Hazzard Ahead
Johnny Hazzard Blog

Thursday, March 6th 2008

This Time With Clothes And Words

Posted by Johnny
Scary, Scary

“I’m afraid to touch him too much, what if he has a disease or something?”

On Set

So ended filming for me on The Lair last Friday night. On the whole… I really enjoyed the experience. It was a far cry from what I expected. I envisioned three cameras on rollers that captured enough footage at a time to allow a lot of free movement around the set. Much to my chagrin there was one camera and most of the time we were strongly encouraged to stay on our mark.

The most impressive thing to me was the amount of people running around. There were grips, electrical people, assistants of every variety, wardrobe, make-up, art dept and the ever lovely craft services which was run by a cool hippie chick named Yvette. Yvette would show up at the perfect time with trays of cantaloupe, pineapple, Tofurkey roll ups with cream cheese and scallions or a tray of coffee and green tea from Trader Joe’s. Love that!

Yvette

The night she showed up passing coffee and tea we spent the majority of the shoot outdoors out in Little Tujunga Canyon. There was a rainstorm that seemed to come at us from every side and did not let up for the entire shoot. I left at 1:30 AM and later learned that the crew didn’t leave until 5:30! The amount of hours the crew put in was beyond impressive, that’s what the day rate is all about!

Where Wolf?

It was surprising to find that the guy who played Ian, the Werewolf, never made into a wolf suit or for that matter had one hair glued to him. Instead they had a special guy come in and play the wolf. The costume was very large, hairy and heavy. I can’t imagine what it felt like in there for him. I also could not imagine why he was here wearing the wolf suit and not Ian. Later that night I asked the director why they hired an extra guy and he said that there are guys who study animal movement and do this sort of thing as a job and that was why he was here. At least I felt a little better about not playing Ian.

Studying

Earlier I mentioned that I was bummed about losing out on the part, but after looking at the guy playing Ian it was clear that he was a better choice and I am much happier and better at playing Tim. I feel that the level of acting was more intense and I was much more clothed. Ian was naked a lot during the filming and after everything was said and done I was really glad it wasn’t me. I think that being who I am everybody will expect me to be the naked guy, but the porn star gets a chance to keep his clothes on this time and a chance to showcase another side.

More Studying

Memorizing my lines was a new and intimidating experience for me. It’s not that I’d never done it before, there was just SO MUCH. At times I felt overwhelmed flipping through pages looking at what was ahead. I learned all my lines the day before between scenes. Being a smaller production every scene had to be taken down, moved, set back up and re-lit so there was plenty of time to learn lines. I quickly learned that it was a very good idea to learn the other parts, too. Knowing the last word he said before my line started was initially how I did it, but it soon became clear that knowing the entire scene allowed me to really immerse myself in the moment and maybe provide that extra something something. The other benefit was that I was less likely to overlap or cut someone off. My ability to memorize so quickly was fairly impressive considering that my twenties were spent less than sober.

The highlight of my experience was working with Colton Ford who plays Sheriff Trout. We had a very casual and flirty relationship on and off screen through out the shoot.

with Colton Ford

Would I do it again? Hell yeah.



12 Comments for this post

 
Siceri20ahfu63 Says:

You are performing most excellently. Looking forward to seeing the results on the screen!!

Very Best of Luck!! Take Care!!

 
Johnny Says:

why thank you!

 
gcracker Says:

Sounds like a BLAST, Johnny!! I am so thrilled you got to do this, and I am going to have to try to get to see it some time.

Colton Ford is amazing! I saw him when he did Providence Pride last year, and I was so glad I did. Sounds like he was great to work with too! :)

 
Rita PHL Says:

What a great pic of you and Colton Ford.

I worked on quite a few indie films in my day, and your description of the environment really took me back in time. I also worked with actors who wore SFX makeup, and know what you mean about how realistic and scary the makeup can look. But as you pointed out, the most popular person/people on set are craft services!

