Wow—this is powerfully written. The disillusionment of the illusionist is about as real and raw as reality gets. Thanks for putting this all down in such an eloquent story. I suspect your reflections here will resonate with many of us who have been likewise disillusioned.
Rang close ta home fer me as well Alex... yup, livin' in the "real" is key--it's (howevah) whut permits us ta tell stories on paper, on screens (silver preferred!) an' even thru ahrt, moosick, etc. Too many I met (not so much "crew" 'er mah fellow "acteurs" but those show runners an' higher uppers) are too distanced from real life... One tangential tale I gotta cover...it's the MBAs that infiltrated the film biz--try pitchin' ta guy in a $5K suit who ain't never seen Citizen Kane. Raisin' my hand fer that'un! Yup.... lotta these folks have their heads up their hineys! They live atta different altitude (an' with a diff. attytude too)
I've woiked high-brow an' low brow (an' a few weddin's too lol)....
Now that 9/11 coin tale ya shared is sad....
I NEVAH seen quite so egregious a slime dun on anyone decent but I did work on sum' talkin' heads shoots whar they made sum'buddy appear ta project a totally different viewpernt via the edit (cut-aways, etc). I'd say lies are frequent an' tho I love Magic Shows & the "illusion" of Cinema/Sin-e-ma, sum thangs do go beyond expected "tricks of the trade" an' venture inta dishonest portrayals.... I 'member bein' on set for products that didn't work no-how such that ya needed ta take dozens outta boxes ta git one that warn't a lemon. Those in charged fudged. They shot from the one angle, ya didn't see the unfinished back....
As a PA (pre inside props!--mah far better/better paid gig along w/ actin') I held the slop/spit bucket fer an 8 year old "Lil' Caesars pizza eater" who never swallered one bite of the junk food he appeared ta love on camera. I also help float cereal one piece atta time in milk made've Elmers Glue (gallon jug) so it floated. Fer a feature I helped assemble "ice cream cones" from dyed mashed taters.... an' more! Some of it wuz fun...much tedious tho! I watched food stylists blow-torch a giant RAW turkey an' made it look like a Norman Rockwell/Hallmark special! (After puttin' corn syrup with dye in it on ta glaze / carmelized it). Yum? Nix. (fwiw, you cannot alter the product yer sellin' but you don't have ta eat/use it (this might've changed but many celeb. sponsors had no clue 'bout the products they wuz sellin'/shillin' fer ) an' anythin' else on the set is fair game ta alter.
PLUS ya kin pick out the best parts! Imagine the one Burger King boiger you see on the teevee wuz Frankenstein assembled from 100! many bein' full out discarded... One non-wilted flower Boo-Kay assembled from 40 on set. WASTE is also a thang on commercials 'specially. Not so much features ('specially the lower budgie ones).
IF it's any consolation... Schmendricks abound at all levels! I've been a fly on the wall both in front'a an' behind the camera via extree/walk-on/bit work an' "inside" props (on bigger gigs) wuz my bread 'n butter fer years an' that'd include features, commercials, industrials, PSAs, moosick viddeoys an' more--so much ya say is close ta home fer me. Lowerz on the food chain bein' asked ta "cover" fer uppers (some on uppers! lol), screw ups galore--adult tantrums, nepo hires acti'n all unprofessional-like, the woiks!
Tho' the locker-room banter wuz not so hilariously jawr droppin' round the laydeez (I'd a spit my cawfee too), the "lite" lewdness (fwiw) at the warter cooler tended ta come from the IA (IATSE) major union jobs than on the NABET (then indie union) gigs where the men-folks got paid less an' were genuinely waay less old skool Longisland (one woid) sexist types... I did hate bein' called "honey" all the time then tho! (double-edged, again, not by the NABET fellas, most such sweeties). But I DO know eggzactly the type've stuff ya woiked on.
I'm also sad that so many--Kubrick & Welles come ta mind--had ta suffer such dramatic cuts ta their werk due ta the MoneyMen... the former likely lost his life objectin'! So yes, trooths are mischaracterized all the time, performances are "cut" ta render totally diff. pov's, an' sum shows start out with an agenda of lies.
This is why I prefer stuff where the audience comes in KNOWIN' they'll see a Magic Show or delightful illusions--Méliès!!!!
But don't fergit--many've us Shmendricks are still tee-riffic story-tellers in spite of not bein' the next Robert Rodriguez 'er fer me it wuz the Coen Bros--I git it! Substack's our book deal--an' micro productions are now possible (yup I hate diggy-tale but there IS sumthin' ta doin' stuff on the cheap) so don't put down yer wand Alex.... there's GOOD magic too ;-) (with a nod ta the GREAT Houdini / Erik Weisz!)
