LJ Idol Week 6 Topic Sunrise

[puppetmaker]

I have, in my time, done a lot of work in the entertainment industry. I know that there is a certain glamour to making films, working in the music biz, wiggling dolls, and doing theater. But for me the bloom is seriously off the rose. Not that I didn’t enjoy the projects that I have done and it was a kick working with the people I worked with, but I know all to well about the late night shoots and the load-ins and load-outs and the most happy feeling of seeing the sunrise.

I can remember when my pager went off with a phone number of a friend of mine who had, a while back, told me that she was getting backing for a film she wanted to produce. (Yes folks this was in the time before cell phones). I called her back and she offered me two weeks worth of work being a gaffer. Pay wasn’t great but it was for a friend. Then she dropped the other shoe, it was going to be mostly a night shoot. I was working at the Center for Puppetry Arts at the time so I called up the Museum Director and double-checked when we were putting in the next exhibit and cleared my dance card for the film.

One of the reasons we were filming at night was that most of the film took place in a bar and we could only use the space after they closed and until the cleaning crew showed up to get it ready for the next day. We would start to load in stuff towards the end of bar hours and setting up what we could. Once the bar close, we went quickly to work to get up and running for the cameras. The sunrise would stream into the bar windows which would be the end of the shoot because we couldn’t balance the light. The first signs of dawn would be our signal to stop shooting and strike our equipment. I can remember one morning finding an overlooked box of pizza from much earlier. It was cold and slightly slimy but it tasted like ambrosia to us because we were very hungry. I would go home and catch a couple of hours sleep before having to get over to the Puppetry Center for a truncated workday. It was long and hard but I was very happy to be doing it.

In many working theaters, the previous show closes and loads out while the next show is ready to load in. While at Yale one of my regular work-study assignments was the lighting change over to the new lighting plot. We would go in after the curtain hit the deck of the last performance and scurry up to the light grid where we would be for the next 7 to 8 hours setting up the lights for the next show. The head of lighting loved me because I was quick, precise, and able to get cranky equipment to cooperate. He could give me my part of the plot and usually two helpers and we would rock all night to the dawn. Below us the set was struck and loaded in as we worked. The sunrise was a lovely thing because it meant we were done for the “day” although the focus call was usually that evening.

I can remember a number of other times that sunrise were the end of my day rather than the beginning out it. It was always a beautiful thing to behold. The sunrise still holds a special place for me for both beginnings and endings. Now I can walk down the street to the local dock and watch the sunrise over the water, which is very magical indeed.

This is my entry for this week LJ Idol. I hope you enjoyed it and will vote for me when the time comes. Also feel free to ask me any questions that might have come to mind from reading this.

Comments

[shadowwolf13]

I love reading about your work, it's always a little window into the secret work behind the scenes. :)

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I sometimes forget that I have this entire life that for me is totally normal but would be very different and interesting to others.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

You've certainly had a varied career!


(Minor typo last para: that sunrise were the end of my day rather than the beginning out it. -- should probably be "was the end" and "of it".)

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up.

Yeah, I tell people that I have done everything from cancer research to rock and roll and a lot of stuff in between. It isn't like I job hop but jobs seems to find me.

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

I think it is magical when they can do that!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's kind of fun being part of creating magic.

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

A neat perspective on this week's topic. I love reading your inside notes on the entertainment industry and how things work and are done.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I sometimes forget how much stuff I have done until a topic comes up and then I remember something that I had honestly forgotten about.

[oneonthefence.livejournal.com]

This is so intriguing to me! There's definitely a sense of magic that you captured here to share with us.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much.

It is fun sharing these sorts of memories with people.

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

I really like the idea of the sunrise as the end, not the beginning. Interesting post!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

For more years than I care count, it was the end of my day rather than the beginning.

Thank you for reading.

[onda-bianca.livejournal.com]

You've certainly had an interesting job, although what an adjustment it would be to go home during the sunrise!

[joeymichaels.livejournal.com]

Ah, I've spent many a night hanging lights until dawn (I was one of somebody's assistants instead of somebody myself) or painting set until dawn. Good times, good times.

There was a time when staying up all night to finish before opening was a triumph - like I beat the night, you know? But now, when I've stayed up that late working on something, I always decide that I hate theatre and I'm never going to do it again.

Until the next show. :/