Forum: Story Ideas

Time travel, Hollywood

HFritz 🚫

The idea is a widely used idea in novels written by Chinese, where a man who is a movie buff or works in something related. He travels back in time, the time period is at the writer's choice. He sees that he has a chance to make it in the entertainment industry. In the profession of the writer's choice, which could be; director, producer, actor, star manager, writer of books or movie scripts, etc.

In general, it tells how he enters the entertainment world, the interactions he has with people in the industry, and the different relationships he has. Until he succeeds in his goal.

Time travel, Hollywood

Replies: ystokes hiltonls16 ystokes blackjack2145309

ystokes 🚫

@HFritz

the one problem I have with these stories is they rarely talk about the downside of the job.

Being on set for upto 14 or more hours with most of them sitting on your ass.

Saying your lines over and over just to do it again when they change the angle of the camera.

When you do a western you are standing in or next to a puddle of horse piss.

If the scene calls for wind and sand you stand in front of a V8 powered fan while someone throws dirt in it.

How all those summer beach scenes are filmed in the winter and winter scenes are filmed in the summer.

The reason so many actors seem mentally messed up is a lot of them go to a dark place in their mind to find the emotion they need.

Replies: redthumb

redthumb 🚫

@ystokes

'In Her Genes' by Argon in the Clearwater Universe shows some of the problems.

hiltonls16 🚫

@HFritz

Aubie56 has a story where a special effects wizard was transported to a time and place where magic is practiced because a wizard was needed to help defend the realm.
https://storiesonline.net/s/53833/wizard-gone-wild

ystokes 🚫

@HFritz

One of the funny things about background work is if you are non-union it only pays min. wage although you get a min. 8 hour pay. Sometimes they put out a call for NU BG with high end cars like Rolls, MB's or Porche's that still pay only min. wage plus $35 for the cars and they can't be red, white or black.

Replies: StarFleet Carl

StarFleet Carl 🚫

@ystokes

Sometimes they put out a call for NU BG with high end cars like Rolls, MB's or Porche's that still pay only min. wage plus $35 for the cars and they can't be red, white or black.

They started doing the filming for Twister 2 yesterday, and here's what they were paying:

Freihofer Casting is looking for extras for the first 2 weeks of filming of a major studio feature film. Filming will be in the Oklahoma City, OK area.

Neither the film's title, nor the cast, crew nor details of the film can be discussed at this time.

Extras will be paid $10/hour with a 12-hour guarantee each day, even if the day goes less than 12 hours. Overtime will be paid after 12 hours.

Extras will also be compensated an additional $50/day if their vehicle is used on camera.

In the event there is simulated rain or simulated wind in the scenes (they will be notified in advance), extras will be compensated an additional $25/day.

In the event there is smoke or atmospheric haze in the scene (extras will be notified in advance), they will be compensated an additional $10/day.

They specifically stated no white or beige vehicles.

Replies: ystokes

ystokes 🚫

@StarFleet Carl

In the event there is simulated rain or simulated wind in the scenes (they will be notified in advance), extras will be compensated an additional $25/day.

In the event there is smoke or atmospheric haze in the scene (extras will be notified in advance), they will be compensated an additional $10/day.

That's pretty good because only union BG would get those bumps in pay and there will be no union BG on set. One of the weirdest bumps you can get is called a beard bump. If they ask you to grow a beard or ask you not to shave they pay a extra $25 a day. But you only get it if they ask. If they know you won't shave they just don't ask so no bump.

And the guaranteed 12 hours rarely happens. It's a set 8 hours at flat pay, time and a half 8-12 hours, double time 12-16 hours and any bit after 16 is called golden time at 3 times. And if they don't give cast and crew 8 hours down time you start at your last rate from the day before.

Replies: Mushroom

Mushroom 🚫

@ystokes

That's pretty good because only union BG would get those bumps in pay and there will be no union BG on set.

Not really, I've gotten bumps in the past and was not union. Night shoots were a common one, and once it was even a bump for smoking (they even gave me the cigarettes to smoke).

I've also gotten bumps for wardrobe, as well as either having long hair and a beard, or short hair and clean shaven.

