Day 1 -- Monday December 8
"Let me see your body." This was the first spoken sentence I heard upon reaching the location for the Beach Movie. It was the wardrobe woman sizing up one of the party extras. Pretty demeaning, all around.
I walk up to the set and they are just about ready to shoot a stunt at the party. There are a number of party extras wearing funky retro gear, some slinky, some just sort of groovy. But all of these outfits are covered by blankets and large coats because it is about 50 degrees outside down at the beach. They are waiting for the three cameras to finish setting up.
As the finishing touches are being rendered, I take in the stunt itself. There is a skinny, young man standing on what looks like a keg, and he's towering over a body-length tub, full of water and beer bottles/cans. Slowly it is dawning on me what is about to unfold. The young man will soon diveinto the tub as if he's some drunken party fool. Of course, since he is neither drunk nor at an actual party, I hope he is getting paid a decent amount of money. I doubly hope that he's an actual stunt man and not some crazy extra they're paying an extra twenty bucks to dive into the tub. Once everything is set up, our fearless hero leaps from the keg, curls into a little ball and kersplashes into the tub. There are a few seconds of silence as the body remains submerged and then the roar of a happy party crowd as the intrepid youngster emerges triumphant with a bottle of beer in each hand. In case you hadn't noticed, this baby is a serious Beach Movie.
But no party antics for me tonight. I got to the set at 8:30pm and went through make-up and wardrobe. Then I grabbed a bite or two from the craft services table on the set. Then I went back to my trailer to look over the script. And by 10:30pm, Sophie appeared at my door to wrap me for the night. The birth of Officer Callahan will have to wait another day or two.