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The Lady Nerd

Geek Made Chic

A Day on Set of The Gifted: Part II

January 19, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 2 Comments

Read A Day on Set of The Gifted: Part I here
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In a flash, the stand-in cave under the stairs empties as second team makes a dash of Olympic levels into the headquarters. (For those not in the know, “first team” is the name given to the actors. Thus “second team” refers to their stand-ins and photo doubles.) At this point, we join the mass of crew members crowded around as the actors get into place for a marking rehearsal. As they do their thing, one of the camera assistants zips in and out placing neon coloured taped underneath the actors. This ensures everyone knows exactly where the actors end up. Meanwhile us stand-ins are watching the actors’ moves like steely-eyed hawks, memorizing their every turn, head tilt, posture, and walking directions.

“Alright, the crew has it!”

Marking rehearsal

This is usually when quick ‘good mornings’ and ‘hellos’ between first and second team occur. Of course, Emma Dumont and I have to take it up a notch with a secret handshake. Because we are just too cool for school. From here, the set becomes a bustling hive of activity as the director teams up with various department heads to set up the shot. Cameras get set up on their dollies, grips scurry to set up lights, and P.As position background extras in the scene. Although there are attempts to keep this process quiet, it rarely happens. The amount of people and activity in one spot makes for noise. (Although it can be frustrating for a half-deaf gal like me to hear as I swear they always call out directions on my left/deaf side…thank goodness for other stand-ins keeping an ear out for me!) Due to sizes of lenses, camera angles, and lights, us stand-ins get shuffled around A. LOT. But it’s why we’re here – to help set up the shot so the actor’s can just come in and do their jobs. Standing around for hours can wear you out or at the very least, make you quite antsy. So while it’s an extremely low-paying and often thankless job, it’s a very necessary one.

The Gifted behind the scenes
I’m going to stop here to make an important note of one of the reasons I love working on The Gifted. In the previous post I mentioned how Emma makes me feel like an equal. She is not the only one. Our executive producers Derek Hoffman and Craig Siebels (my favourite director I have EVER worked for) are always there with a smile, a friendly chat, and make the set feel like a safe, very fun place to be. And then there’s our showrunner, Matt Nix. I once had the embarrassing notion of thinking he was the head writer and not the uh…show creator. So when he visited set for the first time from LA, I brazenly waltzed right up to say hi and chat over the silly Instagram posts from the writer’s room. After the initial, “Hi, what do you do on set?” the very next thing out of Matt’s mouth was, “So, do you like comics?” DO I. Thus began a 30 minute super geeky conversation about X-Men (which truthfully is my favourite comic series. Always has been). It wasn’t until the series premiere when I saw his name on the title screen that I realized my error. Oops…

Executive Producers on The Gifted

Photograph Ⓒ Derek Hoffman

Craig Siebels on set of The Gifted

Now, back to set!

My body is aching. I’ve been holding this position for the last hour. Dear Emma has a habit of perching on chairs and tables which work perfectly for Polaris, but can be a bit tricky to hold for 1-2 hours. Behold the perching gargoyle (I started calling her halfway through the season)…

Emma Dumont aka The Perching Gargoyle on set of The Gifted.
Everything is now in place. The call goes out over the walkies to invite in first team.

“10 POINTS TO SLYTHERIN!”

Emma yells as she bursts onto set. Each actor arrives and trade off with their stand-in. I smile and say good morning to the other actors on my way out. “Morning, love!” Sean Teale’s Colgate smile greets me with a hug as he dashes onto set. I don’t know whether it’s his infectious smile or the fact that he reminds me a lot of my boyfriend, but I do so enjoy running into Sean on set (same with Jermaine Rivers (Shatter) and Hayley Lovitt (Sage). I like trying to see how big I can get the 3 of them to smile. What? They have great grins!)

The stage grows quiet and I peer over the producers’ shoulders to watch the monitors (despite setting up the shot with us stand-ins, things almost always change once shooting begins. So we have to be aware of any changes made). I watch it two times through and once I realize that nothing’s changing in this long, scene, I go to crafty to get my morning cup of tea. Back in the stand-in cave, I settle in to the quiet conversation happening. As per usual, the topics of conversation range from opinions on various geek-related things and acting.

The Gifted Jelly Bean Game
Most stand-ins are newbie actors, struggling actors, or actors who’ve fallen on hard times. So you’ll get a range of folks who take acting seriously and are using their stand-in job as a sort of Masterclass to learn from their actor while others are feeling out their place on set, to see if acting is a really a thing for them or if they like a different department better. (Still others spend their time complaining about not having gotten anywhere career-wise, but that’s when it’s best to have a book to read on set and ignore them without seeming rude).

Personally, I find myself in the undecided category. I love acting and previously had an agent, done many auditions, etc. I fall into a natural rhythm on set acting out the sides or with doing line rehearsals the actors. But with the industry being SO competitive and much of one’s hard-earned money going to tools to help one get work with usually little to no return, it’s a struggle. But I try not to fall into the trap of whining endlessly about it on set as some do, but to problem-solve this with my fellow stand-ins and to be grateful for where I am. Many do not. Many stand-ins I meet on sets are discontent and bitter they haven’t “made it” yet. I can understand a frustrating day here or there, but a sense of perspective gets lost. Perhaps one day I’ll be a working actress. Perhaps I’m meant for something else. But every day I try to make the choice to be grateful for what is given to me. I could be stuck on a terrible set. I could be stuck with an actress who wants nothing to do with me. I could be stuck nowhere near an industry I love.

