Day 5... I think

So Rob and I have been a little stir-crazy because there hasn't been much work for us to do and a lot of unanswered questions that we needed solved before we could really move forward. However, that all changed yesterday. We started by a relaxing morning, like the past four morning, no real plans. We had breakfast on our own, we ended up getting milk and cereal and bread and stuff so we could have some variety in the morning. However, the milk ended up making me throw up about half hour after breakfast. I was expecting it at least once on this trip and I'm glad it happened earlier rather then later... the good news is now my body is getting used to their bacteria.

We hung out and then went downstairs for lunch. Rob has been a little congested with a bit of a cold so we both weren't felling 100% when we went to lunch but, man, it was some of the best food I've eaten in my life! There was this one eggplant dish that Rob and I agree is the best dish we've had here and the best eggplant we've ever had in our lives! It was so good and the rest of the day we were in great moods! It was the first time we were able to clean 2 full dishes of food and 90% of the 3rd dish!

Then, Fang Fang had a meeting with some "big shots" by a lake called West Lake. So we headed over there to see the lake while she was in her meeting because we are shooting at this one bridge called Broken Bridge, our biggest nighttime exterior location. We walked along the lake to the bridge after stopping off at the Shangri-La Hotel(a very, very, very nice hotel on the lake where Fang Fang was in her meeting).


Fang Fang had said that Hangzhou is the most beautiful city she's ever seen and I have to say, this part of town was very beautiful. There was so much texture and the locations we saw were incredible! There were people everywhere but it was such a peaceful place and it was so good to get out of the hotel and get some fresh air, even though we were there just to kind of sight-see, Rob and I couldn't help but start figuring out how to light the bridge and the rest of the location. We stopped by and got a little Starbucks cuz we were thirsty... it tasted just like back home and the baristas all spoke English, too!

Then we got a call from Fang Fang to come and visit a location that is overlooking the lake. It is the house that we will be filming in for the Uncle's house, a lot of the film takes place here. Now, Rob had said that supposedly there were going to be "wild walls" which are walls that can be removed.. he kind of shrugged his shoulders when he said this because we both have never worked in a practical location where they are able to move walls... that for stuff on sound stage. S o we didn't know what to expect...

We get to the location and could not believe our eyes... there stood a house, we had seen the exterior in pictures from the production designers emails but we weren't prepared for what was going on inside. We noticed a lot of scaffolding and construction materials... it turns out that Fang Fang was introduced to the mayor of Hangzhou and he got her any location she wants for this movie in Hangzhou for free, including this house that overlooks West Lake!
They literally cut out the first floor ceiling to create a large open living room... the art department is building a house for us to shoot in! It isn't like normal where you go to someone hose and shoot in it for a week and make sure you put it back the way you found it... there is some serious remodeling going on in this house- they put in a whole new staircase for crying out loud! Not replaced an old one, designed and installed an entire new one! And there are so many windows, Rob and I just smiled and giggle the whole time imagining how we can light and shoot this location. I might even ask to make it my summer home after the movie is complete- hahahahahha! I have never sen anything like this, or even imagined that this was possible! The house looks like something out of Great Expectations, beautiful and lush with lots of dark wood and rich colors!

Then we went to another location near by, again, something else that they are building from scratch for this film. It's on top of a hill on a way up to a temple, it's a circular rock garden that is going to look amazing! Rob and I both thought it was already there and that the workers were just repairing it and getting it ready, but no- it was never there to begin with.

Then we went to another possible location, supposedly the most expensive and exclusive restaurant in all of Hangzhou, it wad glass ceilings in the courtyard that made Rob and I both feel like we were in a Bond movie and we going to have to jump across the panes of glass as the villain's henchman chase us... but be decided to be polite and not do t but say we did. The locations were great, we are both very excited to be getting to work finally and we can't wait to make this film look as good as we can make it. We all got in the van and headed back to the hotel, all of us very excited.

You can see all the pictures on my Flickr site, I apologize they are not being updated quickly, the internet connection is very slow in the hotel so I have to upload them one at a time: http://www.flickr.com/gp/15005161@N06/5N5TJ1

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
If you are using a thin diffusion like High Light, Durham Frost or Hampshire Frost, it's most effective closer to the subject. They are so thin that their effect is practically useless if you have it closer to the light because it's so far from the subject it does not diffuse the light.

I'm in China!!!

Wow, what a trip s far... first we got delayed coming out of LAX because of the winds in SF, so we missed our flight from SF to Shanghai and had to stay over, which wasn't too bad because I got to see Karolina before I left. So we few out the next day(Sunday), the flight was slightly delayed, but that was fine.

It was a good flight, we got exit row seats so we had a lot of leg room and we had a great stewardess named Mary sit across from us. We taxied out and then we had to go back because there was a lot of condensation and a seat(and the passenger in it) got wet and they had to switch the entire seat out. So we sat for about 15 or 20 minutes waiting around. Rob was smooth and offered Mary and the rest of the flight staff some peanut M&Ms(he had a 1 pound bag) so they made sure we had extra drinks and food and stuff. We were even able to sleep a little bit on the plane.

We arrived in Shanghai around 7:30pm the next day(Monday) because of the time change... however, Rob's suite case did not. Luckily we had Fang fang's(the director) assistant, a guy named Sonic, there to meet us and help with sorting everything out. W got some food at the airport before heading out for Hangzhou.. we must have left the airport around 10:30pm after everything was said and done... Rob's suite case was still back in San Francisco, though.

