Some time back I gave up on the idea of being a "film artist," mostly from my lack of interest in the technical aspect of filmmaking and the ever-improving technologies that always escape my understanding (or attention span). Also, moving to L.A. does wonders for a film student's ego. I do continue writing and working on sets; that makes me happy enough for now. What hasn't changed is my critical approach to film and television, which is lately irrelevant when needing to make ends meet. Some of those film school ideals refuse to die within me, and I'd like to be paid to work only on great films, but money makes the world go 'round. There are of course some outright horrible, soul-crushing ideas that I'll still try to avoid being part of (Summer 2010 is offering two more movies with talking and pooping animals), but working on-set has forced me to see the industry as it really is (a business, jobs for working class people, etc.), and I've grown to appreciate good things when I see them.
Consider a music video I worked on at a strip club in Hollywood. It features a group called Black Robot covering "Cocaine;" yes, that Clapton song. When I got the call to be on set, plenty of sophomore-in-college movie snob synapses fired off in my brain:
-"A strip club? Isn't that clichéd and exploitative?"
-"Cocaine? Really? I don't even like Eric Clapton."
-"Black...Robot...?"
And then I remember that I have to pay rent, and of course accept the work. Film school ideals don't hold up in the working world.
On location, most of my morning was spent driving the strippers back and forth from set to makeup, which was both amusing and informative. Most of the girls were pleasant and down to earth, but the discussions mostly revolved around places they work at and strip classes they take ("Yeah, they usually teach you how to do a full inversion on the first day"). The crew was small and a nice bunch of fellas, and the production demands were remarkably low. What made the shoot special to me was when I heard that Dave Foley (Kids in the Hall, Newsradio) would be there as a favor to a friend of his. Even cooler, that friend is from Boston and toured with David Cross and worked on Mr. Show.
Even though I spent the better part of my day thinking of contrived ways to initiate conversation, my intent to stay professional prevented me from formally meeting Dave Foley. I kept wondering what I'd say, and what made me different from any other casual fan saying something, and realized there was nothing. I did keep a curious eye on him, still flabbergasted that he'd show up in an unknown band's music video. I think I was looking for signs of him looking off in the distance and sighing, or aggravation after several hours spent in a dive bar with hot lights. Instead, he was friendly and easygoing. He made jokes frequently and smiled when giving people responses. He took direction and was game for whatever the director threw at him. In between setups, he would tell people stories. If you didn't know who he was, you wouldn't know he was famous.
I can hear the sarcastic guffaws: "This is where Dave Foley's career is?" This was a low-budget shoot, and whatever he was paid to be there, I promise it wasn't much and was simply a favor to his friend. But I found it charming how genuine he was, and how he seemingly didn't feel the video was beneath him. It makes me feel lousy for even having those sarcastic thoughts when offered the job. I could learn a thing or two from Mr. Foley.
Here's the video, complete with boyish Foley charm... and somewhat SFW strippers:
Little known fact: all robots are black. (That's why they dance so well.)
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