Thursday, March 02, 2006

When all else fails, confuse the hell out of them.

In parts of Los Angeles, a movie shooting will draw a bigger crowd than in other parts.

In the heavily 'shot' parts of town, passers-by are more likely to shout obscenities than they are to placidly stand there, watching and waiting for something to happen.

Some of us, of course, make a beeline for the trucks to see if anyone we know is working and if they're picking up crew.

Yesterday, as I was walking down Melrose Ave (near the Pacific Design Center), I noticed a crowd gathering - as I got closer, I saw that it was folks watching a movie set.

This behavior on the part of West Hollywood passers-by is not normal - Melrose is a heavily shot area, and since I didn't hear shouts of "Fuck you, assholes!" and "Go to hell!", I figured that:

a) something horrible had just happened, or

b) someone really, really famous was standing there.

Sure enough - there, on the corner, waiting for them to roll was Big Action Star.

"Well, that explains the crowd", I said to myself* as I started to walk towards the lighting department's stakebed.

I was stopped by security.

"Big Action Star isn't signing autographs, Miss."

"Good for him - I'm just trying to get to the truck so I can give the best boy a card."

He had to think about what I'd just said for a moment.

"Why? Is it his birthday?"

Awesome.

They're not picking up crew, though.

Damn.


*I'm talking to myself with alarming frequency these days. All I need now is a beehive hairdo and 50 cats.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's hilarious.

Peggy Archer said...

Tiffany - it was pretty funny.

Genius - Vote no on the contract! There's a huge campaign in 728 to vote not to ratify, and there was an article in the LA Times today - I'll post the link as soon as I can find it.

Rocky & Mugsy's Moll said...

nah you don't need the cats and the hairdo - just pretend you are on your cell phone, can always use an earpiece to make it more realistic. ;)

Unknown said...

My Aunt has 50 cats. I don't have happy memories visiting her as a child.

LOVE your blog!

Anonymous said...

Are you referring to Entourage at Urth?

I think WeHo makes it fairly difficult for productions to shoot here. The permit fees are fairly high, and coordinating parking is a bitch, so most productions are happy to shoot elsewhere.

We do have some pretty neighborhoods though :)

Anonymous said...

It's reminiscent of the time I turned east onto Hollywood and came to a dead stop one morning. I was late to pick up a truck, and couldn't understand the people across the street, holding up cell phones like lighters.

Until I saw the process trailer with some blond guy in it.

Who was John Travolta.

And, I have to admit, it was at that moment that I realized: I didn't give a shit about HOLLYWOOD. I was simply eager to avoid foreclosure.