Yesterday I had the amazing experience of watching my sons take part in the filming of a television show. The boys were contacted by their agent to play children in an episode of a new TV series that will be released this summer. These were background roles so they did not have lines. Their job was to put the identity of a character in context as a father and a family man.
For the boys it was a long day filled with hours of compulsory school work with a set teacher and with me telling them that they could not go out and play in the dirt. I think that perhaps I was more nervous than they were, not knowing what to expect and really hoping that they would both do a good job and come out of the experience with a positive feeling about it.
The moment that I really stopped being nervous about the whole process came just before the boys went on camera the first time. The star of the show, an actor I suspect you know, got down on the boys level to explain to them why he was wearing makeup that made him appear as if he had been thrown through a window and give them some very simple tips on what they should do. I was totally impressed on how he was able to immediately connect with them and get them focused on the job. He introduced himself to me later in the day and complimented the boys. Taking the time to do these things on what I am certain was a long day really added to the wonder of the experience.
Dominic has always been a star, fairly easy going and responsive to adults. I was less concerned about his ability to handle any stress or understand why they would be doing the same things over repeatedly or asked to make small corrections than I was with Anthony. Anthony did very well during the first scene but I only knew how emotionally invested he was in the job when we were walking back to the classroom. He turned to me, almost about to cry, and said that they didn’t like him. I was shocked, everyone was really nice and complimentary and he seemed to have done everything they were asking of him. It turned out that he had misinterpreted the scene as an audition and felt that since they were sending him away they didn’t want him in the TV show. His on-set teacher and I explained to him that he had done a great job and how television was filmed in small little pieces and put together to make the whole story.
Throughout the day Dominic, Anthony and I had the opportunity to discuss lighting, how they were able to film the indoor daytime scenes at night as well as other aspects of television production including the concept of continuity or why they couldn’t drink the red kool-aid and needed to be careful eating so as not to get their clothes dirty. The set teacher explained to them why we were eating “lunch” at 4:30. We got to visit the craft service truck for a snack and went to wardrobe to have our outfits checked out.
The end of the day wrapped up with the first assistant director hurrying to complete the boys’ last scene and the boys receiving applause from the cast and crew. Anthony still was concerned that they hadn’t filmed enough even insisting that they forgot to film an upstairs scene that I am quite sure was never in the script. This will be one of those red letter days that I will always remember and it was made so in a large part by the stars, the directors, the crew, the wonderful teacher and the family whose house we used as a classroom. A special thanks to Wyatt for sharing his toys.