What You’re Seeing
Top Left - Rehearsing for a scene to make sure everything flows right (No audio)
Top Right - Shows how audio “punch-ins” are done to add more energy to a commercial.
Bottom Left - Dry footage of me developing the “Smiling Bob” character.
Bottom Right - An audition I did a while back for a Mathew McCaughnhey movie.
Behind The Scenes “Actors love BTS pictures. I’ve always been someone who likes to take those photos and videos when I’m working. This is a collection of on-set and in-studio moments from projects I’ve been part of. Some of the pictures show only the crew, but behind every image is a great story and a memory.
You won’t find any pictures here from my time on the NBC series Friday Night Lights. Behind-the-scenes documentation was pretty discouraged, and the official photographer wasn’t allowed to share images. It wasn’t the stars who minded—they were amazing. It was the guys in charge of keeping things on time. FNL was heavy on extras, sometimes hundreds of them for a football game shoot. Can you imagine all of those cell phones on an active set!
For many reasons, it’s not uncommon for cell phones to be completely banned from a set. They can be distractions, and the chances of a storyline being leaked go up. There’s also a lot of trust between the crew and the actors, and protecting that trust allows everyone to focus on doing their job.
One exception was a Dish Network commercial, also shot in Austin. They were fine with people taking occasional pictures. We shot this commercial in February, and it was 28 degrees. The grass froze, and the lawn had to be painted green. All of the flowers were plastic. The kids on set were followed around by people with parkas, ready to warm them up the second the cameras stopped rolling.
One time, we were filming in an active hospital. About 5 of us were dressed in scrubs and looked legit, right down to our stethoscopes. I was a “cardiothoracic surgeon.” The only giveaway was that our name tags were blank - no picture or logo. That was a very cool day!
I hope you enjoy what I’ve been able to collect—and check back again.” Dave
