15 Hours At ABQ Studios

I got my desk chair back so I could use the computer. It took a handful of dry cat food in the dish. Cheap.

So yesterday I showed up for my 10:45 call at about 10:00 (it's a sickness.) I checked in with Tiffany, the Background Actor juggler- more taxing than cat juggling, and pays better- filled out my paperwork, and was herded to Wardrobe to have my two outfits checked and chosen. I was to be an Onlooker first, then an office worker later. Our instructions were explicit- Onlooker: casual; Office worker: business casual- bring options for both. Carmen had dressed me and picked out several outfits at the stores. The Onlooker outfit I was wearing was perfect, of course. Wardrobe Woman picked out my Office wear and asked about my tie. Tie? Carmen had assured me that "business casual" does not include ties. So she took my pay voucher hostage and issued me a loaner tie.

And then...the wait. As it turns out, the hour and a half wait for the Onlooker gig was short. Tiffany herded us to a doorway to the soundstage building, and we were apprised of the content scene: the air traffic controller who "caused" a mid-air collision last season being mobbed by reporters and photographers. Eventually, director Brian Cranston came along and we began actual rehearsal and shooting of the scene. It took less than a half hour. Then we were told to change into our Office duds. Before 1:00 we were ready for the Office scene.

The Office scene began actual rehearsal and shooting at about 11:30pm. In between, I was treated to a show that interested me as a scenic carpenter/stagehand. We were herded into a corner of the soundstage where we watched the technical side of the shooting of scenes inside a box set. We couldn't see anything inside the box, but outside, there were humans crawling all over. One thing the guys did was to cut a big hole in the top of the box. Then a big boom lift with a huge light positioned itself over the hole and blasted the interior with a buttload of photons. All of this was done while background actors for those scenes waited around with us Office people. Then they turned on the smoke machines. The whole soundstage remained full of "smoke" for the rest of the time we were there.

Lunch was 5:30 to 6:30

About 9:30 an unknown human came along and asked us Office people to follow him. We assumed we were going to another set in the soundstage. He led us outside. We assumed he would give us our instructions out of range of any current shooting, before going to the set. He led us to a van. "Climb in," he said. "We're going to an office building- it's close by, but too far to walk". We had all left all of our stuff behind, and he assured us there was no need to fetch it. Off we went. When the crew was finished over at the soundstage, they packed their gear and came over. As I said, it was about 11:30 before Brian actually got things going. I am very visible in this scene. The huge pink back of my head is hovering in the shot for a while until it is led away by another office guy.

We reshot the scene several times from each of several angles, finishing at 1:15 (that's what my pay voucher says) and we were soon hauled back to the studio, back to our stuff, back to wardrobe to turn in ties etc., get our vouchers signed and go the heck home. Carmen came and got me at 2:00, bless her heart.