Wow—this is powerfully written. The disillusionment of the illusionist is about as real and raw as reality gets. Thanks for putting this all down in such an eloquent story. I suspect your reflections here will resonate with many of us who have been likewise disillusioned.
Rang close ta home fer me as well Alex... yup, livin' in the "real" is key--it's (howevah) whut permits us ta tell stories on paper, on screens (silver preferred!) an' even thru ahrt, moosick, etc. Too many I met (not so much "crew" 'er mah fellow "acteurs" but those show runners an' higher uppers) are too distanced from real life... One tangential tale I gotta cover...it's the MBAs that infiltrated the film biz--try pitchin' ta guy in a $5K suit who ain't never seen Citizen Kane. Raisin' my hand fer that'un! Yup.... lotta these folks have their heads up their hineys! They live atta different altitude (an' with a diff. attytude too)
I've woiked high-brow an' low brow (an' a few weddin's too lol)....
Now that 9/11 coin tale ya shared is sad....
I NEVAH seen quite so egregious a slime dun on anyone decent but I did work on sum' talkin' heads shoots whar they made sum'buddy appear ta project a totally different viewpernt via the edit (cut-aways, etc). I'd say lies are frequent an' tho I love Magic Shows & the "illusion" of Cinema/Sin-e-ma, sum thangs do go beyond expected "tricks of the trade" an' venture inta dishonest portrayals.... I 'member bein' on set for products that didn't work no-how such that ya needed ta take dozens outta boxes ta git one that warn't a lemon. Those in charged fudged. They shot from the one angle, ya didn't see the unfinished back....
As a PA (pre inside props!--mah far better/better paid gig along w/ actin') I held the slop/spit bucket fer an 8 year old "Lil' Caesars pizza eater" who never swallered one bite of the junk food he appeared ta love on camera. I also help float cereal one piece atta time in milk made've Elmers Glue (gallon jug) so it floated. Fer a feature I helped assemble "ice cream cones" from dyed mashed taters.... an' more! Some of it wuz fun...much tedious tho! I watched food stylists blow-torch a giant RAW turkey an' made it look like a Norman Rockwell/Hallmark special! (After puttin' corn syrup with dye in it on ta glaze / carmelized it). Yum? Nix. (fwiw, you cannot alter the product yer sellin' but you don't have ta eat/use it (this might've changed but many celeb. sponsors had no clue 'bout the products they wuz sellin'/shillin' fer ) an' anythin' else on the set is fair game ta alter.
PLUS ya kin pick out the best parts! Imagine the one Burger King boiger you see on the teevee wuz Frankenstein assembled from 100! many bein' full out discarded... One non-wilted flower Boo-Kay assembled from 40 on set. WASTE is also a thang on commercials 'specially. Not so much features ('specially the lower budgie ones).
IF it's any consolation... Schmendricks abound at all levels! I've been a fly on the wall both in front'a an' behind the camera via extree/walk-on/bit work an' "inside" props (on bigger gigs) wuz my bread 'n butter fer years an' that'd include features, commercials, industrials, PSAs, moosick viddeoys an' more--so much ya say is close ta home fer me. Lowerz on the food chain bein' asked ta "cover" fer uppers (some on uppers! lol), screw ups galore--adult tantrums, nepo hires acti'n all unprofessional-like, the woiks!
Tho' the locker-room banter wuz not so hilariously jawr droppin' round the laydeez (I'd a spit my cawfee too), the "lite" lewdness (fwiw) at the warter cooler tended ta come from the IA (IATSE) major union jobs than on the NABET (then indie union) gigs where the men-folks got paid less an' were genuinely waay less old skool Longisland (one woid) sexist types... I did hate bein' called "honey" all the time then tho! (double-edged, again, not by the NABET fellas, most such sweeties). But I DO know eggzactly the type've stuff ya woiked on.
I'm also sad that so many--Kubrick & Welles come ta mind--had ta suffer such dramatic cuts ta their werk due ta the MoneyMen... the former likely lost his life objectin'! So yes, trooths are mischaracterized all the time, performances are "cut" ta render totally diff. pov's, an' sum shows start out with an agenda of lies.
This is why I prefer stuff where the audience comes in KNOWIN' they'll see a Magic Show or delightful illusions--Méliès!!!!
But don't fergit--many've us Shmendricks are still tee-riffic story-tellers in spite of not bein' the next Robert Rodriguez 'er fer me it wuz the Coen Bros--I git it! Substack's our book deal--an' micro productions are now possible (yup I hate diggy-tale but there IS sumthin' ta doin' stuff on the cheap) so don't put down yer wand Alex.... there's GOOD magic too ;-) (with a nod ta the GREAT Houdini / Erik Weisz!)