time before. I got finished sometime after 6:30, so I got about 2 or so hours of sleep. Woo. But I sleep on planes, so whatever. There was traffic but Benji and I managed to barely catch our flight. I was amazed since I'd had bad experiences with US Airways screwing me over by leaving early. But they didn't and I made it on. Yay! They had me check my carry on since I was like the last on board, so I grabbed my laptop and checked the bag. Good thing I did since they lost that piece of luggage. First time I've ever had my bag lost. I got it back the next afternoon though, so it wasn't so bad. And I didn't need my laptop stuff since I would be home with my desktop computer.

So jeff picks me up. Yay! And I've just been trying to get used to my normal schedule. I think I'm starting to now. It's just wierd being home and not having to work 12 hours a day. It's kind of nice to veg out a bit now too.

Day 24 - The final shoot day

2009-06-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken so long. I've been traveling and sleeping and spending time with Jeff, so blogging wasn't on the forefront of my mind. But he's off at an Atrox meeting, and I'm doing laundry so I have some sit down time.

Tuesday was the final day. We got up moderately early and shuttled over to Allerton Park. It's this big park with a mansion and a lake and big fields, trees, art, etc. It's really pretty. I didn't read about it at the visitor center, but I'm sure you can look it up online.

It was a very hot day, but there were a few moderately air conditioned rooms at the visitor center where we could set up. Plus hair and makeup were in the trailer with AC. Once we were all ready we moved over to the long walkway toward the 2 story gazebo. It's like this picnic montage with the babies and all of us being a happy family. It is super cute. They film us walking toward the camera, then turn around so we walk on toward the gazebo. It was a long walk, so I'm sure they will edit it. Then we did some stuff up in the gazebo and some stuff with the video camera home movie thing. we're all sweaty messes, but oh well. Luckily we had the fake babies, so we didn't need to worry about overheating tiny babies. We also didn't need to worry about Benji pretending to drop the actual baby of the side. Let's assume they will cut that.

After that we moved on to an area that used to be a pond, but was now a grassy area inside these big walls. We all hung out on the blanket and ran around up the stairs. At one point Benji took out his phone, but they didn't want to use that so he put it back in the baby carriage, which had lots of pouches and such. Then Nicole and I had a fun moment riding one of the fishy statues, where at one point I sat down wrong- ow! Fishy had back fins. Then we moved up to another long walk way, first playing back and forth between these little monk statues then walking up the path toward the naked guy statue. Some of us hid inside the buses that lined the walkway and jumped out to scare the crew as they came up behind us. I lagged, so I scared no one. It was still nice and shady in there though.

Then from the naked guy statue, we turned and crossed the big meadow to get to the final spot by the lake, looking over at the mansion. We were reminded how crazy hot out it was. Luckily we all slathered on the sunblock. I didn't get burned at all that day. Yay! We made it to the trees and there was a trail through the brush toward the spot.

While we waited for the scene to be set we were across the spot in the shade and I found not 1, but 2 four leaf clovers! Like immediately and within like 15 minutes of each other, just looking down. Double luck! Except maybe not.

In the journey from the fishes to the spot, we lost Benji's phone out of the baby carriage. And then Nicole's birdcage necklace, which had come off at some point, was accidentally stepped on and crushed. Doh! Sadness. They sent some PAs to retrace our steps to find the phone. The phone was not found, so they brought them back.

We shot the final shot where we are sitting by the lake as a family, eating our picnic and swatting the bugs. Jerk bugs! Then the camera turns away into the meadow and the crew members are called out and frolic into the field. Then we get up and join them and we all dance around and hug and cry, etc. Some folks dump the cooler on Markas- which was actually quite refreshing I would think. Then some of us charged at the camera and picked up Pete because he was still hiding back there. Luke and Brett busted out some champagne. A lot of it exploded out or was doused on people, but there was enough for folks to toast with. Yay! We made a movie! Yay!

I think at some point Frankel may have also lost his phone, but I never heard if he found his.

We finished frolicking and people packed up. I realized that it was already 4 pm and we needed to pick up our gift for the directors by 5 pm. I asked Luke and Brett and they were like- sure no problem, but didn't immediately rush away. And then I got all panicky. Ok, not panicky, but concerned because I didn't know how long it took to drive back. Apparently not that long because they got it just fine. I was just paranoid. Anyway, everyone pakced up and most left. And yet, we were still sitting there. After about 20 minutes I realized it was because Benji was still wandering around looking for his missing phone. Finally I just asked little Brett if we could get a driver since by the time the car got to Champaign and back, he might still be looking for it and there was no reason the rest of the Leads should be waiting. Afterall, we all needed to get pretty for our wrap party!

So he drives us back. Yay!

Things I learned today

2009-06-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently it's a federal offense to smoke on school grounds. I wonder if it's also a federal offense to strip naked and walk around only wearing balloons in a school.

Day 23 - Return to the Sauna

2009-06-22T23:27:00.000-07:00

Today (I'm finally catching up!) we went back to the sweat box that is Franklin Middle School and picked up our remaining scenes. We got the bathroom scene. I managed to eek out my 2 remaining lines. We tried it like I was doing it sort of jokey and gravelly. I think it worked. maybe? I think so. If not I can ADR it later. I know folks with recording booths in LA!

It was pretty hot, but not like it was in the gym that day. I also managed to eat something before hand and wasn't lightheaded at all. After that scene I changed into normal clothes and hung out in the air conditioned rooms most of the day. Nice! I got in a 20 minute nap even.

