It's official

6:23 PM, and I have already eaten more candy than I will give away all night.

[*burp*]

Happy Halloween!

The trees in my yard are bare, but the ground looks like "leaf-ageddon". The aftermath of a tree explosion. Several trees, in fact. A forest's-worth of leafage on the lawn!

Oddly, the tree horizon visable from my library window is full of color. The neighboring tree line between the houses across the street (and their direct neighbors to their rear) still have gloriously colorful trees. Leafy lollipops of oranges, reds and rusty yellows, mixed with deep green spikes of evergreens here and there.

There's no explanation for any of it, so I won't even try to wrap my head around it. Instead, let me offer this photo for your amusement, in honor of the day.

May your trick-or-treaters all be wee ones, and your TP experiences be easy to clean.

Home early

Yeah, right.

I guess it's all relative, eh?

Early for this production at any rate. I know I am going to hear from some of you, in some form or another, about not staying for the wrap party, but at the speed the grips were loading out gear (which wasn't fast enough) and the fact that there was SO much gak the art department and location dude needed to remove from the house and reset of the owner's possessions, I had a feeling it was going to be a long time before the party even got rolling.

I was (AM) tired, and driving the better portion of an hour - after waiting for the party to move - was not high on my list of priorities.

OK, I heard that in Clio. "Schmooze"-frooze [insert naggy schmarmy tone here]. SO wasn't in the mood to network with most of these folks (at the 'above the line' area - in management, that is). It wasn't going to get me anywhere, and I have pretty well found myself at the bottom of the barrel here in MI. Work in film is non-existant (for the most part), or so low paying that you lose money on these indie gigs.

[yawn]

Why am I still up and sitting at this keyboard? That is one good question and I will have an answer for you when I wake up sometime later today.

Good night.

Oh, yeah, by the way....that's a wrap!

Wahoo!

A few days this week I was able to keep up spectacularly well with all aspects of the paperwork, but was hampered in turning in reports by an MIA DIT person.

DIT = Digital Image Transfer.

MIA = well, that's pretty self explanatory, right?

Why was he the cause of unfinished work? Well, let me enlighten you.

There have been far too many scenes shot in a car, where the camera team leaves me standing on a street corner, left to twirl my stopwatch, while they roll footage that won't be properly logged or slated.

I need to watch said footage and get a timing for these set ups and takes for my reporting, and ultimately for the editor, but the DP is a cowboy when it comes to following procedure. He cares not a wink for helping me (or the editing process) out, so they return from these driving sequences with unknown quantities of images shot that need descriptions and run-times attached.

There are many workarounds and solutions to the problem that wouldn't be any more of a hassle than to simply do it right "on the day," but their solution is for me to have to remain well after wrap has been called for the day, and to find the DIT person and watch (in real time, mind you) the footage and time it for starts and stops.

Are they nuts! Why should I have to put out more free time than they are?

The answer to that rhetorical question is "I shouldn't!"

However, without watching the footage, I can't turn in accurate numbers or completed notes...sooooooo. $@&!*#@!!

Tonight and tomorrow I am pushing to complete as much as I can before showing up for day 17.

The end is nigh. Wahoo!

What a day!

Today I worked with Emmy Award-winning (and Emmy-nominated) James McDaniel. You may remember him from NYPD Blue, where he played Lt. Arthur Fancy. Or, maybe you were a fan of the very short-lived Detroit 1-8-7, where he also had a run as a law enforcement officer.

Mr. McDaniel has had quite a good spat of television work, and some meaty roles in rather good films - if not very well promoted ones.

So, you couple that with the opportunity of working and chatting with David Dastmalchian on this project and you have a great day (day after day). Almost makes it worth the lack of sleep, the incredibly long drive and the poop-for-pay.

I do love the crew - for the most part - so that is the icing on my cake.

Just trying to keep it on the bright side.

I'm up...I'm awake!

