Had an unusual dream last night, mostly because of the dead star who was in it. In the dream, Danny Thomas* came over to visit and was telling us tales of when he was a big TV star. The story that stands out most in my dream was how when he was first starting out, it was much easier for the director and camera man to film him in scenes where he was stationary, preferably sitting. He didn't like this, he thought movement was more interesting on TV. He argued for this enough that the director assigned him "points" that he could use to perform different actions at different costs during scenes. When he ran out of points he'd either have to stick to the original blocking in a scene or he'd be charged against his salary for more points. He said he worked almost for free that first year.

Then I was all excited 'cause I'd just finished refurbishing a 1950s era, rectangular spotlight, like the kind he must have used! (In dreamland only, this never existed in reality.) I was quite excited because I'd found the last piece while I was unpacking. (A device I unpacked yesterday in reality. I'm not sure what it is actually for.) I managed to have a re-sizable aperture and everything! I demonstrated it for him from the kitchen, but woke up before I could see his reaction.


*I'm not expecting anyone except jeffwik to know who Danny Thomas was.