After lunch we shot Benji and Shannon's competition dance on both the camcorder and the Red. We needed the Camcorder for teh opening sequence then the Red just to have it all nice for the DVD. They were freaking awesome. They looked amazing. Markas had them in green and black and when the light hit them they sparkled everywhere- literally and figuratively. They even had sparkly custom shoes! I was out there for most of them because the camcorder eventually sees my feet- which was a thing of confusion for a few takes as we had Cut yelled after the dance, but then the camcorder was still on and people were talking and walking all over. One even has Benji talking about his pants being torn. Doh! Only an issue because I say a line. So we got it all sorted out and we did it once more for the camcorder and that one worked. Then Benji and Shannon wanted another go so they could totally nail it for the Red. I went into the AC to change but it sounds like they rocked it.

After their dance we still had enough time to film our tango in our outfits. We did ours up on the stage, which was all done up with balloons and paper stars like it was High school musical. So funny. We danced to a song we hadn't practiced on before so my start timing was off. After that we had Melanie cue me when to move. That worked much better. the first go of it I felt really good about but nicole wasn't happy with. Plus she was lipsyncing out of habit. He he. So we tried again and got off rhythm pretty quick. I think that's when we had Melanie cue me. We were both also really sweaty and she was literally slipping away from me. We started over and did alright, but I didn't feel great that time. I think that's when the spotlight blew a circuit so we went in the AC to cool off while they reset it. When we came back for the last time we nailed it. I had to mutter to Nicole to stop singing and she did and we got all the way through it, and through it well. It was fun and sexy and fierce. Plus we worked out the angles really well so the good moves are toward the camera. Nice!

Another awesome thing is thatI got to wear my tux sans jacket because they put a false back on the vest. It was pinned becasue it was Markas' granfather's vest and they didn't want to make alterations on it. Sophie hand stitched a black cotton back to it so I wouldn't have to try and dance in the heavy coat. Thank goodness! Plus it's a cute look on it's own.

Today was supposed to be a day in the park, but since it was a pickup day we will go to the park tomorrow. Since we go to the park tomorrow, we lose our promo photo shoot we wanted to do. Like for posters and such. We were going to try rigging a fake pony tail so my hair doesn't look cut, but it's moot since we won't have time now. I also won't have time to get my tattoo here before I leave. Sadness! Oh well. I can get it in LA, I just wanted to go to where we found our little girl that plays little me in the movie. (No Regrets tatoo)

Tomorrow we will have time to party. Mike Ross is hosting the first 2 hours of the party at Krannert Center with an open bar! Woo! Then we move the party, but I forget where. hopefuly I won't throw out my neck dancing again.

Then I guess I pack because I leave Wednesday.

Drag Show drag.

2009-06-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Since we started and ended late on Sunday, we all missed Kenneth's big send off party/show at C Street. Sadness! Ultra sad for Benji because he was going to preform that night. C'est la vie. Maybe he can find a fun show in LA, though it's so much fun doing it in a small venue.

Day 22 - The Return to the Hospital

2009-06-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

Though I set my alarm, I apparently didn't acknowledge it because I got a call from Melanie at noon wondering where I was. Asleep is where I was instead of in the shuttle. Awesome. I feel woozy and stumble around like I'm drugged. I quickly regain my bearings and throw myself together. By the time I get to set it's pretty clear I have little to no voice left. Also Awesome. Overall, the day isn't going great for me.

But then there are adorable babies on set and then I get to take a nap because I'm not in the birthing scene. I wanted to watch, but not as much as I wanted to sleep. Yay nap time! Then lunch! Neither of these things does anything to help my voice. I kept drinking hot water beverages, but to no avail. Fortunately, they compressed the one scene where I have a line so I didn't need to talk. When we tried it in rehearsals my voice was so squeaky it just made everyone crack up. It was a sort of hectic scene to shoot, but funny. Also, Pi is in the background as a patient with full on IV and a neck brace and oxygen mask. She was cracking up before hand- we think Dave may have secretly given her laughing gas instead of oxygen.

When that is all done we don't have a ton of time to film the waiting room. We rehearse a few then it took forever to work out the lighting. I suspect the location was difficult to light because we started late too. Low ceilings and lots of windows.

By the time we start the 2 scenes out there we have maybe an hour and half so we crank out the shots one after another. Frankel played the weird patient in the chair next to Melanie and it was so hard not to crack up during the scene. He doesn't need to do anything and he's just funny. Lisa had her snarky cameo. Benji mooned us from off camera, but it was during rehearsal. Melanie was adorable. Benji was all weepy. Even though we were rushed to get the scene done I think it was still done well. Though I am very quiet for supposedly being super excited about babies. I could barely even squeak.

Oh! on the first take we tried, I suddenly had a giant tickle in my throat and had a massive coughing fit for like 5 minutes. I was relatively fine all day, coughing wise, other than when I was trying to clear my voice for the line that was cut. So it just jumped out at me and I couldn't prevent it. I had tears in my eyes it was so bad. I got a bunch of hot water drinks and a terrible cough drop and my throat stopped freaking out. It was annoying, but brief.

When I got home I showered finally. I hadn't at all that day because I was late, so I was super gross. I also washed my hair for the first time (Rebecca had done it the day before) which is so wierd! It's like someone else's head! Short hair! Woah!

Day 21 - Filming in the Sauna

2009-06-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

Oh man. Saturday.

Didn't sleep well - woke up from 4:30-7:30 am. Arg! Switching from nights to days is hard.

Call was 11:30 so I got picked up early by Rebecca to get my hair done for the big reveal. We finished early so we drove around the area of the school for a bit and checked out all the fallen tree branches from the night before.

The set was at Franklin Middle School. there is a stage in the gym so it was perfect, layout wise. Temperature wise it was a sauna. The day was hot and muggy and the gym was even hotter and muggier after a few hours with those lights on. Yikes! Luckily my big reveal was first so I wasn't drenched in sweat yet.

