Green Screen and Boston

So I was working on that USC shoot this weekend. Saturday we did pre-rigging for the green screen. I used my Mole discount for the first time, Andrew got some gloves and we got 2 rolls of green screen cloth. So the pre-rig was easy, we got out of there by 12:30. We came back to our apartment building to find that a new automatic gate to the garage! Totally cool! It was a push gate before... they changed it just for us- Andrew and I are convinced!

The best(and worse) part is, that night, I got an email from this DP I met at Mole. His name is Rob Hauer and he's from NYU. Anyway, he offered me a position gaffing for him... in Boston! They are going to fly me out, pay for lodging, transportation, food, and a small stipend for the total of 12 days. The bad part, is that the shoot begins on my birthday... which is right in the middle of when my lovely girlfriend comes down to visit me in LA:( I know, sad. I am bummed. But, here is the thing, I figure, some of the money I get from the shoot will pay for a plane ticket back up to SF so I can visit her! And I am going to spend all the time I can with her when I go up to SF next weekend. Besides, she is super cool and understands how big of an opportunity this is for me; she's the greatest! I may just get her a puppy!

Today was fun, one of the smoothest shoots I've ever worked on! Chris, the gaffer, was great to work with again. He was the DP on the "Rock You" music video a few weeks ago. And the DP, Nicola, was awesome, as always! And I am probably going to help her on a shoot in September. The shoot was long, but fun... there was nudity, but we kept it professional. And it was green screen, so it was easy because we only had to light the subject.

I owe you two tips cuz I forgot one last post...

PhillM tip-of-the-day #1:
When working c-stands or light stands, try to address them from the back because they are easier to operate this way and the key grip or gaffer will give directions oriented left or right based on you standing at the back of the stand, like "lamp left" or "lamp right."

PhillM tip-of-the-day #2:
I'm sorry, I know a lot of you know this, but FYI- when dealing with c-stand, make sure that(when operating the stand from behind) have the "fat" knuckles on the right. This way, the weight of the flag or whatever is in the gobo head will make it self tighten, as a safety. If the knuckles are on the left, the weight may make the gobo head un-tighten and it might fall. Fat knuckles on the right- say it with me!