GARY MASON

Voice Over Talent

443.624.3014

gary@audiomaticvoice.com

Uncategorized

A late start….

Encouragement, General, Getting Started, Uncategorized

Welcome back! 

Thanks for reading!  If you are a new subscriber, thanks for joining us!

This week I’d like to talk a bit about getting A Late Start in the performing arts.  Well, I suppose this applies to nearly any profession, except maybe professional sports.

It’s never too late to start over…

It’s been said that you are never too old to learn something new, and while that’s true I would add “and to start a new career”.  That’s definitely true for me, who has started a new career at the tender age of 60 years old.  It’s been an experience, for sure, but it has also been a really great experience.  Let me tell you why starting a new career at 60 has worked for me.

Experience…

My dad used to say “Experience is something you get just AFTER you need it” …and for the most part he’s not wrong.  When you start to get a little older, one thing you definitely have going for you is experience.  Now, you may not have any experience in the new field you are trying to pursue, and that has definitely been true for me.  However, I am finding I have a LOT of relevant experience in general that has helped a lot.

Work/Study ethic…

While I have little actual experience in voice over and acting, my 60 years on this earth definitely taught me the value of establishing and maintaining good work and study habits.  In some ways, being an independent small business owner makes these things more difficult in that I only have myself to motivate me.  No boss making demands on my time is great, but that then means the task of motivation and drive fall squarely on my shoulders.  Thankfully, my 40+ years of service to the US Navy, both as an active-duty member and later a government civilian, gave me a lot of experience in self motivating behavior and a drive to succeed.  Starting later in life has given me an appreciation for training (that I also now have to pay for myself, which is ALSO a motivator) and for setting goals/deadlines and driving toward them.

Finances!

OK, I get not everyone is at the same place in life as I am , and I also get that I have been fortunate enough to have great jobs with good pay and have saved for retirement – so this is going to work out differently for each person, but I am talking about me and my own personal circumstance.  Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).

For me, I am fortunate to be in a position where my VO and acting income is in addition to what I need to live on.  I’m blessed with two retirements (and eventually, if it is still solvent, I’ll add Social Security to that) along with savings and some other residual income from previous jobs.  Frankly, I COULD just play golf all day every day.  But I don’t want golf to get old and I am incapable of just sitting around all day.   So here we are!

But my suspicion is that most, not all but most, people my age who have retired, are in a similar position.  To be clear: The position I am talking about is not being wealthy, on the contrary I am suggesting there are many (most?) retirees who have sufficient income to live on while they pursue a second or third career.

Patience…

OK, I confess I am not really all THAT great in this category.  I actually used to have a sign in my office, and a tagline on all my emails, that said “BE IMPATIENT”.  Yeah, I want things to happen right away, or at least as fast as possible.

That’s the key.  AS POSSIBLE.

I believe that being a little advanced in age has given me the experience to know that successful careers don’t happen overnight.  That you have to work at it.  Work HARD.  And over time success comes. Under the heading of patience, I’ll say that, while I still want things to happen instantly, I recognize that they don’t.  And that knowledge means I don’t stress out over booking every job I audition for.  I recognize that “good things come to those who wait”, and that it is the work I PUT into this that will reap the rewards.  I think those rewards are worth waiting for.  Twenty-year-old me would have disagreed. Hell, FORTY-year-old me would have!

Thick Skin…

Again, I recognize this may not be true for everyone, but it is my firm belief that most people my age have developed somewhat of a thick skin.  At least, thicker than when they were in their 20’s.

There was a time in my life when any negative comment or critique would just pierce my SOUL and I would obsess about them for weeks or sometimes months.  These days, it just rolls off my back.  So maybe not totally…I mean, there are some people whose opinion of me I worry about…but not “people”.  As a natural extension of this, rejection, which is a common every day occurrence in this business, doesn’t affect me the way it once did.  Sure, rejection stings, I’d be lying if I suggested otherwise.  But it has become MUCH easier to shrug it off and move on.  It’s actually kind of freeing.

It’s not really rejection!

