There's good news and bad news.

The good news is that our little short film is actually getting some interest - there are a couple of folks who seem to think it would make a good TV show - folks who actually make these kinds of decisions, not just our friends.
TV may be seen as an artistic 'notch below' film, but the money's just as green, baby.

The bad news is that the attention our little short film has garnered has also brought back someone from my past. The Asshole was a film exec that I briefly dated a few years ago - mainly because I thought I should, not because he was cute, funny, nice or charming; and that fucker really ran me through the wringer. I don't even want to go into details of the relationship, but it was two years before I could even consider dating again - The Asshole singlehandedly undid 10 years of therapy.

So he called me (from France, I assume - is anyone in town this week?) today just to "say hi" and see how I was doing (after repeatedly telling me when we were 'dating' that I should be grateful that he was even talking to me, as I just wasn't good enough to warrant attention from "real men" like him) - and, after a few moments of really painful small talk, to ask me if we'd signed a deal yet.

A friend of ours took one of our DVDs to Cannes - with a promise to 'show it to a bunch of people'. That had to be where he saw it or heard about it. Damn. I'd been so careful not to give it to anyone that I thought would be friendly with him.

Even talking to The Asshole on the phone upset me - brought back a TON of bad memories, and a TON of bad feelings. I'm still shaking now.


I wish Mr. Movie Star were in town. I really need a hug.

"That's six kinds of fucked up."

When you go up in a condor you're essentially loading a construction lift platform to it's maximum weight capacity (1,000 lbs if the arm is straight up in the air, 500 lbs if you're 'armed out' to the side much at all) and then going 80 feet up in the air - not what they were designed to do (Rumor has it that the lift manufacturers, when they saw how we use these lifts, were completely horrified - and a LOT of new safety procedures have been implemented in the last year or so). The advantage is that once your light is 'set', there's not much to do, and it's now illegal to 'walk the arm' (climb out of the basket and shimmy down the arm to get on the ground - although we all used to do it), so you get to sleep while all the other poor suckers have to run around all night. So normally, if you know that you're coming in for a 'condor call', you don't bother to sleep that day because you know that you'll be able to catch a good nap during the night.

Last night, on "Material Girls", we had three lifts in the air at the same time, and we had to do a lighting cue (One light dimmed out as the other two came up) , which meant that we had to pay attention all night and none of us got any sleep. That's just wrong - or as one of the guys said after we came down "That's six kinds of fucked up."

In addition, the fog rolled in right after we went up, and we all ended up getting drenched.

Call time: 2pm
Wrap time: 4 am

I'm completely wiped out today. I slept for a few hours when I got home this morning, but I feel like utter crap. My goal is to stay awake until 8pm, and then I'll pass out.

God, I hope I didn't get a cold.

Major Traffic Blockage

Condor
Originally uploaded by Peggy Archer.

Moving the condor (this is the 80 footer that I was in Sunday night) from base camp, where it was rigged, to the spot where it was parked while we were shooting.

The lamp on the basket is a 24 light Moleeno. The combined weight of the lamp, the two "stand alone" dimmers to work it, the cable and me added up to about 1 lb short of the lifts maximum weight capacity.

More fun mail!

From: TimeWarner Inc.

Dear Colleague:

For several years, as part of our company's regular processes to protect our computerized data, Time Warner has used a leading data storage firm to ship and store our computer back-up tapes offsite. I am writing to let you know that this outside firm recently lost a container of these back-up tapes during transport to one of its storage facilities.

The missing tapes contained company data including names and U.S. Social Security numbers of: current and former U.S.-based employees of Time Warner and its current and former affiliates (and U.S. citizens working for the company abroad); some of their dependents and beneficiaries; and certain other individuals who have provided services to the company.

The U.S. Secret Service is involved in an active investigation of this matter, working closely with Time Warner and the outside data storage firm. We have now determined that public disclosure of this matter will not interfere with the investigation. To date, the investigation has not found any evidence that the tapes or their contents have been accessed or misused. In addition, the information on the tapes is in a form not easily accessed.

