10-1

Today's been a day off for me. I slept for a total of ~20 hours between getting home last night and right now. It's hard to imagine that I only spent 3 days on set. There's another small shoot tomorrow at the office for the webisode, and then we're finishing up the commercial at some high school in Van Nuys on Monday.


This time, I'd like to be a bit more specific than just "here's what I did today!" Today's blog post is about walkies. These little buddies are your best friend on set. You have one clipped on your belt all day, with an earpiece stuck in your ear, listening closely in case someone calls your name. The walkies come with their own little lingo, so I'll offer a quick glossary for you.

"copy"
This is what you hear in movies when people talk to each other via walkie talkie. Basically, it's short for "gotcha" or "I understand."

"go for ____"
How you answer the walkie. When someone calls my name, for instance, I respond "go for Christine." If it's something quick, then they'll ask me right away, but if they have something more complicated to talk about that'll take a while, they'll say "switch to 2," to which I'll reply "switching" then change my walkie from channel 1 to channel 2, where we carry on our conversation.

"standby"
If you call someone but they can't answer right away, instead of saying "go for ___" they'd say "standby for ___" until they're ready to talk.

"20"
When someone wants to know where you are, they ask for your location, aka your 20.

"10-1"
The title of this blog post, 10-1 is short for 10-100, and it means that you've gone off set, usually to the bathroom or something like that. Not sure what that has to do with 10-100, but that's what I'm told it stands for.
The common joke on set is that 10-200 is when you're... well... you're probably going to be a while. ;)

"hot brick"
A hot brick is a charged battery. As an intern, I walk around with at least one charged battery on me at all times, in case someone needs one. As the day goes on, I'll carry around upwards of 4 hot bricks, although that's pretty overkill. I just like to be prepared, you know?
When someone's walkie is running out of battery, it makes a little chirping noise, at which point they'll call out "hot brick!" meaning they need a fresh battery. This is when I jump in and yell "got one!"

"Mucho Gusto!"
Something only likely to be heard over the airwaves at our set, Mucho Gusto is the nickname the 1st AD has for Simmie, the youngest of the 10 kids featured in this ad. Whenever Simmie steps on set, he (and subsequently other crew members) call out "Mucho Gusto!" As the days of the shoot went on, this became a bigger phenomenon, so much so that near the end of the day yesterday, somebody lent her their mic so everybody could hear her little voice in their ear saying "that's a wrap on MUCHO GUSTO!!"
She's adorable.


Now, that's about all I can think of to say on the topic of walkie talkies, so it's PICTURE TIME! I actually brought my camera to set yesterday, instead of trying to take pictures on my phone camera. Once again, I've blurred/pixelated people's faces, 'cause I don't want to take any risks exposing people who don't want to be exposed.


Here's a peek at what it looks like to be on set, taken from the area set up for the parents to sit and watch the monitor. Bottom right corner is the top of TJ's mom's head. She's been really nice to me.


A closeup of the monitor which the parents were watching. Keep an eye out for this shot in the commercial! (with a lot less green, of course)


The reverse view; set as seen from up near the stage. And yes, that is a TARDIS on Dana's desktop background. :)


The kids on stage reviewing dance moves before a shot.


TJ and Brianne go over the ever-evolving Sears Kids' secret handshake.


More kids on stage, getting ready to dance.


ME! complete with Red Sox hat and walkie headset.


The view from the inside of the (mostly empty) production truck.


That same view, zoomed in. What's that over yonder? Let's look closer...


That's right! It's the Paramount Water Tower!


Also, the Hollywood sign, as seen from the bus stop at Santa Monica Blvd. and Vine St.


Another closeup, to prove that I was actually that close.

Second day on set

I'm back in the apartment after another long day of work on the Sears shoot. My back hurts, my head is pounding, I have one of the biggest blisters I've ever seen, and I had an amazing day.

Yesterday was spent doing random jobs, and when I wasn't doing that, I was getting to know the 10-14 year old kids that are starring in the ad (pictured below, w/ faces blurred just to be safe, even though they'll all be on national TV in a week or so). They're awesome, talented, and some of the nicest people on set. Their parents are great too-- not the "show moms" you'd expect. Dana said they weeded out the annoying/impatient kids/parents during casting, and I can see why.


They're all here except Leo, which is a shame because he's a total sweetheart and he helps me carry stuff around. :)

I do stuff like bring the kids juice in between takes, to keep them hydrated and energized after all the dancing they're doing. They work these kids hard!


But anyway, I spent a lot of time with the kids yesterday and today, but today was the first time I really got to meet the adults on set, in addition to the PAs I was working with yesterday. The way I met everyone could have been better though...

