I feel so guilty, but very lucky and very spoiled. Early this morning I kissed my children good-bye, left my house, picked up my son Sebastian from his friend’s house, and drove 3 hours to a place called Grieg’s Caves, located in the Bruce Peninsula. One child. How weird is that? VERY!
First of all the ride was so quiet! Sebastian slept for a while and played with his Ipod. There was no arguing, no whining, no asking for bathroom breaks every ten minutes, no exploding diapers to stink up the car, and no children throwing things at each other (or me for that matter!). Bliss.
I will be away from home for four days – the longest time ever. No messes to clean, no toys to pick up, no food to cook, no children whining, arguing, throwing things at each other…………
I have to thank Sebastian though because he is the reason I am here. A few weeks ago he landed the lead role in a SIFI Short film. A film that is being shot here in Grieg’s caves, and although it sounds like fun, he has a lot of work to do but at least it is in a really cool place.
There are caves of course, trails you can hike, and a sense of total adventure. I think I may come back one day with the other children – they would love it.
In previous posts I have written on what it is like for children in the biz I have explained how much work it is and here is an example of a day’s schedule for this film:
9:00am – arrive on set
9:15am – 10:00am – wardrobe / make up
10:00am – 2:00pm – shoot first scene
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Lunch
3:00pm – 7:00pm – shoot scene 2
Of course during these shoot times there are breaks, and lots of sitting around and waiting for the technical stuff to get done, but for the children actors they have remain focused, and be able to entertain themselves without causing too much noise and distractions. They have to remain professional at all times. Not always easy for a child.
That all said though Sebastian loves this and is gaining experiences other children will never have the fortune of being part of. As for me I am going to enjoy every moment of my “alone” time until I hear the words “That’s a wrap!” Or at least for about another twenty minutes because that is probably how long it will take before I start to miss the other children!
What are your thoughts about children actors? How do spend your “alone” time?
Until next time,
Chantel, momof8crazymonkeys
Sonya it is so true about having to be prepared for the downtimes! I am so thankful that Sebastian is pretty good at amusing himself (or others!) on set. I too though also hate waiting for scripts because they usually don’t have as much time as we would like to help them study them! Glad your son is having some great times and experiences:)
So far, we’ve only experienced good stuff on sets for shoots. Sometimes there are ‘kid handlers’ if there are a group of kids so they seem to be quite prepared. But as mom, you need to be prepared for the downtime of waiting – thank goodness for maze books, ipads, ds etc! The most stressful for me is waiting for a script and learning the lines especially for younger ones. When my younger one was 6 he had several lines for a radio spot – we received the night before the taping. It all worked out but mom/kids need to be calm about these things. And like your Sebastian, my kids love these experiences!