On Set Again

It has been quite a weekend. On Saturday I had the opportunity to be on a film set again. I was able to do so because, Reconciler had a joint service for All Saints Sunday with our host congregation Immanuel Lutheran Church and the Arabic congregation that also worships at Immanuel, Saint Elias Christian church, and I had no role in the leadership of the worship service, Laura our episcopal priest presided and the pastor of Immanuel preached. Since All Saints Sunday is a sort of combination of All Saints Day and All Souls Day Immanuel has a period in the service of lighting candles for those who have passed on and I was asked to create two stations with Icons and people also brought images of those who have died and have played a significant role in their spiritual lives. I set up these Friday night.

Then Saturday I was on the set of a Fringeelement Entertainment production, a promotional trailer for an up coming film. Kate is the Art Director, she also was recently the Art Director of a Fringeelement short currently called "Fall". Kate needed an extra hand for her art department crew so I was an art PA for the day. I love being on a film set, though it is hard to account for how great it is to be on set and work on a film.

Behind the scenes film work is a lot of work, at times boring (there is often alot of waiting, generally being on set is anything but glamorous. Filming also has a strange rhythm to it or perhaps a complete lack of rhythm. Especially for art: mad dash to get actors in costume and make up, get a set dressed, and then you wait. One waits to touch up an actors make up or fix some aspect of a set, or ready with a prop an actor needs (once yesterday I stood by with scored chalk as a young actor was filmed breaking chalk as she wrote and a chalkboard). Then you rush to strip down the set and move on to the next scene/location, and repeat above. And I loved it, not as much as I did being script supervisor for Clive, and if I worked on movies on a regular basis I do not think I'd want to be part of the art department. I want to have an excuse to be at the camera. At times in the art department you have an excuse to be around the camera but much of the time your off somewhere else making sure everything looks good and is ready to shoot, or returning a set to its previous condition.

Eventually it came up with various people on set that among other things I am a pastor(since some of those on set yesterday know me, Steve Luce the director is a friend and is also the founder of Back Burner Films the AD was an actor in Clive, it was perhaps inevitable that it would come up.) Some are intrigued by the revelation, others are surprised and taken back, and others ignore the revelation (I think either because it is an irrelevant piece of information about me or it makes them visibly uncomfortable.) The greatest response to this revelation yesterday was a not uncommon response but it is the most satisfying. "I would have never guessed." I like that response because it evidences a breaking of a conception of who and what a pastor is. It is though even for me a little odd to have been on set All day Saturday, and then to be in church the next morning as a pastor and then going to lunch with some of my congregation, and talk about my day on set the day before. I like my life I love film and being on set and I love pastoring, it can though get a little surreal feeling as a flit between different groups and different environments that don't mix in most peoples lives.