SF Weekend

I went to San Francisco this weekend. Friday was a class from Mexico, so i went in early and pre-rigged the set for the DP. The class came in and we demoed a few lighting senarios for them, it was exciting. I left early because Andrew picked me up and drove me to the airport in Burbank.
I flew out at 8:30... but the plane was delayed so we took off around 9:00. I landed at Oakland and my parents picked my up and drove me to San Francisco, I gave my mom a Mole t-shirt because she answered the question in my last blog. Karolina was happy to see me... I guess I was kinda happy to see her, too- hahaha. Sofia was also excited to see me, as well.
Karolina had work on Saturday so I went out to school to meet up with Sam at the sound stage and to give Roy and Ray some t-shirts from Mole. I stopped by Aaron, Brandon, and Laura's house in the Sunset on the way to school, it was good to be back in SF. I got to school and saw Sam. Conor happened to be on the stage, too, so I got to see him and catch up a bit. I then ran into Ben and gave him a Dolby hat that I got for him. We also ran into Veronica, too- I was planning on not having time to see anyone on this trip but instead, I saw everyone.
I then took Muni downtown and met Karolina for lunch. We went to Macy's next door and our friend Rich ended up joining us later on. Karolina went back to work and Rich and I attempted to wander around the new shopping center on Market, but there were too many people. So we ended up walking back to the condo and met Joe as he got off work. Then Jenna and her baby came over and we all made dinner when Karolina got home.
Then, after dinner and after Jenna had left, Joe, Karolina and I went out to Kate's sister's house in the Richmond for a Halloween party. I didn't have a costume, but it didn't matter, I saw everyone there, Becca, Eric, Kate, Kate's brother, Kate's sister, Brook, Laura, Brandon, Allison, and I even got to talk to Spenser on the phone.
Sunday, Karolina an I slept in... the kitty slept in with us. We got up late, made pancakes(I got a txt from Andrew also asking me to make pancakes) and then got dressed and went downtown. We dropped my bag off at Crate&Barrell and went for coffee and cake at a cafe in the new mall. Then we hopped on Bart and went to Alameda. My parents picked us up and we went out to dinner at this mexican restaurant. Then we went to my parents condo before they drove me to the airport and I flew back to Burbank.
Edwin picked my up and drove me home just in time to walk in on Andrew in a Priest outfit, Kyle in a nun outfit, and Tim wearing all black with glowing eyes under his hood... awkward(they were going to a Halloween party... so not really).

And that was my weekend in San Francisco.

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
When soldiering c-stand, always face the tallest leg away from set so that you can pull a stand off the line easily and so they all stack up nice and neat.

Another Long Week

Yup, another long week.

On Sunday I had a quick 12 hour shoot, but it went over so I got $100 instead of $50. The shoot had five locations all across LA so we were forced to shoot very quickly. It was like a treasure hunt almost, pretty exciting. Plus I got to work with one of my favorite DPs, Miss Nikola Marsh from England. She got sick of my fake accent in the first hour...

Monday was day 1 of 7 for the LA Film School shoot. Sandra, an old student of Larry's, AFI grad, and the first DP I worked with in LA was day-playing on day 1 as 1st AC. The day took extra long, we got our first shot off 4 hours after we hand planned, so we were a little behind... and craft services wasn't on time or good for that matter. Remember: A fed crew is a happy crew.

Tuesday... Wednesday... Thursday... Friday... Saturday... Day 2... Day 3... Day 4... Day 5... Day 6. We were burnt out, the crew wasn't allowed to eat first(??) and there was almost never coffee in the morning. But we got through it. Friday night the crew walked the half-a-block to the local LA Film School hangout bar and had drinks to celebrate the film having only one more day(Sunday was out day off).

I had taken Saturday off of the LA Film School shoot to do some more work with Nik on another one of those treasure hunt days. But After we wrapped, I came and helped the LA Film School shoot until we wrapped and then went out. Andrew met up with us and long story short, we ended up at this dinner/cafe we always go to called The Brite Spot at about 3:30 in the morning.

