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.