Indulgence

a yesterday "not so ordinary"

Eric Gamalinda from The Speed of Light
One cannot stare at beauty or the sun too long.

I love my job at GMA7. They don't pay me much but I love the people I work with, I love what I'm doing and the nature of my work (media and writing and directing) and I love the show. I've been with TXTube since its re-conceptualisation and everyday since and I feel like it's my child; my child with 5 other people. I've been working since I was 14 and to find a job with these conditions is very hard and so I treasure having found a job where I really enjoy myself and I call my own time.

So to be able to afford the life I choose to lead, I also do a lot of work on the side. I do a lot of freelance writing -- writing for magazines and whatever else needs written like press materials and advertising copy. And I also got myself a talent agency to help me get some modeling work. Modeling work isn't easy but it's good money for 1 or 2 days of work. It pays well. My agency got me a commercial and a print ad before and the money was really good (and came when I needed it).

My agency got me to be a talent for this company project; a corporate account for a pictorial last Saturday for the company's manual and a video shoot yesterday for an orientation video. Both the video and the manual aren't for release. It's meant to be used for company purposes only, for the new employees. It wasn't going to make me famous but I just wanted the cash. So off I went.

My agent called it a no-brainer and that we should bring slippers, a pillow and a book. So I did as was told.

The pictorial shoot on Saturday was fun. The other talents were composed of seasoned theatre people so I wasn't bored with the conversation. The photographer, Jay Tablante, is amazing. I've worked with him before. He talks to you while working and allows you to play around so that you are relaxed with him. Then he just shoots and shoots until he gets you at your most relaxed and the shot is just perfect. It was a fun shoot.

Yesterday though was a whole different story. Our call time was at 8am and we were supposed to be done by 5pm. That was what we were told. So you should imagine my surprise when I woke up at 8am. Cursing my alarm clock which never went off, I rushed to take a shower and find a cab to get to Makati as quickly as possible. All the while, I was wondering why my agent didn't call me to ask where I was. They usually do but that wasn't their fault. This was mine so I wasn't going to make it an issue.

I arrived at 9:30 and to my shock, no one was upset and we were only beginning to put make-up. Okay. Saved by ominous reasons...

I was told we were suppose to shoot at 9am but the director was still outside preparing his shot. We were finally told to go down at 11am. We shot two sequences until 12:30pm when we stopped for lunch. After lunch, at around 1:15, I propped up the pillow at the back of my neck (so as to keep my head from turning which might ruin my make-up) and fell asleep. After 3 hours of deep sleep, I woke up looked around and found us not yet working. So I opened my book Mens Rea by Lakambini Sitoy. I read one of her short stories but Lakambini Sitoy is rather intense and I wasn't in the mood for that kind of reading so I put it down and picked up Mary Oliver's book American Primitive. I love Mary Oliver's poetry because her imagery is so beautiful and her words are so exquisite. After reading 12 poems and completely floored by her insight, I looked around and began chatting with the other talents who were still awake. When we had nothing else to say, I pulled out my cellphone and began texting people. I just wanted to connect.

The director then came in and started barking orders to the people in his crew. Get the lights in Quezon City, he said. Apparenty, the sun was setting and since all the shots had to be day shots, we were going to fake it with the use of stronger lights, which we didn't have in the set. It had to be fetched all the way at Quezon City. Afterwards, he put his head down on a table and fell asleep.

Okay...

So 6pm moved to 7pm and we were wondering what was happening. One of the talents had already left because she had to be at the airport by 6:30 to catch a late night flight to Australia. We were told, after all, that we were going to be done by 5. One of the talents that stayed walked up to the director and picked up his bottle of Sola ice-tea and smelled it. As he guessed, he said it's alcohol. We all began to stand up, in a very cinematic manner, and looked at each other. It was rum and not mixed. It was pure rum.

People started calling the producers and our agent. We were all rather upset. I wanted to make it for the company volleyball practice at 7pm in Quezon City. But I guess it wasn't going to happen. Everyone was making a fuss as it was already and I didn't want anyone to think of me as difficult or a prima donna. I was late after all. So I just sat in one corner and read another story of Lakambini Sitoy.

The director was awakened by one of his crew and they proceeded to walk to the location. The crew member walked, the director staggered, flushed with blood-shot eyes.

Later, I was told that he got up to the location and fell asleep in front of the client. Suffice to say, the client was not at all pleased.

Our agent arrived and a lot of talk followed and we began to shoot at 8:15pm. It was the fastest shoot I was ever a part of, either as a talent or as a production person. I suppose we were trying to make up for lost time since there was no way the producers or the client was going to pay for another day of shooting. So shoot we did.

By 11:30pm, we were tired and a little surprised at how our day had turned and left to go home while others went out for a drink. On my way home, I was proud of myself for not having raised a stink and made a bad situation worse. I wanted to make the impression that I was a talent that was easy to work with and talk to. I know that I was late for 2 hours but my faux pas was overshadowed by the behaviour of the director. Of course, the producers do remember that I was 30 minutes early on the Saturday shoot.

I left that shoot having re-read one of my favourite poets and a good volume of poetry, re-connected with some people via text messaging, made some new friends and learned a lot about being professional. It wasn't just the pay-check anymore. I was able to bring something with me that I could bring with me in every job that follows. In a way, it wasn't a wasted day after all...

And that's the important thing now, isn't it?

posted by wanggo @ 6:04 PM