Week 6 was one punctuated by illness. I'll spare the details, but waking up sick on sunday (enough so to visit the hospital) proved to be a waste of a day, and i skipped a half day of work on monday. Feeling better on tuesday, I put in another full day. Wednesday I made it to work, but had them take me to a family practitioner to get some proper attention. The doctor paid me more attention this time and actually allayed my fears that the symptoms were that of something more serious. This allowed me to finish the week out in a painfully yet confident haze. I'm mostly better by today (saturday) which allows me to feel okay about enjoying my night at the crew Halloween Party.
I was considering not going at first without finding a good costume. The theme was rock star, and I had no good accessories. Finally, I had a good idea, and then it turns out some people from the costume department were going as the same band i was thinking of. Suddenly, not only was my costume easy. but it became effortless, cheap and completed.
Its kind of a shame, because i get the feeling that this party will be where alot of people will bond, and in 2 short weeks the film will be finished. Sure we will have friendships that we can maintain over email and phone and stuff, and we will have all the shwag that will distinguish us in a crowd, But in a short while there will be an entirely new crew to meet and, then the process starts all over. I guess I should be thankful, because it keeps things interesting from project to project, and you don't have to work with the same jerks month to month if you get a bad bunch. Also, it makes the reunions all the more sweet when you get to work with somebody on a different project.
The Gypsy-like nature of the business seems to be such that, the more you work... The more you work. new friends beget new jobs, and new contacts, and as I understand it, pretty soon, the jobs wont stop calling YOU up. Thats a nice change from what im sure most people are used to, but as of right now, thats just what i hear. We'll see if thats how it actually breaks down at the end of the day.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
long time coming
After losing a check in the mail last week, i mailed in some other checks and settled a debt back home. I should be financially set up soon so i can actually start paying off things I owe. Work is starting to get into a good cycle where i come home tired, but not in pain. The days go by quick enough, and i am actually becoming friends with more people outside of my department. I still make mistakes which get magnified by the people above me when they are noticed, but for the most part i think i am doing a good job.
We're more than past the halfway mark, and at this point have about 3 weeks left in the shoot. I will be sad to see it go (or for it to see me go) but that is the nature of the business, and chances are, if I keep in good contact, there is a good chance I will be working with some of these people again soon. It sounds like when i get out it might be a bit of a struggle to get my first jobs, but then they will start flying in. I guess at that point i better be sure its the right direction to take, because right now i am just going with the flow and figuring out a way to advance in the position I have found myself in.
Getting back home I need to be sure to evaluate my options and make the right choices. I think this might be a good track to get on, at least in the medium/short term, but the long term it might actually be more trouble than its worth.
On a lighter note; Went to the state fair last weekend and spent more money that I would have liked, but its nice to see how the other half lives. Its not a common thing to see a state fair for me (at least not in the city) so to see some of the things I would usually see in Six Flags are slightly less artificial. The rides at the fair are actually a good deal more scary because you could actually be worried about their structural integrity.
We're more than past the halfway mark, and at this point have about 3 weeks left in the shoot. I will be sad to see it go (or for it to see me go) but that is the nature of the business, and chances are, if I keep in good contact, there is a good chance I will be working with some of these people again soon. It sounds like when i get out it might be a bit of a struggle to get my first jobs, but then they will start flying in. I guess at that point i better be sure its the right direction to take, because right now i am just going with the flow and figuring out a way to advance in the position I have found myself in.
Getting back home I need to be sure to evaluate my options and make the right choices. I think this might be a good track to get on, at least in the medium/short term, but the long term it might actually be more trouble than its worth.
On a lighter note; Went to the state fair last weekend and spent more money that I would have liked, but its nice to see how the other half lives. Its not a common thing to see a state fair for me (at least not in the city) so to see some of the things I would usually see in Six Flags are slightly less artificial. The rides at the fair are actually a good deal more scary because you could actually be worried about their structural integrity.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Reverse engineering from the Rosetta Stone of filmmaking
Last night was the second and hopefully last of my 6 day weeks on this shoot. I did afterall come down here to work and i am actually grateful for it, but working days as long as this do tend to take their toll. Mornings are harder to struggle through when there is barely enough time to relax and turn around for the next day. As i understand it, we even have it easy because all the locations are nearby and relatively centralized. In other locations (LA for example) you could easily be driving several hours to your destination. This would cut your turn-around down again considerably, but then again, if i were in this situation loading vans, i could fesably sleep on the ride over. But enough complaining about hours.
