i work at a special effects factory.

we make things blow up in movies. i've always wanted to work in movies ever since i was a little kid and be one of the pyrotechnic people who gets paid to blow lots of things up over and over again. i figured i would get bonus points for not being in the military. nowadays almost all that stuff is done in the computer and almost anyone can do it, but the company that i work at is the big one. directors arm wrestle with each other so that they can have the opportunity to have us blow their planets up.

i cut film. i prepare all the film in the morning so that the animators, visual effects supervisors and producers can sit in a dark room and watch planets explode. it's really not a bad way to start a morning.

one morning i was feeling particularly grumpy about having to work on this particular movie with this particular crew watching this particular planet explode. when you're in the screening room you have to watch the same shot over and over again to make sure that the planet doesn't explode the wrong way. it has to blow up just right. one of the supervisors was making a comment about one of the shots and started to tell us what was on his mind.

"you know... this doesn't really look like..."

"...a good movie?!" i thought.

everyone in the room turned to look at me.

i thought i was using my inside voice.

someone booed me.

future | retro