Lights, Camera...Action!

In perhaps my 2nd month here in Japan, I registered with an agency in hopes of landing some extra work on the side. Not to mention, increasing visibility, which is never a bad thing when an artist. Or..so I thought.

After a few calls to "keep this date open" which never manifested into anything whatsoever, I finally landed a part in a TV drama. What my part is, is not nearly as awe-inspiring as the fact that I got A part. I guess when you're black and have lox, you're a prime candidate to be a DRUG DEALER on Japanese TV.

Yeah Mom, I know, you're so proud of your Baby!! I'm not gonna lie ya'll, when the girl called from the agency and said, "Uuuuummm, I think you got the part but, Uuuuuhhh, it's aaaaaa, DrugDealerIsThatOKwithYou?" I did not have the slightest of moral dilemma! Of course, I have pondered the implications of the opportunity. But I've also factored in, the financial gains. And in this case, the End justifies the Mean! NahMean!

The shooting was real mellow. All I had to do was walk up to this guy and get a stack a money, then give him a little paper bag outta my back pocket. There was a hilarious moment in the beginning when they discussed how it was going to go down. I initially started to voice my "idea" about what it should look like, (prolly got about 2 words out...Thank God noone really understood English) when the DIRECTOR continued to speak and set it up the way he'd envisioned. And in that moment, I cracked up inside as I said... "Oh..yeah...that's why you're a director!"
And that's why "I'm an Extra!!"

The whole thing probably took a couple of hours, but what I was vibing on most, was how they shot it. We probably took about 15-20 takes. This from about 3 or 4 different vantage points. I'm interested in seeing the final cut because the way they set it up was...well...professional, I guess you could say. 1 very close shot of just our hands exchanging. Another from an opposite viewpoint. It definitely got my wheels turning with respect to doing videos and such. (hold that thought)

All in all, it was a cool experience. TV is a lot like music in the sense of doing something over and over and coming back to it later to take the best of it. Hence, I was right at home with the dynamics.

The show is called "Menkyou Helpers," and it's airing this Thursday at 10PM on Channel 8 (Fuji TV.) Check it out if you're local. But don't tell my Mom alright!