Assistant Director

Photographer Revisits Abandoned Movie Sets for Star Wars and Other Classic Films in North Africa

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:32:17 -0700

Photographer Revisits Abandoned Movie Sets for Star Wars and Other Classic Films in North Africa:

trina-s-production-report:

I want to film here!

Update on 2nd AD

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:33:03 -0700

Turns out he’s a high school student. The Producer claims “He totally misrepresented himself!”

I thought, “When his mom dropped him off, I’m not sure what work experience you were hoping for.”

I'll be 2nd AD on a feature in about 2 weeks... Problem? I'm never done it before... Honestly? I should have started at a PA level, or 3rd AD at the very least... I really want to meet up with my first before day 1 to go over things, so I can have a better understanding and have his/her back on set more. I have asked the producer if I could, three days later I'm yet to get a reply. Was my request out of place? I feel like I'm kept out of the loop, so how can I do my best? Fuck.

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:30:19 -0700

Wow. No, you’re not out of line and the Producer should be giving you all the necessary contact information to talk to your own bosses. I don’t really know why you would be kept in the dark, and the sooner you can talk to the 1st, the easier your life and theirs gets, because then they can either help you, train you, or frankly know what they’re getting in to, and move you to 3rd and have the 2nd help you. I don’t envy you. I was in that situation once. And the resulting scenario of no one listening to me, did not end well. But kudos to you for recognizing a bad situation.

Photo

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:30:19 -0700

Trying to talk to people about what I do.

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:54:17 -0700

Trying to talk to people about what I do.

Things you never ever want to hear...

Sat, 11 May 2013 22:42:44 -0700

(Production is saving money by flying me out last minute.)

Me: okay, we need to set up interviews for 2nd AD.

Producer: No stress, I already hired one for you. Solid solid guy. Really experienced. Really good… Doesn’t know base camp as much, but really does callsheets well and paperwork.

Me:… Okay.

5 days out

Me: okay, here’s all the schedules. Take the crew list, and the one liner and use your template, and send me something today.

Producer: Hey cool… Can you send us a template?

3 days out

Producer: hey, they’re having issues with your template. We’re going to use one of mine and I’ll send it to you.

Me: I sent him an excel file. Is it not opening? Do you need a new template?

Producer: he’s really not that experienced. He can only open PDFs. I’ll do it for him.

…fuck.

It's a 1st AD thing. You wouldn't understand.: "We can't interupt business": a primer on live location lock down.

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:11:36 -0700

It's a 1st AD thing. You wouldn't understand.: "We can't interupt business": a primer on live location lock down.:

goingforpicture:

For the love of all that is holy, never lock in a location that you do not obtain full control of. This is rule number one to location scouting. When you have dialog, multiple actors, background, picture vehicles, and other large elements at play, having civilians also stepping through the set and…

Very helpful to understanding shooting in a live business.

When you're filming an overnight and the sun starts to peek out...

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:06:17 -0700

1stassistantdirectors:

“We can day for night this, right?”

I’ve done day for night, for night, for day, for night. before. The continuity did not match.

Gosloving: Ryan Gosling won't eat his cereal

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:11:04 -0700

Gosloving: Ryan Gosling won't eat his cereal:

Dead. Just dead. Nothing to see. All dead here.

Disney pulls attempt to trademark 'Dia de Los Muertos' (Updated)

Tue, 07 May 2013 21:35:00 -0700

Disney pulls attempt to trademark 'Dia de Los Muertos' (Updated):

After a fast and heated backlash, the company has withdrawn its attempt to trademark the phrase for a forthcoming Pixar film.

Wow… I mean… does anyone get this? I mean really get this? I hope there’s a general understanding about how bad this actually is. I try not to mix heritage into this blog, but I think people know both Val and I are Latin. And this, it just makes me sick. I’m hoping it was a general knee jerk “business as usual.” approach, and that the person doing this was just a low man on the ladder type of deal.

Edit: Otherwise, it’s like if they tried to trademark The 4th of July, or St. Patricks Day Or Hanukkah. Again… really hoping this was a mistake. Otherwise, even with withdrawing their request, they’re going to find they’re making the first Pixar flop.

R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen | News | Dark Horizons

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:18:41 -0700

R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen | News | Dark Horizons:

Oh… very sad. Most of my childhood, my fathers childhood, and even my grandfather’s life was watching this man’s work. God bless.

When I tell the grips that it's a closed set...

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:00:55 -0700

1stassistantdirectors:

Yep… yep.

First Listen: Music From Baz Luhrmann's Film 'The Great Gatsby' : NPR

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:25:59 -0700

First Listen: Music From Baz Luhrmann's Film 'The Great Gatsby' : NPR:

The soundtrack to The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann’s latest high-end refurbishing of a lived-in classic, doesn’t try to re-imagine Jazz Age tunes in a modern context. Instead, it attempts to transplant the sensibility of the 1920s to the hip-hop era, with genre-busting collaborations overseen by Jay-Z.