Dana gave me a clipboard and a bunch of release forms saying that everybody on this set had to sign one for the behind the scenes video footage that is going online as some webisode thing. Now, a bunch of these guys are Guild/Union workers, so the last thing you want to do is walk up and tell them they have to sign something. I learned early on the right way to approach people in order to get them to be okay signing a release.
Some people were nicer about it than others. A few flat-out refused to sign, saying they'd talked to the camera people already and made sure they were NOT to be filmed. A lot of people asked me what it was for and why the heck did they need all this information? Most people were pretty cool about it, though, if I came to them when they weren't in the middle of something, and if I called them 'sir' or 'ma'am' and thanked them a lot after. One guy followed me around, joking with the people I was trying to get to sign telling them to 'ask for money up front' before they signed anything. One guy (I won't say who, but he was pretty far up the ladder) refused to sign, told me I was doing it wrong, and then later when I went up to him again, signed the form Sammy Sosa. I noticed it pretty quickly, and knew I'd have to go get him to do it again, but I was too scared to approach him the rest of the day.

THEN, as if people weren't teasing me enough about being the 'girl with the clipboard' asking them to sign their lives away, I was given the task of going around and getting everyone to sign off on the sheet saying that they knew the safety rules and everything. Luckily, this time I wasn't walking up to random people with blank forms, trying to remember who I had and hadn't gotten to sign. This time, the sheets had peoples' names and positions written down on it, which meant I started to actually learn who people are and what they do. I'm on this duty again tomorrow, so hopefully when we finally wrap on this thing, I'll be able to walk around like I know people.

When I wasn't getting signatures (re: avoiding the intimidating people) or passing out juice boxes, I struck up conversations with crew members who weren't really busy. They were all super nice and helpful, asking me what I was interested in, how I got the internship, and telling me what they do and how they got started. I was talking to one of the cameramen who asked me what I wanted to do, and as I said "well, I really like editing," the VTR guy just so happened to be walking by. Later, I snuck back so I could look over his shoulder at his SWEET setup, and I asked if he minded if I watched him, and he said "now that I know you're into editing, you can go right ahead." He was really cool, and really on top of stuff. He said he didn't really know what was going on in terms of how what was being filmed at any given moment was going to fit into the ad, but by consulting with the script supervisor and getting timecode from the sound guy, he was basically putting together a cut on Final Cut Pro in between camera setups.

Enough technical jargon for now. I suppose that stuff's probably only interesting to me and maybe one or two other people who will ever possibly read this blog (do one or two other people read this blog as it is?).

I also got to talk a lot with another PA named Patrick near the end of the day. He told me about how he was going to college to enter the music business, but when his professor told him that no matter what or how much he studied, he'd be making people coffee to begin with, he quit school and moved down to LA. He landed an internship with Hans Zimmer's company for no pay, showed up every day whether he was told to or not, so that a few weeks later when he cut back to only 3 days a week, Hans came out looking for him, somebody told him that he wasn't there, and Hans said "why? Haven't you hired him yet?"
There are all kinds of stories like that about how people got into this line of work in all sorts of different ways, but Patrick talked with me for a while about how I just need to ALWAYS be there, and ALWAYS volunteer my time for no money, just to show people that I'm here and you can use me.
He said that the production people and other people on set were saying good stuff about me, like how nobody could tell that this was only my second day ever of being on a shoot. I'm not sure how much of it was just him being nice, but he said that he's worked on a lot of jobs with a lot of interns, and that usually he can tell when the interns just don't have it in them to make it, and he said that I've got it. He also said that this guy Chris, the head production supervisor, who is really dry and intimidating, was saying nice stuff about me. That really surprised me, 'cause he's another one of those few guys on set who I'm really intimidated by. Patrick encouraged me to stay on his and the other production supervisor's radar back at Radical even after the shoot, because they're really good people to get to know in this business.

I don't really know what I'm doing that's so special. Someone tells me to do something? I do it. I'm standing there with nothing to do? I ask whoever's closest if they have anything I can help with. Nobody needs my help? I ask people like the parents and the security guards (always good people to have on your side) if they want any drinks or snacks. They finish their drinks and snacks? I make sure there's a trash can there for them to throw it away. They don't throw it away? (and believe me, most of them don't) I come by and throw stuff away for them.
Like I said yesterday, I've got to find the right mix of being there to help and staying out of peoples' way. To me, that doesn't seem like anything extraordinary, it's just what seems right to do. I feel like that's what any intern should be doing, and I think as an intern, I could be doing a whole lot more.
But hey, at least I showed up today. The other intern on the call sheet didn't even do that.

SO, after another long day on set, Dana gave me a ride home (she promised to drive me by the Hollywood sign tomorrow after wrap). I got in, ate a bowl of cinnamon cereal for dinner (don't worry, Mom, they feed us so well at craft services that I really don't need a huge dinner), and here I am writing this blog post. Then tomorrow, I wake up before 5am and start it all over again. Dunno yet if there'll be a "Third day on set" post, but I suppose if it happens, it'll happen. I doubt I'll run out of stuff to talk about. ;)

First day on set

If I haven't written in a while, it's because I'm not sure exactly what I want to write. I want to keep this focused on the intern experience this summer, not just saying random stuff like "there are smelly homeless people on the bus" or "the Transformers 2 premiere was last night about two blocks from my apartment, but all it did was make the sidewalk very crowded." That's more suited to the likes of twitter or facebook.

