We are within hours of moving out of the warehouse after nine days of shooting. The schedule had us here for five. "Missed it by that much, Chief", as Don Adams/Agent 86 in "Get Smart" used to say.

We are within hours of moving out of the warehouse after nine days of
shooting. The schedule had us here for five. "Missed it by that
much, Chief", as Don Adams/Agent 86 in "Get Smart" used to say.

I've just been informed that we're actually at least two hours from
completing our work. Add to that, an hour and a half to two hour wrap
and this is gonna be long day.

I'm glad I have a couple ofNPR podcasts.

Be well.

Sent from my iPhone

Surprise, surprise, we're back at the SCs warehouse again tomorrow. That makes nine days out of scheduled five.

Surprise, surprise, we're back at the SCs warehouse again tomorrow.
That makes nine days out of scheduled five.

I'm taking bets on how many days of nights we'll work. The schedule
says rnine but I think it'll go 15 days.

I've probably railed about this before and I'm going to again, "It is,
what it is". This means nothing can be can be done about whatever
situation you find you yourself.

That's about all I can say right now.

Be well.

Sent from my iPhone

It's only Monday.

I raved about the iPhone but I was writing a post and lost the email
when I closed the application.

We worked less than 12 1/2 hours and that was great. It took a little
of the sting out of having a one day weekend.

The Producers have extended our time at this warehouse by two days.
Next we're off to Sunland for 3-5 days.

If I haven't mentioned before, my younger son is taking in the
recycling from the show. I'm actually bringing the bags home and we
seperate them together. This morning, he and his Mom took the stuff
in and made the biggest haul yet,

I'm a little tired.

Friday night

I'm at home but I think 1st Unit is probably still shooting. The 2nd Unit call time was 10:00 PM and I left a half hour later. My replacement will cover both units until 1st Unit wraps.

We're working downtown on Sunday and then back to the warehouse location Monday.

Have a great weekend and be well, I'm off to bed.

Waiting

Boom, Utility, and Props wait for our DP to light the set for our last
shot of the night.

Painter

This is Jesse our Standby Painter. Jesse's been in the paint local
for 30 years. He's a funny, hardworking character who calls me
Medic,he doesn't remember my name.

The rumor du jour is that we're working Saturday and Sunday. We shall
see what happens.

I'm still getting the hang of emailing from this phone. I hope to get
off by 8:30 tonight so I can get my new iPhone at the Apple store.
Mine won't hold a charge.

Be well.

Fwd: Brown Monday

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: tony.whitmore <tony.whitmore@gmail.com>
Date: October 22, 2007 6:51:37 PM PDT
To: Tony's Blog <go@blogger.com>
Subject: Brown Monday

The fires throughout the County have sent smoke to our location east of downtown L.A.

This corrugated warehouse gets hot and the weather has been unseasonal.

On technical note, my iPhone doesn't hold a charge.  I've been to the Apple store twice to no avail.   I have an appoinment tonight at the store and I'll tell them I need a new phone.  I am leaving a little early in order to make my appointment.

There isn't much to report from the set today other than that we are behind.  We'll find out on Wednesday whether we're working Saturday.

Be well.

Sent from my iPhone

Brown Monday

The fires throughout the County have sent smoke to our location east
of downtown L.A.

This corrugated warehouse gets hot and the weather has been unseasonal.

On technical note, my iPhone doesn't hold a charge. I've been to the
Apple store twice to no avail. I have an appoinment tonight at the
store and I'll tell them I need a new phone. I am leaving a little
early in order to make my appointment.

There isn't much to report from the set today other than that we are
behind. We'll find out on Wednesday whether we're working Saturday.

Be well.

Sent from my iPhone

Crafty Crafty

Friday night.

Here we are shooting a night shot at our warehouse location southeast
of downtown.

I probably won't get out until after 10 tonight. Thankfully I have
two days off.

I'm gonna post a pic of our craft service key, Nick Mastendrea. I
first met Nick on "Spang'lish" a few years ago. We have the same
birthday.

Have a great weekend and be well.
Sent from my iPhone

From my iPhone

This is my second post from the phone so I'm not sure I like it all
that much. I like the ease of use and the diversion of all this phone
offers.

We're in a warehouse for day one of eight including some nights.

I tried to send a photo of Hoyt, our director. I hope it works.

Be well.