Besides, I view casting as a process of SELECTION vice REJECTION.  They are not rejecting you; they are selecting someone else.  The only ones who know why someone else was selected are the people who actually make the casting decisions.  In some cases, they may not have even listened to your audition.  Maybe they didn’t like the sound of your voice, or it just wasn’t what they heard in their head when they were setting out to book someone.  Maybe they loved you audition but can’t find it in the 100’s they received. Maybe they have an arch nemesis whose name also happens to be Gary Mason.  Who knows?  It doesn’t matter, and you’ll never find out anyway.

Competition…

Ask yourself THIS question: How many 60-ish year old people are starting an acting career?  I can answer for you – Not many.  But there ARE quite a few characters in the 50–70-year-old age range.  Certainly, not as many parts as there are for the 20-40 crowd, but far fewer people competing for the 50-70 range.  What that amounts to is fewer people competing for each role, which means it is easier to get noticed.  This is a distinct advantage to starting out a little later in life, but it IS a double-edged sword.  SOME of the people competing for those roles have been doing this work for 20, 30 even 40 years and have a lot more experience, but honestly, they are not going for the same projects I am as a relatively new VO/Actor, so competition is much less fierce.

Freedom…

Hey, It’s America we all have freedom!  Well, some would argue that, and may have a point, but in truth there are many things in life that limit your freedoms, and the biggest one (from my view) is a J O B.  Yeah, this is a job too…but it is NOT one that is controlled by a supervisor or an organization.  I’m retired from my “day job” so I have the freedom to schedule gigs and meetings whenever I want without checking to see if it interferes with my work schedule.  Which means I can work during “working hours”.  Or not, as I desire!  Freedom.

I am also fortunate enough to have a woman who doesn’t attempt to restrict me from doing what I need to do, even though it sometimes means being out of town, or working late in the evening.  Thanks babe!  Again, YMMV.

At the end of the day…

It may seem to some that starting a voice over or acting career at nearly 60 years old is a waste of time.  I suggest otherwise and have found that being my age and starting a new career is actually easier than it would have been when I was much younger.  Sure, I would have had more time to perfect the craft, build a reputation…but I also would have been a lot more stressed trying to raise four kids like this and probably would have needed a “day job” to make ends meet, at least early on.  I think that stress would have negatively impacted my career all by itself.

What have you got to lose?

Would like to start a voice over or acting career, or any other career for that matter, but are hesitating because you feel like you are “too old”?  YOU ARE NOT TOO OLD (I mean, unless you want to be the Starting QB for the  Washington Football Team, you ARE too old for THAT).  As long as you are on the sky side of the grass…DO IT!  It’s not too late to start anew!

 

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Preparing the script

General, Training, Uncategorized, Voice Over

Welcome back! 

Thanks for reading!  If you are a new subscriber, thanks for joining us!

This week let’s talk a little bit about script preparation.

OK, I get that voice over is not exactly “The Ten Commandments” or “Gladiator”, but even a quick 15 second spot requires a script, and that script is going to require some kind of preparation before you deliver your lines.  So, how exactly do you prepare a script, didn’t the writers already do that? Get ready for your close up with Mr. Demille!

Actors

Unlike a quick 15 second script for voice over artists, for on-screen and theater actors, script preparation is a long form exercise. One of the first things an actor does when preparing a role is to figure out who their character is.  As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Samuel L Jackson says in his Master Class, your character is a 3-dimensional human being who had a full life before he shows up in the scene.  Just like real humans, everything this character does is flavored by everything that’s happened to him in the past.  When he enters the scene, he is coming from somewhere, and when he exits the scene he is going somewhere.  The actor’s job is to make the audience believe that.

How do they do that?

I’m glad you asked!  One of the best way to figure out who your character is would be to read source material.  If a play, TV Show or movie is based on a book, the fastest way to learn who your character is would be to read the book.  An author has the luxury of however many pages he needs to give the reader all the intricate details that develop characters in his or her book.  Reading the source material let’s you know a LOT more detail than the script ever would, and helps you understand why the character is acting a particular way or saying the things he says.  It ALSO helps you know HOW the character might act in a given situation and how he would say the things he is saying.

What about the other characters in the scene?

If there are other characters in the scene, it is important to know how your character feels about them.  Does he like them?  Love them?  Despise them?  Do they frustrate him?  All of these things (and more!) coupled with the character’s history will inform how a actor portrays a character.

What if there is no source material?