We came home and crashed, I slept all of Sunday and then got up, played video games, iced my foot, and do absolutely nothing.

That is, until I met up with Edwin, Sandra, her husband Eric, our friend Kevin, and two of Sandra's friends at the Arclight to see the Prestige. It was worth getting off the couch for.

Monday was the last day of the LA Film School shoot and boy were we all glad it was over. I went home and slept after getting home around 9:00pm.

Tuesday I stayed home and iced my foot. Larry called and asked if I could come in tomorrow to teach a few guys about power distro and lights; I, of course, said yes. I continued to ice my foot and do nothing after a long, long, long... long week.

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Volts x Amps = Watts. So in the US we run on 110-120 volts... most of our modern household circuits are 20 Amps... so how many watts can one circuit hold? Post a reply with the answer and I'll bring you a Mole t-short when I visit during Thanksgiving.

I Broke My Toe at the ASC(...and it was worth it)

I hobbled down Hollywood Blvd at 10 o'clock at night and the only thing that I could think about was the cornfield scene in ET and how I was going to deal with my probably broken toe. Yes- I broke my toe at the ASC... I mean, when the old timers get together, they are just so passionate about film that they can get a little routy- haha, just kidding, I dropped a stand on it, well... the stand kind of jumped at me... but let me back up a bit.
I first went to the LA Film School for a pre-rig of the sound stage. We had the G&E team start building the soft boxes out of donated and damaged styrofoam board that we were hanging over the set. B(Brayton) and I started hanging the other lights using the scissor lift. We tried to rough the lights in the best we could but it was hard without most of the set built, art department was taking a lot more time then they thought there were going to take in set construction and already people were struggling with the amount of money given to each department to work with. Brian, the key grip from Boston, stopped by and helped me rig as well, he had nothing to do so he stopped by.
After the rig I went home a bit early and took a shower, got dressed, and then Brian drove me to the ASC club house. I ran around and turned on all the lights and then just relaxed. I got a drink at the bar(I felt funny ordering a coke) and then mixed with the crowd. At first I wasn't really talking to anyone but then this young guy Jared came up to me and introduced himself. He was the photographer for the evening and he hangs out at the ASC so we exchanged cards and talked a bit throughout the evening.
The Allen Daviau arrived with other ASC members. He stopped at the front door where there was a traffic jam of people and then disappeared for a bit. I was looking at all the pictures on the walls desperately trying to memorize faces and names when I noticed Allen sitting alone in as office that I soon realized was the ASC president's office. So I swallowed some courage and marched on in there and said, "Mr. Daviau, Hi- I'm Phill Matarrese, we met at Mole..." He remembered me and I gave him the message from Larry and almost expected the conversation to end there... but he kept talking to me so I ended up sitting down and chatting with him. Then I asked him about the flashlights and he told me that the prop master gave them to him(he was dreading the idea of having the actors wear battery belts to power the flashlights). So he said to call around to the prop houses and see. I also took the time to thank him for requesting the carbon arc lights because I had been wanting to learn how to operate them and if he hadn't asked for them, who knows when I would have learned to use them. I also told him that I loved the old styles and the old techniques and he told me to keep with it because if I know where I come from, it is easier for me to know where I'm going. I then went back to the party and that is when things started to pick up.(as if they could get better, right?)
I was walking through the main room to the front of the building and then Richard Crudo(the most recent president of the ASC) caught my eye. He waved at me as I passed and said, "Didn't I see you the other evening?" I told yes and we did the regular meet/greet hello, how are you, good thing and then he asked me if I had gotten anything out of what he said. I told him that after hearing him talk I wanted to become a cinematographer and he chuckled. We had a conversation about this and that and then I turn and this guy extends his hand to me saying, "Hi, I'm Woody". I said, "Hi, Phill, how do you do?" It was Woody Omen, former president of the ASC, and I almost half laughed as I introduced myself because his picture was in my line-of-sight over his right shoulder on the wall of former presidents. We talked a but and then Michael Goi(current VP of the ASC) took me by the shoulder as he and Rich Crudo showed me a camera they had on display right by the entrance. It was this huge camera that took three rolls of color film at the same time, one red, one green, and one blue, it was an ealry Technicolor camera. They opening it up for me and showed me how it worked, telling me stories of celluloid and the stuff they used to do. I(with my mouth hanging open) was amazing of course and then Mike dropped the bomb on me.