Sent from my iPhone

The Director discusses his options

Hi

Sent from my iPhone

Another Day In Pasadena.

When a company doesn't use people for much of a movie then shooting can seem disjointed. We film scenes that will have animal elements added. We didn't complete our work for today so we'll be back again tomorrow. Even with the additional day some set pieces will travel to the next location. I keep nodding off so goodnight. Be well.

The Ark of the Covenant.

One of the Grips named the cart. I tell people the cart has two things in common with the Great Wall of China: Thousands of people died making it and it can be seen from space. We're shooting day two of three in Pasadena. The work is going slow today, due in part to overcast skies. A lot of the work will have to be shot some other day. Be well.

Wedge Tail Eagle

What to do in the event of a STRIKE!

The possibility of a Writers Guild strike appears to be more and more likely. Here's an interesting fact about the WGA "demands", they are asking the producers for 4 cents more on each DVD sold. That's on top of the four cents they are currently making. This isn't much money when a producer spends tens of thousands of dollars on an actor's trailer. On the other side, I think it's lousy for the Writers to bring the entire industry and the outside support businesses to a halt over four cents. If there is a strike, I'll work at the beach Lifeguarding. I'm glad I have that job to fall back on. Be well.

East L.A.

This is the exterior of our pet store that is on stage. This isn't a bad location and Craft Service brought in a coffee truck with all sorts of good drinks. Like last night, we have a night establishing shot in a couple of hours. King Jerry Bruckheimer visited us again today. Yesterday he stayed for lunch and his assistant pulled J.B.'s lunch out of a cooler. That's the news for today. Be well.

After the effect.

Special FX used air mortars to blow out the glass in this house in Redondo Beach. That was our first big effect of the show. We're now shooting a night ext. establishing and then we will wrap. Tomorrow we shoot in East Los Angeles. Be well.

On Location

Today we begin six weeks on location. Thankfully we are shooting day exterior this week. Later in the schedule we will do two plus weeks of night work. This is a photo of the interior loading dock, the set is in the "warehouse district" and it's hot down here. Will the heat ever end? I sent my first patient to the hospital this morning. A cook helper was splashed in the eye by hot butter. The note from the hospital said it is Chemical Conjunctivitus. This is something new to me. Fortunately he's back at work. Be well.

Long day Friday

The common industry practice of *@#% Friday was in use today. I started at 8 AM and wrapped at 12:30, that's 16 hours with the 1/2 hour lunch deducted.

Monday will be our first day on location and it should be a dosey (sp?). The only saving grace for the crew is that we are shooting day exteriors all next week. The bad news is that our DP (Director of Photography) lights the shite out of everything and his set-ups take a long time.

I'd love to write more but I'm bushed and I need sleep to enjoy my weekend.

Be well.

Uneventful

Today was pretty dull. We had no actors, only "readers". They are voice actors who read the parts of the cg guinea pigs, fly, and other characters. The real voices, I've been told, will be played by Johnny Depp, Will Ferrell, and Salma Hayek. By and large it was a quiet day on stage.

Tomorrow will probably be a little more hectic, as we are leaving the comfort of the studio to begin six weeks on location including three weeks of night work. Ugh!

I'll tell you how it goes.

Be well

Working For A Living

Please indulge me a moment atop the soapbox. This photo is of a flier from our Sound Mixer, Lee Orloff. Lee is asking people to go to www.ftac.org to get a sample letter to send. The goal is to get our government leaders to see that the subsides other countries give to movie production companies is a violation of the free trade agreement. On another note, the day's work is creeping along. The excitement today was having a dump truck on stage. The Teamsters moved it on stage last night and by lunch we were through with it and off the stage the truck went. We're behind so we start location work on Monday instead of Friday. Be well.

Puppies

Of course there are puppies at a pet store. Even though the G in the title stands for guinea pigs, we have other animals. These lab pups are really cute and fun to hold. My son stopped by and got to hold one of the dogs. We have three dogs at home but holding a puppy always makes me want another dog ... until I remember that they grow up. Be well.

'If you don't eat a tamale I'm gonna hit you'. '

This is Terry our Craft Service Technician handing out tamales for second meal. They are very good but Terry doesn't remember who provides them. When you're on production the food flows like water. We worked on Saturday, I put in 15 hours. Today's work got off to a little slow start but the rumor is that we'll finish around 7:00 tonight. That's it for now. Be well.