Well, obviously if there is no source material, you can’t go to that to figure it out.  The only real option is to make it up!  That’s right, MAKE IT UP!  Sit down and write a page or two detailing the characters history, physical attributes (does he limp?  Stutter or stammer?).  This is possibly the most fun part of character development because you have full artistic control (well, at least till the director gets ahold of it) over the character. You are fleshing out the details of your character so you can bring him to life!

Choices!

As an actor, you have to make choices.  The choices you make about your character drive who that person is, and how he acts.  As previously mentioned you can draw information from source material if it’s available, or make it up, but either way you are going to have to choose certain experiences and details that you’ll highlight in your performance.  Every actor, whether theater, screen or voice over, needs to make choices about their character and stick with it!

How in the world does this relate to voice over?

The short answer is, that voice over artists ARE actors and need to develop their character just like theater and screen actors.  Your scripts are shorter, and you have far less time to record and submit an audition, but the process is very similar.

Preparing a VO Script…

With very few exceptions, a script you are going to record is a real person, speaking to one or more other real people.  You may be a manager speaking to an employee, a husband speaking to your wife or a salesman speaking to customers.  No matter what, you are portraying someone, speaking to someone else.

Choices (CONT)…

For voice over, it is important to make choices about your character the same way a theater or screen actor would.  This is actually obvious if you are doing voice over for animated cartoons, or even video games.  Also pretty obvious if you are narrating an audio book.  Maybe not as obvious for that 30 or 60 second radio or TV spot.

The truth is, even on a short advertisement it is important for a voice artist to know at east three things about his character (and you ARE playing a character whether you realize it or not):

  1. Who is he?
  2. Where is he?
  3. Who is he speaking to?

These are the three main things you must know about EVERY character you play.  You can get more nuanced than this to be sure, but at a minimum you must know these things.

Who is he?

How do you figure out who this character is?  The text in the script may give you a clue, and if not, possibly the direction notes.  Sometimes you may be a sales representative for a company, or perhaps the manager at one of their stores.  You MAY be one of their customers, or even perhaps a keynote speaker at a conference.  Maybe you are an instructor teaching an employee how a company runs, or even walking a homeowner through a simple home repair.  In any case, it is imperative that you either know instinctively or make something up to inform your read.

Where is he?

Where the character is at, physically, is going to color how he says the things he is saying in the script.  Is he in the boardroom with the CEO and members of the board?  Maybe he is in his boss’s office?  In a store. Or standing on a stage?  If you consider this, you’ll realize that you carry yourself and speak differently when you are home than when you are at work.  Differently still if you are standing in your boss’s office.  Where you are is going to color your read.

Who is he speaking to?

Just liek a stage or screen actor needs to know how he feels about the people he is speaking to so that he speaks to them in a way that fulfills his character, so too does a VO actor need to determine who he is speaking to in order to inform and color his reading of the text.  If he is speaking to a colleague for example, he is likely to use different inflections and language than if he was speaking to his boss, or a customer.  Who the character is speaking to will also inform and color how he says the words in the script.

Other considerations…

Where is the character from?  Is he from Boston?  Texas? Chicago?  NYC?  Each of these locations are going to bring a different accent and slang as well as emphasis on certain words.  Pahhk you-ah caah in the yaahd.  What is the goal of the script?  What is your character trying to accomplish?  You get the idea, try to make the character a 3-dimensional person.

And then what?

Once you figure out these three things (at a minimum) it is time to decide how that character would say the things he is saying in the script.  Let’s say you have determined that your character is the manager of a store, he is in his office in the store and speaking to a customer who is upset about something. He has no regional accent or dialect and his goal is to calm the customer down and make sure they are satisfied.

Now, imagine yourself sitting in the manager’s office in a local store.  Picture a disgruntled customer standing in the door frame, and he is telling you all about what one of your employees did to upset them.   Keep in mind that your goal is to settle them down and make them a satisfied customer.  Now from sitting at the manager’s desk listening to the customer complain, how would you respond?  Not what would you say, the writers have given you that, but HOW would you say it?  Then say it like that.

MARK UP THE SCRIPT!