This is what I remember him saying, "An this is nothing, most f the really cool stuff is over the the Academy(of motion Picture and Television, because they are about to retrofit the ASC clubhouse and add a theater and undergoing parking). And the coolest thing that I am super excited for is we now have in our possession the camera that Greg Toland shot Citizen Kane with, it's being restored right now. The only problem is that the varnish they used is now illegal in the US so we are going to hand carry it across the border into Mexico, get it varnished and then bring it back, probably slap some film in it and shoot something." I flipped! I don't was so excited that all I could do was smile. I told him to call Larry and let me know when that happens because I would do almost anything to just touch the camera Toland used let alone put some film in it and help shoot something!
Then food was ready and we all sat down to eat. I grabbed a seat with a British DP, the editor for American Cinematographer magazine and the Kodak representatives. I was the youngest person at the party, so I felt like everyone was just staring at me the whole time, but my table made me feel welcome.
After dinner I video taped the speeches and award recognition... and this is when I had a couple epiphanies. The 1st one was that this was the first one of these events that the ASC has held. This year they were trying something new and were holding a dinner to honor the lifetime achievement winners and to get together before at the beginning of their award session rather then at the end. So I felt pretty special to not only light and video tape it but to eat and rink with them. The next revelation I had was when Allen Daviau was called up to receive his honor! I thought that only Gerald Hirschfeld(who I met at Cinegear 2005 and who I was told to say and congrats to by Larry) and Donald M. Morgan were the only ones receiving awards(who is the 1st winner of the 1st lifetime acheivement in TV work ever from the ASC), but Allen also won.
During filming the speeches I saw some amazing things: Isidore(Izzy) Mankofsky came up to me and asked for a copy of the tape from me, he was a nice guy, very small and cartoon like; I saw the ASC come together to support one of their favorite, but also one of their saddest(I use this in the most respectable way I could ever use it) members- Allen Daviau, and I saw Owen Roizman get teary-eyed when introducing Gerald Hirschfeld("He is human, after all," said Patty afterwards.) See, Gerald had fired Owen when Owen worked for him in New York and that made Owen learn and try so much harder so that he got hired back and became Gerlad's assistant. Gerald said, "It was the worst mistake he ever made, but the one he is most proud of," what a quote!
So people trickled out, I waited till the last minute and turned off all the lights, wrapped everything and then broke my toe. Like I said, I was wrapping the two light stands and was about to pick both of them up with the intention of bringing them inside when I glanced at the old wooden door with the big pane of glass in it that reads American Society of Cinematographers and decided that I would not be able to open the door while carrying two stands... So I tossed one down on the grass next to me but after hitting the ground it bounced back up and landed on my toe. I was wearing dress shoes so it stung a bit and right as it happened I remember thinking to myself, "...dang, I hope it's not broken. That would suck." So I finished wrapping, changed into my tennis shoes(should have done that earlier) and said bye to Patty before I left. She thanked me and said she owed me one(maybe I'll get to go the the ASC awards!) and then I walked home, getting a call from Larry who wanted to check in on how things went. It was his birthday, too, so I wished him a happy birthday, he's only 64 I think.
I literally ran into Andrew, Tim, and Kyle as they walked to this bar so they turned me around and took me to the bar they were heading to(the one I had just passed) and they got me a drink(I told them that the next time they go out they could buy me a drink). One of the bouncers mentioned my tennis shoes(I guess there was a dress code) and I was still in my dress clothes from the party, so I showed him my dress shoes in my bag and he laughed and let me in. I had the drink and then went home because I was tired and needed to rest for my shoot on Sunday.