Time Warner takes the security of our employees' personal information very seriously and we deeply regret that this incident occurred. We are aggressively investigating this situation and are committed to staying in touch with you as the investigation unfolds. In addition, we have taken the following steps:

• First, we have posted a copy of this letter, a press release, Q&A and other information on our company's internal (link redacted) and external (www.timewarner.com/employeedatatapes) websites, and we will post updates, as appropriate, on those sites.
  

• Second, in the U.S. we have set up a special toll free number (redacted) to assist you with questions or concerns you may have relating to this incident.
  

Third, we have contacted the major credit agencies - Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union - to let them know about this incident. While we have no evidence that information on the tapes has been compromised, given that the investigation is ongoing, you may want to take the precaution of placing a fraud alert on your credit file free of charge for 90 days. The notification alerts creditors to use additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name.

The letter continues on for another page with instructions on how to place a fraud alert on one's credit file, and an offer for free credit protection ("The Equifax Credit Watch[tm] Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring") for 90 days. It then continues:

If we become aware of any instance in which the information on the tapes may have been accessed or misused, we will alert you immediately of additional steps that can and should be taken.

Again, please know that we regret any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause you. Be assured that we are committed to continuing to take whatever steps are appropriate to protect confidential employee information. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Now why does that not make me feel better?

What does make me feel better is that my credit is so bad that if someone wants to try to buy something in my name, good luck to them - I don't even ask for a line of credit anymore, because the resulting derisive laughter upsets me.

Maybe if they steal my identity and get a card in my name, they'll keep up the payments and improve my credit.

Just no crime sprees, okay?

It's hot, and I'm a sucker.

A friend of mine talked me into helping her move today. In 80 something degree weather, in the Valley (note to readers who aren't familiar with Los Angeles - the San Fernando Valley is always at least 10 degrees hotter than LA).

I tried to get some guys to come along, otherwise it's just going to be the ladies shlepping furniture all day, but no one except me is stupid enough to say yes.

The good news is that Mr. Movie Star gave me the keys to his place so I can use his pool while he's at Cannes. He offered to take me with him, but I stupidly let my passport expire.

Damn. Remind me not to let that happen again. Cannes with Mr. Movie Star would have been fun.

Tape tabs, or the lack thereof.

Did a last minute wrap (production found out last minute that they had to be off the stage by this morning) last night (we came in around midnight and I got home around 5 am), and it wasn't too bad. All the cable was on the floor (which was good, as we were on yet another one of those cursed fucking pipe grid stages), and the rig was well done, and it came up fast (neat rigs come out much faster than messy ones).

The one annoying factor was tape tabs, or in this case the lack of them.

Lamp and cable connectors that don't have a self locking mechanism have to be taped together to prevent kick-outs. We use gaffer's tape (a heavy cloth tape) for this, but when you're done with the equipment, you have to remove all the tape from the connectors - they won't come apart if you don't, and if you send back cable and distro that's got tape all over it, the rental house guys will hate you.

Having to pick at the corner of a piece of tape gets old fast.

Hence leaving a tape tab - just fold about a half an inch at one end of the piece of tape over on itself, so you have a little handle to grab.

For some reason, the crew on whatever this was (some video by some band I've never heard of)didn't leave tape tabs, and by hour two of picking at tape ends we were all homicidal.

It's the little things that get to you.

In the Interest of Clarity, An Incomplete Lexicon

Definitions courtesy of "The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook" (yes, we have a handbook, and you can buy it here).

Best Boy: The assistant chief lighting technician, or second electrician. The best boy is the gaffer's assistant, and is responsible for hiring electricians, ordering equipment, and generally running the show so that all the gaffer has to do is light the set.

Boned: Pronounced like "loaned". To have something or someone impede your ability to do your job - "You boned me by putting that shit right where the light has to go." or "How's your day going? We're so boned, you don't even want to know."

C-47: Also called "bullets". A common everyday wooden clothespin (the rumor is that it's called a C-47 because that was the only way to get the producers to pay for them). C-47's are used to hold gels or diffusion to doors of lights.

Color Temperature: A temperature expressed in degrees Kelvin (K) that defines the color makeup of light emitted by a source, such as the sun or a filament lamp, which has a continuous color spectrum.

