M2m Day 12

So day 12 was all exteriors. So we, the giant art department, weren't needed as all that had to be done was make sure they had the right prop at the right time.

The rest of us had the wonderful task of "restoring" the apartment back to its original state but keeping the living room in tact just in case they needed to get some more shots in there. We had to rummage through the "magic storage room" for all of the producer's roommate's stuff. We repainted the room "coral" and rehung the flower pictures etc. This guys is definitely very secure in his masculinity.

We left this mess at one point to go get caffeine and chill out with the rest of the crew and cast for a little while. Fatigued (not drunken) debauchery ensued, with trash talking, car photo shoots, and just lounging around.

This is one of the art department pics... of us trying to look sexy. STUNNING!!

M2M Day 9

Monday after work I rushed over to 130 McGuinness to see the progress of the shoot and watch them film in the rooms that Morgan, Danielle, and I had set up. I got there only in time for the night scenes, but it was great to see everyone on set.

I spent some time in the magic storage room, squatting on the ground, mixing food color into Gatorade to make it look like wine.

I'll be back there Thursday for Day 12. I think they're gonna be done with the apartment scenes and we have to reset up the producers apartment so that he can have a home again.

Yesterday I went and saw Extract. While it was funny it was a bit repetitive and slow in the middle. However, I did not gather from the preview that Mila Kunis' character would be the way it was...so that was kinda nice.

Mom?

If you know me, you'll know that my mother is Boba Fett. I kid you not. So you will understand my surprise when I happened upon my mother in union square playing an accordion. A few questions went through my mind:

1) Why is she not in California?
2) Why does she look like a man?
3) She must've located her jet pack but where did her suit go?

Of all things in the world that a reputable bounty hunter could be doing, my mother has decided to play for change. There is no sense in life.

Trading Spaces

So the Decemberists are amazing and I love them.

Month to Month continues Day 8!

So the day started off early following the Decemberists concert. I woke up to pack up all my dishes and wine glasses to bring with me for the shoot. Somehow I ended up going to the wrong address like an idiot and went to 130 Franklin Ave instead of 130 Franklin St. Oops

The latter is at Greenpoint Ave where there are bars and this awesome clothing shop that I got my neon shoes at and a blue bow-tie. Which is a huge difference from a hasidic jewish apartment block...

The camera crew decided it was shirt and tie day yesterday so there was some "fance" going around. So professional looking!

After we set up the restaurant scene at Shayz three of us left to got set up Monday's shoot in Chad's apartment. The place was a mess of stuff, construction materials, boxes, trash, etc. Our task was to go through the shooting schedule, make a list of props and look per scene, organize everything into numbered boxes, and set up the first scene per room for the day. We got the kitchen, living room, and Nate's (american psycho bachelor pad meets ghetto cheesy wannabe fabulous) room in order. The day was very hectic cause we had a lot to do and we were one man down cause, well, she was asked to leave the previous day, and the production designer was sick and had to try and carry on through the day at 30% functionality. However, we all forged on and the 3 of us pulled it together! yay!

I forgot to take pics of the kitchen and living room... oops.

The village

Do you see the bunny?

So, this weekend began rather interestingly when the location for the office scene ended up in the west village on the second floor of a tanning salon. As far as we were told there was no elevator and five girls were sent to move in giant steel filing cabinets on a Friday night. If you've ever been to the village you will know that a 15 passenger van, a cube truck, and a car do not have any business being at the intersection of W4th and 7th ave. The whole thing was a fiasco, harsh words were exchanged, and one filing cabinet was left at the foot of the stairs while the rest remained in the van. Most of the night was probably spent aimlessly driving around the village trying to navigate correctly to our location...not good.

The next morning resulted in some drama. There was a slight struggle in the art department management (set decorator got the boot) and the camera crew found an elevator for them and all their equipment, but got stuck for 2 hrs.

Also, it turns out in my absence the previous sound guy had been let go and the new sound guy is a girl. Too bad too cause he was pretty cool. To add even more drama, the owner of the office ended up coming, telling us to wrap up and get out cause we overstayed our welcome by a few hours.

It seems that the disappearance of the first 2nd A.D. and the last minute replacement of the main character last weekend were only the beginnings of the craze. The best part yesterday was probably the producer with his iPhone rubber-banded to his head searching for a port-a-potty.

M2M

To continue my new career path I've started working a new project called Month to Month. It's a bigger crew than the last two projects I've been on and in a smaller space, so it was a bit harder to get to know people in the two days I worked. I'm one of many art department PAs working for the Production Designer. Everyone on the project is really young and there was some commotion the first morning I worked as the lead actor had to drop out last minute and they flew his replacement in from LA. Everything ended up working out with 20+ people cramped in the producer's apartment that had been aquired for the "boys apt" in the movie. Poor guy and his roommate had all their stuff shoved into one corner and some makeshift partitions put up to fit the story line. Either way with all the windows closed, no a/c, and full humidity provided for an interesting day on set.

Art Director - Sara Forney

Actors Corey and Chris playing Nate and Seth

The second day we ended up filming the "girls apt" scenes at the 1st A.D.'s friends apartment. Got to the location a little before 6am woke up the poor people that live there. This apt was NICE and the couple that lives there seems cool. They must be marvel fans cause they have so many comics and plastic figures-mostly batman related.

DP - Gus

Production Designer - Danielle Bauman

1st A.D. - J.C. and James

We moved location around 930am to the park to film the exterior shots. There was a lot less to do because it was outside so Danielle left me there while she and the rest of the art department went to set up the club scene at the next location.

Chris and Karl playing Seth and Jared

Forgot to take pictures of the club scene as I ran off to go to Sculpture Center to serve beer. Yay Josh + tips!

Fashion's Night Out

So we tried to enjoy Fashion's Night Out but instead we were thwarted by throngs of people and media in front of the more "prestigious" stores where various designers and celebrities were supposed to make appearances. Really, we were jsut in it for the free alcohol and maybe a nice gift bag from somewhere. Instead we decided to go to Macao Trading Co. for some dinner and drinks. It's a Portugese/Chinese fusion restaurant.

The drink I got was called Drunken Dragon's Milk: Charbay Green Tea Vodka shaken with Young Coconut Puree, Thai Basil & Macao Five-Spice Bitters, served tall. Super good but THICK.

Take it all away!

So, with the approval from the DoB work has begun.
The apartment is now a mess of debri, take out menus, and a variety of condoms apparently. I walked in to find my kitchen and bathroom in a pile in my living room. It was awesome. Glorious even.

The place was pretty cleaned out when the previous owner left. He did leave some stuff that he thought I might find useful, like a drill, some screws, and a dustbuster from the 80s. I rescued the drill, the bits, some chain lube, but the rest I asked for them to haul off to the dump. I suppose that's not so green of me. Architecture I guess is not really a 'green' business.

Almost everything has been ordered and paid for. I have my fingers crossed for a on schedule progression. Not holding my breath though. Haha

By the pool

California may not be that warm, but for pool side lounging it is definitely the best of weather. One can enjoy a nice bake in the sun without the sticky, sweaty humidity. Yesterday was quite enjoyable, sitting poolside sipping champagne with the family. We apparently like the 5th day bbqs. Maybe they'll turn into a tradition.