Once you know who you are portraying and how you are portraying him, it’s time to mark up the script.  Start by reading through it once or twice, then quietly read it out loud to yourself.  Doing this will give you ideas of pacing and where dramatic pauses are required.  Remember to read it out loud as though you are saying it (like it is just occurring to you in your head like in a real conversation), not as though you are reading it – which means you do NOT need to honor all of the writers punctuation.  We do not read and speak the same  way.  After you’ve done this, and have a good idea of how you want to do it, read through it one more time and physically mark the script to cue yourself where to pause and which words to emphasize.  Make up your own shorthand for this, only YOU need to understand it.  If you need more than one read, just do this step as many times as the number of reads you have.

But they want three different reads!

Yep, this happens all the time.  How do you deal with that?  Simple really…change something about the character.  Maybe you add that this customer is a regular complainer, you’d respond somewhat differently even if your goal is to satisfy them, right?  Maybe you decide your character just found out he won the lottery and is so happy he’d do anything just to get through the rest of the day and get out of there to collect his winnings.  You don’t need to completely change the character, just one or two attributes.  What if the customer ran you down in the parking lot as you were getting ready to leave for the day?  Or maybe you just got off the phone with your spouse and your child is getting sent home from school, so you are in a hurry.  The possibilities are endless, just make sure you are also being true to the copy.

The key..

Because you are a voice actor, and not a screen or stage actor (well, maybe you are both, but we are talking about voice over here), you don’t have the luxury of showing the audience through facial expression or body language how you are feeling and what you are thinking.  You have only your voice to do the work.

But here’s the thing…body language and facial expressions DO affect the way we speak.  Even though your audience can’t see you, if you’ll just affect the attitude and expression you are trying to portray, the audience will “hear” that in your voice.  Smile when it is called for, frown, squint, scrunch up your face and gesture with your hands (just try not to make any stray noises when you do it).  ALL of these things will come through in your audio.

At the end of the day…

At the end of the day what is important is that you know your character and then become him for the read!  Good luck!  Break a lip!

 

 

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Do I take the job?

General, Uncategorized

Welcome back! 

It’s been a pretty slow week, and also a short week as I prepare to head to Florida for 5 days to visit and celebrate my oldest son’s promotion to Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy.  Pretty proud of that kid!  Since I too was a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy when I retired, I get to pin MY anchors on him for the first time.  So, there is yet another Chief Mason…a family legacy.

Anyway, I mention that because my travel makes this a short week, and since I don’t yet have a travel setup for recording voice over I won’t be doing any recording while I’m away.  Since being an independent narrator and small business owner is relatively new to me, this is an interesting situation for me.  You see, this is the first time I’ll be away from my booth for an extended period since I started all this in June (or so) of 2020.

Should I have a travel setup?

The first question I have pondered is whether or not this is the right time to get myself a portable recording set up.  In the end, I’ve decided that, since people are not exactly knocking down my door to hire me (yeah, I have to search out and work to get work), it’s probably not the right time.  But it IS time to start researching it, and I am kind of a tech geek so that ought to be fun!

But, I am getting a bit off topic here.  The thing that IS on topic is, given my absence for five days, how do I decide whether or not to accept a job if offered?  It’s a timely question, and I’ll tell you why:

I accepted an offer to produce a fairly short audio book, yesterday.  That’s a good thing, right?

Maybe.

What was that word?

You see, the first 15 minutes is due WHILE I am away, so it MUST get done before I depart.  No biggie, right?  Fifteen minutes is not a lot!

But you see before I can even begin recording, I need to read the entire book, and then research pronunciations of the many REALLY HARD TO SAY chemist terms included that were NOT part of the audition script.  Here is an example: 2-Arachidonoylglycerol. Yeah, you read that right.  Try to say THAT three times fast and then use it in a sentence!

And that is just ONE of the really strange names for things chemists come up with.  Where do they GET this stuff?

Anyway, the finished book is only about three hours of audio, on a topic I THOUGHT I was familiar with, so when the offer arrived, and not wanting to turn down work at this point, I accepted it.

And because it IS such a short book, and my first ever Per Finished Hour (PFH) title I’ve also decided I needed to finish the recording before I leave as well.  I’m discovering I am a glutton for punishment.

Busier than a one armed man…

If this were the only thing I needed to accomplish today, that should be low stress.  I can RECORD three hours of audio in less than 5 hours total…. usually.  What?  You thought three hours of audio took three hours to record?  Nope – more on that later.