I gotta give mad props to the extras who stuck around through all the heat and sat in the gym for hours. It was brutal. I hadn't eaten much and the pants were fairly tight on me so I got lightheaded pretty early. Bleh. I had to sit and try to take deep breaths between takes. they brought an ice pack for my neck, which helped. Things were somewhat slow going all day because of the size of the venue and the sweltering heat. People were really spread out so when something was needed it took longer to get and people were still exhausted from trying to swap their sleep schedule, etc. It was a rough day for all.

First up was my bad ass reveal. Yay. Then we went into the gym and did all the scenes with the check in stuff first. The ladies playing Mimi and Missy were delightful. They kept in it and their energy was great take after take. Amy (Mimi), known for her role as Hot Mom from Bill & Ted's, is getting her PhD at U of I. She was rad.

Lunch made me feel tons better. Not only because I got to sit in AC for a while, but getting food helped me not feel so light headed.

After lunch was the second half of the competition scene so all the judges had to sit up on stage in their heavy suits. Sorry guys! At least the ladies didn't have to wear suits too. The extras hung in there and we finished out the scene. By then it was end of day and we missed the dancing, the hallway and the bathroom scene. Doh! This ended up adding a day to the schedule. Luckily the school let us come back! And we managed to get all the big stuff with lots of extras done, which was important that day.

Cute stories of the day- When Benji arrived there was this cute kid named Matthew (I think) that was a big fan and told him how much he liked his choreography work. Soo cute! So Benji signed his sides for him later that day and then Matthew signed Benji's call sheet with something adorably grown up and charming. There was also another little girl who was my hair cut buddy, called Genevive I think. She had long long hair and then cut it off the day before for Locks of Love, same day I did! She was the daughter of a friend of Markas and they were super sweet.

Oddly enough that wasn't the most stressful day for me, even though I was wearing a heavy jacket in a gym that was probably over 100°, and rapidly losing my voice. It was like a 7 on the stressfull scale, toothbrush tango night being the 10. It was certainly 10 on the discomfort scale. The poor extras and crew were in there most of the day. Brutal! And we left knowing we'd have to come back and dance next time! Yikes!

Haircut day and almost a Tornado!

2009-06-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Friday was the big point of no return. I had my hair appointment at 6:45 to chop off my long locks and trade it in for a chic little short cut.

First I had a massage scheduled at 5 pm, and I ended up taking a nap until right before Matt picked me up. We went to Body Works in Champaign and I got a nice relaxing hour long massage. By then my neck had been loosening up so this wasn't as painful.

Shannon was dropped off by her folks at the massage place and I forgot to call for a ride back. I got a hold of Raquel and Keeley for a ride to Ippatsu for my hair apt. By then it was raining pretty hard with lightening. They sort of found the place, as best as you could since it's tucked away. So I go around the building and get picked up. I'm starving at this point since I overslept on my nap. We spot a Steak & Shake and order at the drive through. Then as Raquel is rolling up the windows the Tornado Sirens start going off! We aren't sure what to do so we parked and ran inside. A few people seemed concerned, but most did not. I asked to pay for my drive through meal there at the counter, since I was there anyway. By then the sirens had turned off. I asked and a lady said that probably means all clear. We took that as our cue to skedaddle.

I got to the hair apt. a little late, but Rebecca was already cutting Erika's hair so it was fine timing wise. She finished up with Erika's hair and put me in the seat. We were about to get started when we saw Gretchen and Nicole running over in the rain. We waited for them so they could see the whole thing. She divided it into 2 sections and chopped them off. I felt like I was was going down a roller coaster- Weeeeee! There they went. Off to Locks of Love! then she washed it and cut it. She asked if I wanted to start with it up to my mouth and see from there, and I'm like- 'Nah, just go for it, up to my nose.' If I'm gonna do it I should go all out, right? So she does the initial cut, then the drying then more shaping then flipping the part and more shaping, etc. She's really good at hair cuts, guys.

The finished product was a work of art. I seriously look very different with this new hair. I LOVE it. I don't know if I'll ever go back to long hair. It's awesome.

Once we were finished I staged my Top Model breakdown so I could post it for my boyfriend, and anyone else who might get a kick out of it. Near the end I was smiley and then I just laugh, but I got a good bit in at the front that looked like I really hated it. He he he. Delightful.

After that we met up with DB and some more of the Beahms for tapas and drinks at Radio Maria (where the music was ridiculously loud, but oh well the food is great.) Then the girls went back to Ippatsu to hang out a bit more and finish the wine from earlier. By the end of the night the rain had stopped.

'Day' 20 - Cars and Ghosts

2009-06-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

We got started on Thursday evening at around 6 pm. Benji and I had a scene in a car that supposed to be outside the pizza place. Since we were hit by the storm earlier in the week, we picked it up in a nondescript alley before the sun went down that night. It was really fun. Props dept. made a little Ken doll into a mini Cedric to sit on the dashboard. it was super cute. I change my clothes in the back seat during the scene, but you never really see more than a sports bra, if that. Then after the cut I'd change my shirts back next to the car. I was pretty whatever about privacy. Hell, it's a sports bra- it's almost an undershirt. The scene went smoothly and was fun do to.

Then we moseyed back on over to the house to do more car stuff and the rest of the kitchen scenes.

They considered making it rain for the car scene out in front of the house, but it obscured the view through the windshield too much, so they went with just a wet look. The scene went pretty well. It was a little difficult because my head was still not turning all the way left yet and I was in the passenger seat. Doh! But I could angle my shoulder back and that worked.
It was so hot and humid that night it felt like walking into a sauna when you walked outside. We were happy to be done with the car scene asap.

We go back in at the end and there was talk of Shannon having seen someone in the window while we were out there. I didn't see anything, but she saw some shadows in the window. then Nicole said she saw something weird the night before. Then later Keeley was positive that a ghost had scratched her on the back at some point, and I think she worked out in the sweltering heat that night for a while. I found it sort of amusing. Not that I don't believe ghosts can exist, but I can think of a million other things that she may have scratched herself on than a ghost. But who knows. The house used to be a hospice or something so all the doors and fixtures are designed to accommodate a person in a wheel chair. The master shower was really confusing until I found that out because the tiles slope up into it, so it looks like the water would run out onto the floor.

