Law & Order Update

I'm sorry I am just now posting about the Law & Order shoot last week.

It did indeed happen, but it is hard to explain. It was exhilarating, exhausting, frustrating, fun. I came home after running errands and checking on The Mormon...who ended up having salmonella poisoning...around 3pm. When I arrived, there were approximately 40 people in my apartment and in the hallway outside of it. There were also lights, microphones, boom stands, monitors, cameras, sound board, and cables set up in every available space except for my living room and bathroom.

My living room was painted a gross off-white, pinky color. I thought they were going to move in all their own furniture, but to my surprise, the art director ended up using a lot of my stuff. My couch, bookcases, entertainment center, and rug were all part of the shot. I was so proud!

With so many people in such a small space, I was expecting chaos. Instead, the crew was a well-oiled machine. When they had to shoot the detectives discovering a clue in my bathroom, they lit the scene through the window from my fire escape, and put the camera and sound people in my bathtub. They knew exactly when to call in the "B cast" (aka stand-ins) and when to call in the "A cast." When the direction shouted "Action!," everyone became absolutely silent, no matter what they were doing.

I spent most of the time in my kitchen standing behind the sound guy. I don't know his proper title, but he sat behind the huge mobile sound board and recorded everything. I talked with assistant directors, camera men, electricians, lighting people, sound guys. The director sat in the hall watching the scene from the monitor. He invited me to watch the shoot from his vantage point, but I figured I would end up seeing his vantage point when I watched it on TV. There is definitely a Law & Order shooting style. My apartment looked completely different in the monitor than it did as I watched Jesse Martin walk through it live.

They were finished shooting seven lines in two hours. Once they proclaimed "the gate was clear," all those 40 people and all their equipment were out of the building in 30 minutes. A well-oiled machine, I tell you.

They didn't get around to putting my house back together until Wednesday. But by the time I got home from work and picked up Ella from her nanny's that night, it was as if they were never there. They painted my living room back to its original color and moved most of the furniture back to where it began. It was eerie!

I took lots of pictures of my house and I got a picture of me with the Jesse and Milena. I won't show you that one because you are not allowed to see my face, but I will show you before and after's of my apartment.

Overall, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I'm glad I made the call. Getting that extra cash this time of year was a wonderful bonus and I have memories of Jesse hugging me to get me through those cold winter nights. Tee hee...