But today I also need to: Write this blog post, meet with my talent management team, record two video auditions that are also due, stay ahead of audio auditions for future work and pack for the trip.  Oh, and email my agents to let them know I am going to be unavailable – gotta add that one to my to-do list. Ugh.  I’m going to be up till midnight!  Thankfully my flight doesn’t leave till afternoon tomorrow, so I MAY be able to out off the packing till the morning…I’m a guy after all ad packing is all about making sure I have the same number of skivvies as days I’ll be gone.  I can usually pack for a five day trip in about 30 minutes.

This was harder than it looked…

So, I accepted the job, got the full manuscript and read through it yesterday.  I researched pronunciations and marked up the script and started recording in the afternoon.  Honestly, I did pretty well, capturing about 2 hours of audio yesterday afternoon, but it took…five hours.

You see, here’s the thing about recording a book, or any text for that matter: you never get it 100% right on the first read through.  What that means is when you stumble, mispronounce a word, get the phrasing or pacing wrong, or even get halfway through a sentence and realize you’ve read it with the wrong emphasis or intonation…you have to back up and redo it.

The method for this is called “Punch and Roll”, and I’ll probably write, eventually, an entire blog post about this and other “tricks” we use to get that perfect audio in the can later.  Suffice to say this means backing up and re-recording whatever flubs there are.  And with words like 2-Arachidonoylglycerol, sometimes you have to do it twice.  Or three times.  Or TEN times to get it right.

That means that for the two hours of audio I captured, I sat in my tiny booth talking to no one in particular (and kind of everyone altogether too) for five hours.

You try it, I’ll wait…

Give it a shot, start talking, repeating sentences every so often, for five hours straight.  Done?  Good, now you understand why it costs so much to get a book or commercial, or training or, well, ANYthing recorded.  As much as I enjoy this work, it IS work!

Anyway, all of the preceding page and a half of text just to explain WHY I am writing a blog titled “Do I take the job?”.

The short answer for this one should have been: No.  Why?  Because: Stress.  I mean, I retired from my high stress government job so I could work in entertainment as a VO artist and actor, not to be just as stressed as I was before I retired!

Lesson’s learned…

Here are the lessons I learned.  First, make sure you fully understand and comprehend not only your schedule in relation to the production timeline, but what other peripheral things you have to do during the timeline.  Make SURE you have sufficient time to complete the project without stress.

Side note:  Stress is notable in your read.  SO if yu are stressed, trying to get a relaxed, natural read actually just creates even MORE stress.  It’s vicious cycle.  Never take a job you have to rush through.

The next lesson is to remember that, even though you may think you are familiar with a subject, that doesn’t mean the author isn’t going to dive WAY deeper into it than you could imagine.  Although I thought I was pretty well versed in the subject of this book, I in no way expected a chemistry lesson.  Also note that I failed chemistry in high school.  It’s NOT my strong suit.  Expect to have to take the time to familiarize yourself with the concepts and language of the topic.

Note that an audition script for an audio book is a small section (2-3 minutes of audio) excerpted from the complete manuscript.  Many times, the script is a real indication of how well the entire book was written, and sometimes it is the best written passage of the entire work.  In this case, the book, in my opinion, is not “well” written, more “medium”.  There is one fully unintelligible sentence, and many typos or grammar issues throughout.

It’s always going to take longer than you thought…

Note that as narrator, it is my job to reproduce the text faithfully, as written.  It is NOT my job to become an editor on top of that.  The author, or publisher (as in this case) is required by contract to provide a recording ready manuscript.

It IS my experience though, that no matter who the author or publisher is, there are going to be some mistake.  In a manuscript of 35,000 words, there are bound to be one or two that are misspelled, missing, “extra” or just not used correctly.  I catch those in my initial read through, and can correct them simply in the audio by just making whatever sentence it is sound right to the listener.  I expect that.  But entire sentences?  For that I have to take the time to go back to the author/publisher and ask.  That take time, so the lesson is expect to have to get clarification and allow the 2-24 hour delay to get a response.  Fortunately, in this instance the response was lightning fast (within an hour) so it wasn’t a tragedy.

Don’t wear $$ blinders!