Anyway, aside from the ghosty paranoia, things went pretty well. We had the outer glass ball on the ktichen lamp shatter, but Dan 'the man' Leasure produced a replacement in like less than a half hour. And this is in the middle of the night! So we were able to shoot the scene after the car and before the fight in the bathroom scene. I was starting to get a scratchy voice, but I only had like one line left to say by then.

After that we did the big off screen fight with Shannon and Melanie and I am the only one on screen in the kitchen. It's pretty cute. Then we make a mad dash out the door. Melanie yells after us, so every few minutes she's opening the door yelling- 'No secrets from your mother!' at like 5 AM. I wonder what the neighbors think.

We wrapped about 6 AM.

Neck cracker

2009-06-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

I got woken up a little before 2:00 to be picked up for my physical therapy, which in my head was at 2:30. so i got there late, but I saw him right away and he massaged my neck and throat and shoulders. It was incredibly painful, especially my upper throat area where my glands (nodes?) were still a bit enlarged. Then at the end he cracked my neck back into place. Presumably. It did seem like a satisfying crack and when I left i felt like my muscles were started to release. Yay!

It's not all better yet, but at least it was better enough that it wasn't preoccupying my thoughts constantly. I think with my massage scheduled for this afternoon my muscles will release that section of my neck. I still can't fully turn my head left. But overall I do feel better and less stressed about it. Yay!

'Day' 19 - Back at the homestead

2009-06-19T04:10:00.000-07:00

All my days are running together.

Let's see, I guess last time I blogged I was bitching about my neck and we shot at the pizza parlor. So the next shoot was at the house in the kitchen. My neck still hurt like a bitch and I felt sick off and on. Erika gave me a massage when I got there and some stretches to do. And later DB got in there and tried working on my shoulders while we rehearsed. Man, I am one tense mother effer. Erika also noted my neck might be out of alignment. (We made an appointment for me to see the physical therapy guy since the massage guy was not available in our schedule.)

First up was the scene with Dave's dad as 'Harris,' who just happened to look exactly like the story board artist had drawn the character. So funny! Just another piece of magic, I guess. Fortunately most of these kitchen scenes are extremely light for me. I have minimal dialogue and therefore am not the focus of the scenes. So if I can't move my head right or I look tired, hopefully it won't be so obvious in the finished product.

After that I think we set up the weird food montage. More of Shannon eating things hilariously. That girl is committed. She took a huge ass bite out of at least 4 pickles with peanut butter.

Then since we were set up at the kitchen window they came up with a new montage bit where Nicole is sneaking outside the window. So I think since we were able to pick that up it evened out the montage. We had lost a few from the apartment (which has now turned into a pumpkin.)

After that we did the pre-grocery store scene and knocked it out surprisingly quick. This was really good since we were not only trying to beat the rising sun, but beat the approaching lightening storm. The clouds did hold back the sun for a while though, so everybody won!

I got back to the dorms, found out I lost my room key, but then Gretchen was up and let me in. I thought about sleeping on the couch since my bed was jerks, but the lightening storm started to scare me as it shook the whole building and I started imagining tornadoes blowing out the big glass windows I was lying next to. So I pulled my mattress on the floor of my room and tried that instead. Plus teh lightening was really bright and made me want to put on my glasses and watch instead of sleeping.

'Day' 18 - Pain in my neck, literally

2009-06-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

Woke up yesterday having slept poorly on my neck so I had a big ol' kink in it. Son of a bitch. Heat pad sort of helped, and I took some Alieve hoping it would be better than Ibuprofen. Meh. I managed to get it loose enough to turn my head to the sides eventually.

Oh and then I also had to take a time out at one point because being stressed out brings out the ol' guilt complex I've worked so hard to get over. Apparently some teetotallers got up in Benji's grill about the umbrella in his juice cup. Uh huh. So I felt like a total asshole for posting pictures of us having fun on Saturday. My bad apparently. (Can you tell I'm still in pain and grouchy today?) Anyway, I got all upset and took a time out briefly in the ladies room. Erika came in and I pulled my shit together. Ultimately it's not a big deal, I'm just stressed out. At least my glands aren't swollen like they were Monday.

So we started with a new scene inserted before I have a heart to heart with big Tony. It's just me looking at a happy family so it was quick. Then we do the after hours clean up scene with Benji trying to get me to come out dancing, then Shannon and Nate fight and he leaves. Then we did some more cute little dancey bits where I'm setting things up and doing funny little pairings, and making cheese and pepper shakers dance. He he. Then lunch! Then after lunch we got changed for the scene where we are just at a table but wardrobe got mixed up and thought it was the same day as another scene. They had all the stuff in the trailer so they brought out a change of clothes for Benji and I, and we were all good to go. That scene was pretty easy to set up because it's at a table, but they had to black out the windows since by then the sun had come up. Pesky sun. then finally we got the start of the after hours scene with big Tony. Guy waited patiently all night. We got it knocked out super fast though so we were able to wrap at 7 am. We dropped the end of the after hours scene because we couldn't go too late or else we wouldn't be able to start at the house today until too late. (12 hour turnaround) It's totally fine without it because where we end still works as a lead in to the following scene in the car. Everybody wins!

I had to take a tylenol PM last night to get to sleep because I was still a grouchy and hurty. Slept with a heat pad on my neck. Woke up feeling worse! Awesome. Plus kind of sicky in the stomach.

Ok, so over the course I writing this I got my appetite back and have been eating leftover chicken which is helping me not be so bitchy. And now I can try taking the Alieve again with food in my stomach.

