WARNING-NOT FOR THOSE UNDER 18
It contains, what some consider, offensive language. If you are under 18, don’t watch. (This is a family-usable site!)
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Now … all my readers…ESPECIALLY ACTORS…
There are rules on a film set that everyone follows. For good reason.
I am not sure why the Director-of-Photography was doing what he was, when he was; on the film set where Christian Bale had such a spectacular meltdown.
Because, for anyone who has ever worked on a film, uh. What the DP did is just not common, on-the-set, behavior. As established, and carried out, on any movie or television set, that I’ve ever been.
….For more about common on-set rules and ettiquette, go to the following Hollywood Actor Prep post, The Best Way An Actor Can Act…(link)….
Now. I know that Christian Bale’s rant is being passed around the globe; and everyone and their mama, is commenting, and judging.
I will only say that if you don’t know the rules and ettiquette that are followed on a film set, then it is good that you read this blog.
Because I have talked about it here, and will continue to post about it.
It’s very important, because these unspoken rules are followed by all professionals…
There are good reasons for the (unspoken) “film set rules”.
If you break them, it’s not bad because you may cause a leading man to curse you out.
No.
The “rules of a film set” exist so that the movie can get made. Period.
And, so that everybody can do their job. And do it well. Without interference, distraction, or interruption.
Often, there’s a tremendous amount of pressure and stress on a movie set.
Expect, for example, long hours (sometimes 16 or 17 hour days)
- tight schedule
- technical glitches and problems
- environmental problems
- re-shoots and mistakes
- health issues that interfere or compromise
- script changes
- budget problems
- unexpected, unexpected, unexpected (zillions of possibilities)
There’s stuff that the public can’t understand. And, you will only know about it, when you work and experience it.
Sometimes, working on a film, is back-breaking-ly-hard.
For example, for scenes that are shot at night: the whole schedule gets suddenly changed. Flipped. You may work that week, each and every night, from 5PM to 5AM. This happens when the prior week was all-day-shooting. With overtime.
Movie schedules, in general, are exhausting. No matter what the budget. There are often problems with “fitting everything in” to the time allotted.
You’ve heard the phrase: “Time is money”?? Well, time, on a film set, it costs a fortune.
…So, let’s just say that you are suddenly doing night shooting, after some time of working a daytime schedule.
(BTW, everyone on the set, is struggling through this flipped around schedule.)
And then, all together, you all…”go into overtime”. (Yes, thanks to SAG, everyone gets paid more for the “overtime…but, that doesn’t help the strain, at the time)
As the hours go by, it gets more and more exhausting.
Now, you are working 17 hour nights, shooting until, past dawn…
And, perhaps, during the daytime, you have a hard time getting a full eight hours of sleep…
Maybe this night shoot is outdoors, and it’s freezing cold. But, in the scene, it’s not supposed to be…so there’s no jackets.
Or it’s really humid and hot, and the mosquitoes are biting at your ankle, in the middle of your love scene.
Or your co-star may be drunk. Or keeps changing the lines and, therefore, changing the scenes…
“Film Is Forever”***
This is one of the most important things I can share with you.
No matter how you feel or what is going on around you…
(…your personal relationships, your relationships on-set with the cast and crew, your relationships off-set with the cast and crew, or your trainer, or your agent, or whomever or whatever…)
That stuff will all disappear into your memory—but what goes on that film will last forever.
You need to make sure, as all kinds of things go on around you, before during and after each shoot, on set and off-set…
…that…what goes on that film is done to the best of your ability.
And that you are totally present, aware, and not distracted. No matter what.
Not only is your career, your future, and your professional reputation, dependent on that; but so is the success of the film.
…And the effectiveness of the story in the script.
…The other actors’ performances are depending on yours, as well. It’s all teamwork.
I say it again, film sets are all teamwork.
Everyone must do their part to make sure they are doing everything they can to their own personal and professional best; as well as doing eveything possible to support the synergistic cast, and crew, in doing theirs.
That’s how trust is built. The amount of trust on a movie set, is in direct correlation to how successful the finish product appears. It’s holistic.
A set…where there’s war, or chaos…makes a stinker movie, in the end.
It’s all just too hard, like that. There are 100’s of people that make a movie. It’s all gotta work together.
Movie stars bear the blame, when a movie ends up a stinker.
All actors do.
I don’t know if you follow me on Twitter (and if you don’t, you are missing out, because I post a lot of little news items and pertinent stuff in my twitter tweets, so here’s a link) …but if you do, you’ll know that I pass around questions. One question I asked was if anyone knows what a producer does?? I’ll post the answers in the next few days…(even have a funny response, from Michael Bay, a-hem)
Producers, directors, they may accept the Oscars, when their movie wins a “Best Picture” award…
But it’s the actors that get the public blame when a movie tanks.
And, it’s the films’ lead actors, the stars of the movie, that take the career hit. Because the movie stunk.
The acting might be good, but if the movie doesn’t sell tickets, the stars’ careers get affected.
Sometimes, stars lose their careers, soon after a bad movie opens. Completely.
As I said, I have no comment on what Christian Bale did.
(I’m not big on ‘judging’.)
I do know that anger is a normal human emotion.
As actors, we need to be comfortable with all authentic emotion, the gamut.
Even the uncomfortable ones, the less socially acceptable ones.
Anger is something that you must be sure you are comfortable with. Hearing, and expressing.
Because as an actor, you’ll be called upon to play it. (In a script.)
It’s best, to be at a point, where you even enjoy it.
Wanna start now?
Shall we dance?
___REMOVED VIDEO OUT OF RESPECT FOR CHRISTIAN BALE, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE ALL HEARD IT WAY TOO MUCH. Originally, I put the music remix up, because I simply thought it was funny. That was before I saw just how serious people took Bale’s outburst. My own reaction was not as extreme, perhaps because I live in Hollywood!!
Update: I forgot to give proper credit to the artist who made the Christian Bale remix! His name is Revolucian (Lucian Piane) and, by clicking on his name, you’ll reach his MySpace page…he’s about to mix RuPaul’s new jam.
(I have an additional update that will be coming up, in the next post…It’s also about actor, Christian Bale…)
Best,
;-Dana
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