The actor upgrade

Retirement Life

Recently, I was booked to work on Resident Alien as "Man in Black". I know, I got pretty excited about it. See, a normal day working in Background (BG) will have you sitting around in holding 80% of the time, and maybe only a couple of hours on set, walking back and forth in the back of the scene. So when I got the request to be a Man in Black, I immediately thought that I could end up being one of the MIB guys - it is a TV show about an alien, after all. Getting to dress up and pretend to fight aliens seemed like it might make for a much more exciting day on set, and I actually wore a black suit to work that day, hoping to play that kind of character.

Well, it wasn't to be. When I got there, the costumer gave me my outfit, which was a military SWAT-type get-up, entirely in black... i.e. Man in Black. We had a chuckle over it, and she even joked that I should go to set in my black suit and see how the director and team reacted. Anyhow, I changed into my costume, and then had a look at the call sheet. But the wrangler stops me and says, "no Richard, you're on splinter unit today... it's just you on that." So what that means, is there's another unit of camera production, complete with separate director, AD, etc. that shoots a completely different scene or scenes from main unit. No problem, I'm thinking... it's sometimes better when there's less BG involved.

After a relatively short wait, the wrangler sends me outside, to where the splinter unit has set up. I come around the corner, and see that the set is an old RV! This is going to be interesting, me thinks. The AD grabs me, and leads me in a holding tent that they call a Green room, and introduces me to the young actor I will be working with. He also hands me a set of "sides", which are the lines for the scene. This is not normal experience for a BG. The props guy comes by, and kits me out with my tactical vest, protective gear, helmet and rubber gun. I sit and peruse the sides, noting that there really isn't much description of what I'm going to be doing, and there certainly aren't any lines for me to read. I'm the bad guy, and will be kidnapping the young alien, cleverly disguised as a human boy.

A little while later, it's showtime, but just me for some reason. The AD brings me in to the RV to do some "blocking"; this is where they choreograph the actions of the scene, so the camera operator etc. get what the director is looking for. Well, it's just me and the cameraman in the RV - no one else; strange, but cool at the same time. After everyone is happy with the setup, the director yells, "let's shoot!" I step outside so that the props guy and the costumer can make sure everything looks good on me, and I head back into the RV. We shot the scene a 1/2 dozen times, mostly because it was hard for me to come out from behind a curtain to surprise the alien without bumping into the lighting rigs in the cramped space. I hear from outside the RV, "more menacing!" which was my cue to put on an even more fearsome look.

We finish that angle, and it's time for "the turnaround". This is where the young actor, Kesler, comes into play, and the camera shoots over my shoulder, capturing the moment when he enters the RV and looks up to me with terror in his eyes. We ran that one a few times, then we switched to a scene where the RV is being hauled away by a helicopter, and Kesler struggles in vain to get out a window, and I pull him back. In all, from the time I arrived on set, to when I was wrapped, it was just over four hours. 

When we finished, I asked the AD if he felt that constituted an actor upgrade, and he thought it did. So after a bit of paperwork and some back and forth with production, I got the upgrade! 

Anyhow, it's out now, but you'll have to watch very carefully to see me; you can see the clip above, or if you are watching Season 2, episode 12, pay attention during the alien kidnapping scene!

Emerald Waterways pre-cruise gifts

Travel and Leisure

Well, the countdown to our European river cruise is officially on... it's getting real! Yesterday, a large package arrived via courier, which I was kinda expecting. In it were two backpacks and a travel document folio. For those of you who have upcoming Emerald cruises, I thought I'd give you a quick review of it, as you may or may not want to plan on another piece of luggage instead. Update: As of the 2023 season, they are no longer sending out these backpacks, and I believe are offering a 50€ per person onboard credit.  Clicking any picture below should bring up a gallery view:

My first observation, is that these backpacks are quite large! At 43 x 33 x 16 cms, it is the exact dimensions of most air carriers' "personal item". If you want to maximise your carry on only luggage, then this will be a good piece for you. The second thing I noticed, is that it is a reasonably full-featured backpack. I was expecting a throw-away/thrift store donation, but it has quite a few nifty features.

It has one main compartment, which has a slot for holding your iPad, and then an organiser area for pens and such. There is a slimmer, front compartment, which has an RFID zipped pocket for your passport etc., and an easy access, 2/3 height front document pocket. I found that the front pocket fits my iPad 9, so I used it for faster access than the main compartment. The back padded panel is ventilated, which has a "sleeve" so that you can slip it over the handle of your spinner/wheeled luggage. The front is also lightly padded, so it gives the backpack structure, even when it is not fully loaded.

There's a laptop area that zips open off the left shoulder strap; it looks like it would hold a 17" laptop. A mesh water bottle holder is on each side, and on the left one, there's a D-ring to clip the security zipper to. The final feature that was a surprise, is the integrated rain cover, which zips out of the reinforced bottom area of the backpack. 

This all fit into the backpack!

At only 0.78 kgs, it's lighter than my Arc'teryx Blade 24 (1.3 kgs) that I would normally use as my personal item. With a capacity of approximately 23 litres, this backpack can accommodate a significant amount of gear. The shoulder straps aren't padded much, but for the amount of kit you can put in, they are fine. The Emerald water bottle you will get on your cruise fits perfectly in the mesh pocket, and the other mesh pouch could be used for a sunglasses/eyeglasses case. With all of the cool travel features, it is a pretty neat gift. Update: I had a short 3-day trip recently, and so rather than taking a carry-on spinner, I thought I’d try this backpack. I used a medium packing cube for a pair of shorts, a few extra shirts, boxers and socks; this cube then slid nicely into the main compartment. There was a little bit of room at the top for me to roll up a thin fleece jumper in case it got cold on the plane or at my layover in Toronto. My Dopp kit, ziplock with liquids and noise cancelling headphones fit into the front compartment, and my iPad tucked into the zip pocket. I put a folio with some printed material in the laptop compartment, my eyeglasses case slipped into one mesh pocket, and my Emerald water bottle in the other. I’m impressed!

The other item that arrived with the backpacks, is a travel document folio. It is approx. 30 x 18 x 3 cms, and has various pockets to cram your passports and other travel stuff into. There is a small clear window pocket on the right, for small items and cards etc. The folio is lightly padded as well, which is probably why I won't use it. With a few documents, some extra cash and passports, it becomes a relatively substantial item, and will take up more space than is necessary. I've got another pouch from Avalon that is a simple, flat nylon item, which doesn't add extra bulk.

Now let's get river cruising!