Maybe I'll try ice on my neck today instead. There was talk of me having a massage today but no one actually got in touch with me about it so I just slept. At least all my dancing bits are done since my neck is so stiff. We were going to try to get the tango on film in our formal wear for the dvd, so we'll see if my neck will turn left by Saturday.

For the Record

2009-06-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

Benji doesn't drink. For some reason people assumed that putting an umbrella in a juice cup = alcohol. Whatever.

Who ever thought that a group of grownups staying home, drinking and dancing was so scandalous?

'Day' 17 - Pizza Parlor & me a sick face.

2009-06-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I was out of it from the get go, obviously. My glands were swollen and I was feeling pretty groggy. Everyone kept offering me things like cough drops, but ultimately nothing helped. Plus my neck and head were still a bit sore. Wah.

It was a late call for everyone, which meant the latest shoot yet. 9:30 pm-9:30 am. I was relatively awake, but felt like ass. I rallied and pulled through without feeling like I did a bad job. I had Steffanie put Prep H on my eyes, took a bunch of deep breaths and mustered what energy I could for the shots.

We had a lot of extras come and were able to crank through most of them early so they wouldn't need to stay as late as we were. Then more came in the morning. We convinced Annie (script sup.) to do a cameo at the counter and Chloe to be at a table. I forget if anyone else was in there.

We started with the sort of dancey opening stuff - me handing pizzas to people, me working the dough (I even gave it a few tosses even though it isn't really the kind that tosses.), me putting toppings on the pizzas. Then we did extras then the dialogue stuff. That kitchen was really hot because they had made some pizzas fresh before we started shooting. I made sure not to fake burn myself on the hot ovens.

Benji and his entourage come in so we did that from a few angles. I sort of slide over the counter. It's fun. the last shot for that part is of Shannon and Nate arguing at a table. we did 2 lenses and on the second one, Pete had everyone in the room gradually wander away and hide. they kept arguing for a while until finally Shannon looked around and realized no one was left. At one point I realized I was just staring at them and I might be visible in the reflection so I wandered back into the kitchen and pretended to work while everyone else slipped out of the room. It was funny. Shannon was like- 'I felt like it went on really long and then suddenly the room was empty.'

Then I think we broke for lunch. Oddly enough we did not have pizza because we had to use them as props. They were more pricey because part of the rental negotiation was that we pay full price on the food we use there. So no one was allowed to touch the pizzas but Joy (though i think Pete totally stole some at the beginning. He is such a bad boy.)

After lunch we hit the montage bit and the entourage and Nicole were wrapped. Nate and Shannon were also wrapped because we decided to shoot that scene on the second night. Instead we did me and Big Tony's (John) heart to heart in the back kitchen. It was a little awkward working out the blocking, but we figured it out. By then it was probably like 4:30 am or later and John and I were running low on steam. But we rallied and I think the scene came out nice and funny.

When that scene was still shooting we got word there was lightening going on so we canceled the outdoor scene in the car with Benji and he was wrapped. They asked if I had anything left in me and I'm like - 'Hell yeah, if I don't have to talk I can totally bus tables and what not. Let's get this done' So we brought in the extras that came in that morning and we worked out some more dancey parts that take place early in the day when I start my shift. Took a few tries but the last on I nailed it. Then we do a shot where a bunch of teens shoot straw wrappers at me. It's pretty cute. Pete went in and schooled them on how to make sure they shoot off the straw correctly because they were only working half the time. Like I said- that Pete is a trouble maker. Then we do a bit at the salad bar with me cleaning.

Then we were done for the night! Yay! I think we wrapped around 8:30. I drank a ton of raspberry Emergen-C over the course of the evening. I asked Keeley if I had told her it was my flavor and she was like- 'Oh I just really like that flavor.' Nice. That worked out well. It did seem to give me a temporary boost on set at least.

Funny story of the night- Apparently big Brett owed Keeley a prank from when he was passed out drunk in week 2 I think, and i guess she put shaving cream in his clothes. Really, I suspect he owes it to Pete as the ring leader but the opportunity presented itself when she left her sweater on a bench in back. We were changing setups and I was in back when she put her sweater on. Shaving cream all up in both sleeves! Doh! Pretty slick of Brett waiting so long for vengence.

Right now, I just woke up in the middle of the 'night' with my head racing and needed to play some music and focus my mind before going back to sleep. Might be from the Sudafed I took before bed. They use that stuff to make meth, you know. I feel better now though so I could probably fall back asleep soon. Let's hope I feel better tonight.

Land of confusion

2009-06-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Night schedule is weird.

I went to get food around 6 and kept thinking it was Tuesday. Luckily it is Monday and there was a better soup option at Potbelly's.

The Presby church here on the corner is having some sort of metal hard rock concert in the basement. How strange. I guess as long as they don't sing praise to the devil, it's fair game for the church basement. that's kind of nice. And it gives kids a place to go hang out in the evening. Kind of random on a Monday night, but pretty bitchin'.

I feel really out of it. I don't know if I could ever have a job that was at night all the time. It's off putting for my body. I can stay awake, but I feel less alert. I think I might be getting sick too though, so I'm taking extra Emergen-C.

Our call is at 9:30 which means we could go to 9:30 am. That will be the latest so far. Hopefully I don't have big bags under my eyes. Though apparently Preparation H will help with puffiness. Weird.

'Day' 16 - Old memories and New memories

2009-06-15T02:43:00.000-07:00

Last night was sooo much better! Phew!

We started at the house, which was an empty home that is in the middle of being sold. There was some connection where it turned out someone in the crew knew someone who knew the buyers so we were able to get permission from both the sellers and the buyers as well. Nice!

