Get a Haircut!

Today was a good day for production. Nick and I went up to Torrance to shoot some test footage. We joined up with a friend, and spent the afternoon trying a variety of camera techniques for the opening segment of the movie. All I had to do was walk around, so it wasn't much as far as acting goes, but it was a good thing for Nick to get a better handle on what will work best for him - since he is most likely going to be shooting the movie himself. We discovered an LA County Sheriff's station on the very same block as our friend's apartment, and it's the perfect visual exterior for the sheriff's office in the movie - and that was one heck of a great, random discovery.

The biggest key of the day for me personally, was... my hair. As those involved may or may not know, I usually have short hair and no beard - but as soon as the script started, I stopped shaving and cutting my hair. I've trimmed my beard quite a few times (otherwise it'd be even more enormous), but I've only trimmed my hair once - just to shape it a little. I was planning on doing the same again this Wednesday, but after watching the test footage we shot today back at Nick's place afterwards, he and I both said at the same time... the hair doesn't work as it is. Originally, I was going for Paul McCartney from the Let It Be video, and to me in the mirror at home it still looks good, but to see it on the television... it was too long. Obviously, I can't see the back of my head from a distance... or from any other angle, so it was a real eye-opener to me. Of course, Nick had said nothing about it needing to change up until this point, so I figured all was well. But, it's cool... we'll just be taking a trip to a barber sometime soon, and Nick can tell them what he's after. It sounds strange, all of this fuss over hair, but it's just another big piece of the costuming for me. I read a quote by Sean Penn once, where he mentioned that when he is coming up with a character, one of the first things he comes up with is the hair - that's his big thing, and once that's set, everything else comes into place. I relate to that, because for all of the characters I've worked on previously, the hairstyle is a huge part of the look and feel that helps me start the character off. So, as bizarre as it is... I honestly feel a little lost since I have no idea what my character is going to look like.

Pfft, actors... they're all crazy, right? Yeah, we sure are.