Will you be shooting more for THE LAIR, or is your character pretty much done?

 
Messire Loup Says:

I sure hope your movie makes it to my dark French forest lair… Perfect settings to watch it.
Big, big kudos to you again n’ plenty of hugs.

 
Johnny Says:

Yes thank God for craft services; these guys really earned their stripes for sure.

As far as shooting more… the second series is finished. I did not die so that is a very good sign. If they get picked up do a third season I would imagine that I will be there.

If the show does not find its way out to you my French friend, let me know.

 
Messire Loup Says:

Thanks Johnny :D

BTW, any new songs up your sleeves? “Deeper Into You” is one of my all-times favorites.

I’ll have to get one of your DVDs also, to see your work.

I’m a bit nervous about it. Heaven knows I’ve seen a lot, but the only clips I’ve seen about you are your music videos and the one where you surprise your mom at home (and that’s precisely he one that struck a very deep chord).

I’ve never watched porn involving someone I appreciate for other reasons than mere physical ones.

Beautiful word, “porn”: somewhere between “pore” and “born”. Porn, being born with each pore of your skin.

I’ll remember it as I watch. I’ll follow you through this experience as one follows a painter across the intimate canvas.

Your French friend ;)

 
Messire Loup Says:

Hi Johnny,

We haven’t read from you lately. Hope you’re alright and just busy :)

Here is a quote from French (heterosexual) actor and comedian Michel Galabru. Maybe you can add it to your About section:
“I am in absolute favor of gay marriage. I don’t see why we should spare anyone just because he is gay!”

Plenty of hugs to ya!

 
the frog Says:

Coming soon to a multiplex near you:

28 MINUTES LATER
In this follow-up to The Lair, the whole world turns into hungry enraged werewolves zombies when Tim burns the soufflé he was cooking for his orgy guests.

300+1 (aka BACKSIDE TO THE FUTURE)
A little hippie travels in time, meets the Spartans and comes up with the novel concept “Make love, not war.” The fall of an empire or two ensues.

A STRETCAR NAMED HAZZARD
Blanche DuFrog is slightly taken aback to find her sister Stella Wonder married to the smoldering tattooed son of a truck driver, who wastes no time in teaching her the pros and cons of relying on the kindness of strangers.

THE DEVIL WEARS TATTOOS
Gay porn suddenly becomes the new black when a rising fashion designer mistakenly makes his male underwear collection 2 sizes too small.

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINE DALMATIANS
CruellaRue DeVille is horrified to find her newest assistant in compromising positions with her future fur coat.

HAIR (TODAY, GONE TOMORROW)
The 60s counter-culture revolution screeches to an early halt when a little hippie decides to shave it all off after The Tribe confiscates his conditioner.

SIX FEET DEEPER
The Fisher family tries to work out what could have happened to their latest costumer while he was shooting the video for his sophomore dance single.

EXORCIST V: BEEN THERE DONE THAT
The demon Pazuzu tries to impress the Hazzards by making the eldest son masturbate with a crucifix. His Ma merely rolls her eyes and goes back to cleaning the family truck. [total length: 5 mn.]

ALL ABOUT BABY WONDER (VOL. I & II)
Drawn by the force of habit, Johnny unfastens Colton’s belt and takes him for a bumpy ride, forgetting his lines in the process. His assistant and webmaster B. Wonder gets the part instead. Decades later, the two are still fighting it out even though Johnny’s stuck in a wheelchair after screwing up his comeback by attempting a threesome all by himself.

Congratulations on your new career, Johnny.

 
ikylejm Says:

i know this is an older post, but what’s going on with season three? i read that there would be another season this year

 
Johnny Says:

The good news is that we already filmed season three. The bad news is that I have no idea when it will air. The here! TV web site is very tight lipped about it so your guess is as good as mine.

 
ikylejm Says:

Well I’m excited, I’ll probably have to wait until it’s on video, but I’m glad to know that at least there is a third season!

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