They shot all the montage bits before we got there. They said all the kids playing young Shannon and I were perfect! We got to say hello to little Gracie who plays 5 year old Shannon before she left. she was the backup little me in case Trinity got stage fright. It actually worked out better because she looks more like Shannon and they went with lighter hair for all the mini Shannons. Then there was Erin and another girl that I never met playing pre-teen us.

Once we got there, I put on my wardrobe and the reading glasses I bought at Walgreens that afternoon. They were seriously the same as the glasses I wore in the 90's. Hilarious. Shannon got a fancey up-do with a tiara and a prom dress and we did some home video footage of our own. It was so funny and cute.

Then we moved over to the bathroom set to pick up what we missed the night before. It was all funny montage bits. I got to wear my hottie push up bra I brought because there is a bit where Shannon and I trade clothes while I get cuter and she gets pregnant-er. Then Nicole and I picked up one of our montage bits outside in a sweet ride. Apparently the first week DB saw this gorgeous yellow classic Corvair convertable by the clubhouse and walked over to ask who owned it. They were totally cool with it being in the movie. (Oddly enough the owner was a pirate in the Pirates of the Carribean III which Nikki helped do casting for in LA. He was a local hire out where they were shooting, but still a funny connection.) Originally it was going to be Cedric's car, but was probably too small to shoot in. Instead we have a cute montage bit with me and nicole. Tee hee hee. Then Shannon and I finished out the night being teenagers again with thick green face masks in our PJs. Raquel held the video camera because Melanie had gone home by then. They wanted it to have a home movie feel so they didn't want Pete to do it since he is too good with the camera.

We were done by 2 am! Wooo! Time to party!

Sound guys hosted again, but this time they got a bunch of colored gels from Pete and put them on all the light fixtures. It was rad. They also cleared the living room of furniture to make a dance floor! We partied beyond dawn! We entered another dimension! Everyone (well everyone but myabe 2-3 people) got out on that dance floor at least once. Shaheen, who is pretty quiet on set, busted out the moves! She was a dance machine all night. We were flipping out. It was rad. Matt busted out some badass moves as well. Team Colorado brought it. Even Pete broke it down. He was also head DJ for the night, juggling multiple Ipods from people with requests. Dan Leasure came by for a bit. He's the man! I don't think he got to dancing before he left, but I'm going to assume he's a badass on the floor. Brian's grilfriend (Angie I think) drove up that evening. She was so tired but in the end I caught them dancing. Erika and DB had a fabulous duet. It made me miss Jeff (my bf) soooo bad! DB also started a 3 man mosh pit at one point. Shannon got in on it with her power butt shove! There was some Soul Train dancing. I think it was big Brett or Matt that whipped out The Worm down the line. Later I busted out in pretend ballet. Around 5 Am some guy shows up wearing a hat and I was like- who the hell is there here now? It was Benji finally. Little Brett got frisky and danced up on everyone. We were dying. He even danced up on Benji. Tone boogied. Siobhan got forced onto the dance floor because we wouldn't let her get away. Ha ha! Shannon was drunky drunk because she is wee. She was dancing with Benji and he picked her up at one point and I snapped a picture. I guess when I posted them on facebook her boyfriend saw it and called her. Doh! She said it was fine, he just misses her. Aww! I'm sure he wishes he could be here partying with her. Don't worry Aaron, she is a loyal lady and talks about you every day. ;) I felt a little bad because it didn't occur to me people might not want pics of them up. Oh well. I looked through them before posting to make sure nothing scandalous was up. If anything scandalous happened, I missed it. There was make-out rumors with some of the crew, but I didn't see anything.

We stopped dancing a little before 7:30 when some of team Colorado came back and said they were going to IHOP. IHOP!!! Yeah! I went with round 1. Round 2 people came shortly after, some still drunky drunk. He he. I'm sure the IHOP servers are used to it being in a college area. Mmm. It hit the spot and then I finally got sleepy.

I woke up today around 4:30 pm. My head and neck hurt a lot. (dancing and accidently being kneed in the head earlier.) The Reichards took the ladies out to dinner at a place called Biaggi's. It was delicious. We ran into Erika nd DB out to dinner there as well. They can't get away from us. He he. After dinner we all went to the movies and then like half (or more) of the crew was there as well. Most of us went to The Hangover and a few saw Angels and Demons. It was nice to veg out. After that we came home and some folks came up to our place. There was an impromptu guitar and singing session in the living room while Gretchen whipped up breakfast at 1 am. I had a tummy ache and was falling asleep so I napped for an hour. When I woke up Erika, DB, Tone and gretchen were talking and everyone else was downstairs. We went down and people were playing ping poing, chess, guitar, etc. Just chilling. It was really nice. the boys went and played poker and eventually we joined them. We had DB play us some songs. It was lovely. It was so great that E and DB were able to relax a little and hang out with all of us this weekend.

Only a week and half left. I think 7 shoot days really. Makes me sad, because I'll miss people. They feel like family. But I also miss home with my bf and my friend family there. Plus I get to see my real family in July too! Yay! Actually, my sister & fam in Indiana will be coming to be extras on Saturday. Awesome!

'Day' 15 - Toothbrush Tango - aka the bane of my existence

2009-06-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

It seems a little silly, but I think last night was the hardest shoot I've ever done. First there was a miscommunication about rehearsing so we only ended up with about an hour to learn the sections and the music. we didn't have props at the time either. To be fair, I should have been going over it before I even got here, but I didn't know we were doing it exactly the same as the short on the website.

We got over to the warehouse space where they'd built the bathroom set. It looked great. It was in sections with a removable mirror so they could get all sorts of shots in . It was a very cool design. They were still lighting for a while so Shannon and I worked on our lines for the dialogue scene we'd be shooting later. (much later since there was a bar nearby with a very loud 80's cover band playing that night until late. Too bad we were shooting or we'd have got to dance.)