Probably the biggest lesson learned this week, is to not be blinded by the idea of a decent paycheck for your work when deciding whether or not to accept it.  Remember that these things almost ALWAYS take longer than you think.  You HAVE to expect the unexpected, especially when accepting work based on a tiny sliver of a manuscript.  Had I asked for the full manuscript BEFORE accepting the work (as suggested by MANY artists) and read through it, I would either have declined the offer, or negotiated a more favorable timeline.  Either would have made my life this week a little less stressful.

I’ll get it done, it will be on time, and I’ll do the best job I can on it.  But I’m not going to enjoy it as much as other work.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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Exciting Stuff!

Encouragement, General, Uncategorized

Welcome back! 

Ever wondered what a career in acting is like?

WELL – my first week as a “retired guy” was busier than all my weeks as a “NOT retired guy” put together, I’m an actor!

OK, if you are expecting a post just about voice over, I’m afraid I will not be meeting your expectations this week.  Pretty exciting stuff going on for me and I just thought I’d share.

Yes, I’m sure that I could be a movie star…

So, as you probably know, I began last year working on starting my voice over business as a retirement gig to keep busy, have fun, and MAYBE earn a little extra income to support my golfing habit.  In an earlier post I mentioned that I’ve retired from my day job as a government program manager as of December 31st.  Retirement ROCKS by the way.  Anyway, I launched as a full time voice over artist as of January 1st 2021, but as a “lark” I also applied for a role as a background extra in an upcoming television series…and LANDED the gig!

I can’t really talk about the show, as I signed an NDA, but suffice it to say it is not an independent project with people you’ve never heard of before.  After several rounds of COVID testing I was finally on set last week and HOLY MOLEY was that a blast!

First, let me just say if you ever thought you might want to be on the set of a TV series or movie, you should definitely go for it.  It’s not considered “serious” acting, but I’ve spoken with several people now who have gone from background to day player and then featured actors in a fairly short period of time.  Of course, you should be able to act, so take a look at last week’s post and get yourself some acting classes first.

Watching the magic happen…

From the minute I arrived at the facility, I was enthralled.  Walking in past wardrobe, with racks and racks and RACKS of clothing of all sizes and colors that was appropriate for the time period of the show.  Into an EXTREMELY large warehouse like space where sets were being constructed for future projects (there was some stuff there from walking dead, so that will give you an idea of the level of professional going on here).  This cavernous space was broken up into smaller areas with tubular metal frames covered in black plastic to provide a break area for the crew, a “holding area” for us background folks and changing rooms for us to get into and change wardrobe.

There was also a cool little area fenced off for the “craft” folks, who were providing drinks and snacks for the cast and crew.  Yep, you got it…free food!  A shame I couldn’t eat most of it because of my Keto diet, but it was still pretty cool.

I won’t give away too many of the details here, because I don’t want to spoil the “magic” of it all, but suffice it to say I’ll never watch television in the same way again.

Acting is kinda like being in the military…

First order of business was to check in with the background production assistant and get my voucher for the day.  As I am non-union I expected a non-union voucher, but much to my surprise I was put on a union voucher for the day.  I didn’t learn till later in the day that being on a union voucher means much higher pay and some real perks.  If you get put on a union voucher, it’s a little like hitting the lottery.

After check-in and getting our required face shield (they are SERIOUS about COVID protocols, which is good), off to the changing area to get into the first costume of the day.  All of this was accomplished in a fairly rushed manner, so that we would be ready when they called us out to the set.  And THEN (and this is where it gets very much like the military), once we were ready…we sat.

And sat, and sat…waiting for the production crew to be ready for us.  Very much a “hurry up and wait” vibe going on.  Thankfully I was used to this after twenty years of service, so I didn’t get as fidgety as some of the other background folks.  In what turned out to be a 12 hour day, we were probably actually on set and acting for about 3 hours.  The rest of the time was spent either in holding or at the staging area waiting.

I’m ready for my close-up Mr. Deville…

Once we were checked in and in costume it was off to hair and make-up.  Yep, I wore makeup!  Honestly, this was not what you see in the movies at all.  Very quick touch ups with a lot of “blotting” to remove skin oils that might shine on camera.  All in all, hair and makeup took about 90 seconds.  Total, not each.  The girls working in this area however, were friendly and outgoing.  It was definitely a fun experience, and I would visit them periodically throughout the long day for “touch-ups”.  They also came out on set to scurry around amongst all the actors between takes.

