Partying Is Hard Work: Part One

It so happens that a short time ago a call was sent out to people in my little improv community for extras to fill out a party scene for a short movie. The perpetrators of the movie weren't all known to me, but one was, and so I was ready to consider answering the call. I observed that numerous good friends would be there, and that the scripted party would more or less take the form of a real party, as there would be food and drink in an opulent setting (as my standards go). After taking all that into account, I knew I had to do it. Now, the three part story.

There was that minor question of transportation, of course. Initially, I wasn't the least bit concerned, as the scene was to be shot in Pasadena, which lies on the northeastern boundary of the area I can more or less easily move about in. A few days beforehand, however, the location changed to Arcadia, which is east of that demarcation. This required some consideration. I determined that a trip could be managed with two buses and two trains, and would take some two hours. This was not ideal, but as I often tell myself, unless I can conceive of a palatable alternative, I'd better learn to make the best of it. So I did, deciding that this would be as good a time as any to make progress on my stack of reading materials.

I had some concerns about the very last link of the trip, but even that went swimmingly, and I found myself approaching the location on foot right on schedule. I knocked on the door with some trepidation, wondering if I ought to have bypassed the house for the backyard where I reasoned the scene would likely be shot. A man answered the door, and I presumed him to be the father of the friend who lived in this house. I imagine I must have appeared rather unkempt and nervous to him. He directed me to the yard, where things were at an early stage, but not so early that my presence was unwelcome.

People showed up in large numbers soon enough, and we gorged on pizza, salad, soft drinks and ice cream. When I put on a shoot, I am not so quick to weigh down the cast and crew with such rich food, but it was not my place to criticize this flow of free food. I did make a jest of pretending to leave once my motivation for coming had been fulfilled. Really, it was wonderful, and both refreshments and casual conversation served well to warm me up to be a party-goer in the scene. It was then time to get to work.

Tomorrow: the work!