Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

What we call a clothes-pin

Nationality: Caucasian American
Age: 21
Occupation: Film Student (Assistant Cameraman, Director of Photography)
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/7/12
Primary Language: English

Context and Informant Bio

My informant is a female USC film student who is studying to become a director of photography (or DP: the crew member on a film set responsible for lighting scenes and composing shots with the camera). She started learning set procedure and lingo even before taking film classes at USC by volunteering to help out on student sets. Today she is well-versed in set terminology and, as a senior film student, enjoys teaching younger students set protocol.

On this set of a USC student project,  my informant worked as the 1st A/C (first assistant cameraman – assistant to the camera operator). At one point she asked a freshman production assistant (or PA:  a person who can help any department on the set with small tasks, such as running errands) to give her the “C47” she had clipped to her sweater. The PA was unsure what my informant meant, so my informant pointed to the clothes-pin clipped to the PA’s sweater. She then gave the following explanation.

 Transcript

PA: What is, C47?

Informant: Uh, it was a term that was developed back in the day. On equipment lists of stuff, it was listed under C47, so they called them C47s.

Me: And what is it that you’re holding?

Informant: A wooden clothes-pin.

Analysis and Background

There are several variations on the story my informant told about the term “C47” for a clothes pin. Generally the story involves an official equipment order form, as my informant described, on which the order code for clothes pins was C47. Another version of the story I’ve heard plays on the common stereotype of frugal movie studio executives, and tells that when executives saw equipment listed on order forms that they could not divine the purpose of, they would deny the order. So when reporting equipment orders to the executives, DPs would list C47 instead of clothes pins because the number made the item look like important equipment.

Clothes pins are an item found on film sets that it may be hard to think of a purpose for, but they are in fact very helpful. Wooden clothes pins are what the lighting crew use to clip colored filters (called gels) onto lights to give the light a particular hue.

Film sets are full of strange terms for common objects. The legend about C47s justifies the terms with a simple explanation that basically amounts to: that’s just what we call them. More important than the story about the origin of the term however is the use of the story. The story is never told to a seasoned crew member on a set, it is always brought up in the context of explaining the term to a newcomer, like the freshman production assistant in this instance. Learning terms like C47 and the stories behind them is part of the process of learning set protocol. Once you know the terms, you become an accepted part of the crew, and often this basic knowledge allows a crew member to move up from production assistant to grip (crew member in the lighting department), and beyond in climbing the ladder of crew positions.

 

Warming up to the rest of the cast

Nationality: Caucasian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Acting Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/20/12
Primary Language: English

Informant Bio and Context

My informant is a first year drama student attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood, California. This student has described his classmates as being dramatic even in their day-to-day lives, placing equal importance on weekend partying and writing character bios of their characters for plays in classes. The informant considers himself to be a writer, rather than an actor and speaks cynically of some aspects of the acting community.

At the Academy the students exclusively study acting techniques for the stage and screen. At each semester’s end the students are cast in “final exam plays.”

Before each play, the students gather on the stage and perform warm up exercises. This student described to me one particular exercise that was used before his play that was not directly related to limbering up the body or warming up the vocal cords.

Transcript

The first thing we would do typically is just free stretch, standing in a circle. Has to be a circle because if its not a circle you can’t, “feel the love.” You do a free stretch and you crack your neck, and your back a little bit. And then you hold out your hands [he stands with his legs spread and hands out at his side, as if to grasp the hands of people standing on either side of him] like this and everybody joins hands, so we’re in a circle, holding hands. First thing you do is you close your eyes, take a deep breath, connect yourself to the earth. Feel grounded. And you’re constantly aware that at the center of the Earth there is a great, glowing ball of fire. And you can feel that energy radiating through the surface of the earth. Whenever you’re feeling low energy, or negative, or making negative choices – character choices, not like “don’t do drugs” those kinds of choices – you just pull on that energy and you can feel it, lava, moving slowly like sap, through the surface of the Earth, into your body and out through your hands. And send that energy out your hands and into the hands of the person next to you. So you can send that energy so they can feel your warmth, and your energy, and your love.