Oh look…lunchtime!

Stay tuned for what happens in the lunchline and afterwards in Part III!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: craig siebels, derek hoffman, eclipse, emma dumont, hayley lovitt, jermaine rivers, matt nix, polaris, sage, sean teale, shatter, stand-in, the gifted, the gifted behind the scenes, the gifted set, x-men, x-men tv show

A Day on Set of The Gifted: Part I

January 17, 2018 by The Lady Nerd 4 Comments

BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!smackcrashHGNHgroan….

Such is the sound of 4am.

The sun hasn’t even thought about rising yet, so I greet the darkness with a habitual groan as I fumble for the lights. Thankfully I had the foresight to set out my clothes and backpack the night before so I can simply grab-and-go. Once situated in my trusty transportation, I turn on the radio to some lively jams to keep myself awake for the hour drive to the Stages. (If I had a later call time, that hour would easily turn into 1.5-2 hours. Atlanta traffic is fun, lemme tell you…) As I pull up the exit ramp to the Stages, I look over to see Stephen Moyer playing with his two dogs by the treeline with more energy than I can currently muster. With zombie drivers at the wheel, cars fall into line at the front security gate.

Atlanta Metro StudiosThe morning shuffle continues.

Still in a zombie-like haze, we meander out of our cars to our respective spots; some to set, some to trailers, some to trucks, and some to catering. Depending on how close I am to call time, I’ll either make a beeline to food or check in with wardrobe. Today is the latter. I wave at the various crew members hurriedly trying to get equipment in place for the morning and to a fresh-faced Jamie Chung out walking her spunky pup, Ewok. I ascend the wardrobe trailer steps to find our lovely wardrobe ladies busily hustling between clothing racks. I normally have my proper colour coverage, but today, I have the special treat of being a photo double. Never knew I could pull off a modern grungy look!

Emma Dumont's Polaris photo double, Briana Lamb in wardrobe on set of The GIfted.

When you’re on second unit and your actress is on first unit, goofy pictures get texted…

Afterwards, I begin my favourite part of the morning – getting wigged up. (Stand-ins and actors (known as first team) are usually kept separate. But for most of the season, it was insisted that I wear a wig similar to Polaris for lighting purposes.) I pop into the 5th trailer on the line to see Charles, Curtis, Lisa, Jenny, Gambi, and the rest of the lovely men and women of the hair and makeup departments.

The Gifted Hair DepartmentNo sooner do I enter than a friendly screech is emitted from one of the chairs. “Briaaaaanaaa! I have to tell you what happened this weekend!”

Enter Emma Dumont.

Emma Dumont and her stand-in, Briana.Most actors are friendly, but there is usually minimal interaction between an actor and their stand-in. I’ve been incredibly lucky to be paired with Emma, the bright, bubbly green ray of sunshine she is. I’ll never forget that by day two she declared aloud that we were new best friends. I laughed and figured that was cast-speak for “I like you. We will have fun on set” but no more. Oh I was wrong. Multiple girl brunches at Café Intermezzo and ridiculous midnight pun texts later, I’m happy to say we are actually friends (or as Emma likes to say “Twins for life!”) Emma treats me as an equal (for those of you not in the industry, that’s also not common. Actors tend to be nice to second team, but there is definitely a classist level between the two. But not with Emma. She sees cast and crew as they should be – equal people with different roles). As someone who just got used to the second-rate nature of being a stand-in (after years of being an-even-lower-than background extra), being treated as an equal and person of value by so many people on set of The Gifted is a truly beautiful thing.

30 minutes of many gossip conversations and a weird mix of hair pulling and a head massage later, I shuffle out of the hair and makeup trailer to go to set. I walk into Stage 5 where the coolest set I have ever worked on is housed. Behold the Mutant Underground Headquarters.

The Gifted mutant headquarters set

Photograph © Todd Lee

Mutant Headquarters Lighting

Mutant Underground Vault on set of The Gifted. Taken by Brad Marques

Photograph © Brad Marques

A chorus of ‘good morning’s’ greet me as I make my way over to the staircase, under which the stand-ins have made camp. This particular morning I notice a few grips inside installing something. “What’s going on?” I ask.

“We’re getting lights! I don’t know who they’re from, but we’re not the red-headed stepchildren kept in the dark under the stairs anymore!” excitedly says my set best friend, Ashley, who stands in for Amy Acker.

The Gifted Stand-ins
We all watch as string lights encompass our whole seating area. I stare in wonder as this simple, but beautiful gesture. I can read my books now! We take turns trying to guess who might have given us such a gift. Could it be Kay, our resident set mom (aka Jamie Chung’s stand-in), or maybe it was someone from the lighting department, or one of our friendly PA team? Suddenly, a familiar bearded face pokes through one of the wooden slats. “Whatdya think? It was just so dark in here, I thought you might like them,” smiles our beloved executive producer, Derek Hoffman. We fall all over ourselves in such excited gratitude that we almost miss the bellow of “SECOND TEAM” being yelled from set. And off we go!

Time to work.

Stay tuned for Part II…

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blink, derek hoffman, emma dumont, jamie chung, polaris, reed strucker, stand-in, stephen moyer, the gifted, the gifted behind the scenes, the gifted set, x-men, x-men tv show


Greetings programs! I'm Briana - artist, model, and avid costumer. Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere.
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