So.

My job has taken a turn for the much more interesting, as you may have noted. I spent Monday afternoon on the set of X-Men 2 in Vancouver, watching a scene being shot, which I described for Cinescape here:

X-MEN 2 exclusive shooting notes.

The other story posted today from the visit can be found here:

X-MEN 2 spoof takes.

The second story recounts a few clips that we were shown by the director, Bryan Singer. Singer’s also directed “The Usual Suspects”, the first X-Men movie and more. He looks very, very young. He’s actually a mature, seasoned 35.

What’s interesting for me in the context of the writing I’ve been doing here is this: I write about what I observe, internally or externally, during the day. Suddenly, I’m also being paid to do this.

I mean, I theory, I’m being paid. Check’s in the mail. You know. You’ve all heard how that works, I’m sure.

So, back to the main topic. How can I write about what I see without using material which my editors feel they have an exclusive interest in? It’s a pickle, lemme tell ya.

Additionally, the process of writing professionally is much more time-consuming than writing here. Here, I can just make up what you have to say, although I certainly hope to accurately convey the meaning and flavor of a quote in this context. There, I have to roll the tape and check the notes, and even then I still get it wrong sometimes.

On the way back from Vancouver this time, we found the border crossing where the customs officials DON’T scowl and snap from under all-black paramilitary gear. But I can’t tell you where it is unless you’ll take a loyalty oath.

What else? It’s not news to CINESCAPE readers, I guess, that there are hundreds of people, well, a good hundred, anyway, who hang around for hours and hours while a film is being made. It wasn’t really news to me, either, but there sure were a lot of people on the set.

I shook hands with Ian McKellen, the film’s Magneto, which, really, was very cool. Also with Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, who plays Mystique, and, yes, it was much like shaking hands with a blue-paint-covered naked supermodel. One does not know what the appropriate social behavior is. Smile, look into her eyes, nice to meet you.

Really, too much, too hard to separate the news from the personal right now. Tomorrow, I must write everything in a rough draft form so I have it as raw material for here, and there, and elsewhere. As an exercise, it will be a good thing, I think, to be thinking about personal versus news while I work on this tomorrow.

I do have a concrete assignment or two for the material from Cinescape as well, and that will undoubtedly shape it.

So, what just happened here? Did I just wake up and find out that I’m a writer? I am so confused. No. Bemused.

Time for a nice glass of scotch.