Cyclorama (Cyc): A seamless set piece - normally permanently installed on a stage, usually white, and curved where it meets the floor. It is used to create a limbo background, having no discernible horizon or texture. If you drive a lift onto the curved part of the cyc where it meets the floor (the 'foot'), you crack the cyc and cost production a lot of money.

DP (Director of Photography): The person in charge of lighting and camera departments. The DP is the ultimate authority on how the scene is lit, where the camera goes, how the camera moves, and which lenses and film to use.

Diffusion: Material used in front of lighting fixtures to soften the light they produce. Common types of diffusion (from thickest to thinnest) are Grid Cloth, 216, 250, and Opal

Dikes: Wire cutters

Distant Location: A location that is far enough away from the production's town of origin that the crew must stay overnight.

Distribution Box (Distro box): An electrical box with circuit protection, used to stepdown cable size and connector size and to provide a variety of sized of outlets. Distribution boxes are collectively referred to as "Distro".

Gaffer: The head of the lighting crew. The Gaffer works directly with the Director of Photography. The way I try to explain it is this: The DP tells the Gaffer what he/she wants the scene to look like, and the Gaffer is the one who actually determines what lamps will be used and precisely where they'll go.

Grip Clip: A metal spring clamp. They come in 1", 2", and 3" widths. The 3" ones are a bitch to hold open if you have small hands.

Head: A lighting fixture. "Put all those heads in the truck"

Jockey Boxes: Metal storage containers on the underside of a truck. We usually put cable, distro and such in the jockey boxes.

Kelvin: A unit of measurement of temperature (0 degrees kelvin = -273 degrees Centigrade). In set lighting, the term refers to the color temperature or light and not to it's physical temperature. 3200 degrees Kelvin is tungsten (standard lightbulb color - orangey).

Kick out: The accidental unplugging of a light.

Magic Hour: The hour of light just at sunset, during which the sky creates a beautiful light. Magic hour, in reality, only lasts a few moments.

Martini: The last shot of the day.

Turnaroud: The time between when you go off the clock on one day and call time the next day. 10 hours is legal, but sucks. Crews HATE 10 hour turnaround.



I try my best not to lapse into 'insider jargon' here, but if I do use a term in a post and you don't know what it means, feel free to ask - in the comments or via email (randomblogmail[at]yahoo dot com).

Trapped!

My cell phone broke in half over the weekend (no, I didn't drop it - It cracked at the hinge where it flips open. It's a year old, which is ancient in phone years), and I've had to spend the entire day at home waiting for the insurance replacement (the insurance company will only ship to the billing address of the wireless account. Don't ask me why). Of course, DHL didn't show up until 6pm, so I can't get the card from the old phone loaded into the new one until tomorrow. Oh, well. It gives me a chance to charge the new one.

This is one of those times when the economic gulf between me and Mr. Movie Star becomes very apparent - my waiting at home all day for an insurance-covered replacement cell phone has caused a bit of a tiff, as he wanted us to go up to Santa Barbara today (there's some overpriced hotel/spa up there), and I had to stay home to wait on the phone.

His solution - when the phone cracked - was "Why don't you just go buy a new phone" - I'm not working much and I'm trying to get through the slow period (for the next few months - work doesn't pick up again until late August) on unemployment and what I have saved, so dropping $200 on a new phone isn't an option for me, and I'm apparently not explaining it well enough for Mr. Movie Star to understand.

I've never come out and asked him how much he's worth, but I suspect that my annual pre-tax salary doesn't even cover what Mr. Movie Star spent on clothes last year. I do my best to not make it an issue, but this ended up being an argument that we shouldn't have had.

Friday night's photo

View from the top
Originally uploaded by Peggy Archer.

This is a view of Hollywood from the Nitesun.

It was taken from about five floors up.

Look up "Cluster Fuck" in the dictionary..

And there should be a photo of Friday night.

Some genius scheduled a night exterior in Hollywood on a Friday night.

Hollywood Blvd near all the nightclubs - complete with loud motorcycles, honking horns (for some reason, people see a movie set and they start honking their car horns like crazy. I still can't figure out why). Add that to the screaming and yelling because we had blocked traffic lanes, and you have quite the din. I can only imagine the sound guy's unhappiness at trying to record dialog in that. He probably went through a whole bottle of antacids.