We arrived at about 1:30am, met the crew and production team and then got our stuff sorted and went to bed. Rob woke me up around 8:00am- I was surprised how fast I adjusted to the time change. We had what Sonic called a typical Chinese breakfast which was a rice porridge, steamed dumpling type things with pork in them, a boiled egg, various chopped vegetable to mix with the porridge and some bread. It was pretty good, especially the steamed dumpling with the pork.

Then we went back to our rooms and sorted out the internet stuff and settled in. We both got cellphones so we can call people, my number is: 15824457223 in case anyone wants to call me, it's free for me to receive calls... but you have to call long distance, so...

After that we had lunch... it was pretty good, I liked all the flavors, the only complaint was there were a lot of little bones in the chicken, but I went with it. I had heard that there was really good food here, but my last trip seemed very sheltered, food wise, we were extra cautious. This trip I want to make sure that I try everything that I can and really pus myself out of my normal limits and experience the food.


After Lunch Rob, Sonic and I went to the local mall so I could get a bag to carry my computer and stuff around with us on location scouts and to also get some snacks at the grocery store. It was really interesting, I saw many of the same brands that we have in the US but just in different varieties.

So now I am just finishing re-reading the script and making initial notes and talking to people on AIM before they go to bed. My screen name is: phillmatarrese in case anyone has AIM and they want to chat. And if you have a mac with an iSight or some other type of web camera we can video chat!

Check out more pics on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/gp/15005161@N06/NQj900

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Just to remind everyone, film is a lot more sensitive then some of the HD people lead you to believe. We watched dailies from The Company Man and there was a shot we did in a basement hallway where all we had where the fluorescent tubes overhead and I was barley reading an f1/f1.4 split and was really nervous we wouldn't get a good exposure. The film totally handled it, the shot looked great, we couldn't have lit in any better! Plus, it was an ASA 200 speed film, with the newer ASA 500 stocks these days you can get an exposure pretty much anywhere! Why would you want to settle for a lesser quality image in HD(not to mention the complications digital brings with it) when you can capture it on film just as easily if not easier!?

Scarecrow II

Check out these pictures from this USC thesis joe and I are working on... we did the first half last year in November and we just did 2 days on a sound stage at USC where we had a civil war battle scene set up(*we also had some days on location)! Joe and I even impressed the two old-school hollywood guys who run the sound stages and equipment at USC with our rigging and how we treated the equipment and left the stage when we were done! ...SFSU and Larry Mole Parker taught us well.



















You can see pics from both sections of the shoot here: http://www.flickr.com/gp/15005161@N06/3DJbm4

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Leave your locations(even sound stages) as good or BETTER then the way that you found them. You'd be surprised how good karma can help you sometimes!

Oh no! My Computer is Dead!

Hey everyone, quick update: my computer died today... it literally will not let me boot into windows, it won't even let me do the system recovery with the re-install CDs that CAME WITH MY COMPUTER! Ggggrrrrrrrr.

Anyway, I am looking at getting another computer, but it will have to wait until I get back from China dues to money(and time, hahaha). I am looking at the MacBook right now... anyone wanna loan me $1,000 to get one- hahahahahah! No, but seriously, has anyone applied for the mac loan that Apple has for their computers? I was toying with the idea of applying so I can get a laptop for China so I'll have internet access. Any thoughts? hahaha, although I guess if I did get a Mac loan I could just get the new AirMac thin laptop thing, couldn't I.

Well, time to get off Joe's computer. Anyone have a cheap old laptop they can loan me for a bit?

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Don't buy a PC hahahahahahahahaha.

We started the studio today.

Up in SF

We left for San Francisco on wednesday morning. We ended up getting into the city around 4:00pm, making pretty good time considering there was snw on the Grapevine...yes- snow on the Grapevine! And I'm so glad we got through wen we did because as we passed through we cold see clouds moving in above us and behind us e could see a storm creeping towards the pass.


Anyway, we ended up working on an SFSU grad film titled Post Bianca built bathroom in the backyard of the house we shot at and I was pretty happy with the lighting considering we only ended up using two 1Ks, a little 300w Midget and a 2ft 4 Bank Kino. It should look pretty nice.

The rest of the week we hung out, visited friends and family, meet up with old teachers and relaxed. We went with our mom and dad to a beach in Marin on sunday for our dad's birthday...it was rainy but still fun. We also went to the White Elephant Sale in oakland and i bought a bunch of old light meters for $1 each and a suit for $20! We also went to two 310 classes and talked about our experiences during film school, graduation & post-graduation, and now in the working world. I do miss San Francisco and I can't wait to be able to bring the industry back up here and work.
I know a lot of people are counting on it and I have a feeling that 2008 will be the year things begin to take shape.

In other news, Aquarium, the movie I worked on in Boston with Rob Hauer and Rob Meyer just won Honorable Mention at Sundance.

oh, and there is a new official trailer for Argos:


PhillM tip-of-the-day:
The only real way to tell what a gel is if it is unmarked is by using a gel swatch book. I know a lot of people who think they can eyeball a gel just by holding it up to a light, but this is very, very, very hard... plus as a gaffer i want my electrics to be 100% sure so i make sure they use a swatch book and don't guess.