And then, for a while, nothing…

Again, the majority of the day was spent either sitting in holding or standing in the staging area.  And I mean standing…if you have bad legs or feet, this profession may not be for you.  Even though the actual “work” of the day only lasted about three hours, I was on my feet for the better part of eight hours over all.

Finally, they called for background.  The Production assistant rounded up the number of background actors needed and walked us through a large garage type door into the OTHER half of the huge warehouse space. If I am being completely honest, I was GIDDY with excitement.

The production floor was as large or larger than the area where holding was located, although more dimly lit.  It was filled with sets and props, including several vehicles that I assume would be used on location in outside scenes.  From the outside, the sets looked like unfinished houses.  Just framing and support structures with lights and cables all around.  So MANY cables.

Standing in the holding area amidst the tables full of props was pretty interesting as well.  The show is set in the 90’s, so there were a lot of familiar items sitting around to make the set look like it was in period.  Fax machines (when’s the last time you saw one of THOSE?), phones with actual cables (MORE cables!) and miscellaneous items like lamps and ah trays.  Like a trip down memory lane. It made me think there is a warehouse (or warehouses) somewhere that are full of everyday items people collect for use as props.  Kind of amazing when you think of it, and it’s something you rarely think of.

“ACTION!”

And THEN, you walk on set.  While I’m not permitted to describe the actual set, let me tell you once inside it was like actually being in the rooms they were trying to portray.   All finished, painted, decorated and filled with furniture that fits the era.   It was like taking a step back in time by 25-30 years.  Again, I was in awe.

Just a quick plug for the crew who builds the stages…way to go guys!

So we as background were given our assignments, and placed in “first position”.  Now, when you watch a movie about a movie being made, you always hear the director shout “ACTION”, and while they don’t actually shout, that is an accurate-ish representation as they actually do say “action”.  It’s quite a bit more than that though, and all the production assistants, who are connected via radio all around the set, all repeat back the director’s commands.  Again, kind of like being in the military.  First, they have “roll sound”, where the sound crew begins recording.  There is still a lot of activity going on at this point, so they have a lot of editing work to do afterward in post-production.

The next command you hear is “roll tape”, and all the PA’s repeat “rolling, rolling” into their headsets.  Then, clear the set (or hallway, or office, or whatever room they are filming in) and all the production crew scatters to be off camera.

By the way, if you didn’t already realize it, there are probably three times as many people working the CREW on a set than there are actors in the scene.  And for smaller scenes, where there are just two or three people and no background, it’s even more.

The next command (the one I enjoyed hearing) is “Background”.  This is where all the background actors begin doing what they are supposed to be doing in the scene, followed closely by…yep…action!  Action is where the principal actors begin moving and start saying their lines.

Background…

Interesting thought about background actors.  You never actually “notice” them in a scene, but without them, the scene doesn’t really work.  Next time you are watching television or a movie, just for a minute stop paying attention to the actual scene and loo at the random people in the background.  You’ll see people dressed for whatever is going on in the scene whether it is an office setting, police station, city or rural sidewalk/town.  Even large scenes like the crowd at sporting events or demonstrations etcetera.  These people are all background actors, doing the things random people would be expected to do in that time period and scene.  Now imagine them not there…and the scene JUST doesn’t work.

Imagine a scene, set in New York City, in a coffee shop.  The actor is at the counter ordering from the pretty barista, and behind him yu see people through the shop window going about their daily lives.  Can you even IMAGINE a moment in New York City where there weren’t SCORES of people walking up and down the sidewalk or window shopping?  Some may even enter or leave the coffee shop, or be sitting at a table drinking their coffee.  I don’t know why people don’t take background actors seriously, because without them, no scene really works.  Personally, I will never watch TV or movies the same way again.

Some actors don’t want to interact with the lowly background folks…

Quick fun story of my day on set.  One of the principles first position was the same place as mine as a background actor.  When they arrived at their position, they asked me and the PA to back up to give them space (this is a well-known actor/actress, but not at ALL known to me).  We backed off 2-3 steps, they turned, looked at us, and said “No, around the corner” …so we had to move all the way around the corner.  They then turned and said “I go on ACTION” (as if we didn’t already know that), which was basically an admonition that I should not, as the background actor, go on “background” so as not to interfere with them in the scene. This person  was a bit of a …well, this is a family blog so…butt head.

