On Set Life

I once again lived two lives.

One as a production crew member and the other as an actress.

Granted this time I was only an extra. But all in all, I was just like everyone else.

I had to check in, get my wardrobe checked to make sure I had the appropriate attire and the colors that I had on didn't blend too much with everyone else.

Instead of hair and make-up, I proceeded to wait for my scenes. I was led on set by a production assistant, given my instructions and then cues. The PA would say "rolling" and then.... "action!" At which time I would begin my scene with everyone else.

Then, there's the wait while the director reviews the footage. From there it's either more waiting, or re-setting to the first position.

And.... Repeat a hundred times. No joke.

The director will try many different combinations between actors and/or extras before finally yelling "cut!" and then... You set for the next scene. Repeat this past paragraph 4 times and them move to the next location. It was like this for 12 hours a day.

These actors and actresses are awesome. It takes talent to be in a spot. You have to wait for hours and you never know when they will want you.

After hours of waiting, you get to your marker and play your role. It's very hard to go from cold to enthusiastic or pessimistic, depending on your assigned role.

After a 12 hour or more day, you get to do it again the morning.

Still think its fabulous? Like I said in a previous post, it's hard work. I wouldn't exactly recommend to just anyone.

Good luck to anyone who tries.

Total Respect for Production Crews

In my line of work, I've been privy to behind the scenes looks of documentaries and commercials.

Today was an especially grueling day on set. Working with multiple talent (actors and actresses), many combinations of wardrobe and props under intense summer heat, I have found a greater respect for production crews.

Stylists, prop artists and production assistants constantly rush back and forth the whole day getting a prop for an actor, fixing hair, wardrobe and make-up, making sure outsiders (everyday people) are kept off the set and quiet and basically making sure everything is moving along smoothly. It is rough! On top of that, the director, sound and lighting crews make sure everything is sticking to script and lighting is ok. It's especially rough when you shoot outdoors, like we were today. We were constantly having to wait for the sun to come out behind clouds. Sometimes we would have a couple of minutes and sometimes it was only a few seconds to get precious takes. It is a heck of a lot of waiting!

Craft service crew members (the ones that provide the food, the good part of being on set) fill and refill snacks and food, making sure no one goes hungry or thirsty. Staying hydrated today was a problem since it was so hot.

There is so much work that goes into putting together a piece that goes on TV. And I didn't really understand why people would lose sleep or weight. Now, I get it. Perhaps I didn't stay for long enough on sets before, or perhaps it just didn't click when I read actors lose sleep and weight during weeks of shooting. (Google pics of different actors like Jang Geun Suk, Kim Hyun Joong, and Lee Min Ho pre, during and post production on their dramas. You'll see what I mean) With call times in the early morning and wrap up times late at night, it's no wonder!

It's so cool and glamorous on the outside. A friend of mine on Facebook thought it was so cool that I work on sets. And yeah, it is. You meet people and you get a first look at everything. But it is tiring work. I wouldn't recommend it for just anyone.

I definitely have total respect for production crews on TV shows and movies. Especially the ones on Korean dramas. I hear they run their crews ragged to get the perfect takes on shoot constantly, day after long day. Whew!

Tomorrow, I pull double duty. I'll be part of the production crew and I'll also be acting again. We'll see how it goes. Hope I wake up on time, it's another early morning call and a full shoot day.

Blog about it later! Happy weekend! Hwaiting!

Idols- to tweet or not tweet to?

Ok, something has been bugging me for quite a while.

I'm pretty new to the Twitterverse, so my hash tagging and my quotes are sometimes weird. I also live in a part of the world that's one of the last places to get news because of our time zone. When idols tweet at night, I don't see them in my feed until I wake up the next day. Hours later.

I follow a good part of the South Korean idols, actors, etc. that I like. And more of course. It's cool and exciting to see what they're up to. And the selcas (self camera shots) are funny sometimes, too.

My questions are: when is it ok to tweet to an idol? Like an "out of the blue when you feel like it" tweet? Do you only follow them and reply to their tweets? Is it ok to tweet stars like Lee Hong Ki, Lee Min Ho, CNBlue, Wonder Girls and more questions like "how are you?" or "what have you been up to?" as long as it's not too personal? And when is it too late to reply to a tweet? I feel embarrassed replying to anything more than a couple of hours old. It feels like I'm replying to no one because everyone else has said their peace and moved on.

I wouldn't want to go crazy like sasaengs, wanting to know everything about stars...But is it too much to do that? Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter open up communication. But is there some sort of unstated protocol?

Wildly curious...

And I definitely wouldn't want to offend...