Costumes/scripts
Once you're hired, the producer will have a complete script (assuming there is one) delivered to your door by messenger, or you'll be asked to pick one up.
Next comes the call from the costumer. When he calls depends on how soon you'll be working.
Now prepare yourself for an unglamorous shock: If the show is modern dress, you'll be asked to raid your closet and provide your own wardrobe. Yep - just like back in South Patooie Community Theatre. You'll be paid a fee, though.
On the phone, the costumer and you will decide on what you will wear on the show, and you will be expected to bring your "costume(s)" with you to the first day of work. (If you don't want to drive the sound man crazy, avoid polyester and leather. They're too noisy.)
Even if you provide your own wardrobe, however, the costumer will want to know your sizes in case the clothes you show up with aren't "right."
- Sizes men should know: Shoe, hat, glove, shirt (small, medium, large, extra large), sleeve length, collar size, pants (waist and length), jacket and/or coat.
- Sizes women should know: Shoe, hat, glove, blouse, dress, pants, jacket and/or coat.
Preparing
First, when rehearsing, stay with the basic interpretation you had when you auditioned. That's what got you hired.
Next, understand that anything can happen, and that it's a lead-pipe cinch your scene won't take place the way you envision it. Positive you'll be behind a desk? There won't be a desk in sight. Rehearse the scene in as many ways as possible: standing (looking left, then right); walking; and yes, even behind a desk.
Know your lines, but be ready to see them (drastically) changed. And don't bet on getting the right cues. Besides error, many actors - especially stars - can't resist "improving" the writing.
As "opening day" approaches, your agent or the second (A.D.) will phone to give you your "call" - the day and time you're expected on the set. You'll get as much sleep as a rat on catnip.
ARRIVAL
Don't run up to the producer or director chirping "I'm here!" They've got other things on their minds. Report to the second assistant director (A.D.). He'll show you to your dressing room (it should be private) and give you your contract or booking slip. Bear in mind it's his job to have you ready to go. If he makes a mistake he's going to have you ready too early. There's a lot of "hurry up and wait" on movie sets.
Settle into your dressing room, perhaps get a cup of that brown iodine they pass off as coffee, get into costume and then report to the makeup artist. (Unless you're highly experienced, leave makeup to the experts. Street makeup is one thing; stage makeup is another; camera makeup is yet another.)
With those chores squared away, sit down in your dressing room and prepare to wait. . . and wait... and wait…
THE CONTRACT
While waiting, read your contract. Check to be sure your name is spelled correctly, that your Social Security number, address, phone number, and salary are correct, that your billing and any other special deal is as agreed. If everything is okay, be sure to sign all copies (usually three). Then fill out your tax forms. And then... more waiting.
SAVING ENERGY/BEING READY
Eight hours rehearsing is less tiring than four hours sitting around on a set. You're bored. You're antsy. You're very bored. You're very antsy. You just can't relax. Try. Don't go running around. Lie down in your dressing room; read, do crossword puzzles, vegetate. You may wait 30 minutes or eight hours. Save it for "Action."
About 732 years later, the second A.D. will come a-knocking at your dressing room door, saying "We're ready for you." It's rehearsal time.
When you arrive on the set itself, the second A.D. will introduce you to your fellow actors; you'll "re-meet" the director, and, if he's there, the producer.
What you do next will depend on the project…
FEATURE FILMS/FILMS FOR TV
Films for television include almost any drama made for TV except a "three-camera show" (see below). Feature films are movies. For you, the only real working difference between these two will be the number of takes you do. Feature film directors tend to shoot scenes over and over until they're happy with what they've got. TV Films - figure three takes and out.
We'll assume you've landed your first job on the hit new series about Beverly Hills dentists: LA. Jaw. What will "the shoot" be like? It'll all start with what is laughingly referred to as...
THE REHEARSAL
You'll go through the entire scene. Your fellow actor - if he's the star - may be carrying a script, mumbling his lines as he goes. Sooner or later you'll realize that unless you want to look like a statue, you'd better move. So you do - totally on your own. And when you stop, somebody rushes in and puts a piece of masking tape at your feet. The scene ends. The second A.D. comes onto the set, says "Thank you," and yells, "Second team please!" That's it. "Rehearsal" is over.
In a state of shock you go and sit. Where's all the talk about motivations and stuff? Where's the struggle to get it right? What's going on here?
A typical shoot.
Want direction? Go back to the stage. In TV and film, you're expected to come up with the ideas. Blocking will be vague, usually of the "play it over there" variety. And forget discussions about character motivation. Directors expect you to be ready to perform when you arrive on the set. (As one director expressed it, "I don't have time to play schoolmaster.")
Some directors feel giving direction to actors is "insulting." Others are camera nuts who wouldn't know how to direct an actor if their lives depended on it. But all are fighting one relentless enemy - the clock.
A director shooting a one-hour TV show has a week to ten days to get it all "in the can." Why? Time is money. If he "goes over" without a darn good reason, he's either gone over or just plain gone. So, if at all possible, he'll want to rehearse the scene once, light it, and shoot it in one take. (Yes, feature film directors have longer schedules, but still, as director Noel Black says, "You'd better assume you're going to do your great work on take one.")
Okay, while you've been sitting there, people have been moving back and forth, lighting and "dressing" the set (putting in props, drapes, books in bookshelves, etc.).
