who's got talent?

we have spent the past two days on scene of an independent film. zoom was called as a last minute replacement for our friend's movie for film school. the scene he was in was a lemonade stand where "jack" and "jill" convince a business man to sell his business because it isn't fun.
since we were a last minute call, zoom didn't know his lines or cues, so he learned them on the spot. he's got a thing for that...picking up lines. "jill", the 10-year-old actress from Fargo, considered him her little project and rehearsed with him until he had them down. ever distracted by whatever was around him, he maintained his post and rarely missed a cue - that was no act! this kid doesn't miss a thing! you think he isn't listening, but he hears it all and quotes you later!
he not only memorized his lines very quickly, but also other lines.
during a break i heard him reciting one man's line, "where's my phone?!". later, during a shoot, he interjected jill's line before she could!

getting his makeup
shots from the set
and taking a little break, using the "clacker"it was a 20 minute film, but i had no idea HOW MUCH WORK it is to film. every car that drove by, every plane that flew above, neighbors mowing the lawn, people walking by, gawkers, and (seriously?) a man driving an RC car!!! is life really this noisy and i just tune it out? was this a particularly noisy day? or is a film set really very sensitive? my precious 3-year-old patiently persevered as they re-did take after take.
it made me think about child stars.
i'm the first to admit i think my kid's got talent, but this was a little taste of the reality of stardom. these kids were acting the part of kids, but off camera they weren't allowed to be kids. jill didn't have peers to hang around with - they were all adults, many of which didn't really know what to do with her, or were immersed in themselves. at one point she was pretending to be a cat, but jack was the only one who knew what to do with her- and he just wanted someone to throw the frisbee with him. the only schedule was be ready to wait! eat when you get a minute. we squeezed a nap in between scenes one day, but that is hard to do away from home, when you're juiced up on lemonade!
it was, "don't touch that", "get your makeup", "sit here", "say this", "say it again", "now for this camera".... two long days - these kids were exhausted!
at the very end of the second day, zoom was beginning to melt. one more line. i saw his finger in his mouth and wondered if we'd have trouble. he slipped off his chair and came over to me, "i'm ready to go home now". one more line, so close. any other time i wouldn't push it. i know when he is finished. but so many others were counting on us. so i bribed him with a cookie. i wonder how often child stars are bribed, pushed to the limit - for our entertainment.
i'm glad we did it. it was fun to see what our friend does. it was a great experience. if someone sees this film and says, "i've gotta have that kid!", we'll know what to say. we'd like him to be a kid for a while, even if the world doesn't see his talent!

my favorite quote:
camera man: you can call the extension cord "the stinger" - that's film lingo
zoom, looking at him with skepticism: ahhh, my dad calls it an extension cord.

my favorite scene:
zoom dropping his pants and peeing on the boulevard tree - three times!