I don't know why this is, but have you ever noticed how much more restful dozing is when you don't have to be anywhere?

For some reason, it seems to me, when you aren't trying to sneak a nap in (before a time deadline), drifting off to sleep is so much easier - and, yields a better outcome - than when trying to take 'a nap.'

I fell asleep on the sofa last night, flanked by my boys, and at some point they just got up and walked away, leaving me to slumber for the first time in four days. When I woke, it was because Hobbes had decided to crawl onto my lap and nestle in, sometime in the wee morning hours.

Currently, I am awake and mostly alert. Eager to make a (large) dent in the quilt project and not the least bit eager to look at the call sheet for Sunday.

Yug.

Mommy needs a regular full time job. This hit or miss (and mostly, it's been "miss") film work is pretty lackluster. While I love working on film sets, the creation, the buzz, the energy, the frenetic pace, there is a lot more about the waning film activity in the state that has me disillusioned and searching harder than ever to find a regular nine-to-five job somewhere.

I'm awake and my eyes are wide open. This gig has me totally bummed out.

Here's a link

A link to the website for the current film, Cass - www.cassthemovie.com.

Hopefully, there will be much more added for you to peruse over the next several days, as we have already had three full shoot days, and the prepro days they used to take a lot of sequential stills for use in the movie.

Holy moly, am I tired! It's been a day, and not an exceptionally positive one at that. My desire is to post a good number of my own shots of this crew, and behind the scenes stuff, by the end of the week.

What have you been up to?

How to spend a sunny day in the D

I guess you know by now that the entries in the blog are fewer and farther between when I am working on a film. Between the long days and the travel time, there isn't a lot of time left in there to blog each day, but I will make an attempt to get a little something in here a few times each week.

Yesterday's schedule: lots of moves at too many locations, coupled with a DP who wants to prove his point at just about any cost, found nerves frayed at the end of the day.

First shot didn't get off until a full one hour past time, so we were behind the eight ball the entire day.

A larger than expected complement of family, and friends of family, visiting the set (because we had a large number of child actors to shoot) meant a much larger bunch of mouths to feed at lunch. They all needed plates and forks, and of course....the catering didn't have any extra on hand! It was a mess. A train wreck. Took an hour to get the last man through, so while it was nice to have that extended time to sit comfortably, it was still a detriment to the schedule.

On the flip side, the filming on the city bus was a kick, and I have to say the driver of our rolling set/location was phenomenal - and so was her counterpart. She turned that bus around across a broad major street like nobody's business, and her lead person kept traffic moving - or halted when necessary - to allow for all of the switchbacks.

I will post a few photos in a day or so. Enjoy your Monday!

Time well spent

Even though I have enough of my own stuff to attend to on this glorious spare day, I took a few hours to trim bushes and help Klaus and Erika get their landscaping in order for the end of the year.

They have a lot of specimen plants in their front yard, edging the walk and leading to the front door. A demonic rose bush, a face-slapping Althea and an unruly Weeping Cherry, who has extended well beyond the sidewalk edge and had become part of an ecclectic obstacle course.

Klaus and I worked together to make a fair dent in the appearance, and aside from not getting to two small agenda items, we did manage to knock out quite a bit of the most needful items on the list. His overgrown shrubs are thinned out and trimmed back, the cherry is under control and ready to make a spectacular comeback next spring, and his cherished rose bush - though much shorter and really thinned out - is also primed and ready to become a well-shaped bush next year.

He became quite anxious with my insistance to continue trimming and thinning, until finally he pleaded to stop. Poor fellow. But, I reassured him there was more than enough of the sturdy rose bush left from which he would see new growth next spring. He will see that the harsh pruning not only eliminated a lot of unhealthy criss-cross limbs, but opened the entire plant to receive light and airflow to the interior, and would keep it from becoming an over-tangled mess next year.

It was with a heavy sigh and a tight chest that he allowed me to trim, trim, trim.

