Sometimes the most magical things happen at the best possible times. That’s what we wish for isn’t it?
That happened to me once on a night shoot and it was totally unexpected, and just what I needed.
It wasn’t that late, but I remember it was a long day on an independent feature when I was first in Los Angeles. I was a set P.A. and it was early in my career.
At one point in the story, one of our characters was dressed as an Angel. I think if I remember corrrectly, she wasn’t an angel in the story, but rather was coming back from a costume party. But in the scene she was lit walking down the street being hit by a spotlight. The road had been wetdown.
She looked beautiful. But when you’re working on a set after a long day, you’re really just waiting to wrap. As much as I love the business, wrap is still one of my favorite words to hear on a set. As much as a I love movies and making them, sometimes it’s just work, and you want the day to be done.
We still had a scene to shoot so we weren’t quit there. Then it happened.
I was standing on the sidewalk ready to lock up. We brought the actress in to line up with her and the light and the cameras just before we rolled.
Then I heard children.
“Look, an angel,” a little voice said. A group of about three or four young children were gathered hiding behind the bushes of their yard with a woman I assumed with their mother. They stood wide-eyed, totally transfixed, watching and talking about the angel.
I’m sure in their minds, she was an angel, and probably each one of them holds the memory of seeing an angel walk down the streets of their neighborhood. I hope so.
We shot the scene of the actress walking down the street. Then we cut and moved on. I exchanged a smile with their mother. I had to go. We were moving on.
It made my day. Or night, I guess I should say.