Funny that

Funny that

It's incredible how un-fun manual labor becomes when you have to do it for 14 hours on a sunny day. Well, perhaps it's not that incredible...

With a small crew and a small set, it's easy to be essentially doing nothing for most of the day. The way filmmaking is set up is that one kind of crew--electric, say--goes in and does their thing while everyone watches. Then the next kind of crew--doesn't matter, say--goes in, does their thing; everybody watches. And so on. Most of the time spent on the set is sitting around waiting for something to happen while looking for something to do where you won't be in anyone's way. Usually people do things for themselves, however, which leaves the poor PA's to twiddle their thumbs until lock-downs during which we get to tell everyone to shut their damn mouths while the magic--the actual filming--happens.

Being the Key PA--the guy that has to drive the truck in the morning, unload it, reload it at night, and drive it back to the storage area--reminds me of a trick my mom pulled on me as a kid. When I was young, I always thought the vacuum cleaner was a pretty damn neat-o thing. It lit up. It made lots of noise. And it made the carpet look nice after you were done. So one time I asked my mom if I could try it. She handed that puppy over, gave me a few vague instructions on the path I should take while vacuuming, then left to relax. After I was done for the first time, my mom complimented me to excess. She finished it off with, "Now you can do the vacuuming all the time!" At the time I was excited. After a year I realized I was duped.

The same thing happened with the truck. Yesterday it seemed okay. I got to drive around a big engine. People gave me wide birth. Working with my hands. Lifting things. Problem solving. Beat the chest; I'm an ape-man. I got a lot of very nice compliments afterward. Everything seemed okay.

Today was very much similar, except with less compliments and more people demanding that their stuff be pulled first. Or for me to run to the truck to grab the heavy lead box that contains the rest of the lead they need for the shoot. You know, the 4'x6'x8' one. That'd be great. You didn't need your spinal cord in tact, did you? You're doing a fine job...and wait a fucking minute. I've seen this kind of behavior before!

No matter. They're a fine group of people, and I'm happy to be among them. They tell me that now I can do anything a PA might be asked to do: drive a truck, do pick-ups, do returns, sit around and eat delicious sweetened kettle corn, etc. I hope for my back's sake that people will pay me to do this kind of stuff next time. A boy's got to pay rent.

D