Erika came out about three hours after the cutting had begun to see the work, and approved wholeheartedly of the changes. I have to say it looked pretty good, and there was a lot of improvement overall.

Next year we will see the fruits of our labor!

That felt SO good!

After a day of filming - running-and-gunning, guerrilla-style shooting - I arrived home and remained awake (and upright) long enough to speak with each of the boys, hugged them good night (regretted not doing some dishes) and then fell in to bed - literally.

I was so brain-drained I don't even recall lying down!

The girls must have known how badly I needed the sleep, for when I woke up this morning, there wasn't one cat in sight. Sweetly, they even left me alone until I woke up on my own. Usually there is clamoring for food and mews to help me wake up and realize my wrongdoing...but not today. Nope, today I was allowed to sleep until I actually woke myself and tumbled out of bed.

[heavy satisfied sigh]

It felt SO good.

Spent the day yesterday crisscrossing the city, filming what is commonly referred to as "b-roll" in the film and television industry. Even though it was written as individual scenes and not a montage, the footage will be strung together in editing to show our drifter-artist character as on the move, heading somewhere, alone and footloose.

The best part of the day was gaining entrance to the new Cass Tech High library balcony in order to shoot an 'overhead', high-angle view of an earlier shot (because the writer-director had this vision in his head). Of course, we were about a mile or so from the actual first location, but the sixth floor bird's-eye view afforded us almost a perfectly unobstructed shot.

I protested that they had our actor walking the wrong way to match the shot, but they were not concerned, so I noted my concern and moved on.

The funny for the day happened when we were riding from one location to the next, and one of the cam crew was relating a little Detroit history to our actor, David Dastmalchian. David had commented on the beauty of some of our older Detroit landmark structures, and he was sad to learn that many are standing derelict shells.

Sadly, they are being left to decay and vandalism.

Well, our eager camera assistant went on to say that the patriarch (not his word) of one of Detroit's more affluent (also not his word) families named Belle Isle after his daughter - "Belle."

"Yeah," he said, "that Isle family sure had a lot of money."

INFORMATIONAL SIDENOTE: You Michigan folk may have chuckled, but for those of you unfamiliar with Detroit history you should know we once had a large number of shakers and rollers back in the glory days of our metropolis flagship. After many names and uses, the island which graces our shoreline in the Detroit River was eventually (officially) named for the daughter (Isabelle) of one of our illustrious citizens who became governor of the great lake state - Gen. Lewis Cass. NOT "the Isle family."

Ah well, that was worth a giggle or two.

If we are to work the entire shoot without a video village, without chairs and nothing for me to write on, this is going to be a monstrously horrible experience.

But, I managed to finish prepping my book and got the day's paperwork in 'on the day,' so I am happy. That felt so good, too.

Odd way to start the day

I arose when I heard Bud up and around. Thinking there was no way I was getting back to sleep, and knowing the garbage needed escorting to the curb, I put my feet on the floor and got down to business.

From the kitchen window I noted there was a 'bit' of fog, but assumed it was a remainder from the overnight hours (or pre-dawn) and was dissipating.

WRONG! In the last forty minutes it has become significantly thicker. Just over the last ten minutes it has obscured homes four houses down the street!

Pea soup rolling in, people. Take your time - the rest of us want to survive the day, too.

It's just a little odd to see fog building up when you are used to watching it vanish with the sunrise.

Beautiful day

Received a copy of the final script and had it printed at an office supply store; tomorrow I will read it through and begin the process of lining and pre-timing. Will set up my book and get the master report pages ready to take with me to the production office so that I can make copies. Scripty work takes a lot of paper.

I have heard that there is a PC program for Script Supers to use, so as to complete the paperwork electronically. Very cool, but also very expensive. It also requires the use of a tablet or touch screen PC - another cost I can't see shouldering any time in the near future. Besides, truth be told, I would much rather spend all (non-existant) spare capital on a camera. ;)

Began cutting the first of the greens today - the lightest blocks - and I am so very happy to be moving on to newer colors. Before too long, I will be cutting the rest of the green requirements and the violets, too.

