Wednesday.
Six am, On set, ready to go.
Shooting Schedule:
Boredom interlude. I light my boot on fire to light a cigarette. Close up of Carrie watching me, Simon gets a boner staring at Carrie, Leah twist string around her fingers, Andrew plays with his hoodie strings. I smoke my cigarette and play air guitar, Leah finishes a sketch of a bridge, Andrew plays table football, Leah shakes dandruff onto her drawing to create snow.
The Boredom Interlude, as Lowe called it, took almost all day to film. The wardrobe department needed twelve boots because I continued to burn through the soles, attempting to light the cigarette.
The documentary crew slowed down production because after every cut they crowded around us trying to get behind the scenes footage. None of us felt like putting on a show that day, and the longer the Boredom Interlude continued to film, the more annoyed we became.
At lunch the five of us, free from the cameras, unloaded.
"It's like a forty-second scene, and it's taking hours!" Leah screamed.
"The damn doc cameras are pissing me off." Andrew agreed.
Too tired to say anything, I shoved salad into my mouth, nodding my head.
"This is ridiculous, we won't finish this stupid re-make until next year!" Simon spat.
At least we found something to agree on, I thought.
"I'm sure the scene is almost finished," Carrie said, trying to be optimistic.
"Fat chance," Simon said, shooting daggers at Carrie with his eyes.
*
Evening shooting schedule:
Principal returns and the five of us appear to be all asleep at our desk, he asks if anyone has to use the restroom, and our hands raise together.
I rip pages out of a book and the five of us talk and fight.
*
After filming, Andrew and Carrie go to Carrie's house in Toluca Lake. Leah and Simon come back to the Shire with me.
"Simon, hear me out," Leah said, sitting on my bed.
"OK."
"I think it might be smart if you...we...make nice with Carrie and ease the tension."
"Why?"
"I think for now it would be a smarter game to play."
"Explain."
"I don't want to tell you what to do, and I don't know exactly what you want out of this series, except to be cast in the HBO show Lowe is writing, which is exactly my goal..."
"Go on."
"If we play nice, and let the two of them be boring, we can go for the jugular later if we want, and they won't expect it."
"Ok."
"And if you're interested, the three of us can focus on showing how fucking cool we are, and HBO and whoever watches the series will see how much we outshine them, without visibly trying to bring them down."
"I understand," Simon said.
*
Thursday.
Shooting Schedule:
Janitor walks through, played by the original John Bender!
We all whistle, which is difficult because I can't, but I pretend.
Principal sends Andrew and Leah to get sodas.
Hall room scene skipped over
Scene with Claire, Brian, and John. Brian embarrassed about being a virgin.
Leah and Andrew wrap early for the day.
Friday.
Shooting Schedule:
Lunch scene. Everyone's lunch is different per their personality. Carrie has sushi. Andrew brings a huge bag, including three sandwiches, a large bag of chips, powdered doughnuts, a banana, and milk. We watch Leah make her sugar sandwich after throwing her slice of meat into the air. I do not have a lunch and I sit next to Simon and tease him about his lunch and his life.
I end the scene with a monologue about my dad, and his abuse, and show Andrew the cigar burns on my arm.
All day and all night shooting.
