Well, this morning was another shoot. It was a small team this time round – only me, the lead, and two supporting actors. Unfortunately, one of the two supporting actors copped out. This is the second time (in three shoots) that this particular guy has done this to me.
Last Saturday, as I found out later, it was because he decided to go canoeing instead. It’s not because he had forgotten about it either – a day or so before the shoot he informed me that “something had come up”, and that he wouldn’t be able to come. As for today, it was because he chose to attend a protest. He didn’t even bother to let me know. It was only after I called him this morning that he finally got back to me.
This scene really focused on him, the lead, and the co-actor. His absenteeism screwed me over, and I didn’t really appreciate it. I spent $1,500 of my money to make this movie a reality. Not only that, but I have a very tight schedule – the boat company I use as a set is closing up shop for the season next week. Had he even bothered to let me know a day in advance, I wouldn’t be writing this here. People tell me dates they can’t make it for all the time, and I work around it.
But I can’t work around the issue if he only lets me know half an hour before the shoot. Furthermore, I’m already going out of my way for this guy doing a series of videos as part of a project he’s part of. In fact, I stayed up until 4AM finishing one up for him last Monday/Tuesday night.
It’s clear he has different priorities, and that I’m not in there. He claims it was a rather novel protest, and that his attendance helped. So be it. It still means that I am, on his priority list, somewhere between “worthless” and “oh hey, I have a few seconds free.” It has me questioning how much I’ve been putting myself out to help him. I work seven days in a row; he doesn’t. He doesn’t even have a job.
It’s frustrating. He even had the audacity to try to switch the blame to me. There’s truth to his argument – I could manage without him last Saturday, and I did say that I could manage if he couldn’t make it today. But that’s before he said he would show up today, and before the whole “not letting me know until the shoot itself” ordeal. In any case, he is no longer part of this movie. I used myself as a substitute for his character today, and I’ll have to come up with some kind of reasoning with regards to the switch of character. I’ll also have to find someone else now to play the part of the character I was going to do.
He’s since apologized. I don’t believe it to be sincere. Had he actually cared, I wouldn’t of found out he wasn’t coming half-an-hour before the shoot began. It would of been before, or he would of chose to attend the shoot. The only reason I think he even apologized to that extent was because I let him know under no uncertain terms that I was rather upset at his dishonest behaviour.
I think he’s scared that he might lose me as a video editor, which would screw him over royally. I won’t screw him like that, but he better be more considerate in the future – or I /will/ drop out. I haven’t had much sleep over the last few weeks, and working on his thing will insure I don’t get any for a while to come. This means that I’m more confrontational than my typical pacifist self, and that I will bite back if necessary.