The Christian Bale rant has been going around, and now he's released a contrite apology...
You know what? The d.p. was resetting lights while he was acting. Bale is a pretty intense actor, and he had got himself into some intense emotional state in order to be able to do his thing. And he needs to be totally focused, and believe that he is alone with the other actor in some fictional place, while sixty people are staring at him. And he needs to trust that no one is going to interfere with that.
And this idiot was resetting lights during a take.
To me, that's like tickling Michael Phelps while he's swimming a race. If you touched Michael Phelps while he was in a race, he would probably break your nose. The rest of the time he might be a nice, quiet, stoned kinda guy. But during a race, he's pumped.
The d.p. has the advantage here, because he has access to the footage. So he gets to air the moment where Bale went off. He doesn't air the five or six times that Bale no doubt told him, "Don't move the lights around while I'm trying to act, okay?"
Everyone on a set who counts is pumped. The director is pumped. The actors are pumped. The d.p. is pumped. They are all into their own thing, which means they don't always listen. Sometimes, in order to get their point across, people have to yell. And actors usually can't write dialog to save their lives, so Bale cursed a lot.
Though by Hollywood standards, he didn't really. When I lived in LA, my mouth got really foul. Years and kids later, I'm still trying to clean up.
I suspect that Bale will have no trouble getting his next job. We expect actors to be emotional. If they weren't, they wouldn't be able to act. I suspect that the d.p. will run into some resistance getting his next job. Not only does he move lights around during the take, but he stabs everyone in the back by releasing a recording (or letting it be known that he wouldn't mind if a recording were released) of what should have been a private moment in the temporary family that is a film set.
I'm not a screamer, myself. If I were ever to find myself a star of Bale's magnitude, I still wouldn't scream, I hope. But I have a very high tolerance for screamers. My first boss in showbiz was a screamer, and I worked for him for four and a half years because I was learning a lot; hey, it was his problem. I would much rather work with a screamer than a hack; and I'd work with either of those before I'd willingly work with a flake.
Showing posts with label actors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label actors. Show all posts
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Cameos and Day Players
Lisa's working on our comedy spec pilot. We've got a bit player annoying one of the core cast, and she said, "I'm pretending it's a bit part for Sid Caesar. (You older folks will recognize him as a famous comedian from 1950s TV. Lisa is now leveraging her misspent youth when she played hookey every afternoon and watched old TV shows all day long.)
When you're writing bit parts, don't write them for day player actors. Write them for TV or movie stars with outsized personalities. If you have a one minute bit of repartee with the elevator man, write the elevator man for Jack Nicholson. Or Steve Buscemi. Or Lily Tomlin. That will remind you to write something they can really sink their teeth into.
Be careful, though, that you're writing distinctive dialog. Jack Nicholson can make a meal out of nothing dialog. Your job is to write the action and dialog so we see and hear Jack Nicholson in them. Without, of course, mentioning Jack himself.
When you're writing bit parts, don't write them for day player actors. Write them for TV or movie stars with outsized personalities. If you have a one minute bit of repartee with the elevator man, write the elevator man for Jack Nicholson. Or Steve Buscemi. Or Lily Tomlin. That will remind you to write something they can really sink their teeth into.
Be careful, though, that you're writing distinctive dialog. Jack Nicholson can make a meal out of nothing dialog. Your job is to write the action and dialog so we see and hear Jack Nicholson in them. Without, of course, mentioning Jack himself.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Yes, Virginia, There is a Nudity Clause
An odd thing came up during our discussions in the writing room. I'm writing a pay cable series, so I felt free to write in a fair amount of nudity. The main character is an entity that wouldn't be self-conscious about nudity in the first place, and hell, it's pay cable.
My two veteran story editors (technically executive story consultants) warned me that I'm not going to get my lead to actually take off her clothes as much as I've got.
When you hire an actor who's going to be expected to disrobe, the casting director will discuss nudity and then put a nudity clause in his or her contract. The nudity clause is quite specific about what the actor might be expected to expose.
The problem is that there's a big difference between what an actor will promise to expose when he or she wants the role, and what they'll do once they're hired. Particularly if they're the lead, they know you're unlikely to fire them for not showing their behind even though they promised to. They just balk and won't come out of their trailer.
Naturally this depends on the actor and the show. Some actors (especially French ones) have no trouble showing skin. Actors will also show skin if they feel the show is creatively strong: great director, great writing, the nudity makes an essential story or character point. Julianne Moore has a great scene in SHORT CUTS where she's arguing with her husband, played by Matthew Modine, with her panties off. The point was that this is how married people sometimes argue. So theoretically with the right actress I might get away with my nude scenes -- if I can convince the actor that she's telling the audience something about her character, rather than just providing eye candy.