On the other hand, while standing in line for lunch several of the principal actors arrived and we were asked to step out of line to give them a chance to eat.  One of them wound up standing right next to me, and he looked over, said hello and asked if I was having fun.  Of course I was, and we had a pleasant, but very short, conversation in the lunch line.  Throughout the day, this person made it a point to acknowledge me whenever we were in close proximity.  I asked his name (he LOOKED familiar), he told me and I sadly told him I didn’t recognize it, which made him chuckle.  He asked me if I was working on anything interesting, and I had to confess it was my first day as an actor.  He wished me good luck in my career.

If I ever get to be a well-known actor (highly unlikely, but hey you never know) I hope I remember to be like that second person and not the first.

HOW some of the magic happens…

So, for me, I learned a TON about film making in this single 12 hour day.  Have you ever wondered how they can show two people having a conversation on screen, with the camera on one actor with the shot over the other actor’s shoulder, and they go back and forth during the dialog without seeing the other camera in the shot?  I have wondered that many times, and always assumed the camera was disguised as a prop in the scene.

Well, spoiler alert here…the way they do this is by filming the scene many times over, with different camera angles.  One of the biggest surprises for me was learning that we were going to be shooting this scene anywhere from four to eight times in a row.  Repeating the same actions over and over again.  In between takes, everyone leaves the set so they can reposition cameras, then are called back in to repeat the scene exactly.

Continuity…

Like me, do you watch for and notice “Easter Eggs” in the scenes?  Maybe someone’s collar is turned up at one point and then in the next second, it’s corrected and it’s meant to seem continuous.  I just noticed this in an episode of “Gotham” the other day.  Jim Gordon is exiting a van and while in the van all is well, then as he begins to exit his collar is askew, and as yu see him hit the ground it is back to normal again.  The way this happens is those scenes were filmed multiple times from different angles and then cobbled together in post. Whover did the cobbling, and review and QC missed it.  This is also how a stray Starbucks cup wound up in Game of Thrones.

But I can tell you they try VERY hard not to have these things happen, which is why they are pretty rare.  How do they do that?  I’ll tell you.  Pictures.  They take HUNDRED of pictures of the actors and sets between takes so when they reset it all looks continuous.  Honestly, I wonder how people thought of all this.  At any rate, I was photographed more in that single day than I have been in the five years previous.

I’d definitely do it again…

All in all, this was probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.  One day, when the series is released I’ll share with you the name and how to watch it, and maybe you’ll see me in the background doing a bit of acting!  But I absolutely have “the bug” now, I only wish I’d started earlier.  They say it takes twenty years to become an overnight success, and I likely don’t have twenty work years left, so it likely won’t happen for me, but I plan to have a great time while I can.  I’ve actually applied for a background role on yet another series you’d recognize, and am hopeful I’ll get a part in it.  I’ll let you know when I am able.

I’ve also auditioned for several other supporting roles in TV and film.  On January 14th I’ll be filming for a documentary (non-speaking, just background fill during voice over interviews) and a trailer for a feature film on Saturday the 16th.  Not to mention my role as Judge Huxman in the Zoom play “Words That Made a Difference: Brown versus the Board of Education”, set to air Sunday night, January 17th.  If you are interested in watching, the link to the website and pre-registration is below.  Please join us!

 

Website: https://wordsthatmadethedifferencebrownvboard.org/

Pre-Registration Preferred online

https://unityinmarin.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/631559

Email: admin@unityinmarin.org

Cost to stream this film is listed as “0$ to $20”

Conclusion…

Television and movies have always fascinated me.  Being retired and having the opportunity to work on the set of an upcoming television series has been the opportunity of a lifetime.  I hope to continue working in TV and film, along with my voice over work, and encourage you to try if you are remotely interested.  One of my fellow background actors on this show, who is still working full time, said to me at the end of the day “After this, I don’t know how I just go back to work tomorrow!”.  I’m just glad I now have the time to devote to pursuing a career in entertainment.  I can’t WAIT to see what the future holds!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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