Ultimately, it can depend on what the shoot needs, and how easy it is for them to find those they want.

Replies: ystokes

ystokes 🚫

@Mushroom

Not really, I've gotten bumps in the past and was not union.

That's great to hear, was this in LA or NY? Because they have different union rules.
Come to think about I remember getting bumps while NU if the call was small enough.

Replies: Mushroom

Mushroom 🚫

@ystokes

That's great to hear, was this in LA or NY? Because they have different union rules.

Los Angeles. And movies may or may not need Union members, in many cases it depends on the budget and needs of the shoot.

I was never in SAG, but at one time I did consider joining SEG because I was involved in dozens of shoots in the middle 1980's. But by the time I returned to LA and got involved again SEG had already imploded and been folded back into SAG.

But in general, even a "Union Set" only requires a certain percentage of extras to be SAG members. And generally the only difference between them and the others is that they make more per day filming. But the bumps are the same across the board. Otherwise they would have Union troubles because directors would simply use only non-members for scenes that require bumps to the detriment of the SAG members.

Replies: ystokes

ystokes 🚫

@Mushroom

I worked BG from 1998 to 2010 with 10 years in SAG and 2 years on the SAG BG Commitee and been on 100's of sets and they don't need to give NU bumps, in fact I was on one set where both NU and union had to spend over a hour in makeup and only union got a bump. I have even been on a few sets where a lot of BG worked for free. Granted these were sets with over 1,000 BG.

Some times union members got more then just higher pay depending on how big the call was. We would get better food Prime rib v spaghetti, access to craft service snacks. On some sets we made them get AC units in holding.

blackjack2145309 🚫

@HFritz

In that scenario why not go bigger?
My point is if you can come up with a plausible plot to have acquired a film company you could make moves to acquire profitable scripts because you know which movie scripts and directors will hit it big....

Replies: HFritz Mushroom

HFritz 🚫

@blackjack2145309

That's what I think, it's a very big topic, which has infinite ways to present it. And that it's perfectly suited to be published in Storiesonline.

And Western writers haven't written too much about it. Which is strange, being the entertainment industry and sports the most interesting topics for Westerners.

On the other hand, Easterners (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, etc) are so much more advanced, they have so many web stories written about their own entertainment industry, that they have had to write so many others about Hollywood to give variety.

Replies: Magalis

Magalis 🚫

@HFritz

I think part of the reason is that there was this opaqueness about the inner workings of "Eastern" entertainment industry pre-2000ish, whereas everyone knows how Hollywood worked that leaves very little to imagination (from Hays code and censorship machine to the influence of unions). So you could reasonably write a story about going back to, say, working with Bruce Lee in early 1970s Hong Kong, but it would be laughably out of place for for late 1960s Hollywood.

I feel the only sensible entry point, unless you start with a character already inside the Hollywood machine, is the record labels. But I don't think they would make good stories for the readers. For example, you go back as Dick Rowe (or someone close to him) and not reject the Beatles (twice!); but now British Decca did not have sufficient ties in the US that would make them the smashing hits in 1964 tour, and worse, has to split limited resources between the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (because of course you have to sign the RS as well, whereas in our timeline Decca signed RS as a result of rejecting B), angering both sets of fans. Most likely, you will be writing some variants of the payola/pay-to-play scandals again, and that is boring.

Mushroom 🚫

@blackjack2145309

My point is if you can come up with a plausible plot to have acquired a film company you could make moves to acquire profitable scripts because you know which movie scripts and directors will hit it big....

That was an aspect in the Ken Grimwood book "Replay". It was about people who when they died reset to an earlier part in their life. And I want to say on his third trip through life he saw a movie that had never existed before. Made by Spielberg and Lucas.

And he discovered the other person reliving their life had gotten them both right before they became major players, and made a script along the lines of ET and Star Wars.

But in reality, that would really play out as becoming a producer, no need to get a "movie company". That would only work if say the film is set in the 40s or before when the Studio System had an almost complete lock on the industry.

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Forum: Story Ideas

Time travel, Hollywood

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