The smaller the role, the less likely the actor will balk, as well. An actor whose character can be killed off is unlikely to become a pain in the butt on set.
But you never know. I worked on an "erotic thriller" years ago. Pretty much the whole point of the movie was a few sexy scenes with the female lead. Guess what? She wouldn't do them, and neither the director nor the producer was willing to go to the mattresses to make her do it.
The movie was unreleasable.
I've also heard tell of a certain actress now showing lots of skin in a sexy cable series who signed on for a show about a stripper, directed by an award-winning director. A stripper! She didn't show anything. The director was tearing his hair out. It does take quite a bit out of the movie.
What can you do? Make sure there are lots of conversations about the nudity before shooting, so the actor knows you're serious about it. Have the casting director roll tape on the conversations in the casting office. "So, you understand the role calls for full frontal nudity? And you're okay with that?"
In a movie you could, I suppose, shoot the nude scenes first, so you can replace the actor if she refuses to do what the script calls for. Can't do that in a series, though. You could also, I imagine, build financial penalties short of firing into the actor's contract.
I guess the most important thing is probably checking the actor's filmography. If there's a lot of nudity there, ask him or her if she's still cool with it, or if he or she has made a decision to change tack. If not, you're probably okay. If the actor has never done nudity, you'd need an explanation why he or she is willing to do it now. (You might have Sharon Stone, for example, just before BASIC INSTINCT, telling you that she and her manager have decided to "sex me up.")
In the rush before filming, these sorts of things get lost, unless you have experienced people around you. That's why experience is rated so highly in TV, often much more than talent. There are so many things that can go wrong that you wouldn't think of, unless you've been there.
My two veteran story editors (technically executive story consultants) warned me that I'm not going to get my lead to actually take off her clothes as much as I've got.
When you hire an actor who's going to be expected to disrobe, the casting director will discuss nudity and then put a nudity clause in his or her contract. The nudity clause is quite specific about what the actor might be expected to expose.
The problem is that there's a big difference between what an actor will promise to expose when he or she wants the role, and what they'll do once they're hired. Particularly if they're the lead, they know you're unlikely to fire them for not showing their behind even though they promised to. They just balk and won't come out of their trailer.
Naturally this depends on the actor and the show. Some actors (especially French ones) have no trouble showing skin. Actors will also show skin if they feel the show is creatively strong: great director, great writing, the nudity makes an essential story or character point. Julianne Moore has a great scene in SHORT CUTS where she's arguing with her husband, played by Matthew Modine, with her panties off. The point was that this is how married people sometimes argue. So theoretically with the right actress I might get away with my nude scenes -- if I can convince the actor that she's telling the audience something about her character, rather than just providing eye candy.
The smaller the role, the less likely the actor will balk, as well. An actor whose character can be killed off is unlikely to become a pain in the butt on set.
But you never know. I worked on an "erotic thriller" years ago. Pretty much the whole point of the movie was a few sexy scenes with the female lead. Guess what? She wouldn't do them, and neither the director nor the producer was willing to go to the mattresses to make her do it.
The movie was unreleasable.
I've also heard tell of a certain actress now showing lots of skin in a sexy cable series who signed on for a show about a stripper, directed by an award-winning director. A stripper! She didn't show anything. The director was tearing his hair out. It does take quite a bit out of the movie.
What can you do? Make sure there are lots of conversations about the nudity before shooting, so the actor knows you're serious about it. Have the casting director roll tape on the conversations in the casting office. "So, you understand the role calls for full frontal nudity? And you're okay with that?"
In a movie you could, I suppose, shoot the nude scenes first, so you can replace the actor if she refuses to do what the script calls for. Can't do that in a series, though. You could also, I imagine, build financial penalties short of firing into the actor's contract.
I guess the most important thing is probably checking the actor's filmography. If there's a lot of nudity there, ask him or her if she's still cool with it, or if he or she has made a decision to change tack. If not, you're probably okay. If the actor has never done nudity, you'd need an explanation why he or she is willing to do it now. (You might have Sharon Stone, for example, just before BASIC INSTINCT, telling you that she and her manager have decided to "sex me up.")
In the rush before filming, these sorts of things get lost, unless you have experienced people around you. That's why experience is rated so highly in TV, often much more than talent. There are so many things that can go wrong that you wouldn't think of, unless you've been there.
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