Yeeeees! This is currently fueling my… 6 script breakdowns I’ve got to get done.

When it downpours on set and everything starts to flood...

Sun, 05 May 2013 12:30:29 -0700

1stassistantdirectors:

“why is this not showing up on the fucking radar?!”

Reblogging because of truth. And Pooh Bear.

Do you know where I can get the Goldfold callsheet wallet? FilmTools doesn't seem to carry them anymore

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:30:36 -0700

Wait really? Are they restocking them, or just not carrying them anymore? Keeping mine safe now!

Film Production, boiled down to dogs.

Fri, 03 May 2013 08:02:00 -0700

Film Production, boiled down to dogs.

Hi, I live in LA and I was offered an incredible gig in Portland for ten months, possibly longer if the show gets renewed and I stay. I would have jumped on this by now but I'm in a serious relationship with another working PA and we're at the point where the other person is a major factor in big life decisions like this. Is there a general rule about working with your significant other and is there a nice way I can ask the coordinator about a job for him? Thanks so much.

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:00:47 -0700

Yes, get them on the same show! It’s fantastic that you’ve got this opportunity and building contacts everywhere is important. Best case, you make an impression and stick around long term, you both can share the cost of housing and jump aboard. Otherwise, find shared housing, ride this job out and luckily have housing in two states. Just be honest with the Production Coordinator and most will be happy that they have another PA who someone else vouches as far as workload goes.

20 Rules You Should Never Break On Set

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:11:21 -0700

20 Rules You Should Never Break On Set:

Yesterday I posed a simple question to those who like The Black and Blue’s Facebook page: “When on a film set, what’s the one rule nobody should ever break?” Within the hour, dozens of responses poured in. The answers ranged from the profound to the practical to the peculiar. Many recommended turning cell phones off&

Number 8 and number 10 are two of my favorites.

Why you should never ask me what I think.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:03:00 -0700

It’s always the 2nd question of every producer/ director, after the first being : Do you want to read this script?

What do you think of the script?

Don’t ask me. Don’t ask me about the script. It’s not my job to comment on the quality of the writing or what I think of the topic. Because then I will have to tell you. I’m not the sugar coating type. I’m a film maker myself. Best case scenario, I’ll just turn down the project, and I’ve done that before. Sometimes you know in your heart there’s just jobs that you can do nothing for. Worst case scenario, I’ll tell you what I think.

Writing is hard, I get that, and it’s why I don’t harp so much on structure, despite the lack of which makes my job 5 times harder. I just tack extra days of prep on top. But sometimes the subject matter, the plot just make me think that what you can never do is write in a vacuum. Peer review is important and you should never forgo having someone who’s job doesn’t hang in the balance, review your work and give a professional opinion on what you’re creating.

It’s my job to tell you 1: Can we do it. 2: Can we do it for the budget we have? 3: Can we do it safely?

Right now I’m faced with a few good scripts that are beyond the productions means to get them done. So now I’m put in the unfortunate role of getting the crew through it safely. What a director needs to know is when an AD is in that situation, you run the risk of not getting the shots you were looking for, because you’ve made too many sacrifices to get to this point. The only thing left to give up is your vision, because you’ve made an entire crew of people give up their normal rate, heat, sleep, and gas before we’ve even rolled on anything.

List to your ADs gang. They can save you a world of hurt.

-Griffin

Creepy things said by children

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:41:34 -0700

Creepy things said by children:

jenandtonic:

imnotthatkindofgirl:

yungsunshine:

theadventuresinblunderland:

Today sucked, until now.

I was tucking in my two year old. He said “Good bye dad.” I said, “No, we say good night.” He said “I know. But this time its good bye.”

Had to check on him a few times to make sure he was still there.

“I was sound asleep, and at around 6am I was woken up by my 4 year old daughters face inches from mine. She looked right into my eyes and whispered, “I want to peel all your skin off”.

The backstory here is I had been sunburned the previous week, and was starting to peel. In my sleep addled state however, it was pretty terrifying for a few seconds. I didn’t know if I was dreaming, or what was going on.”

This is amazing.

These are incredibly creepy. This only reaffirms for me that I cannot buy an old house no matter how charming. I would require a move if a child (any child) ever said some of these things to me.

A lot of these stories definitely give credit to the reincarnation theory. I am so glad that I didn’t read this late at night. Hopefully this doesn’t stick with me all day.

This is awesome, hilarious, and terrifying in places.

I woke up at 2am one morning to my daughter ripping out my beard. When I yelled, she petted my face and said “Shh.. daddy too spikey. I fix. Go to sleep now.”