One of the most unusual things about working on a movie is the dichotomy between above and below the line crew. Generally speaking, "above the line" are the director, producers, cinematographer, writers, and actors. The "talent," so to speak, whereas "below the line" are generally the more blue collar workers--from grips to PAs and everything in between.
Although the two groups are both integral to making a movie and they need each other, as a general rule, each holds the other in some sort of contempt. Above the line people think below the line are not as good as them, and below the line think that above the line people are overpaid prima donnas. I know I have heard all sorts of things from other above the line people about how below the line crew are just mercenaries: they don't care about the movie, just about their paycheck, or they'll cheat and steal the first chance they get, etc, etc.
I don't know anything about movie sets other than what I have learned the past four days, but from what I have seen from the crew on this movie, none of that is true. In fact, I would say the opposite is true. The below the line guys on my set are just as conscientious and detailed oriented about their specific roles as I am about mine. I know I don't know movie sets at all, so maybe I'm all wrong, but from what I can glean, these dudes are putting in A+ performances.
Here why I think I can say that: Even though I don't know specifics about movie sets, I have worked many blue collar jobs in my life--everything from dishwasher to stable mucker--and I do know when someone is dogging it versus when they are busting their ass, and I can definitely say that the below the line guys are busting their ass. In an office, you can cheat the system and make yourself look busy even if you aren't doing any real work, but not in a manual labor job. Either shit gets done or it doesn't, and these guys get shit done, and they do it fast.
Yeah, maybe they don't care about the nuances of the performances as much as me, but that's not their job. Their job is to set up the lights, move the camera, set up the sets, etc, so I can do my job without having to worry about that, and they have been doing a fucking great job. I never have to think about anything other than the creative stuff I know how to do. In my extremely limited experience, with only one crew, I couldn't be happier. I can't really think of one time I have said to myself, "Man, I wish we had someone better at that position."
I think this is emblematic of another systemic problem in Hollywood: Lack of basic respect for people. The below the line guys on this movie remind me of every single other person I have ever worked with on any job that required a lot of physical labor: Tough, honest, hard-working, and no bullshit. If you treat them with decency and respect, they will kill it for you. But if you are a fucking dick to them, they aren't going to do anything for you. Why would you expect them to? Just because they are getting paid a lot? Fuck that. You can't pay someone enough to make it OK for you to treat them like shit.
Sorry, rant over. I'm just finding that so much of the "conventional wisdom" in Hollywood is based on a bankrupt and corrupt mindset. All the assumptions that so many people in this business work under are not only unnecessary, they are often patently false. It's time for fresh DNA in this industry.
ANYWAY, this whole aside is my way of introducing a video series we are going to be doing, appropriately titled "Crew Interviews." Greg will be doing basic interviews of as many people on the crew as possible, where they explain what their job is, why they like it, and maybe tell a funny movie story or something like that. This is the first one:
Also, a ton more pics are up of the first three days of filming, all seen here. Even though most of them won't make sense to you now, when the movie comes out, you'll see them in a new light.
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