Day 39 Shooting- Scabby
Took a while to get back to this point. The Damien thing really brough me down for awhile and for some reason I just couldn’t get my shit together for a month. I broke it off with Magan because I couldn’t be the boyfriend anymore, becoming more and more unpleasant to be with every time we hung out. I started to resent her company, always thinking I should be doing something else. Then eating badly and the lack of exercise making me tired.
Plus I could never get my aunt julie to call me back for the most part and she seemed like she didn’t really care about what I was doing, so it was hard to get my nephew Thomas. Top top it off I couldn’t film at their house anymore so I lost a location. Then on top of that I lost Michelle, who was playing the mom because she’s leaving the country…not THAT big a deal and much to Stu’s relief since she socked him good on the previous shot.
ANY-WAY. So I c all up Andy and ask if we could dress his room to be a kid’s room- no problem there. We schedule a date and finally everything sticks. Magan and I pick up Thomas in the morning and drive him to the trailer downtown.
I guess I should mention how lousy it was to break it off with Magan, but she took it extremely well. I was probably more broken up about it then she was, but for the last couple weeks I was unhappy- to the point where I felt sick to my stomach because I knew I had to tell her, but couldn’t. After a discussion with Alex Aves (we saw baghead and swapped sob stories like usual) I knew I had to do it. I put it off last time because she was having a great day and just fresh from the Comic Con experience…I couldn’t bring myself to do it. That was the night we saw Valley Girl at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. A week went by and she sort of had to pry it out of me.
She was more concerned that there was a possibility that I wouldn’t hang out with her anymore. Not the case, but I couldn’t handle the commitment anymore. I’m not ready…and I DID drag it out a bit because I wasn’t 100percent sure, but I thought about it soo much every day I knew there was no way I could let it go.
So…I was the asshole and she understood why. We’re ok now.
At the makeup trailer Kristy gave me a nice welcome and Dean went right to business with Thomas. Kristy kept saying how cute Thomas was. Thomas sat up in the dentist’s chair- least that’s what it reminded me of and Dean started peeling away at a circular piece of paper he cut out. He eventually attached the paper to Thomas’s knee where we marked it and then started painting over it. It got gooier and gooier as he went along. After awhile, it didn’t look like a scab anymore- it looked like a gunshot wound- the thing was soo nasty- I think Dean likes to give people their money’s worth. I kept looking at Magan for an opinion, because I was too afraid to ask Dean what the hell he was doing. This guy worked on Blue Velvet for chrissakes- he’s a master.
So we left and Magan had to run a few errands at a couple storage facilities. Thomas waited outside with his disgusting knee while playing on his gameboy. I think one woman was freaked out by his wound and then there’s me hovering over the kid taking pictures of it.
In the car, Magan deadpanned, "Wow, Thomas, what happened to your knee?"
Thomas, without blinking eye replies, "I went to a makeup trailer."
Honest kid.
Magan drove us to Andy’s and we met up with Stu there. She had to bail after a few minutes and said she might be able to stop by later. I stalled a little bit while we were setting up, hoping Magan would come back in time to execute the effect. She did get to help a bit, cleaning up the wound to make it slightly more realistic. I nthe end it was still too gooey, but we were pressed for time, especially since I took so long to set up and taking awhile to get the first set of shots. Stu comes in the door, checks on the kid, repeat. Then he comes in (after hes been bit by a vampire)- sees the band-aid on the kid’s knee, peels it off and starts to drool. He presses a finger against it and licks at the wound. Then he backs out of the room, fearing he may take it even further.
Thomas had a hard time not grinning and keeping his face relaxed while "sleeping" because of the bright lights.
I felt like shit after the shoot; I gave lousy direction to Stu and I always suck when we rush things, but to my relief the footage was pretty damn good all considering. After all that the biggest humiliation was just around the corner when Thomas reminded me he wanted a Starbucks drink. he requested that a couple years earlier when he was only 7 in the episode of Sun Never Sweats. Some orange blended drink. Anyway, I discovered I couldn’t afford the drink- 30 dollars overdrawn- and I was still $344 dollars behind on rent.
Stu ended up getting the drink for him. Then he offered me some money to get out of my negative balance. I couldn’t take it, I felt so stupid and embarassed. Thank goodness I have understanding friends. Louise let me pay my rent two weeks later on the next pay day. Alex and Louise have some extra in their savings and Louise reassured me that it would be alright and just pay when I can. I didn’t have the guts to ask my Dad over the phone although I did talk to him. He had just helped out Barry and his wife Julia because they were visiting in Hawaii and all their credit cards and money were stolen out of the trunk of their car. On their second day out there. So asking my Dad for money after that seemed too unbarable.
I left a message with my mom and she didn’t call back. So I was cornered and desperate, but then Louise let me off the hook and I could relax and worry about paying later. Mom eventually called me back and sent me a much needed 100 bucks to get me through the last few days before pay day- I had been broke for over a week, taring apart the apartment for loose change just so I could take the bus to work. Luckily, Louise had the same work schedule a couple days, so I got a few free rides.
So that’s that.