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Most electronic sockets and cables have their gauge printed somewhere on them. Keep an eye out for them, this way you can see what the maximum load they can handle or how much power they draw. They are usually shown in watts or amps with the voltage as well.

A Full Week

Man, it has been a busy week for me. Here is what happened...

Sunday Oct 8th
Mom left Sunday morning, headed back up to the bay area. I had a meeting with Leah, the DP for this LA Film School shoot that I am doing, at noon, so I met her at Borders and we went over lighting ideas, etc.
After the meeting, I ran back to my apartment, ate some food, and then took the bus down to USC to meet Andrew and watch Michel Gondry's new film The Science of Sleep. It was good, a lot of visual intensity, but the story and characters were not as relatable as in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But it was in english, french and spanish!

Monday Oct 9th
LA Film school came in around 8AM, so I was at Mole at about 6:30. Larry was already there, unloading his car because he borrowed some gear for a class down at Chapman University in Orange County that he did on Saturday. I came in early to clean the stage, so Larry and I set up chairs and made sure the stage was in ship shape.
The class went well, Larry told me that the next day we would take a little trip over to the ASC club house... so I was excited. Today was Chris Baber's first official day as an intern. He's one of Larry favorites, he's a good guy and I actually like having backup on the stage(I'm still the only one getting paid, though). After the class I came home, relaxed, and watched Studio 60. It was a good night.

Tuesday Oct 10th
The AFI second years came in, the regular Tuesday crowd. Fred Goodich was behaving himself, he's been more subdued then normal and I was surprised not to get a call from him in the end of the previous week about the class(he generally calls ahead and tells me what gear to have ready for him).
Richard Crudo was the guest DP. Sorry, Denis LeNoir, but I may have a new hero ASC member*(see Oct 3rd post Denis Lenoir, You're My Hero!). Usually the classes start with the guest DP giving a short lecture in the screening room about the days class as well as show some work they have done... here is what happened and why he is one of my new favorites...

...I am on stage, running around answering the questions of the ever-confused 2nd years when Richard Crudo walks in. I immediately recognize him from the day when I helped Owen Roizman take pictures for the ASC magazine of all those ASC memebers, and Larry introduces him to me and Chris. Fred Goodich calls Richard over to touch base and then turns to me and says, "Phill, why don't you and Richard go and test out his DVD." I say sure and lead Richard down the hall to the screening room where the classes start.
I tell Richard that I thought we had met before when Owen was over taking pictures of the other ASC members and he said, "Oh, yeah, you were helping Owen. I thought you looked familiar." I don't know if he really did remember me or not, but I still felt important.
So I set up the projector and the DVD player, Richard takes the remote and was the first DP/guest that I have seen in Mole who didn't need help using it. I could sense his self confidence, this was a man who knew what he was doing and also why he was doing it. He didn't seem too interested in showing off his work, but seemed to want to get out there and talk and shoot.
So he starts off with a great introduction of film vs digital... he articulated so well everything that I believed in about film and he backed it up with logical and quantitative evidence that even if you didn't agree with him, you still could not help but go along with it. He was such a good speaker that I was almost convinced to become a cinematographer!
He then talked about printer lights and the most surprising thing is that I actually understood what he was saying... not only did I understand, but I already knew what he was talking about. It was funny because I was taught to look at printer lights when I got my film back in order to check my exposure... and these AFI students had no ideas what printer lights were! I would estimate that half of the students in the LA area don'+t know what printer lights are because they don't have to pay for their film processing like we do up at State. When you pay for you own film, you have to pick up your own film from the lab and you learn to read printer lights. It just amazed me... And I was genuinely interested in what he was saying, too- which made it even better! I went up to him after, as the class was filing out of the screening room, and thanked him for saying exactly how I felt about film and he shook my hand and told me that he was holding back because a lot of students are into digital.
We then went into the stage and did his special camera test where he goes 2 stops over and 2 stops under by changing the lighting and now the f-stop on the lens. He says that he does this test and then doesn't use a grey card, which I applauded because it seems that so many students these days are obsessed with shooting grey cards when they don't need to unless they are in a totally funky lighting situation with crazy mixed light. People don't understand that the grey card is used to help the timer correct for exposure and undesirable color temperatures... but it isn't supposed to be a crutch and a lot of students shoot it because they are afraid of varying color temps and don't trust they eyes. I loved how Richard just saw it and shot it. He wasn't afraid to slap things together, keep it simple and not over think things- he just put it down on celluloid. Seriously, he reminded me of an artist who doesn't hesitate and over think it but just throws the paint on the canvas in the spots he thinks it needs to be. The way he works is exactly how I want to learn how to work.