This week, filmwise, we shot a pretty impressive two and a half minute shot which was handed off between 7 operators of which two of them were on rising and falling cranes and one which ends the shot on a rickshaw. The shot itself was a very cool feat, so much so that the producer bought a case of champagne for the crew to drink at wrap. I wonder however, in the shooting of the rest of the scene, how the shot will gel when its placed directly up along a scene which will be cut between shots that will probably last only a few seconds each. Of course this is the film student in me over analyzing things a little too much. I should be less critical so as to dismiss the power of really good editing. Most people don't even detect cuts between shots in movies, least of all action scenes, i know that. I'm not sure why i am questioning that power now, but it might have something to do with the fact that i have no opportunity to observe any aspect of the editing process on this film.
I guess the editing process of these major motion pictures remains somewhat mysterious to me, because it remains one of the few aspects of the industry that I consider somewhat mysterious. The key techniques i of course learned about in film school, and earlier on my own, but the true secrets will remain elusive to me until I meet, let alone talk to a real life film editor. As far as i can tell, they have not been on set at all, and while i am sure they are working to log and capture, and perhaps even to begin editing in a preliminary state, that aspect of this project will be an unknown to me until I see the film on the big screen.
Regardless of my opinion of the film once i've seen it all shot, i will definetely be among the first in line at the theater to put the final piece of the puzzle together. I can watch all the monitor VTR replays I can bear on set, but will never get a sense how it truly comes together until I see it with mixed sound design (dialog and music and sound effects all put together) and proper editing and color correction (to see just how effective the stunts will be in the picture and other unknowns like that). Editing is after all where most of the magic happens. It's also going to be fun to be able to spot all the places i was hiding during each shot (assuming I can manage to remember that stuff by the time this picture comes out) but really, the final film will serve as the Rosetta Stone of this whole experience to translate what exactly the outcome is of this whole shoot.
Thankfully the end of this week also means the end of our parking lot location, so the rest of the week will be able to stay lively. I think there's a new location every day next week so that may make it go even faster.
This week, filmwise, we shot a pretty impressive two and a half minute shot which was handed off between 7 operators of which two of them were on rising and falling cranes and one which ends the shot on a rickshaw. The shot itself was a very cool feat, so much so that the producer bought a case of champagne for the crew to drink at wrap. I wonder however, in the shooting of the rest of the scene, how the shot will gel when its placed directly up along a scene which will be cut between shots that will probably last only a few seconds each. Of course this is the film student in me over analyzing things a little too much. I should be less critical so as to dismiss the power of really good editing. Most people don't even detect cuts between shots in movies, least of all action scenes, i know that. I'm not sure why i am questioning that power now, but it might have something to do with the fact that i have no opportunity to observe any aspect of the editing process on this film.
I guess the editing process of these major motion pictures remains somewhat mysterious to me, because it remains one of the few aspects of the industry that I consider somewhat mysterious. The key techniques i of course learned about in film school, and earlier on my own, but the true secrets will remain elusive to me until I meet, let alone talk to a real life film editor. As far as i can tell, they have not been on set at all, and while i am sure they are working to log and capture, and perhaps even to begin editing in a preliminary state, that aspect of this project will be an unknown to me until I see the film on the big screen.
Regardless of my opinion of the film once i've seen it all shot, i will definetely be among the first in line at the theater to put the final piece of the puzzle together. I can watch all the monitor VTR replays I can bear on set, but will never get a sense how it truly comes together until I see it with mixed sound design (dialog and music and sound effects all put together) and proper editing and color correction (to see just how effective the stunts will be in the picture and other unknowns like that). Editing is after all where most of the magic happens. It's also going to be fun to be able to spot all the places i was hiding during each shot (assuming I can manage to remember that stuff by the time this picture comes out) but really, the final film will serve as the Rosetta Stone of this whole experience to translate what exactly the outcome is of this whole shoot.
Thankfully the end of this week also means the end of our parking lot location, so the rest of the week will be able to stay lively. I think there's a new location every day next week so that may make it go even faster.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The word of the day is assimilation
Another weekend has come and gone, and this time it only took me 6 hours. We worked Saturday, on second unit shoot that was supposed to be a half day wasn' t. I hear we are working next Saturday as well so unfortunately it looks like this the week that never ends until at least halfway through the month. Today, I voluntarily took on a roommate for a week
one of Flash's friends that it turns out knows most of the crew from Wilmington anyway. Two weeks flying solo has been nice but now I get to reap the benefits of casual conversations of an old hand at this gig. Brian assures me that one job leads to another after you start to make friends, and that not surprisingly having dual citzenship actually helps your opportunity to work on pictures that have multiple locations across national boundaries. Hopefully i will be able to find some more local (NY based) production companies to get involved with soon, because all of the friends i am making here are largely based out of the South (Wilmington, NC to be specific).
