My motion picture acting career is rather a short story. But is was
fun, and I do watch motion pictures differently now.
My motion picture acting career is rather a short story. But is was
fun, and I do watch motion pictures differently now.
Vancouver has become something of a centre for filming both feature films and TV series. Gregg Champion (son of the dancers) was directing the film "Short Time" there. Toward the end there was a funeral. The script writer had neglected to write just what the minister was to say at the funeral, and it was decided that it would be easier to get a real minister who would know how to conduct a funeral, than to have his part scripted.
Earlier, as a Unitarian minister, I had done the wedding for the woman who was in charge of casting. So I was asked it I would like to do the funeral. I was called for a meeting with Champion, and had to promise not to use any "Canadianisms", and was asked to defend the Canadian "in hospital" as opposed to the American " in the hospital". I said we have more than one hospital; it is like saying one is in university.
On the allotted day I showed up in the early morning (about 7 AM) to find my own dressing room trailer (big), my own copy of the script (such as it was) and serious sacerdotal drag. For everyone associated with the effort there was magnificent on site catering (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). As the prime speaking actor that day I had a chair, and a stand-in for when the camera was not aimed at me.
My time on screen is perhaps two minutes. But all day--from about 8 AM to about 8 PM, was spent filming. Most of what was filmed never made it onto screen. The setting was an old grave yard, and we were all gathered around the flower covered casket. I had always assumed films were made with multiple cameras, with the results edited together. Such is not the case. The scene was repeated over and over and over and over and over again, with the camera a different place each time. Had I stopped to think about it, I suppose I could have realized this. Had there been all those cameras, one could have seen the others.
The scene was made to look like the same time of day from 8 AM to 8
PM (it was high summer) by using big reflective sheets on frames.
Now in watching films I sometimes notice the person being filmed from the rear, and supposedly speaking, has a jaw which is not moving. All sorts of other small lapses can be noticed, once you know how they are doing it.
Matt Frewer and Teri Garr were sweet and cooperative, loved by all, but Terri will stand up for something she thinks would work better. Barry Corbin was pleasant and a no nonsense workmanlike actor. Dabney Coleman I can do without meeting again.
A friend later called from Tokyo to say he had seen me on film in a bar there. Occasionally someone will stop me on the street, saying they saw the film on a plane flight or late night TV. I have never met anyone who actually paid money to see it in a theatre. The major problem, I suspect, is that it fell between the stools of being a comedy or a thriller. Dabney Coleman plays a policeman, who through a mixup of medical tests, thinks he only has a short time to live. The only way he can leave money to his ex wife and son is to get killed in the line of duty. He suddenly become a hot shot taking all sorts of chances after being a very cautious type before.