And now I feel sorry for television actors...you couldn't pay me enough to do that for a living
Was watching some of the dailies of an old television obsession on youtube on a bit of whim, and five minutes into it, I thought - I'm really glad I'm not a television actor because this would really suck. Started to begin feeling sorry for the actors after the tenth take. I mean how many times do you want to throw yourself against a wall and say one line? Imagine that is your job, you come to work - memorize a couple of lines - and get thrown against a wall ten times. Actually you throw yourself against the plaster wall ten times. Oh, bonus? You know that co-worker you despise and sort of would like to smack upside the head? You get to say a line and kiss them fifteen times, after being smashed up against a plaster wall over and over and over again.
This, people, is the reason, television actors are paid as much as they are. Although I'm not sure anyone could pay me enough to do that on a daily basis.
Anyhow in case your curious as to what I'm talking about...go behind the cut:
( Dailies from Cult 1990s-2003 Television Series )
See, after a television series has ended, someone on the camera crew or in the editing room thinks - hey, I know, I'll release the dailies on youtube, no one will care. Besides, that was a lot of hard work and I'd hate for those shots to go to waste. And guess what? With the internet? They can get away with it. (Goes to show you, with the internet, privacy is sort of up for grabs.)
Dailies are a fascinating and rather eye-opening look into how television is made. And it isn't pretty. Sort of boring actually. And rather brutal. I don't how these actors do it. The director cuts based on lighting issues, the shot being slightly off, or an actor missing a line. The sad thing is -- is often the first take is the actors best, but oops a flare, so they had to do it again.
That's what happened in the above - the best take was when they had a flare and had to do it again.
I could feel the actor's annoyance.
Also, they don't film the whole scene. They film one line or two lines at a time. One punch at a time. So throw a punch. Cut. Throw it again. Cut. Fall against the wall. Cut. Fall against it again. Cut. Kiss the Guy. Cut. Kiss him. Cut. Stimulate sex while fully clothed. Cut. Do it again. Cut.
Kneel on the floor. Cut. Kneel on the floor. Cut.
Afterwards, the editor, often with the assistance of the director and showrunner edits all these separate takes together into one film. I knew a guy who edited television commercials who explained it to me in detail, also read about it. And the commentators often will talk about it in their commentary - Whedon once went into detail on how things are edited in one of his commentaries. I actually recommend Whedon's commentaries over other filmmakers, since he likes to discuss the process. (I'm fascinated by what people do for a living and apparently am able to retain the knowledge.) So, the audience is oblivious to this -- it's a bit a like a magic show. You don't see all the work that goes on behind the scenes to create the magic.
Anyhow, they did all of this with falling plaster, the plaster was falling on top of them and they were breathing it in...which made me wonder was this plaster safe? Had it been abated for asbestos and lead? Because Steve McQueen died because of asbestos inhalation. And isn't that going to throw out the actor's back? No wonder one of them is seeing a chiropractor.
You couldn't pay me enough to do that for a living. It just looked painful. I felt so sorry for them.
And I also felt a little guilty for enjoying the episode as much as I did. Granted I was oblivious, and they are paid a lot more than I am...(and no wonder, hazardous pay, hello), but still.
This, people, is the reason, television actors are paid as much as they are. Although I'm not sure anyone could pay me enough to do that on a daily basis.
Anyhow in case your curious as to what I'm talking about...go behind the cut:
( Dailies from Cult 1990s-2003 Television Series )
See, after a television series has ended, someone on the camera crew or in the editing room thinks - hey, I know, I'll release the dailies on youtube, no one will care. Besides, that was a lot of hard work and I'd hate for those shots to go to waste. And guess what? With the internet? They can get away with it. (Goes to show you, with the internet, privacy is sort of up for grabs.)
Dailies are a fascinating and rather eye-opening look into how television is made. And it isn't pretty. Sort of boring actually. And rather brutal. I don't how these actors do it. The director cuts based on lighting issues, the shot being slightly off, or an actor missing a line. The sad thing is -- is often the first take is the actors best, but oops a flare, so they had to do it again.
That's what happened in the above - the best take was when they had a flare and had to do it again.
I could feel the actor's annoyance.
Also, they don't film the whole scene. They film one line or two lines at a time. One punch at a time. So throw a punch. Cut. Throw it again. Cut. Fall against the wall. Cut. Fall against it again. Cut. Kiss the Guy. Cut. Kiss him. Cut. Stimulate sex while fully clothed. Cut. Do it again. Cut.
Kneel on the floor. Cut. Kneel on the floor. Cut.
Afterwards, the editor, often with the assistance of the director and showrunner edits all these separate takes together into one film. I knew a guy who edited television commercials who explained it to me in detail, also read about it. And the commentators often will talk about it in their commentary - Whedon once went into detail on how things are edited in one of his commentaries. I actually recommend Whedon's commentaries over other filmmakers, since he likes to discuss the process. (I'm fascinated by what people do for a living and apparently am able to retain the knowledge.) So, the audience is oblivious to this -- it's a bit a like a magic show. You don't see all the work that goes on behind the scenes to create the magic.
Anyhow, they did all of this with falling plaster, the plaster was falling on top of them and they were breathing it in...which made me wonder was this plaster safe? Had it been abated for asbestos and lead? Because Steve McQueen died because of asbestos inhalation. And isn't that going to throw out the actor's back? No wonder one of them is seeing a chiropractor.
You couldn't pay me enough to do that for a living. It just looked painful. I felt so sorry for them.
And I also felt a little guilty for enjoying the episode as much as I did. Granted I was oblivious, and they are paid a lot more than I am...(and no wonder, hazardous pay, hello), but still.