The class continued to go well and the Larry took me over to the ASC clubhouse only a few blocks north in Hollywood. We met a woman named Patty there, she's not an ASC memeber but she has been running the ASC for 30 years now... Larry told me to stay on her good side and she'd probably ask me to take pictures at their events or something. The clubhouse was amazing, they have all sorts of vintage equipment collected from the 100 years of filmmaking, including 100 year old crank cameras that they still break out every so often and put film in and shoot(they still work!) Larry said to Patty, "It's Phill's first time to the clubhouse. See, his mouth is hanging open." And it was, I'm talking about the knowledge of over 100 years of filmmaking wrapped up and placed into one house in the middle of Hollywood. Anyway, Larry and I scoped out the power and figured out what lights we wanted to put where and then headed back to Mole. But before heading back, I got invited to the party by Patty, who asked if I was any good with a video camera and said they might give me one to shoot with.
I went home after AFI wrapped(but not before getting offered a paid gig on one of the student's MOS projects coming up in Nov)and then met with Leah and the bestboy electric, Brayton, for the shoot at the LA Film School.

Wednesday Oct 11th
Today Larry accidentally double booked... but we figured this out a week ago and decided to be bold and host two classes. It went surprisingly well. There were a lot of students but we had a lot of help.

Thursday Oct 12th
The next day I woke up early and walked to the ASC clubhouse, which turns out to be literally around the corner from my favorite spot in LA, Sid Graumann's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. I was about 20 minutes early so I visited the handprints, making sure to visit the prints of George and Steve(Lucas and Spielberg). I met Chun Ming, another guy from Mole, there and we did a very easy and fast lighting rig for the exterior of the clubhouse. We heard it was going to rain that night so we covered all the bags and connections with garbage bags. It only took us a few hours to run power and put lights on the roof and porch and on the palm trees in the back.
It was exciting, Daryn Okada( the ASC president) stopped by as we were helping with the red carpet, that was exciting. We hung out with the clubhouse team and Patty, the kind-of manager of the ASC who has been working with the ASC since she was 20 years old. We stuck around for a pizza lunch and then I headed home.
I then met up with Leah and Brayton at the LA Film School stage for the equipment checkout and to meet the crew for that shoot that I am working on. The crew is super green but they were willing to learn, so Brayton and I did a grip and electric 101 class with them real quick.
After G&E 101, I met up with my DP friend Chris Hall who I am gaffing for on this USC project. We met at Starbucks in Gower Gultch and discussed the project, which I am super excited about. He stepped me through the visual references and what he was thinking about look and color and lighting and showed me a bunch of reference pictures of various movies, including Harry Potter and E.T.(it's a family film type project). I got excited because I was told by Larry to say Hi to Allen Daviau when I went to the ASC party on Saturday, so I figured that I would ask him his advice on approaching flashlights as practicals in a scene. If Chris wants the look of the E.T. flashlights then why not just go straight to the source and ask Allen how he approached it. I had been struggling with trying to come up with a way to get into conversations with these guys and Larry gave me the answer- he told me to say hi and congratulate people for him- brilliant!

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Instead of putting on ND gel to bring a window that is blowing out down a few stops, try using this stuff called Roscoe Scrim. It will bring the window down 2 full stops and you won't see it on film.