There was massive confusion about the crew parking - I couldn't figure out where crew parking was, and there were no signs (there are usually signs). There were also THREE different companies shooting within a mile of each other, so I had to make sure I was in the parking for the correct movie. I got into an argument with the parking lot attendant (he claimed to not know there was a crew parking there - even though I recognized the cars of folks I knew, and tried to charge me 15 bucks), and had to phone my boss to sort it out.

Since I had to take a shuttle from the parking to the set, I was late to work. Late to work means no dinner. Damn.

This is a movie ("Material Girls") starring a bunch of Duffs - there's about 12 Duffs involved, and according to the guys, the Duffs are really, really sweet, fun to work with and very nice to the crew.

On every movie set, they have craft service -it's basically a food table that's set out to circumvent osha's meal break laws (if we had to give the crew a break as often as osha mandates, we'd never get any work done - so they have a sort of nosh table available for the crew). The craft service guy on this movie is a man that I worked with years ago - who was notorious for having an unbelievably dirty truck - the medic used to warn folks not to eat the food unless it was sealed. He has a new truck that looks much cleaner now, but I was still afraid to eat anything he might have touched.

I ended up going up after all - the chassis of the nightsun was in a traffic lane, so they put up cones and stationed an off duty cop at the base to protect me from the drunks.. the good thing is I wasn't 'full stick' (as far up in the air as the basket will go), so I was only about five floors up (a survivable fall should a drunk hit the chassis. Yes, this has happened. Not to me, but I've seen cars hit lifts before. It doesn't knock the lift over, but the shock to the base swings the arm really, really hard. Whatever's not tied down will come out of the basket.) - the bad news is that I wasn't full stick so all the engine revving, drunken revelry and occasional profanity (shouted from the window of a moving car, I'm certain) kept me from getting any sleep.

Over the walkie, my boss kept a running commentary of the fights that were breaking out (as the clubs let out) right outside the truck.. it got crazy at 2 am - the streets were full of people walking. It looked like New York for a few minutes.

Oh, and two people got popped for DUI right behind the truck as well.

call time 5 pm
wrap 4:30 am

Went straight from work to Mr. Movie Star's house, where I passed out on the couch for most of the morning (I'm so glad I managed to talk him out of coming by the set.. the teenybopper extras would have torn him limb from limb).

He pouted about my 'ignoring him', despite my efforts to explain my not being able to sleep last night. It would have been cute if I weren't so tired.

Actors.

Damned daytime insomnia.

My attempt to take a nap failed (I'm really sleepy until I lie down, and then I'm wide awake), so I'm just going to have to suck it up.

Call time is 5 pm (4:30 for dinner), and I'll probably not get out of there until 7 or 8 am tomorrow, which will make it over 24 hours for me (I woke up this morning at 7). It's not too bad until about 4 am, and then I hit the wall - I can't drink any more coffee at 4, or I'll be up all day Saturday as well, so those last 3 or 4 hours are the hardest.

The shoot tonight is close to my house, but I have to drive because I have too much crap to haul on foot. It might rain (chance of showers), so I have to bring the rain gear, and if I do go up in the nightsun, I have to bring all my crap for that.

I look like I'm bringing my whole house to work:

• Rain Jacket (two of them - Gore Tex is only waterproof for 6 hours)
• Rain pants (ditto)
• Waterproof shoes (wet feet are the most horrible thing in the world)
• Spare socks
• Sleeping bag (whatever the temperature on the ground is - it's 15 degrees colder 80 feet up in the air)
• Sleeping bag pad. The grips will put furniture pads in the basket, but I don't even want to think about where those things have been.
  
