Coronavirus Lights, Camera, Action!

I worked on my first commercial yesterday since the coronavirus shutdown on Friday, May 13th.

California and L.A. County approved TV and Film production to resume on June 12.

Along with the approval came a host of new safety guidelines. According to the Hollywood Reporter this includes regular testing, symptom monitoring, staggered meal times, hand sanitizer, masks, and other measures.

On set yesterday, the crew and cast size were small. Three crew and one cast member (me), in one location and the same crew and three cast members in the second location. Everyone wore masks. The cast only removed their masks right before filming. Hand sanitizer was readily available and food was served on individual plates handed out by the cook wearing gloves and mask. It was very exciting as we were all ready to take that first step into production in the current coronavirus era.

An fellow actor asked if I had to sign a coronavirus waiver as a rumor had been circling that cast and crew would have to sign one in order to work. The UFC made all of its fighters and anyone who has worked their events over the last month sign one. I did not have to.

New essential acting tools.

While I was very happy to work Friday, I have read a number of reports that crew and cast sizes will be reduced for the foreseeable future. Stands filled with spectators like in Ford vs. Ferrari, mob scenes like in Penny Dreadful, concerts, high school pep rallies, protests, speeches, all of these types of scenes will not be filmed for a while or if they are, very differently. There is discussion about using CGI to create people in the background, more tiling, and reusing people for the same shot just using different camera angles or changing wardrobe.

Changes are a part of life. Being prepared is the key.

I am thankful that I was fortunate enough to work on the first day TV and film productions resumed. I hope that it is a sign of good things to come.

I hope that things are looking up wherever you may be.

Take care.

Posts Tuesday and Saturday

Coronavirus: A Deserted Hollywood?

No Spiderman. No Batman. Not even Jack Sparrow stood on the corner of Hollywood and Highland.

Hollywood Boulevard was practically a ghost town. I say practically because the Goldman was there talking to a homeless man sitting on the curb and a man playing the guitar stood in front of the Chinese Theater.

I drove the length of the famous Boulevard with its theaters, hotels, souvenir stores, and fast food joints in only 5 minutes. Almost every business was shuttered.

Emptiness. I saw no more than a dozen people along the street, not counting the half dozen homeless not in their tents.

I was saddened for the shuttered businesses, but I was happy to see that Angelenos were taking the virus seriously abiding by the stay-at-home orders.

From here I drove up to Lake Hollywood Park to grab a picture of the Hollywood sign for today's blog. I saw cars parked along the road. I saw yellow tape closing off the park. I saw a city electric sign telling people to maintain a safe distance.

I saw four people here: one young woman leaving her car with a dog, a young couple walking to an overlook, and one guy dressed in neoprene pants and long sleeve neoprene shirt and what looked like num-chuks in his hand speed walking up the hill.

I didn't know where the rest of the people from the cars had gone. I took my photo of the sign and as I returned to my car, the woman with the dog asked me - invading my 6 foot personal space, "Is it closed?"

"Is what closed?" I asked leaning way back.

"The hiking trail."

"I have no idea."

She gave me a quizzical look, then proceeded walking up the hill, then disappeared down a trail that I had not seen. Now I knew where the people from the cars had gone.

It turns out Hollywood's attractions weren't completely deserted.

I didn't linger. I got in my car and headed home

Take care everyone - and please remember the 6-foot rule.

Blog posts: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Movie Reviews

Iron Man
Decent actors, decent plot, great special effects. It's just a shame that the Iron Man movie - cartoon version - is very similiar, if not identical, to the the live action movie. It took away a bit of the surprise of what was going to happen next. Hopefully, Marvel doesn't do the same thing with future superhero movies based on other comic books. I'm leery of the Hulk movie, as the Hulk's antagonist is a creature called Abomination; the same as it was in the animated Hulk movie put out by Marvel a couple of years ago.

Speed Racer
Perhaps I went into the movie with lower expectations than I had for Iron Man or it was due to the fact that I was huge Speed Racer fan as a child, but whatever the case I thought the Speed Racer movie was great. When I told a friend how much I liked it, he said from the previews it looked like the racing was confusing and hard to follow - all flash and bang. I agree, some of the editing could have been better, but the storyline, actors, making the movie so close to the cartoon series, and some great racing scenes, I was taken back to my childhood. The only part I didn't like, was that so much of the movie was done like a cartoon - the world, the cars, the fight scenes - that it really bugged me when they showed some guy getting beat while tied to a chair (busted lip, bloody nose, blood on shirt etc.).

Yes, I have kids, but I'm so damn sick of seeing torture in every goddamn movie I see - even one rated PG.

I don't know what's up with Hollywood always doing this. The point in the movie was to show how low the bad guys were, but either Hollywood has gotten lazy or just forgot how to make a bad guy seem really menacing without "showing" him or his henchmen beating someone into a bloody pulp. What ever happened to the good old threat of violence stand on it's own. It really made no sense showing the blood in a movie rated PG and obviously oriented towards children. Every other fight scene except for this was comical - in a good way.

My son after the beating scene said lets go, because he was scared. But then the racing took over for the next hour and a half he forgot about it. But the same thing happened in Iron Man- 10 seconds of rough treatment at the hands of the Afghanis. That's it, but completely unnecessary. And in Transformers - Bumblebee being tortured by the humans. Pirates of the Carribbean-a prisoner gets his eye plucked out by a bird. King Kong. Lord of the Rings - Smegal tortured by the orcs. The last Bond movie - beating him and breaking his nuts - there was no friggin' point for that. But John, you say, it shows our hero's strength. Or it show's the danger he's in. Besides it was an R rating. Dude, who enjoys watching someone's nuts get smashed? Only someone sick and demented. I think most people go to see a Bond movie to see the cool gadgets, awesome cars and fine women and how he gets out of his predicaments. - On a side note, what the hell is that all about when we take the women out of the Bond intro and put in fight scenes. Hollywood once again proves it perverse prudish logic that its better to show violence than the sensuality of a woman's body.

And so many more movies. I'm not saying this because I want all my movies rated G. I love action films and have no problem with appropriate movie violence. I just wonder why all these great movies devote thirty seconds to include a torture quotient. Especially, when the movie has nothing to do with horror. Maybe its the "24" phenomena of Jack Bauer where torture became a regular thing. Or Hostel. Or Abu Grab(?). But when people go to see these movies: Speed Racer, Transformers, Bond, etc : they go to escape and have a good time - not to feel their insides clench.

So if you're listening Hollywood and wondering why kids aren't flocking to see Speed Racer in droves, its because parents like me tell my neighbors with families: Speed Racer was great, except the one scene where someone gets their face beat up. But John, kids see violence everyday. True, I say. But then why in the rest of the entire movie, did you not show a single ounce of blood in any scene even when a monkey was bouncing a wrench on someone's head. See, no reason for it. New scene. Guy tied to chair. Bad guy says something threatening. Good guy scared. Bad guy shows example of what might happen. Then ...well I don't want to give away the movie for those of you who haven't seen it.

In conclusion, I liked Speed Racer better than Iron Man. My son came out of the movie running up and down the aisles pretending to be Speed Racer he liked it so much. And parents, the movie is great for most of kids. I don't mean to scare you away The great special effects and heart pumping racing scenes are something any kid who likes racing should miss out on.