The Human Element

Mom

So this weekend was Parent's Weekend at USC, very exciting! I slept in on Friday and then got up and cleaned the house, waiting for my mom call at any moment and announce an early arrival or unannounced inspection... but she didn't. I walked down the street to Borders for a meeting with the DP for that gig that I just got- I saw a posting for the filming of Studio 60 in front of the Paladium just down the street for Monday... so I think Andrew and I are going to try and crash the set. Anyway, the DP and I talked about the project a bit and then she went to meet with the director and make tons of calls. I went back home and finished cleaning and then met back up with here at the LA Film School(just down Sunset from me) where we will be filming the project. I checked out the stage that we're going to be shooting on, the lights in the ceiling are all plugged into a dimmer board, but I think that I can figure it out, the stage is gonna work, I think.
I got back home and cleaned a bit more before my mom called. I met then outside and we went over to Mole real quick(to let Andrew finish cleaning and to see it before John went home for the weekend). I showed them the sounddtage and the lights and the offices that I work in, it was fun. On the way back, while sitting in traffic, we decided to go shoe shopping, so we did. This also gave Andrew some more time to organize and by the time we got back, our apartment(minus our bedroom) looked amazing!
mom then took Andrew, Peter and me to Roscoe's, and excellent choice, I must admit. Then I got some clothes and went with my mom and Peter back down to USC. I stayed over at the hotel my mom was staying at and she woke me up early(6:20) today and we drove down to Longbeach to watch Peter's crew team row. Peter is on the novice men's USC crew club team, Mom and I were very impressed by them. I am telling you, that team is just asking for a documentary to be made about them!
We got back to USC and had breakfast before we headed through campus to the bookstore on our way to the game. I got a USC shirt so that I fit in and we ran into Andrew and then Jenna on campus. We walked through the crowds of cardinal and gold clad students/alumns/fans and kicked the base of the flag poles for good luck before crossing into Exposition park. We found our seats and watched as the stadium filled up.
USC won, then beat the Washington Huskies 26-20... but it was close... very close. I saw Peter in the student section before the game and got a picture of him(you can barely see him in the crowd, but you can see him). It was an exciting game, it's a lot of fun to root for a team and to have something in common with complete strangers sitting next to you.
After the game, Andrew and Tim met up with us for the 5th quarter, the time when the band plays a few songs after the game. Mom and I walked back and met Peter at his dorm and we went to Fatburger right off campus. We went back to the hotel and Peter said by and then Mom and I went to Target and I got some jeans and a vacuum. She dropped me off and I unpacked and did some chores. Now it's time for bed.

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
You can flip the pieces of wood in a C-47(clothepin) to make a C-48(some people call them C-74's... but that just takes to long to say). These have less grip, but a stringer pinch and are perfect for holding flat things like gels and barndoors... or gels to barndoors.

Best Day Ever!

Ok, so besides having a great day 2 for the Psycho Hillbilly movie and meeting some really great people, I got some good news! First of all, I got a call from this cinematographer from LA Film School who is shooting a thesis film and she got my name and number from a co-worker at Mole, Janice Pearson. I G/Eed for Janice on the first shoot that I worked on down here, and AFI thesis(also where I met Rob Toth, the DP for Psycho Hillbilly) that she was gaffing. The LA Film School cinematographer wanted Janice to do it, but Janice has to travel for Mole and recommended me for the job as gaffer! So I just called her back and we're meeting up tomorrow to go over the schedule... oh, and it's paid! I am for sure going to get $500, but she wants to bump it up to $1,000 and it is just down the street literally, so that was good news.
Then, as if I could get more excited, Larry(my boss) gives me a call. It turns out that the ASC is having a party to announce this years nominees for their ASC award(equal if not more prestigious then an Oscar because you are being recognized by your peers) in a few weekends and they've asked Larry and Mole to do the lighting for it. So Larry asked me and this other intern guy, Chun Ming, to do it. This is a big deal because not only do I get to go to the ASC clubhouse(which you must be invited to get in) but there is a string possibility of being invited to the actual party! This means I get to rub elbows with the top DPs in the world and remind them that I have met them at Mole during so-and-so's class and give them my card! I am sooooo excited!
Well, time to eat, clean and then sleep(my mom is stopping by tomorrow, so I need to clean)

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Never(try not to) let your generator get bellow 1/4 tank, it will start sucking up all the sediment and other crap resting at the bottom of the tank. Always keep your eye on it and refill once it hits about 3/4 empty... DON'T(try not to) go into the red or reserve on the fuel gauge.

Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre! (that is seriously what it's called)

So I did my first(of 2) days on my friend's thesis film. My buddy Rob Toth is the cinematographer on this AFI thesis film called Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre!... seriously. It was a long day, I got picked up at 6:30am and we drove out to Topanga Canyon... we were the first ones there. The people were great, the equipment wasn't half bad, and the food was plenty.
We wrapped around 9:00 and I got home at 10:00... nothing much else to report.

by the way- pics from Boston:
http://robmeyer.smugmug.com/gallery/1956745
official website:
http://www.robmeyerfilms.com

My lighting! That's all me!

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
When an HMI is turned off, the bulb is very hot and fragile, so try to avoid moving it right away. I always let the head(the light) cool down as I unplug and wrap the ballast and head and feeder cables before I even lower or move the light.

Denis Lenoir, You're My Hero!

Ok, for the record, if every cinematographer who came into Mole to teach was as good as Denis Lenoir, the world would be a better place. He greeted me as soon as he walked in, remembering my name and everything! He moved quickly wit the students, we watched a few examples of his worked but he didn't talk for too long- he wanted to get out there and light.
He didn't shoot a grey card or color chart, he shoots in this controlled chaos, almost from the hip but he knows what he is doing every time. He had them do a test trying to get to the same color temperatures using first HMIs and then tungsten sources. He articulated things very well, answered questions directly, and didn't spend too much time setting up the shot but just shot away!
on top of all of that- he gave me his card and let me give him my card! He told me that I had a purpose for giving him my card and saw that I do grip and lighting and asked which one do I prefer. I told him that I hope to be a gaffer, if anything and he said he hoped to hear from me.
...So of course I just got through sending him an email thanking him for his great class and mentioned that I hoped to work with him sometime in the near future. So we'll see what happens.

Small SC

Today was a small class... totaling at 4 people, all USC 1st time production students. It was actually a lot of fun, it is so much easier to teach people who are just starting out then people with experience. Larry and I had a fun time, especially since we ended up having a small Mole reunion with all Larry's former students just popping up randomly. Edwin showed up, Chris Babers popped in, Chun Ming stopped by, and Christy from Chapman drove up to help teach the class, too. Even better is that she asked me to come out and co-gaff her project that she is doing at school.
I then spent the remainder of the day(from noon on) getting things ready for tomorrows class. Fred and the AFI 2nd years are coming in to learn from guest ASC, AFC member Denis Lenoir. Fred and Denis stopped by to check out the stage and inspect the equipment, Denis is such a nice guy, we ended up talking for a while, he remembered my name when he left(good sign!) with Fred.
I got home, did the dishes, and relaxed in front of the TV watching Studio 60! Time for bed, call time for me is 8AM for AFI.

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
On the color temp scale, a change in color temperature in the lower end of the scale(3200K/ tungsten) will register as a greater change then a change in temp in the upper part of the scale(6500K/daylight). So a few hundred degrees when working with HMIs won't change your color all that much, however, a few hundred degrees shift while working in Tungsten will dramatically change your color temp. So be aware of your color temperature, they play a huge part in how your film is effected.

A Long Two Daze

Well, the feature that my friend was cinematographer on(the one with the long hours) is finally over. We shot two days at this club in Pasadena and Edwin(the DP), Kevin(the Key Grip) and I are soooo glad to be done with it. Talk about insane hours and unorganized schedule, we decided that if we could make it through this one and come out with a few good looking shots, then we can get through anything.
Call time yesterday was 4AM and we shot till 4PM, then the call time was pushed up by 2 hours for today from 4AM to 2AM. We wrapped at 4PM again, so I am tired... and I'm going to bed.

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Always carry q card on you with your email and phone number, you never know who you might run into on a set... could be your next job.