My account of The Promised Land shoot will probably be shared in dribs and drabs. I’m waay behind, tired as hell and have a bunch of interesting stuff on my plate. This overview: A ½ hr pilot ( THE PROMISED LAND), filmed in Carlsbad, N. Mexico with an eclectic cast and first rate crew. There amongst the oil rigs and open pasture ranges appears a sudden, surprising sand dune of some consequence. This will represent The Sinai, following the crossing of The Red Sea. 
My costume is voluminous; multi-layered with necklaces and headscarves and sandals and rings and daggers and swords and botas and….ok you get my point. My outfit is BUSY! My sandals don’t help much in the sand. In truth its easier to walk barefoot…and I did, whenever I was certain my feet weren’t in the frame! The sheer weight of my layers generated a sauna beneath, hence the description, “Ridden hard and put away wet.”
I needed help getting up, sitting down and especially climbing stairs, for I tended to trip; my trailing garments seemed always under foot. My Day One was sunny and hot. The work went well…but walking constantly thru sand and climbing dunes, over and over soon had me worn out. (About which, more later) 
My Day Two began overcast but we were shooting tent interiors, so no worries. This was to be my wrap day and late afternoon we had pretty much completed all but a couple more set ups. My days began at 4:30 AM with a 5:30 pick up to drive to location. It’s now about 4-ish and we began to rehearse the final four page scene…which pretty much all me. Essentially a monologue. And after a few halting passages, my director discretely asked me whether I had the “blue pages”? Sent out on Oct 7th?
Oh shit! I generally type my sides. Doing so aids the memorization process and I use type big enough so that I can actually see my lines! However I had somehow managed not to notice a few subtle rewrites which I had NOT typed. I crumpled my typed pages into a ball. Despite the drop in temperature, I began to sweat.
This is a four page scene. Pretty much ALL me. The language is very specific. And I KNEW that I DIDN’T know it! Fear can produce many outcomes, sometimes helpful, other times incapacitating. I began to furiously read over and over these passages. Even as I did, berating myself. “Tucker, you do NOT own this shit.” I could manage a paragraph or two…and then had to call out, “Line!” This went on for a bit. It was entirely clear to me that this could not end well. There was just no way in hell, given the pressure and circumstances I could ever own enough of this text to generate an acceptable master.
Carlsbad has a rather large religious community and many of the Nazarene congregation were appropriately dressed as members of various tribes; men women, children. My driver was Pastor Ryan, an energetic participant in this effort. Many of the extras had discretely approached me and expressed their affection for some of the characters I’ve created over the years…as well as the work I’d thus far filmed here. And now they were just lined up beside tent, perhaps 30 or 40 people. Looking at me. Anticipating some ACTING! My account of The Promised Land shoot will probably be shared in dribs and drabs. I’m waay behind, tired as hell and a bunch of interesting stuff on my plate. The overview: ½ hr pilot, THE PROMISED LAND, filmed in Carlsbad, N. Mexico with an eclectic cast and first rate crew. There is amongst the oil rigs and open pasture ranges, a sudden surprising sand dune of some consequence. This would represent The Sinai, following the crossing of The Red Sea.
My costume is voluminous; multi-layered with necklaces and headscarves and sandals and rings and daggers and swords and botas and….ok you get my point. My outfit is BUSY! My sandals don’t help much in the sand. In truth its easier to walk without them…and I did, whenever I was certain my feet weren’t in the frame. The sheer weight of my layers generated a sauna within, therefore the description, “Ridden hard and put away wet.”
I needed help getting up, sitting down and especially climbing stairs, for I tended to trip. My trailing garments seemed always under foot. My Day One was sunny and hot. The work went well…but walking constantly thru sand and climbing dunes, over and over soon had me worn out. (About which, more later)
My Day Two began overcast but we were shooting tent interiors, so no worries. This was to be my wrap day and late afternoon we had pretty much completed all but a couple more set ups. My days began at 4:30 AM with a 5:30 pick up to drive to location. Its about 4-ish and we began to rehearse the final four page scene. Its pretty much all me. And as we did, my director discretely asked if I had the “blue pages”, sent out on Oct 7th.
Oh my! I generally type my sides. Doing so helps the memorization process and a use type big enough so that I can actually see my lines! However I had somehow managed not to notice a few subtle rewrites which I had NOT typed. I crumpled my typed pages into a ball. Despite the drop in temperatures, I began to sweat.
This is a four page scene. Pretty much ALL me. The language is very specific. And I KNEW that I DIDN’T know it! Fear can produce many outcomes, sometimes helpful, other times incapacitating. I began to furiously read over and over these passages. Even as I did, knowing, “Tucker, you do NOT own this shit.” I could manage a paragraph or two…and then had to call out, “Line!” This went on for a bit. It was entirely clear to me that it could not end well. There was just no way in hell, given the pressure and circumstances, I could ever own enough of this text to create an acceptable master. Carlsbad has a rather large religious community and many of the congregation were appropriately dressed as members of various tribes; men women, children. Many had approached and discretely expressed their affection for some of the characters I’ve created over the years…as well as the work I’d thus far filmed. And they were just lined up, perhaps 30 or 40 people. Looking at me! Anticipating some ACTING!
No pressure, Tucker. (ARE YOU SHITTING ME?) I am about to publicly fail in front of the crew, in front of my fellow actors, in front of dozens of background players and church voluteers. If ever I have been THIS embarrassed I really can’t remember when…I cringe in anticipation, awaiting the next command from my director. “OK, lets go again.” I mean I CAN’T ad lib! I want the dessert to simply open up and swallow me!!! And then, something happens.
I feel…a drop. Yes, that was…and it comes suddenly, swiftly, intensifying. And we are now in the midst of a desert thunder storm. The winds come up and there is booming thunder. The call goes out, “Take cover!” “Get into the tents or under the sun awnings.” And then there is the unmistakable crackle of LIGHTNING! This is a desert monsoon, the sand swiftly turning into mud. The order is given to retreat back to base camp to wait this out. But the overcast is thick, the clouds are low and the day’s light is fading.
I gratefully mount an ATV with others and we careen over, up and down sand dunes to the trailers. I stay outside under a concrete gazebo. I light a cigarette and begin to grind my way thru the pages of my miniatures. Something has changed, inside me. Mentally. Patterns are beginning to form, connective tissue. In 20 or 30 minutes I pretty much have it. I MIGHT ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO SHOOT THIS! Production is weighing options. It is decided to break for the night; begin early morning and hope that the weather is accommodating. Another possibility is to shoot it as an interior tent scene. For that we’ll need a building with a large enough space to erect the tent. Schedules are being modified, flights reconsidered.
I get out of costume and prepare for the 30 minute ride back to the hotel, and I find myself occasionally just freezing up, standing stock still…Listening. For what? To what? What happened out there? WTF JUST HAPPENED? Did God just throw me A Hail Mary? The Ultimate Bone?