Refugium

Man, I've just been having the best and worst time ever.  Looking for work, then acting, then being busy all the time, then helping out on sets, then all over again.  If anything the ironic part is that I'm way thinner and have to look at boobs all day in my misery.  

I did a week on a horror movie set.  That was fucking awesome.  I was paid, had room and board and free food.  And then I got to shoot a horror movie too.  I don't know if horror movies are bringing back the cleavage, but this one had an ample amount and I had to sit there all day doing sound for it.

The best part was when I actually flinched at a death scene. It's so not real when you are there because you see all the work and stuff put into it. I saw a fake throat glued on a girl with tubes of blood running behind.  Then the bad guy used gardening sheers for the job. All of these things were slow and not real looking(you'd only see about a second or two of some of these shots so that edits out the fake stuff).  But then they pumped the blood in and it squirted everywhere.  Up walls, toward the ceiling, everywhere.  and then a clot got stuck in one of the tubes so when the special effects artist pushed more out it squirted hard into the air.  And the whole time the actor was just making the worst gurgling noises ever.  So even I got grossed out.

One thing you find out on set is that there is a massive amount of downtime.  As long as you are not the crew.  I barely did anything because I only did sound and that was still a lot of work.  And the actors may only have an hour or two at a time but it's really physical and hard. Many times these poor actors were drenched in blood in forty degree weather.

At one point they cut the fingers of a fake hand in a scene with all this blood flying everywhere.  the girl was covered in mud and blood so she went inside to shower.  the director thought of a cool shot involving the fingers and tried to collect them but one was missing.  The actor was in the shower getting mud leaves and blood out of her hair when one of the fingers fell out.

This set was really comfortable because it was in a gigantic vacation home in Lake Arrowhead.   Actors and crew stayed nights.  There was like 8 other room that had people, so it was spacious.  And the only times I shared rooms were with other actors or special effects people.  It's funny because South California is the only place where you can have long conversations with people and hang out for a few days before even knowing that some are famous already.  

I've never been on a huge set.  In fact this is the biggest single set I've worked on.  I have been in huge studios with dozens of sets(last year).  Usually everyone is strictly relegated to their work mates.  As in crew stick with crew and actors stick with actors.  Sometimes thats a natural separation, sometimes it is imposed by management.  This was not that.  I'm the kind of guy who made do the sound guy job, but I'm not going to be known for that.  I like crew people, they are generally pretty relaxed but hard workers.  But the separation like I'm not an actor or the many other things I do is not something I'm gonna go with.  And on this set there wasn't any of that bullshit.  Just a nice cozy atmosphere of camping with friends and family(three people on set were family which made for a more comfortable atmosphere of teamwork).  

Anyway, there was a lot of crazy set dressing and hot women and boobs and blood.  It was a nice sort of information overload.  But then I had to do an acting thing that involved me staring and perving out about my partners breasts(I have two orgasms over them in the scene, so it was like that).  At first I did it, but felt a little naughty because its hard to shake the person you are versus the person you are acting as, sometimes.  I felt guilty sometimes, because of the amount I had to look at boobs.  Of course I got over that in like 4 seconds everytime I acted, but still.  Then the other day I'm in line and I catch myself transfixed by this women's boobs and I'm like oh shit, now I can't stop.  I'm still a butt and leg man all the way, but there has been some forced boob therapy going on here and I'm starting to fall for it.  

And still my favorite part is the preparations.  I mean it's fun being able to just look at random hot actors boobs, but I like how every time I work with actresses that ask me what they should wear and then proceed to show me the most dirty hot clothes ever and change into them and then I get to decide which is best.  Thats my favorite part, because thats just two people playing dress up off camera.

And somehow this has become normal in my life.  Lots of craziness(and this is cutting half of the stories out because they are too personal and about people who may someday be known or are already).  And best of all, and even more ironic, all of these scenarios were set about by women.  I didn't pick the part, the gig, the scene, or my partners.  It was always teachers and buddies, all female(except the last one scene I did because I knew me and the girl's chemistry would really work together, so I picked her, and it exceeded my expectations.  I didn't draw her for a while because she looked a lot like a beautiful ex of mine, side story.) The whole thing is always a bonding experiance.

So the other day, I was just super down about stuff and an ex acting partner of mine told me her husband needed an actor.  So we filmed at my apartment without dialogue, so it was all about being silent and funny, which is a nice challenge.  And filming at my house is basically the most comfortable thing ever.  Plenty of Adrian costumes upstairs.  My cat, my ferret, my artwork.  It's just comfortable. And the moment we started filming all my worries melted away.  Because acting is so much fun.  Plus the director thought I was 27 which gave me a good old laugh.

My comic is still in the approval process.  If it's rejected I don't know.  It all takes many months.  

The photos are from Lake Arrowhead.  The drawings are of a friend.  I drew on the backside of the drawing because I love the way the markers bleed through, and it was a second try at trying to accurately portray her beautiful skin.  The dancing woman was a sketch I found in faint pencil and just slathered some ink onto.

We'll see where all this crazy shit takes me, I guess.  So until next time.  It's Fourth of July and my neighbor is having a pool party in our apartment complex(he's a musician, and he kicks ass.  I found a blunt of his on the stairs and left him a note so we're buddies now, I guess.). I might meet up with my friends from school for the fireworks, at least that was the plan, but until then I'm going to this sudden pool party.  

Adrian

P.S.: I stole the name of this post from a place in the Steven Erikson book "Reapers Gale".  That week in Lake Arrowhead was a refuge, so Refugium fit.  Plus I love the words Erikson makes in his most epically frustrating ten book series ever(finishing book 7 this week).  

P.P.S.: Billy Bob Thornton is the speaker at my graduation.  Last year it was Tom Cruise, and previous years were Hanks, Berry, Penn, Hoffman, and other masters of acting.  I took many years to be convinced on Thornton.  But eventually he became a patron saint becaus of his massive will to do the job.  He has a mystique about him that makes an Angelina Jolie love him.  He made himself.  And everyone saw it.  And that is something I want.  I'm old, ugly, and not one to be expected to get great things, but only giving up makes that true.  Thornton had all these problems and overcame them. I'm looking forward to meeting him or at least hearing him speak.