Last thing you do, you close your eyes, and picture a blank white screen right behind your head. And whatever you’re feeling, whatever problems you have, emotional issues going on in your life, you can always go back to that white screen. It’s all that matters; its your emotional center point. Picture a star in the center of that screen, and the star is in complete focus. It is the termination of your energy, it is where your energy is going, the same energy you’re drawing from the Earth, which is that whole ball of fire. Yep. Okay. And then, open your eyes and picture in front of you a person, place, or thing that you love, just without reservation, that fills you love and joy. And look at that thing as you love it and now look at everybody around you in the circle and send them out, with your eyes – not sarcastic, warm, unmedicated, positive eyes – send them that love for that person, place, or thing. Any time you have to stand up and act, if you are in any way troubled, go back to that white screen, and white star and look at people with love and they will feel your love and your energy, and from there you can give them whatever emotions you need. [This last sentence means that the other actor will be receptive to you if you look at them with love, and that they will then be able to convey the emotions that you need from them to play your role.]

Then, give everyone’s hands a reassuring squeeze and radiate out that love, so that the person next to you knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that you love them, that you are there for them as an ensemble, as a cast. Then you let go, take a deep breath… and then we typically do articulation exercises.

Analysis/Background

My informant explained that this exercise is meant to ensure that every actor is connected to the other members of the cast prior to the performance. When asked if he felt that the exercise worked in this way he responded: “Not in the slightest. Total waste of time. Probably works for most actors and not me. I am a writer. I feel more connected to a character when I’m an actual person doing things that normal people do and this isn’t something people do. Well, it does create an emotional connection, its a fake emotional connection, but its there.”

This ritual, whether the actors feel it is silly or not, is a transformative one. The group performing it when they enter the stage are individual actors preparing to play roles. The ritual links each actor purely by virtue of the fact that everyone performs it together. As the last act of the group before they perform together, it allows everyone to cross the liminal threshold from actors to characters, and individuals to ensemble. The meditative quality of the ritual would help to clear the mind of concerns brought to the stage from the actors’ lives outside of it, bringing each person into the mindset of the job, so to speak. The individual is set aside to that that the actors can now act as a collective.

 

Driving under a yellow light

Nationality: Caucasian American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student (Animation)
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/5/12
Primary Language: English

Informant Bio

My informant was born and raised in the small town of Hanford, California. She describes it as a town so small that everyone knows each others’ business. The industry there is largely rural, and my informant belongs to a wealthy family that owns a successful mill. She spent much of her time as a teenager with her friends driving around the country roads because there was nothing much else to do.

A Driving Gesture

My informant was driving us to an event when I saw her kiss her ring finger. I asked her why she did it and she told me that she does it every time she drive under a yellow light. We had talked in my Forms of Folklore class about the practice of hitting the ceiling of the car when you drive through an intersection, and that there are variations that make this a game (to see who hits the ceiling first). When I told my informant this, she told me that its different in her town.

My informant explained to me that she had a friend in high school who kissed the ring on her ring finger every time she drove through an intersection. Though she never knew why her friend did this, my informant suspected, based on her personality, that she preferred kissing her hand to hitting the roof of her car because it would be easier on her hand. Sadly, this girl was killed in a car accident in town when she tried to beat a yellow light. Ever since her death my informant, and many of the young people in town who knew the girl, have taken up the practice of kissing their ring finger when they drive through an intersection when the street light is yellow.

This variation on the common gesture acts as a severe reminder to the people of Hanford of the poor girl’s memory. I believe that the practice may have once inspired some guilt in those who would speed up to beat a yellow light instead of slowing down; guilt over not being more cautious. However several years later I cannot say that I’ve noticed that my informant has driven any more cautiously. It has become a reflex action for her. Underlying it however is the grief for the loss of a friend, and when traveling in a car with someone else who kisses their hand in Hanford, those who knew her share their loss.

