I was a background actor in a Scorsese movie one time. I ended up getting a featured background part. Martin Scorsese really liked what I was doing which led to me getting an actual line during the scene. I almost fucking puked when he asked me to do it. (I’m a huge fan) Plus I got to improv that line! I know how this guy feels. Took me 3 takes before I actually spoke loudly enough lol.
I’m gonna need a title and a timestamp! 😜
So I’m not sure of the time for the thing that got me the line but the movie is Killers of the Flower Moon and during a scene where a guy gets kidnapped collecting a letter from the elks Lodge I’m the guy handing him the letter. (They dubbed my voice because I didn’t say “letter for you sir”)
But at 1:57:00 or so the Osage go to meet the president and beg for help. I’m the secret service guy who shakes her hand and I said something like “thank you so much” if I recall. It was very cool!
We were actually standing on the runway at an airport in Oklahoma in front a giant blue screen but during the news reel shots we actually filmed it twice, once with scoresese’s personal camera from the 30s. (He collects them) Film was so expensive for that thing we rehearsed that scene about 10 times before shooting. It’s cool they were able cgi from that nearly 100 year old film.
i did a teensy bit of camera work on super 8 and 35mm for a tiny indie studio. 4 or 5 shorts and who knows how many student projects. my arm was an actor in one of the ones we sold (one actor didn’t show and i had a tripod). you know what type of camera it was or what type of film he used? actual film (not digital shit like vhs) is so godsdamned expensive i get why he didn’t want to film more than one take.
So it’s been several years now but I was able to Google it but I didn’t see what film type it was but I remember them telling me they had to have it specially made and it was something ridiculous like several thousand dollars per foot but I might be wrong about that it’s been so many years now I can’t really tell you but it was a hand cranked camera and this is what I found online
Hand-cranked newsreel footage was taken on Scorsese’s own 1917 Bell and Howell.
I don’t think I could have acted I would have been obsessed with the camera
It was really cool. They were very adamant though, no one could miss a step. Which was crazy as there were probably 30 of us in that scene. Fortunately we nailed it. It was over a year before I saw the actual footage but it looked great. Love that they used that camera instead of just using digital makeup for that scene.
What the heck. What a fun thread lol, gonna have to finally watch this.
Christ, what an asshole
Not the New Yorker, but I see where you’re going
Its a perennial favorite for those who don’t know what what to say
because?
oh, thanks. I studied webcomics, not the new yorker. looks like i need to up my game!
and all y’all with the downvotes, stop it. it is funny in context!
To be fair, I also studied webcomics. I learned of the meme from internet webcomic-adjacent content.
Man, I hate getting called out.
Bill Whitehead is a genius.
This is exactly what happens to me when I start lucid dreaming. I have no idea what to do, and I wake up.
If you’re not already training for lucid dreaming, you can start there.
If you are, you already know about prospective memory, intention setting, and mindfulness. Those pillars can help you do some pretty insane things in LDs. Some things that might help you out:
- Make a list of things you’d like to do in a lucid dream. Review and think about this list often and regularly.
- Train mindfulness. Bring your mind to the present throughout the day. Feel your senses. If you wanna do more than this, you can also do structured, dedicated meditation sessions. Think of it as exercise for your brain. Helps brain fog, reduces pain and heightens pleasure. Here’s a relevant post. Important part is It’s Good For You, So Do It.
- Revamp your schemas. Schemas are associations in the brain. They can be consciously known or subconsciously picked up. Dreams rely on schemas (expectations), since there’s no outside data coming in. There’s just your brain, and your brain does what it programs itself to do. Got all that? Good. Negative schemas are bad, because they limit you. There’s a whole lot of misinfo about lucid dreaming: Mirrors, so called “dream stability”, sleep paralysis. If you’re into LDing at all, you’ll find tons of these. This is one of the reasons to Steer Clear of YouTube Videos; while there are some good ones, the topic’s been so bastardized you’re better off going to books or forums or blogs. Anyways, because lucid dreaming depends so much on your expectations, convincing yourself of something makes it true. Your brain essentially writes up a piece of code saying:
If LucidDream=true Then InitiateWakeUpProtocol; #can you tell I don't write code?- Aah, but here’s the rub, though. This happens, so then you take this as an example of the eternal truth that if you have a lucid dream, then you will wake up. Your newfound certainty of this facts then reinforces the schema. Then you go online and see other people talking about the same experience, boom, even more fuel for the fire. Thus you end up in a vicious cycle limiting yourself. Meanwhile other people who never learned about this schema or never gave it credence in the first place are getting on just fine.
- Good news: Schemas can be replaced, Bad news: It might take time. And it’s going to be, because remember what I said at the beginning: They can be consciously known or subconsciously picked up. They’ve got roots, and depending on multiple factors, those roots can be easy or difficult to upend. C’est la vie. So how to change a mind? I don’t know, I’ll tell you what to do regarding dreams though.
- First, remember this: You Can Do Anything In A Lucid Dream. Anyone who says otherwise is misinformed or lying.
- Second, use affirmations. They are, as CGP Grey put it, unreasonably effective in mental change.
- Third, be mentally flexible. This is nebulous and kinda hard to pin down, but the moment you read it, you knew what I meant, so I’m moving on.
Just this morning, I had a dream where I realized I was lucid. The dream didn’t end, I flew to a mountaintop overlooking a colosseum and summoned lightning from the clouds like Storm. It was as vivid as anything else, and I got lucid through application of these and other principles. I won’t belabor the point here – I know telling others about your dreams can be boring to the recipient – but I’m just trying to illustrate this working.
Anyways, sorry for text-blasting you, just really passionate about the topic. Hope this helps somewhat.
Thanks! I mostly practice lucid dreaming because I have a lot of nightmares/night terrors. But this is awesome info, I’ll try some of this out!
Wonderful, made me chuckle pretty loudly in a silent waiting room






