Early morning noises in the hallway outside the apartment. Masses of people coming and going, talking and carrying things into the building. The floor covered in rubber mats, the corners of the walls covered with cardboard protectors, thick black cables snaking along the passage and up the stairs, spot lights, reflectors, cameras, tripods, monitors and lots and lots of blue tape. Hollywood had invaded. Controlled chaos at it’s finest. Only in Los Angeles can an average person wake up with a camera crew outside their door on any given morning.
The filming in my building was for an educational commercial. They arrived with the dawning sun and left after it set. Every member of the crew knew their job and did it well. Even the Fire Marshal was experienced and knew what to expect and what was expected of him. When the wall wasn’t the right color they built a false one to set in front that was. When they needed laundry for a prop they brought in a basket full from a truck outside. Vases, flowers, knick knacks, end tables, mood music, tents, tables, chairs, snacks and more all supplied with precision by the mobile army in tractor trailers parked along the street.
When driving through Los Angeles corrugated yellow notices with black lettering can be seen attached to telephone poles, light poles and sign posts. The messages on them are sometimes precise “Crew Parking”, sometimes mysterious “NSY” and sometimes obvious “NCIS” or “CSI” or “U Betty” with directional arrows. On the buildings in the vicinity can be found taped “Notice of Filming” signs that describe what, where, and when something is being filmed. These white notices also list who is doing the filming, how to get in touch with them, permits, production parking, if equipment will be on the sidewalks or in the street and street closures. Whether it’s a commercial, a TV show or a movie being shot LA has it down to a science.
The earliest form of theatre was epic stories and myths passed down from parent to child around camp fires, religious festivities and celebrations. Theatrical forms evolved worldwide. The need to creatively use the imagination is as basic to our nature as the need for food, shelter and continuation of the species. Instinctively, children create and share fantasy worlds as they play. Adults create fantasy worlds as well, something as seemingly mundane as Sunday dinner has it’s own rituals and decorations that make it “special.” Holidays, birthdays, school dances, graduations, are all made memorable and dramatic through the creation of transitory and fleetingly beautiful improvements to our environment, our behavior and our expectations and these are the events that remain in our memory when all else fades away. Shakespeare wrote “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” and we are.
The evolution of drama from everyday life to Hollywood is fascinating, exhilarating and stimulating. Seeking something other than, something greater then the norm, obtainable even if only for a transitory moment, is a deep seated drive in humanity through all cultures on all continents at every social level. Access to today’s elaborate productions, instead of being under the exclusive control of the elite has reached the masses and what’s more, through advancements in technology, creation of what before could only be dreamed of is now also accessible. While the majority of what is created on an amateur basis is not extraordinary there are always the exceptions and those exceptions have an exponential and unique impact on society. The concept alone that everyone has a voice that can and will be heard if expressed is phenomenal and empowering on an individual basis and on society as a whole. The belief that an individual can make a difference is profound and changes the way we live in a positive way.
Historically, even those societies who have embraced freedom of speech and expression as a right for their citizens, in a practical sense could not guarantee that the voices were accessible to society at large. Only those with access to outlets whether through educational, social or monetary status were actually heard. Today everyone has a voice and they can be heard. If enough voices say the same thing they are perceived but the danger becomes that individuality and the unique voice can be overlooked and lost in the crowd. New problems now arising are the individual voice is drowned out in the flood, mass acceptance of inaccurate, unverified information can cause issues and dangerous microcosms of fringe society are encouraged in their psychosis by finding others with similar beliefs. The direction the next evolution of unique creative expression takes with Hollywood at the apex of the cresting wave can only be guessed at but too many people talking is better than too few and individual empowerment is awesome to behold.
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