Sugar Yogurt (Superstition)

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Undergraduate Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/10/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

“In india, parents have been feeding their children a mixture of yogurt and sugar before going to an exam or an interview. It is believed that this brings good look before an important event. No one knows where this originated from, but almost every household takes part in this practice.”

My informant told me this superstition before one of our Biochemistry midterms. He indicated that the origin of the superstition is unknown, but he believes it came from some group of super frantic mothers who want their children to succeed in school. The informant used to perform it as a child to please his mother despite the fact that he didn’t believe in the superstition himself. Apparently, in Indian culture, yogurt is an integral staple of most Indian cuisine, and it is said to give good luck the morning of a big exam or interview when it is eaten with sugar. To note, he claimed that he’s actually done worst when performing it, because he often felt hungrier, and experienced the feeling of “sugar crash” and hunger pangs.

I find this to be an interesting premise, because I tend to eat yogurt with sugary additives in the morning myself. But I believe there could be more attributed to the superstition rather than luck. For instance, parents and dietitians often emphasize that eating breakfast in the morning is essential to provide us with the appropriate amount of energy to sustain our activities. The use of this superstition can help people build healthy habits, such as eating breakfast in the morning. It can also be seen as pairing a good thing with a stressful event. Before a stressful event, such as an exam or an interview, it can be said that much of our tension could be somewhat alleviated by indulging in something positive (e.g. delicious sugary foods). Therefore, these types of folk beliefs and/or superstitions can be institutionalized in domestic households as a form of preparative ritual.

The Legend of Sasuntsi David

Nationality: Armenian
Age: 26
Occupation: Research Technician/COPE Health Manager
Residence: Van Nuys, CA
Performance Date: 3/20/12
Primary Language: Armenian
Language: English and Russian

“Msra Meliq, the king of Arabia kills the king, Lion Mher, who was the leader of his nation, and takes his son David to raise. Due to the unnatural strength of the young boy, the king can no longer keep him, so he gives the child to his uncle to raise. As David grows, so do his powers. It is believed that he had weapons that no one else could hold. His horse would fly across town and he could alone destroy large groups of enemy soldiers in one strike. David is represented as a statue in the city of Yerevan swinging his sword back and forth and flying his horse, Kurkik Jalali. The legend of David of Sasun has been integrated in many baby names of Armenian sons. Even my brother is named David, who my father believed would be the hero, the savior, the symbol of our nation.”

The informant was born and raised in Armenia and moved to the United States when she was about fifteen years old. As a child, Sasuntsi David was one of the most common legendary figures that is attributed to explaining the history of Armenia. The legend of David of Sasun is about a young boy who grows up as the hero of the nation. He has become embedded as the symbol of Armenia and determined as the reason their nation still stands today. She learned this as an early child in grade school. In grade school, it is part of the general curriculum to learn the legend to memory and know the hero’s godlike powers by associating it with hope for their nation. She finds this particularly legend compelling. Despite the fact that it is a legend, there are many facts pointing to an actual existence of parts of the legend, such as there being a door of David’s son hidden in the mountains. The legend says that Mher, who was the successor of the supernatural powers and father of David, deemed that the door had some powers. And the people, today, believe that this door will someday open and a new hero will emerge.

I believe the legend of David of Sasun serves as way for Armenia to establish its national identity, since many Armenians are spread out across the European nation. For example, there are Russian-Armenians, Lebanese-Armenians, and Persian-Armenians. It’s a way of saying, “Here I am,” and to convey that their people have not lost a sense of their roots. It also seems that a large part of instilling this legend in school curriculum can come from attempting to have Armenians become well knowledgeable about their culture and history. Just like the United States teaches U.S. history and the national anthem to instill history of the U.S. to its citizens, certain countries have used folkloric means to instill their own history to their people.