There is absolutely nothing spared when it comes to producing something for film. I was on set at a commercial shoot for GARDASIL and could not believe what was happening before my eyes. I watched the entire production come to life. First of all, there was food wherever I turned 24/7. I was able to order anything I wanted and the Kraft services would just whip it up. I am not used to this special treatment; it really took me by surprise. Not to mention wardrobe, hair, and makeup were constantly fixing up the actors, “talent” as they called them. (My mom and I agree that "talent" is such a horrible word; everybody who is working has talent, not just the actors.) The crew was constantly asking if the actors needed a jacket, something to eat, or even a chair. There were tech people constantly on walkie-talkies and running around doing God knows what. I could barely tell the difference between the sound guy and the set guy. They were all busting their butt to make the production be the best it possibly could be. Although this is my second commercial shoot, it still catches me off guard every time.
What I witnessed today was just a sixty second long commercial; I cannot even imagine how ostentatious a production must be for a Tom Cruise or Jennifer Aniston movie. It must be absolutely insane to crew and work behind the scenes for such a huge production.
That sounds like a neat experience. I love seeing how businesses operate.
It also sounds incredibly wasteful. I can't think of any other industry (except perhaps the Federal Government) where money is thrown around wantonly the way you described the food budget. I wonder if there is a correlation between the money spent in that manner and the end result of the commercial? If I was the drug company paying for that commercial I would be concerned.
I understand that Hollywood is in financial trouble and, before it was cut by an amendment, there was a substantial chunk of change in the Porkulous bill to bail them out. I'm glad it was cut because it would piss me off to find out that my tax dollars were going towards some "talent" stuffing their face and being pampered by servants.
dannysrider, I'd have loved to be with you, even if it was just a commercial.
Now, I've worked on a couple of live productions and have done a lot of different projects for my Media Communications (Video Production, basically) classes. I've done a PSA, a music video, and more. Live (real) productions include a couple auctions and the telethon I did last week. This week my TV Studio class is shooting the basketball game live.
It really is a HUGE thing to put together a production. There's a lot of crew, a lot of positions, and we all need to stay in communication with each other. Last week our director would need two headsets on, one to talk to the floor directors in both studios and one to be able to talk to the camera people. Then our audio person and technical director need to be able to hear/see three things at once: the director, the monitor in front of them, and whatever is being said through the speaker from the "talent". It's tough. When I was TD I kept straining to hear the talent to listen for the cue and also hear what the director tells me to do. It's difficult, and it's work, but it's still fun.
And I've never really had a problem with the term "talent". You can't say "actors", because oftentimes these people are not actors. They're hospital personnel looking for donations or people who run Big Brothers/Big Sisters (that was last week's telethon). Talent also refers to our performers. During the auctions and telethons we have people come in to show off their skills, whether it be dance schools or singers or musicians.
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I need some more input from y'all here in this forum topic: A ProgressiveU Radio Show/Podcast
I think this is an idea that can improve the ProgressiveU community.
Also,
It was so amazing to see everything come together in this commercial, like you said. What you do everyday seems pretty incredible too. I would love to be able to wake up every morning to a day full of production work and stuff. I bet is really tough and stressful at times though. Good luck with everything ~ it sounds like fun!!
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away" ~Hilary Cooper