Highs and Lows

When I worked in the film industry the first time, people always criticized that I lived in extremes. I vacillated between very high highs and very low lows. I was either working on no sleep or would sleep for three days straight. I was happy or I was miserable. It was either 108*F at the World Trade Center or -12*F in an abandoned brownstone in North Philly. I would be completely unreachable via cell, text, phone, telegraph or I'd constantly be posting on Facebook, twitter, calling everyone... There was set life: wake up, drive to set, eat set food, work, drive home, sleep. And there was real life: job searching, sleeping, pay bills, grocery shopping, running errands. And they rarely crossed over. Things always happened in the extremes and I was completely out of balance.


I'd like to think I've matured a little bit in the last few years and can handle these high and lows with a little more stability but things that happen on set can still throw you for a loop. So far I've managed not to loose my cool (mostly), all my bills are being paid on time, I've made it to all my jobs and met all my deadlines, and I haven't completely fallen off of my mostly-healthy lifestyle. I'd say this is pretty miraculous because on a daily basis things can get completely out of control. On shoot days you are either inundated with background actors and people on set, or there's no one. There's either way too much food (like 4 pizzas too many) or we've run out of an entire case of water bottles in a second flat. And there's literally nothing you can do to foresee or prevent it. It takes a special kind of person. I still don't know if I'm that kind of person.


I can't begin to impress upon you the amount of effort and patience it takes to deal with all the crazy that comes at you and maintain a calm, collected (at least outward) appearance. You can never prepare yourself for what can and will happen.


The craziest part of this whole thing? I love it. I thrive on this. It's like an addiction to a high. When you wrap a day of shooting and everyone is headed home and no longer your problem, there is literally no better feeling. Of course it only lasts until you have to prep the next shoot day. It's short-lived and you're always searching for the next high. I would also equate it to what I know of child birth. (Note: I have no kids but this is how I imagine it would be). The labor is so difficult and painful but the payoff is so gratifying you completely black out all of the struggles and end up doing it again a year or two later. At least, we've managed to get through 2 weekends, 4 shoot days, 25 scenes, and 26 5/8 pages without major incident. *knocks on wood*


Only three more prep days before we shoot another 23 3/8ths pages equaling 13 scenes with 35 actors, including 11 kids over the course of the weekend. Wish us luck.