Thursday, December 15, 2005

Ten Hour Turnaround!

Call time: 9 am

Wrap time: 11:45 pm

We left at 12:30 am

Call time tommorow (in the west San Fernando Valley - about 35 miles from my house): 10:30 am.

I really feel bad for the grips. They're still there, trying to wrap out of the stage. We left everything for our rigging crew. They'll pick it up tomorrow and sent it out to the Valley in a stakebed truck.

I'm off to bed.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Today I have you beat.

Pre-call: 7.0
Out time: 24.9

I'm working on a one hour episodic mid-season replacement. Props. This was SUPPOSED to be our last day of shooting but they've pushed it one more day. Rumor has it we may go till Friday.

I can't wait for unemployment and MUCH needed sleep and time catching up with my life.

Have a good week sister.

Anonymous said...

With a short turnaround, it's good that you're driving against traffic to (and from) the valley. And hopefully off the 118 and not the 101, cuz the Ventura Fwy sucks almost as much as the San Diego.

Roger said...

10 hours is 10 hours.
I did a week out at Vasquez Rocks off the 14 on the way to Palmdale. We shot nights. That meant bumper-to-bumper, 5-mile-an-hour traffic there AND back. It was a two hour commute each way then we did 14 hour nights (during winter. I'm sure the math works out, though it could be my recollection is a tad fuzzy. I do remember being happy one night/morning because I'd gotten home in time to get a full 7 hours of sleep.)
One of the best-boys went to the producer and asked them to put us up out there but they refused. So then he asked if production could at least find us a hotel that we could pay for ourselves. Again they refused saying that if they found us a hotel it would be an admission on their part that we needed one and that would make them liable if any of us drove off the road and died.

And that was just the first 6 days.

Later they fired the DP and replaced the whole crew. It was one of the happiest days of my life (I did feel bad for the DP - but he was just the scapegoat. The problems with that film started at the line and went UP.)

RJ
My Blog

Anonymous said...

I wanted to respond to RJ's blog, but it only allows comments from bloggers. Hmmppph. See if -I- ever try to comment again (grin) Anyway, it was in response to the Repo Man quote. LOVE it, esp in the Brokeback Mtn context.

Steve said...

If this is a union show, then you need to call your b.a. and have him/her talk to the producer. They have to provide access to hotel rooms. That liability thing is a lie.

Good Luck.

Roger said...

Talk to the Union BA? Here's a good story.

I was working on a show about firefighters - years ago. It was sick, long days, physically grueling. BRUTAL.

We had a burn stage, which meant they found a metal building, built sets in it and lit them on fire so the "firemen" on the show could put them out. It was August in the valley - 95 degrees outside, us inside a metal building with fire.

And smoke. Smoke that was coming from things like sofas and wallpaper and paint burning. Production was thoughtful though, they handed us a stack of paper dust masks to protect our lungs, which, of course, didn't work all that well.

So one afternoon our BA was on set and I asked him about it. He said the problem was that if they gave us the masks that OSHA required them to give us they'd have to provide us with an 8-hour training class to use the masks. I asked him if there was another alternative. He (my UNION BA) said, yeah, get another job.

My Blog

Roger said...

Oh - and sorry - I didn't realize I had my blog set to allow only registered users. I just changed it. Thanks for reading!

RJ