Coffee and Celluloid

Burn Notice - On-Set and Production Assisting

Posted October 30th, 2008 at 2:17 am by C47

At the beginning of the summer I had mentioned how I stumbled on the set of Confessions of a Shopaholic and through a couple degrees of someone who knows someone, I was put in touch with the Location Manager of the show Burn Notice and invited to come out to the set. This is what happened.

I showed up to the Burn Notice set, which is in a convention center they’ve converted to a soundstage (Marley & Me was filming in the other half). The building looked normal until I rounded the corner to find a huge sea of production trailers, along with random fragments of sets I recognized from the show.

I met Melanie, the Location Manager, and she brought me inside. The first hall was filled with department trucks and a giant set building workshop.

Going through to the other side was the sets - Michael’s mom’s house and his apartment, complete with a giant cyclorama of Miami.

Melanie introduced me to the Assistant Directors (ADs), who then asked if I wanted to be a Production Assistant for the day. Um, sure.

Unlike Film School where we’re lucky if we have four working walkies, wireless communication was so abundant on set even I got a walkie with a head piece, along with a few sides.

In fact, there’s so many walkies out that each department has their own channel (production team, art team, grip and electric, etc.).

I was stationed near a side door and basically had to yell out whatever the first AD said - the usual cadence stuff. “We’re going for picture! Quiet on set! Rolling!”

Between setups I could roam around, observe, and talk to people.

Honestly, I felt like I was right back on a film school set. It felt so familiar. The only difference is more people and larger production.

The set was run the same, the process was the same, the equipment was better but still the same. They even fell behind schedule, just like us. Okay, there is one major difference. Craft services is amazing and even has a waffle making station.

While the crew was setting up for a shot, I started talking to the First Assistant Director. She asked what I wanted to do, but answered it before I could get a chance. “Direct, of course.” Well don’t I feel like the typical film school guy. I said yes, but I also like producing, which seemed to be a different reply than she’s used to.

With each department I did notice something very interesting. As the positions got higher, so did the age. With the camera team, the Second Assistant Camera was young but still in his thirties. The First Assistant Camera was older, followed by an even older Camera Operator and then a graying Director of Photography.

This can be seen in the Art and Production departments as well. Of course the writer/producer for the episode, who was pretty much chilling near video village on his Blackberry all day, was in his 20s. I want that job.

Another interesting dynamic was how each person only cared about their department and nothing else. One of the ADs caught me looking at the lighting set-up for a scene, and asked what I was looking at. When I told him the lighting, he responded, “So now you want to be a cinematographer?”

The few times any of the Assistant Directors asked for something over the walkie, I was pretty quick to respond - something I thought that went with the job. But apparently this was above average performance, because by the end of the day they asked me to stay on for the production of the entire season at $125 a day.

Tempting, yes, but returning to broken equipment and scarce walkies, along with the occasional making of movies, won out.

More pictures here.

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Posted in Career, Set Anatomy | 3 Comments

Geoffrey Gilmore and the Creature from the Black Lagoon

Posted October 15th, 2008 at 8:04 pm by C47

So right before I went off on documentary making adventures, Mr. Gilmore and I had a rendezvous back in Tallahassee.

First, to belay any doubts I had when I ended my last recount of our adventures, he did remember me. Joining him was Julie Le Brocquy who produced Osama, an amazing film I saw back in High School.

The Film School was hosting its annual Gala and graduate program graduation, where they screen the 4 graduate thesis films, so Geoffrey was one of the distinguished guests. We also screened Ballast, which is a story worth a separate post.

There was a lot of driving around, some cool (free) lunches and Julie was super cool and super European, which makes her even super cooler.

The highlights? They actually had nothing to do with films or screenings. Frank, the Dean, wanted Geoffrey to have a little relaxation, so we all went to Wakulla Springs - one of the largest freshwater springs in the world and the shooting location for cinema gems such as Creature from the Black Lagoon and Tarzan.

I had never been there before but it was absolutely beautiful. It was also a spoiling first time venture since we chartered a tour boat with only 8 passengers, so I was free to roam to any side to snap some cool pics.

The other highlight? Taking Geoffrey and Julie to the mall. With monopoly money being worth more than the Dollar, to Julie and her Euro, everything in America is practically half off, so she wanted to buy some gifts for her son, whom I became a size model for.

Nothing eventful happened, I just like the image that I’m walking around a clothes store at the Tallahassee Mall with the Director of the Sundance Film Festival.

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Posted in Career, Film School | 1 Comment

5 Ways to Become a Future Hollywood Power Player

Posted September 23rd, 2008 at 7:35 am by C47

While doing some film book browsing on Amazon, I caught the release of The Hollywood Assistants Handbook and ordered myself a copy. It wasn’t long before everyone in school was reading a copy. After all, we’re filled with FHPPs (that’s Future Hollywood Power Players for you film muggles).

If you want to work in the entertainment industry, especially the business side, this should be in the top 5 books to read. It’s quick, entertaining, and pretty informative. Like everything you read, you’ll need to filter out the eyebrow raisers from the head-nodders, but this has more good tips than bad. Here are 5 to get you going on your path to a HPP.

10-20-10 Rule - One popular entry level job is a Script Reader, where you read through the piles of scripts producers receive and decide if it’s worth their time to read. I’ve always wondered how anyone could go through piles of scripts (most of which are terrible) and no go insane. Here’s how. Read the first 10 pages, skim for 20, and read the last 10. Brilliant.
Write thank you letters after you interview, and especially after someone does something for you. No email, a handwritten note.
You’re not curing cancer. If a job nightmare occurs, just repeat that to yourself.
If you get some crazy request from your boss, the hotel concierge is your friend. Just tell them your boss is a guest and hand over the task.
Intentionally mess up. Yes, screw something up. Nothing big or disastrous. Why? To move up. You want to be a little forgetful or undependable so you don’t become indispensable to your boss, because then you’re stuck forever. Your boss will want you to move on to bigger and better things so they can replace you.

Like I said, not everything in the book might be a great idea. I’m even cautious of some of the things I mentioned above. But it’s definitely worth a read.

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Posted in Career, Tips | 2 Comments

The Return of Geoffrey Gilmore

Posted August 7th, 2008 at 7:59 pm by C47

I know I just finished writing about my adventures with Gilmore, but that happened a few months ago.

Well, Geoffrey is back and I’m driving him around again. I’ve gone up from a Dodge Caravan to a giant Suburban (9 MPG!).

Stay tuned, because more adventures are about to happen.

(And a shout out to all the film schoolers who’ve discovered C&C)

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