chuckography

On set filming OBX in Charleston

 Who woulda thought!?

The CoronaVirus (COVID-19) has caused major changes around the world.

Today's mandate to stay-at-home and social distancing has become the norm over the last several months....everywhere.

Even things like the release of new movies have been postponed until theaters can re-open.

And when the movie-going public could resume eating popcorn in a theater, looking up at the big screen.

I was not sure if - and when - the Netflix new streaming television series OBX would premiere.

I was glad to just see its trailer and hear the first season's first episode would air  tomorrow April 15.

Being home-bound, there now is a GREAT audience for Netflix to bring entertainment into our homes when we really can use  the diversion!

The trailer is interesting to me because the opening scene shows the Moris Island lighthouse at Folly Beach, SOUTH Carolina!

OBX is what they call the Outer Banks up in North Carolina...but Episode 4 was shot down here in our state!

I didn't realize any of this state-switching background was going on when I was picked to be an extra in the new show.

Wardrobe liked the outfit I wore to play the role of an older, shabby Barge Worker.

Well, they DID give me a different pair of shoes..tossed out my worn-out sneakers for a pair of scruffy steel-toed boots, and different pants from the khakis I was wearing.

It's safe to say my denim shirt was accepted

They also added a salty, rakish ball cap with a visor and logo. To complete the proper image, "Hollywood Dirt" was brushed over my pants and the front of my shirt.

That is a cool effect and it washes right out.
Not that I really cared...mostly weren't MY clothes!

I was the grizzled geezer among the young cast and crew gathered on Shem Creek by a local marina.

We were there all day and into the evening when a drone was piloted overhead to give an aerial view of the overall marina and its stacks of boats.

It was the first time I had been by the locally well-known seafood restaurant The Wreck.

I did not know the plot of the new show but I was surrounded by young actors and crew as we three wardrobed-extras waited to see what our role would be.

The Director for this episode, Valerie Weiss, gestured to me to join her and I quickly did. She startled me by asking my name!

Been doing this for more than 5 years and never had been asked my name before doing a scene.

"Two of the cast members are going to sneak aboard your barge and you will walk past a moment too late to catch them. The timing will be important," the Director added.

We all got in position and I got my signal to enter a hatch on the barge, walk across to the other side - like in search for a tool - and exit out the hatch on the other side.

The first time I DID see the two scamper down the ladder to the lower deck, the second one was better and we nailed the timing on the third take!

The Director gestured, I approached and she said "You timed it perfectly, Chuck. You made the scene work. Good job."

I joined the other two extras and when a PA walked by, I asked him to tell the Director that Chuck appreciated her asking his name. That had not happened before.

He came back and she had said to tell me it will be in Episode 4 of the new series so I could watch for it.

That's never happened before either!

Labels: COVID-19, Hollywood dirt and fake blood, Outer Banks in the Carolinas, steel-toed crusty boots, The Wreck restaurant at Shem Creek, visored ball cap. salty barge worker, young cast and crew.

posted by chuckography @ 7:34 PM