sorry

Yo. Sorry for no posts in a while.  I wish I could write every day when I get home, but I only have time to shower  and sleep right away.  Right now I have a few minutes to write a quick note while we set up for our next shot.  Things are going well.  Lots of fun.  We’re in the warehouse, the set is fantastic, sometimes I feel like I’m in a real house..the only bad thing is how hot it gets.  OK, thats all.  BACK TO IT!

-pa the pa

from the clipboard

(last night’s shoot)

10:35 pm

Here I sit, outside the loading dock at Hollywood Market in Royal Oak.  I’m on lock up duty making sure things are under control.  We have about 50 extras tonight, I hope they don’t get too bored/cold/hungry.

I didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted , but I took some vitamin B, ate a protein bar and I have my water at hand.  So I hope I don’t pass out.

Since I have some time to think and a rando just sparked my thinking, I thought I’d discuss the topic of films coming to Michigan. 
The guy walked past asking “what this was all about?” He looked exactly like Simon Cowell.  I explained it was a movie shoot, he thought it might be the Clint Eastwood film shooting in the area..of course its not, so he stomped off with a puff of cigarette smoke saying “fuck em’ I’m not invited.”  I was mildly entertained. 
That got me thinking about the climate of readiness in the state for all this action, people’s fascination with celebrity and the general ignorance of a lot of people when it comes to the movie production process.

11:20pm

To the seasoned or even unexperienced crew member, its quite clear from the beginning there is little glitz and/or glamour the layman would expect of a movie set.  When random people walk up when they see lights and lots of people, they expect to see something exciting but all they get is a bunch of guys carrying equipment, setting something up and other work. 

I hate to disappoint these people but thems the brakes.  Its my hope that soon there will be so many productions around that everybody learns the deal and gets used to it and I get as much work as possible. 

…Speaking of extras, I got to be one for a few shots, although I’m pretty sure I either wasn’t in the frame or I was out of focus.  Oh well, it was fun.  All I could think of was how much greater the show Extras is having had a slight taste of what its like and to see 50 of them all trying to get their chance on camera.  Pretty interesting crowd. 

pa the pa

camp fritz

For the past few days we’ve been shooting at a park.  Speaking of shooting, there’s a weapon expert on hand named Fritz, he looks a lot like horror director George Romero (kinda).  It was nice to be outside, the weather wasn’t too bad and its a lovely park, we all got some good exercise walking to and fro from the “production office” to set.  At some point there was a coversation about camp and it was decided that shooting at this park was a little like a camp experience.  I’ve never been to camp, but I’ve seen Wet Hot American Summer, and that looked like a good time.  We did drink lots of lemonade, fruit punch and candy though.  Yesterday, I was put on gun wrangling duty, so Fritz taught me how to handle these rifles and all, it was interesting.  I also sat in on a squibs 101 lesson.  If you don’t know what a squib is, its a little explosive that special effects people use when people or other things get shot in a movie to simulate the bullet’s impact.  Its all very fun. 

More fun is when audio has to record some “nat” or natural sound.  Its much like having a moment of silence, but in this case there’s no serious reason so I always wonder what the crew is thinking, I’m thinking of naps.

Tonight we start a few night shoots, so I’m sure my sleep pattern will take a few more hits, I may become somebody altogether different. 

pa the pa

Yesterday

We moved the location to the warehouse for some shots with vehicles.  It was nice to be somewhere else, but we’re gonna be shooting there for a few weeks so I hope I don’t tire of it too soon. 

This shoot is great.  It’s not too big that you get lost in the mix and not to small where you get overwhelmed with work.  The crew is starting to meld and have a fun time on set.  Long days can get some people pretty loopy and that usually means some laughs.  Every day I get more advice about the industry that I really appreciate, crew are more than happy to share experiences and techniques for random things.  Because of Michigan’s film tax incentive, there are a whole load of productions coming to the area so its awesome to be able to learn what it takes and how to do well to get more work.  One example, I was ”locking up” a door, making sure nobody walks in on a take, and in between set ups I learned a little about how to load film, t’was interesting, mostly cause you have to do it under a cover, so you can’t see.  A while later we pumped up the jams with some Wu Tang in the production truck.  It helped get me through the day. 

Later today I’ll be helping out a different shoot for a team working on something for the 48hr Film Project, once again a first for me.  Everything always happens all at once for me then slows way down, but I’m used to the quick change of pace.  This time I hope it doesn’t slow too much. 

Call time is early on Monday, I hope to get a full re-charge by then. 

pa the pa

swamp ass (day3)

As I stated before, PAing is a lot of up and down kinda work.  It goes for your state of mind sometimes too.  I guess any job could be like that, but like today for example, I was just starting to get tired and had to remind myself to snap out of it, then after a while I hardly thought of being tired and before I knew it we wrapped a 14 hour day.  It was very productive and fun. 

We said goodbye for now to some of the cast, they were great, made quick friends that I hope to see at a potential wrap party.  I’m soakin up a lot of info and advice from cast and crew, learning a lot, sweating a lot, pretty much monstering up in many ways.  Tommorrow is supposed to be again, in the 90s, which means more swamp ass, its a silent killer.  Speaking of which, I must shower and go to bed. 

Two more pictures.

Goodnight

pa the pa

day 2

life of a PA has its ups and downs. meaning (especially on a movie set) there’s times when you’re busy x3, then a lot of time when you’re just sitting and waiting. 

today most of the cast got killed off, so we’re not gonna be seeing them again after another few days, which is sad, its a fun group. 

during the day, i think of a bunch of stuff that i wanna write about but i forget once i get home.  i think it mostly entails how I’m on my search for what i want to do in the media industry, meeting people and so on.  I’d like to write more, but time is of the essence and i need my sleep real bad, these long days will catch up to ya. Here’s some photos of special fx and such.

pa the pa

First Movie

Today was my first full day working as a production assistant on a feature film.  Long day, great people, downtime, games, gore, tired.