MY ALMOST APPEARANCE ON CHICAGO FIRE A FEW NIGHTS AGO

Seriously. I was in that booth, just past the pretty woman from Plainfield who I next saw in the episode of CHICAGO PD  that I mentioned filming in the last post.  But it was fun sitting there eating my hash browns for five hours and watching the booths and people get jostled around. I memorized the dialogue of the actors, they had to do several takes, then do several more when people were switched around, and again when booths were moved and new camera angles were set up. I got paid for my time, but I really enjoy the process. The entire scene lasted about three minutes at the opening of the show. Six hours and sixty people for three minutes.

FILMING ON CHICAGO FIRE

 Last Thursday, I was in a diner scene for the television show CHICAGO FIRE. It was an interesting time. I might be on screen in a booth across from three of the actors. Since they filmed at the Bridgeport Diner, on the corner of 35th & Halsted, there were also cameras rolling as we walked back and forth on either side of the street. Windiest day of the month, so I looked a bit like Nosferatu in my black trench coat.

SECOND FILM ROLE ON CHICAGO PD

I've been called back to appear as a character in a fundraising scene, some sort of cocktail party. That's my outfit, but I doubt I'll be standing around holding a rotary phone. The last time I appeared it was as a person in jeans and a sweatshirt on an el platform at Southport. These are all scenes filmed well after the main scenes. I posted a shot above of the two el cars that were used, with me and the other commuters green-screened into the background. The movie location sign is quite familiar here, you can see them every few months and you'll know it is Hollywood because the huge film trucks have MOVIES IN MOTION stamped on the sides.

Will Adams, producer at LowKey Productions is responsible for all of this good fortune. I appeared in a small newsroom scene for his upcoming film #StepOffTheBlock  #StepOffTheBlock and learned of how to get my foot in the door with CC. Will's Facebook page is The Work of Will Adams.

The episode I will be in will be a three part crossover between CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO FIRE, and CHICAGO PD, and do not have any idea of the date of airing. Here is a shot of how much acreage Chicago Cinescape purchased several years back. Of everyone I know in Creative, writers, artists, it is the filmmakers that really make me feel it. A transcendence. Knowing I'm in one scene, big or small, and after I'm gone that same guy, that same Will Adams, remains working his ass off while I'm heading home to my own vice, which is my writing.

FILM WORK ON CHICAGO P.D.

Last Saturday I had a bit part as a cameraman in a film by LowKey, and I ended up talking with someone who is associated with CHICAGO P.D. I was able to land a role as a commuter on the Brown Line, shooting this Saturday and then again next Tuesday. The next posting I make will include a photo of the studio space Dick Wolf Productions bought up on the near southwest side, something like 40,000 acres.

I am now also registered with CHICAGO FIRE and CHICAGO MED.