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

How I Used My DVR to Set My Career Goals

Posted July 8th, 2008 at 9:15 am by C47

With graduation looming closer and more people asking me what I want to do, I need to come up with a more concrete answer. Director or produce? Fiction or documentary?

With the way the summer’s been going, I’m leaning towards producing. As for fiction and documentary, I feel a certain loyalty towards fiction. It was the classics, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Pulp Fiction, that got me into filmmaking, not Bowling for Columbine or Super Size Me.

I thought what better way to figure out what I want to make than to analyze what I watch. So I turned to my DVR, to see what programs I enjoy so much I can’t stand to miss an episode.

I went through my series recording list and wrote down all 42 shows. I put them in a Google Spreadsheet, along with their genre and subject matter, trying to keep the categories to as few as possible.

First, genre. Here’s a pie chart that gives a general idea of the types of shows I watch.

A lot of these could basically be grouped into two broader categories: fiction and non-fiction (documentary). Here it is:

This blew me away. I knew I liked reality shows, but to see it so visually really put a lot of doubts to rest.

As for subject matter, this wasn’t as mind blowing nor as important. I feel like subjects could change project to project.

But just to see out of curiosity, here’s the chart:

About half the shows I watch have to do with photography and modeling, design, or science. Not much of a surprise with the photography or design.

In the end, this little exploration into the box below my TV has helped me focus what I want to do, and therefore make concrete goals.

I want to executive produce a docu-reality series.

If you were curious, here’s my list of (semi-embarrassing) shows I can’t miss:

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Posted in Career, Television, Tools | 2 Comments

Strobist and World Press Photo - Photography Coffee-Break

Posted June 20th, 2008 at 9:40 pm by C47

Here’s a collection of links I’ve been hording relating to still photography. Some things to gain from photography: mastering composition, lighting, quick shooting, and using what’s available. Enjoy!

Strobist Preliminaries - Gear and Jargon Basics [Pduncan]

This video finally made all the off camera lighting options click and lead to my purchase of the Nikon SB-800 flash. Scott Kelby’s Lighting Gear Week was also a great resource and motivation to open my wallet.

World Press Photo - The Award Interviews [A Photo Editor]

This is an amazingly designed site featuring photographers talking about their award winning images. Most importantly, as you can see above, the photo takes center frame.

Indy Returns - Annie Leibovitz Photo Shoot

So the movie didn’t live up to my hopes, but Annie Leibovitz always does. Short little video covering the shooting of the Vanity Fair photos (though not the epic one above. Nor these Leibovitz photos).

The day before… [PhotoWalkPro]