Work days are going by more quickly as I get used to the work, and also more likely, as the crew gets used to me being around. Where i was was once a green "political hire", now as we bring in more local help for PAs I must seem much more integrated. You can really tell that these guys are used to working together, and it strikes me (as i have been told before for various different reasons) that this is a good first picture to work on. I think this is true, becuase I am seeing how the job works outside the majority of the politics that must go along with NY or CA based productions. Most of these guys have worked together, or work in small enough circles that they know the same people and its nice to know that can exist. The public perception of pretty much every movie is that the same people from the two major film centers of the country just ship them off to make movies wherever. I get this impression based on the first question i ususally get from onlookers on set. "Hey, so where are you from, California?" I tell them no, I'm from New York City, and very quickly realize that doesn't allay their misconceptions at all. I make sure to emphasize that many of us are from all over. Chris is From DC, Nicole from Philly/NJ, and the other PAs are 'locals' from Wilmington or at least somewhere in North Carolina.
Assimilation has been the key thought for the past two weeks, and in the upcoming week, it will almost become second nature as we welcome another 10 or 15 into our ranks to help us lock up a parking lot as we shoot a 4 minute continuous chase shot that involves passing the camera from handheld and between two different cranes. That should be crazy to watch, and i'm told nothing like it has ever been attempted.
I should also note that it might just be my imagination, or it might be a sign, but what was once delectable catering food, for the past two days has been sub-par quality dining. I havent been able to finish a meal at our 'lunch' break for a little while now. Now, it might be that I am getting tired of the southern specialties (although how can you get sick of barbeque) and am jaded on the diet of a film crew, but i am hoping the caterers have been slacking off. The true test comes tomorrow when we will be but a stones throw from true throwback school cafeteria food. Only time will tell.
And me, maybe i'll tell.
one of Flash's friends that it turns out knows most of the crew from Wilmington anyway. Two weeks flying solo has been nice but now I get to reap the benefits of casual conversations of an old hand at this gig. Brian assures me that one job leads to another after you start to make friends, and that not surprisingly having dual citzenship actually helps your opportunity to work on pictures that have multiple locations across national boundaries. Hopefully i will be able to find some more local (NY based) production companies to get involved with soon, because all of the friends i am making here are largely based out of the South (Wilmington, NC to be specific).
Work days are going by more quickly as I get used to the work, and also more likely, as the crew gets used to me being around. Where i was was once a green "political hire", now as we bring in more local help for PAs I must seem much more integrated. You can really tell that these guys are used to working together, and it strikes me (as i have been told before for various different reasons) that this is a good first picture to work on. I think this is true, becuase I am seeing how the job works outside the majority of the politics that must go along with NY or CA based productions. Most of these guys have worked together, or work in small enough circles that they know the same people and its nice to know that can exist. The public perception of pretty much every movie is that the same people from the two major film centers of the country just ship them off to make movies wherever. I get this impression based on the first question i ususally get from onlookers on set. "Hey, so where are you from, California?" I tell them no, I'm from New York City, and very quickly realize that doesn't allay their misconceptions at all. I make sure to emphasize that many of us are from all over. Chris is From DC, Nicole from Philly/NJ, and the other PAs are 'locals' from Wilmington or at least somewhere in North Carolina.
Assimilation has been the key thought for the past two weeks, and in the upcoming week, it will almost become second nature as we welcome another 10 or 15 into our ranks to help us lock up a parking lot as we shoot a 4 minute continuous chase shot that involves passing the camera from handheld and between two different cranes. That should be crazy to watch, and i'm told nothing like it has ever been attempted.
I should also note that it might just be my imagination, or it might be a sign, but what was once delectable catering food, for the past two days has been sub-par quality dining. I havent been able to finish a meal at our 'lunch' break for a little while now. Now, it might be that I am getting tired of the southern specialties (although how can you get sick of barbeque) and am jaded on the diet of a film crew, but i am hoping the caterers have been slacking off. The true test comes tomorrow when we will be but a stones throw from true throwback school cafeteria food. Only time will tell.
And me, maybe i'll tell.
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