• Since it might rain, I have to bring a waterproof cover for my sleeping bag. The grips can waterproof the basket, but this generally entails wrapping the basket (of the work platform) in heavy plastic, which acts like a sail - the basket sways and jerks in the wind anyway, but it's a hundred times worse when it's wrapped in plastic. I don't like that, so I bring a sleeping bag cover.
• Pitcher with lid (The guys can pee in a bottle, but I can't. You didn't think they'd let me come down to go to the bathroom, did you?) and t.p.
• Trash bag
  
• Haul bag (this is climbing gear - it's used to haul stuff up on a line. I use it for the same thing - If they have to send something up to me - parts for repairs, water, dinner, etc... I'll just drop the bag down. Watching some guy try to tie a line onto a dinner plate is hilarious, but it generally doesn't have good results. No one likes getting hit by chicken cordon bleu and a side of rice pilaf that's been dropped from 70 feet up).
• Something to read. I used to bring a laptop, but one night the wind gave the arm a really good jerk, and the laptop flew off my lap, out of the basket, hit the producer's car and shattered - both the computer and the front windshield of a really expensive Benz. Ooops.
  

This is in addition to my normal bag:

• Toolbelt
• Loose tools that are too big to go on my belt, but which I still need.
• Spare shoes (I have to change shoes at lunch or my feet kill me)
• Hat (it's cold at night)
• Jacket
• Sweatshirt
• Spare socks (I change those at lunch too - works wonders if you get sore feet)
• Heavier jeans (aforementioned cold)
• Tampons (yup, it's that time of month)
• Glasses (my normal ones and spares)
• Headset for my walkie talkie
• Newspaper

Most of the first list will stay in the car if I don't have to go up.

Works every time!

As soon as I file for unemployment, I'll get called for work - usually within 24 hours.

Yesterday, it was eight hours between the time I filed and the time I got the call to work.

Sweet. The only downside is that it's a night shoot (5 pm call), so I'll be up all night, and I am SO not a night person.

Hopefully, I'll get to go up in the Nitesun so I can sleep.

I don't know what show it is yet. I'll know when I walk onto the truck and fill out the start paperwork.

Mr. Movie Star is threatening to come by the set and 'say hello'. I'm doing my best to discourage this - the last time I went out with an actor (this was years ago and the guy was a nobody), it took months for the boys to stop teasing me about it. If Mr. Movie Star waltzes onto a set and starts pawing at me, I'm never, ever going to hear the end of it.

I think this is some sort of milestone.

I actually got Mr. Movie Star to agree to come over to my house (I don't feel like making the trek out to the coast, and quite frankly, it's about time the bastard came over my way).

Mr. Movie Star is one of those tragic folks who won't come east of LaCienega* unless it's 'on a call sheet', and I live in the dreaded 'points east', so this is huge.

Long Story Short:

After getting yelled at by my accountant for an hour or so about my 'spending patterns' (the man who owns the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is a saint, and I'm putting his children through college), said accountant sent me home to go through my credit card statements in an effort to find more legit deductions and reflect upon the sins I've committed at Barney's.

In the midst of this, Mr. Movie Star called - asking if I wanted to come over tonight (the sex has gotten much better - he admitted to being 'nervous the first time with someone' and he does take direction well), so I told him he'd have to make the trek here as I was buried in paperwork.

I was really expecting him to refuse, but he said he'd come over, meaning that I still had to stop what I was doing, plus I had to clean the house so he wouldn't think I live in complete and utter squalor.

It's all good - he's going to bring dinner and some movies, and I've been promised some fun sympathy for getting yelled at by a satanic CPA and getting wrung out by the IRS - although I seriously doubt that Mr. Movie Star has even balanced his own checkbook in a long, long time.


*For my non Los Angeles readers, La Cienega Blvd is a major north/south street, and it's the unofficial dividing line between the glorious and beautiful "westside" (where the 'beautiful people' live) and the unwashed masses in Hollywood and 'points east'.

Photo page is up!

I got the photo page on Flicker working - here's the url:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38371584@N00/

There's only a few photos right now (I'm on my way to do my taxes), but I'll add more!

Yup, it's slow...

When it's busy, I don't have to expend any energy to find work - all I have to do is call the union hall, and they'll send me out..

Now, with there being less work around, I'm forced to actively look for work. Normally this means a phone call to someone I think may be hiring - in which I try to sound not desperate.

Everyone's telling me that they're off now, but that they "have something coming up", so we'll see.

It's starting to get hot, too, and I hate working in the summer - everything takes much more effort when it's 90 degrees out, and for some reason, Murphy's Law kicks in and all the work is in the hottest places around (the desert, large parking lots, unairconditioned warehouses, etc...).