Todays rather tiring filming session turned out to be a great opportunity for me to conduct informal interviews for my Sociology term paper on Emotional Labour and Impressions Management. Talk about a blessing in disguise. It has to be said that it was not a pre-planned thing on my part to do any interviewing. However, when 0830-1200 was to be spent standing around, eating, waiting for the lights to be set up, waiting for your scene, waiting for the other actors to arrive, there is nothing to do except talk talk and talk, the word 'talk' here being a euphemism for emotional ventilation.
The producer/casting director ventilates about egoistic auditionees and diva-esque actors/actresses. The costumes i/c ventilates about actors who sabo him by wearing something directly contrary to the director's wishes, about the demands of an eminent local director which led him to blacklist a huge, shady and leafy movie production house. However, as they have extraordinary powers of emotional control, they keep their frustrations neatly tucked away until someone probes deep enough to unleash a torrent of curses.
"As much as we like our job, we just have to bitch about it to let off steam..." says Hamid*. (*name changed to protect the innocent)
Other than that it was an uneventful day of doing chase scenes at some ulu cafe at Serangoon Gardens, playing Scrabble with two very convincing-looking policemen, moaning about the state of the dried grass, and being amused by the dog in a Chinese embroidered top and brown socks barking at the most inappropriate moments during takes.
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