Soap Dish

So, I spent my first day ever on the set of a soap and it was a very enlightening experience. General Hospital is shot on a HUGE soundstage. Inside there are hundreds of lights hanging from the ceiling, looming over at least 20 different mini-sets (Living rooms, bedrooms, offices, police department, bar, garage, etc.)

Unlike most films I've worked on which use one or two cameras (or sometimes three on a huge-budget film), GH shoots every scene with 4 cameras, which of course makes things go much faster since you immediately have a lot of coverage (different angles/close-ups) and go from one shot to the next in very few (often one or two) takes. They also shoot on tape, as opposed to film, which is why they look slightly different than movies on your TV , but is much, much cheaper in terms of production costs.

Along with two other guys, I played the rather ambiguous role of "Bodyguard" in a couple different scenes that take place outside of a bar's backroom -- This role entailed a lot of standing around 'supervising' the action, but we did get to bust into the backroom once, guns drawn!

It was actually a lot of fun, everybody there was really nice, including the main actors, many of whom stopped to introduce themselves and have a chat. And as I mentioned before, the studio is nice and close to home. So, I hope I get to go back -- though it would be nice to have a line or two someday! Not sure how much, if any, screen time I'll get; blink and you may miss me, but if you want to try to spot me, a la "where's Waldo," the episode is scheduled to air on February 11 ;)