Seems like forever since I worked on the far lefthand side of this project. One-point-five squares to go before I am assembling row three!

Pinky swear -- on the next non-beautiful day (when I am not working) I will cut ALL fabric for this project.

P.S. More info and photos about the latest quilt project can be seen at: www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com

Three things

- I've got a raging headache.

- Another car has just run down my mailbox (actually, backed over it). Brand new Compass with a lot of rear rt bumper, tail light and wheel well damage. Justice!

- I got the Scripty gig in the D; name of the production is "Cass." May end up having two more paid days than originally discussed, so that's a good thing. Still sad to have turned down working on "Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy."

C'est la vie.

It's official

Brian is out the door and on his way to his new store as a full time "Customer Experience Manager." (Or, is it "C-E-Supervisor"? - I can never keep it straight.)

His excitement is tempered with the detracting factors - the distance of the drive now; the fact that the drive is a lot of two-lane back roads (instead of the pleasant seven mile expressway trip); the fact that his days will now be a 'real life' eight hours - or close to it - each day, and not the old 5-hour-day he had grown happy with and accustomed to. There will definitely be a lot more (of the same) responsibilities, and a larger slice of the managerial pie to swallow now, but he is up to it.

Perhaps he will find the commute a way to decompress after the day is done. Hopefully, the customers will be agreeable and the smaller staff less prone to malicious gossip and backstabbing. I know the increase in pay and the resulting benefits of a 401K (with employer matching) will make the rest of the issues seem less bothersome (or will at least make them somewhat worthwhile).

He's already said he likes the manager at the new store, and that he is thrilled at the size of the place! Despite the fact that this new store does less in sales than the store Brian is leaving, that isn't something he needs to really concern himself with. The possibilities are good to increase sales, but mostly it is simply a great opportunity for him.

It hasn't even been a year since he began work as a "seasonal employee," destined to be out of work again after the holiday sales had ended and 2011 began. But, the management liked the way he worked and the way he dealt with the customers and issues which arose. He was offered a chance to stay on and become a permanent employee right away, but then moved up the ladder very quickly through three positions of title to where he is now!

Recommended to fill an important vacancy by his manager and the District Manager!

Oh, Brian, I am so very proud of you, and I pray that you find happiness and a way to a prosperous and content future. You just keep being yourself and others will continue to see the possibilities in you, too.

Dear Lord, please keep Bud safe in his travels to and from work, and help him to understand Your hand in some of these events.

Getting an early start

The golden sun has just risen to where it can slap the trees across the street with sun from the east. It only serves to highlight the color of the turning leaves.

Less wind today, too - yeah!

Oops! Spoke too soon. Looks like we also have clouds somewhere along the horizon. The sunny daybreak has just faded.

Itching to sit down at the sewing machine and make a dent. Yesterday was a lackluster day, as far as accomplishing construction on the latest project. But, I did manage to pick out the backing material (ouch!) with help from Barb and Jean. I think it will look pretty good as a foil for the front - it's more 'traditional,' with a funky touch. Time will tell. Sadly, I will still need to select a binding. [groan]

Lots to do today, so I am away from the keyboard!

Have a great day, whatever you do.

You may have noticed I didn't talk about looking for work, or job prospects, or any of that stuff.

What did I do!?!!?

Had a call early this morning. An opportunity to pick up where another Scripty wasn't cutting the mustard on an indie, filming in Manistee/Ludington.

Wages weren't great, and they are half through their book, so I wouldn't have had a lot of time on the job - but I would have been the winning 'relief pitcher.' The go-to person. The savior - of sorts.

It would have been a huge feather in my cap and been great exposure to a whole other set of filmmakers!

Why didn't I do it?

Long story...I'll tell you about it sometime.

But that makes two today.