Into Dust

I shot my P1 Wednesday night. I haven't gotten on here to tell you all about it yet because it has been an sleep depriving situation and I wanted to be coherent as I wrote this.  So here is an hour by hour breakdown on how it all went.

Hour1:
I wake up at 8AM. I go through the morning routine as usual. I leave my sound kit at the apartment because I plan on coming back for supplies and don't want to lug it around all day. That will be a challenge though because I shoot in 14 hours and I don't have location permits finalized, homework to print out, work and classes to take of today. I pack food in my backpack in preparation of not having time to stop by Armando's for lunch as per my usual routine. I walk to campus.

Hour 2:
I arrived at work. If you didn't know I work in the Production Equipment Center at school. I pull equipment for orders and act as the repo man for people who don't return their stuff.So today I was pulling light kits for all the P1s including my own. I tagged it as mine and said I would pick it up at 5. I really don't want to carry this thing around. Heaviest kit ever.

Hour 3:
Still at work but got all the kits ready. I asked if I could take a quick break finish getting the permits finalized. They are super cool and let me. I am now officially allowed to shoot at the fountain tonight.

Hours 4-5:
Made some repo calls, surfed the web, found this picture also known as the best Zelda fan art ever.

Hour: 6:
Clocked out of work and found a secluded spot. I pop in my headphones and listen to this song as I write and organize my shot list for tonight. Now I know what I am doing tonight! Hooray sanity!

Hours 7-9:
I attend my writing class. I eat he trail mix bars to stay awake.

Hour 10:
I run and get my light kit before the PEC closes. I walk to my next class early so I can take care of some business. I want to know if I can leave early so I can prepare for my shoot tonight. Dominic stops by and delivers our camera and tripod. I am now carrying a large tripod, a decent size camera case, my backpack and a easily 70 pound 5 foot light kit. I set it all down and start calling UPS numbers to find my angel wings for tonight. Turns out the one dead spot in the whole cinema complex is right there. Thankfully Orlee- Rose was walking by offered to watch all my stuff as I found a signal and worked that out. Turns out my apartment building doesn't hold packages so since I wasn't there to take it UPS takes them to a warehouse and this warehouse closes at 7. I would have to skip class to get them and even then I would be cutting it close due to LA traffic. I decide I have permits for tonight and tomorrow and I can reluctantly film all the non-wing shots tonight, get the wings tomorrow and film those scenes tomorrow night.

Hours 11-13:
I attend my Fundamentals of Directing class. Peter Sollett says I did a good job with my cut considering the circumstances with noise. The rest of the class wishes me luck on my P1.

Hour 14:
John gives me and the huge equipment load a lift home.  I return to my apartment to see my roommate there. He was supposed to be at work.  Turns out he got a ticket for driving a California truck with a Florida license and the truck was impounded for the night. So since he was home when the UPS guy came by I have wings for tonight. Rejuvenated by this miracle I pack the food, the chocolate syrup (excellent blood for black and white films!) and a whole bunch of blankets. It's going to be a cold night.

Hours 15-21:
The wind has died down so it wasn't as cold as I expected at first but it slowly got chillier and by the end it was really bad. But it was worth it. the footage looks great. Sharon and Kevin were real troopers dealing with the cold and Mahin was a fantastic assitant. Here are some photos from set. Take note these are not screen captures.

Hours 22-24:
Sleep!

Hour 25:
I wake up with a slight headache and head back to work at PEC.

Hours 26-30:
Of course today would be one of the busiest days at work. I got a free burrito from some guy who stopped by to fill out an order though.

Hour 31:
I sit on a couch and beat the fire temple in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks on the DS as I wait for class. Nathan sees me and tells me he heard that my P1 is being talked about as the most visually exciting in our class.

Hours 32-35:
In Cinematography class we broke into two teams (picked 4h grade kickball team style) and in less than 3 hours write, produce, setup, light and shoot a scene based on a picture.  Each team amongst themselves would select 2 actors, a director, AD, DP, key grip, camera operator, and 1st AC. I was chosen as director and decided to have fun with this. I decided that the scene would be at a house party between a government spy and a vampire fighting over a potion that would allow vampires to come out in the sun.  The sheer lunacy in the scene went over well. We are doing another assignment like this next week. This time we are doing the steak scene from Raging Bull and I get to be Jake La Motta.

Hours 36-41:
I go home and watch The Office and Kevin Smith's Too Fat for Forty. Then I go to sleep.


On a final note I am coming home for Spring Break on the 11th. I want to see as many people as I can so I need you all to comment and tell me when you want to hang out so I can schedule it and see as many of you as possible. Pick your time slots for March 12th through March 18th.