They got all the finishing touches on the bathroom, including some of my bathroom stuff like my night guard in there and we used my glasses and contacts case. We did the entrance first, which is fairly easy and not very involved. then we cut so that Shannon could literally be sewn into her towel turban. Safety pins in back and a thread and needle in front. It wasn't going to go anywhere!

then we did the extreme closeups through the mirror of our eyes - Shannon removing eyelashes and me removing my contact. Then she removes lipstick. then I put on my glasses. then camera lens change and dolly track.

Then came the most bizarrely difficult thing. It shouldn't have been hard, but it took forever. We brush our teeth and tilt our heads in time with the music. For whatever reason I just kept turning too soon. Ack! Or we wouldn't be sure which section we'd be doing, or they weren't sure how to time the dolly, or whatever. It took the longest time and I felt so lost. Eventually they felt like they got enough to edit with and we moved on without the dolly.

It goes toothbrush-paste- brush left - - brush right - - brush left - brush right- brush front... Spit! Rinse- brush tongue. We have to look up from the sink at the same time but we didn't have the song totally in our heads and were a little off. So we had to that a few times. then from there I quickly have to get the floss out and she has to pull it off then I get some while she winds it. Trying to do all that and be on time with the song was stressful. Eventually on a later camera setup we stopped stressing about timing on the song and just timed with each other, with Joy counting for us. That worked SOOO much better. but until then we were still kind of spazzing out. So then we floss, then I have to grab the trash, put it away and get the mouthwash out in like 3 counts. then she drinks and I drink then gargle! Spit! Again, this worked much better later when we stopped trying to hit the music we could hear and just stayed on time with each other on Joy's count. she hid in the bathroom with us so we could hear her. The 80's band was loud and then our playback had to be louder, so we needed her right there.

After mouthwash we move a bit where I get the soap and move it then get a hand towel and washcloth. she takes off her earrings then steals my towel then I get it back. She removes her necklace, i remove my glasses. Wet soap, lather lather. then comes the hard part - I have to toss her the wet soap then she has to catch it, later and toss back and I have to catch it. I was hoping on the first one where I missed it they couldn't see and proceeded to wash my face. turns out they could see it so I had to get my makeup back on. Ack. So then I think on the next one we nailed it and washed our faces. I think 'lunch' was after that. Must have been around 1 am, but I'm not sure.

I ate hoping that I'd be less irritable when I wasn't hungry, but no. I was still sort of on edge and stressing out. Oh well.

After lunch we did the slow-mo splashies for Shannon. then I hand her the towel and put her necklace away. she dries her face then tosses the towel behind her and I catch it with my foot. this angle didn't matter if I caught it, but I still caught it on a lot of takes. We give a little pink link like it's our high five and then I put the towel away. she picks at her feet while I get out the face lotion. We lotion our faces. I put my glasses on and wipe down the counter while she gets arm lotion and reaches over me. then we get to leave frame. I come back and put her toothbrush away and leave.

Easy- right?

Ok, now we change camera angles so one is behind and one is directly above. The mirror is returned to the wall. We go again from toothbrush. And we do well. Some takes we go all the way with the soap catch and the toweling and I even caught it on my foot. Yay! So there we had a pretty good stretch because we'd stopped worrying about doing it all on the song.

The rest of the stuff was insert shots then a low angle to catch our feet. Then we had to cut the towel off Shannon's head for the end. She tosses it to me then I hang it and return her toothbrush to its place then hit the light.

Yeah. So that took a very long long time. Thank god for the second camera so it didn't take all night. I don't remember a scene where I've felt so screwed up and half lost. I mean, we got all the elements so they can be edited, but it was just very stressful going through it barely knowing what I'm doing for some reason.

Ok, so then we still have a dialogue scene and some montage bits scheduled. The scene is only about a page and fortunately takes place at night at the end of a long day and we are fighting. so really the only scene where our current state was fairly appropriate. I felt very low energy and wasn't very happy with me performance, but it's a quick scene and it's more about Shannon anyway. We got it really well on the last take through the mirror, so if all else fails it can be done as a 2 shot there. I just hate going away from something feeling like I could have done better. Ugh. It was like the day we had all the traffic noise except all the buses were just in my head.

We rescheduled the montage bits for tonight after we do the house stuff with the young versions of us. So our call isn't until 7:45. Tonight should go quickly and smoothly I think. I feel like anything will after last night.

Ironically, the grocery store musical and the toothbrush tango are really only a few minutes each in the film, but have been the most complicated to shoot.

'Day' 14 - Tango! Plus a birthday!

2009-06-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to Lady Courtney, who turned 21 at the stroke of midnight last night!

We had a later call last night so we got to sleep more and then ate dinner with the crew. Nicole and I were dancing first so we got in for hair and makeup right after eating. Apparently Kherington had a reaction to the metal of the earrings she'd been wearing so they went and picked up some peroxide as well as some clear nail polish. I guess you can coat the metal with the polish an then it won't irritate the ears. I guess it worked because I saw her wearing them later and she said it was fine now. Yay! We don't want to hurt our dancers!

The grocery girls were finished the previous night, so team Colorado were back to being PAs. Plus teh Ballet dancers were gone. I left early so I missed saying bye to them and the other grocery girls. Oh well. Maybe they can come back for the wrap party! They were wonderful.

We all went over to the store for blocking before midnight. Tone called everyone one to huddle up in a stern tone. Everyone comes over, worrying that something is wrong. Then he goes- 'It has been brought to our attention that one of our young dancers is turning 21 at midnight, and it's my privilege to ask everyone to sing her happy birthday.' Then Eric put on the Beatles Happy birthday song and they brought out a cake with cute rubber duckies on it and a bottle of champagne. Hooray! And then let's say Courtney took her first sip of alcohol in her life. ;)

Those who could stick around had cake and champagne while the rest of us skedaddled over to the Cereal Aisle of Love. They brought some cake over but I was still full from tirimisu after dinner.

Oh, the Cereal Aisle of Love. It's a magical place full of red lighting and shiny surfaces. They removed all the lower signs that stick out so we wouldn't dance into them. The only ones that remained up top were the red ones so it all matched. They set up a bunch of vertical rows of lights at the far end, so were were very backlit. Then they had spotlights hung up on the ceiling. Then for added magic they attached a disco ball to a C-stand and put it on the dolly just above the frame of the camera to flash dots of light all over and into the lens.

We had rehearsed facing the opposite direction in the aisle, so we had to run through it a few times to get re-oriented. Even though the moves are the same, it screws us up when we were facing the opposite way from rehearsal. We also had a different song to dance to which we hadn't heard before. but they gave us some time to run through it once or twice to hear the rhythm and make sure we were both on the same page.

I gotta say I'm really proud of us and I think Melanie will be really proud too. I havne't seen it, but I think I danced well. I know Nicole had it, and I felt like I did really well too. I think on the third go, I got a bit screwed up at one point, but it's film and I don't know if they even saw my feet. And they just won't use that take of it. They went in for a medium close up and I guess at one point when Nicole is bouncin' her hip, Pete put the camera on her booty. We could hear everyone's reaction. Not a take they would use, but funny. We redid a few sections just for camera, but I think we did it all the way 4 or 5 times. Then they switched the camera to the jib so they could get an overhead shot and we did 2 of the moves a few times. They switched lenses and we did the one move a few times. And that was it! Magic!
Everyone said it was super sexy and fun.

I had to have my hair redone after the first or second go of it. After that it stayed in place. Steffanie sprayed the hell out of it too so it wasn't budging.

The rest of the night was Shannon, Benji and the check out girls. I left early to rest up for more shooting tonight so I missed it. I'm gonna guess it was awesome. These folks are professionals. They don't mess around. They will bring it even at 4AM.

I think they all had early flights out this morning so I won't get to see them again unless they come back for the wrap party. We were lucky to get to work with them.

Thanks for bringing your A Game, folks - that includes the ballet dancers and grocery girls. It was a hectic week but I think we pulled it off. Couldn't have done it without their dedication. i can't wait to see it all cut together!

'Day' 13 - Hot Pants in the freezer section!

2009-06-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

Last night we were first to dinner! Hooray! But then almost all the check out girls did not show up. I think they went out to dinner. All the food was eaten though because when there is delicious food out, people eat it. For example, I ate a ton at dinner time, then the crew meal was there later and I ate even more because it's just so good. I wasn't even hungry. I was a little worried I wouldn't fit into my wardrobe! Stuffed!

Luckily i fit into my wardrobe oh so nice. I'm glad we are shooting this scene now instead of at the beginning because I've gone down about a size since arriving here. So I can fit into the tight black pants and actually look good in them now! Yay! I also get a slim gray vest with clear sequence to go over my Bunnim shirt. It's hot! Though I think Nicole's outfit wins for most hot. High waisted tight black skirt with slits in the back for dancing. Then polka dotted ruffly sheer blouse that they blinged out on al the dots. She also has a wide black and sparkly silver belt and this bitchin bubbly trimmed silver vest that goes over it for the Tango number. Then her hair is in ringlets and she's got long fake lashes, etc. It's prety rad.

We got a wee bit behind - though maybe not. We felt behind, but then the Grocery girls shot first, so they may have actually got sent to the store on time. Then the Checkout girls then the Leads. By the time we were ready to go over, it was a torrential downpour with thunder and lightening every few seconds. They managed to keep us dry from door to door, just barely. It was mad stormy. Like tornado watch stormy.

We missed the first shots so the first we saw was Shannon on the freezer platform with the girls pawing at her belly from below.

Next up was 'slumdog' which was why Nicole and I were dressed up at all that night. Originally we thought we were walking up the platform but it was 2 square platforms now instead. so Shannon was on the front one and we are behind her with the dancers to the left and right of us on the floor. We quickly reworked our plan so I still didn't need to dance. he he he. I thought about trying the end of it, but then wasn't totally nailing it so I chose something else. I didn't want to ruin any takes by not being on time with everyone else. So I'm basically just stalking Nicole around the platform while she does an adjusted version of the dance and then sort of do my own little shimmy toward her at the end. It was super cute. I think it took 3 times as long to get ready as it did to get the shots!

After that we had a snack then went and practiced Tango in our wardrobe to make sure it all still worked. It's feeling really solid now. Benji came and helped us too, which was really good since we don't have Melanie with us this week. She did call us all yesterday to check in though, so I'll have to call her tonight. I think she'll be really pleased with our dancing when she gets to see it later. Shannon came over to watch too so the 4 of us got to have some family time, which we hadn't really had for a while since we haven't all been in the same scenes for a bit and even when we were we didn't get much time off by ourselves.

At some point in practicing I split an inch of the seam on my ass in those pants. Markas said that it's probably where he stopped sewing when he took them in. So i spent the last hour on set with my star spangled panties peeking out. At least they were cute.

We stuck around a bit longer to watch the grocery cart 'Singin' in the Rain' ballet number once or twice then went and changed. By then it wasn't raining anymore. I decided to go home but Nicole stuck around on set. I was a bit tired and decided to go to sleep a little early and then take a nap before filming tonight. it worked pretty well taking a nap last night before leaving, so I'll do that again tonight so I'll hopefuly have good energy for the tango.

Names

2009-06-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to learn peoples names while I am here and I've had a really hard time with the dancers. Last night I realized why. At least half of them have a name starting with a hard 'K' sound. Catherine, Katrina, Kherington, Katee, Courtney. Plus I think there is a Kim in the Grocery girls, and Keeley. Remembering the first letter is sometimes all I can handle.

I will study the facebook tags and learn them.