That said, I can definitely write about today.

Today is my first day on set of a Sears commercial we're shooting. Not sure how much I can say w/o breaking privacy rules or whatever, but I can talk about how my day's been.

I spent all night last night trying to figure out how the heck I was going to get from my apartment at UCLA to the studio in West Hollywood in time for my 6:00 call. Once the socaltransport.org server stopped failing, I got my itinerary figured out, set my alarm for 4:30, and set out to get a few hours of sleep. In order to make sure I didn't miss my alarm or wake up my roommates at an unreasonable hour, I set my phone to vibrate and stuffed it down my sportsbra. It worked in that it woke me up at 4:30. My mistake was in not setting a second alarm to make sure I got out of bed (this is why I have four alarms at school).
I woke up at 5:40, got dressed as fast as I can, grabbed an apple ('cause I didn't know if I'd catch craft services in time), and walked as fast as I could to the bus stop a block and a half away, where I waited for maybe 20 minutes for the next bus. I called Dana, the head PA, letting her know that I was gonna be late, and she said it was fine, that she used to take the bus all the time and she understands.
Then, it was another 3 1/2 blocks to the studio, where I got a sticker and a walkie-talkie and met Dana. I met a lot of other people too, but it took me a while to remember their names/jobs.
I did various jobs, like carrying chairs from the production truck to the studio, running production schedules and call sheets back and forth, walking to the local supermarket to buy bottles of Fiji water for the talent, and sitting at the gate telling extras where to go.
I've taken to wearing my Red Sox hat around just in case that's how people remember who I am. God knows I remember people based on what they're wearing when I meet them. I'm screwed for tomorrow.
At some point Dana will be sending me the remix of the song for the video so I can time it out, but as of now it's 9:45, and I'm taking a sec to sit down, breathe, and write here. I'm keeping an eye (or rather an ear) on the walkie in case anyone needs me, but I doubt it.
I guess I'm good here, so I'll shut this baby down and walk around to see if anyone needs anything. It's a hard mix between wanting to be available and not getting in the way. I'll figure it out, I'm sure. Apparently yesterday they wrapped at 8pm, so I'll be here a while yet. AND I'm coming back tomorrow. Not sure if I'll be here Thursday and Friday too, or if I'll be back in the office. I know they've got some work for me there, so if the other interns are gonna be on set, I might just let them have it.

mini-star shock

I don't want to write much right now, 'cause I'm still at work, but I just needed to say:

I'M IN THE SAME ROOM AS THIS GUY!!

Chris out.

Final destination: LA

I suppose I should probably post something, seeing as I've been here since Thursday.

Thursday, I left Hartford for Las Vegas. Long flight, boring flight, aisle seat, you know the drill.
The land around Las Vegas is unlike anything I've seen. It's flat, flat, flaaaat, MOUNTAIN! flat, flaaat, MOUNTAIN! town! flaaaat...
Also, the roofs of all the buildings are red. This must make it hard for Red Roof Inns, but on the other hand, it must make it really easy to spot an IHOP.
(Damn, now I really want IHOP. More on fast food later.)
After Vegas, the flight to LA was fine. Jake was there waiting for me at baggage claim, and he drove me back to his apartment, where I've been staying since then.

Jake's place is AWESOME(ly located*). As far as the apartment goes, there's... a room... and a bathroom and kitchen. I've been sleeping on an air mattress that we deflate every day because otherwise it's impossible to walk around the room.

*
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Aaanyway, Jake and I have been mainly hanging out. Thursday night we saw The Hangover, then Friday I chilled while he went to work. Yesterday, we watched The Bad Seed, aka a hilariously creepy movie.
Then, we walked along Venice boardwalk, where we saw The Original Food (pictured below), and the US Sumo Federation finals, which would determine who would compete at the World Championships in Egypt.
Finally, last night, I showed Jake Rocknrolla, which I believe is the fifth time I've watched it.

I promised more about fast food, and here it is: West Coast fast food is SO MUCH BETTER than East Coast fast food. So far, Jake and I have eaten at Fatburger, Shakey's Pizza, and El Pollo Loco, and gotten delicious meals at ~$6 each. Tonight we're going to try an In-n-Out Burger or maybe a Carl's Jr. Don't worry, though, I'm not *entirely* pigging out. I have been having an apple a day!

Anyway, I'm going to show Jake a few pointers in Photoshop, so I'll check back in here later (and hopefully sooner than next weekend ;P )


And here it is: The Original Food

As Jake said, people must've been pretty hungry before they came along.

T minus 1 day

Today is Wednesday, June 10th. Tomorrow I fly out to LA (via Vegas). I'm a ball of nervous excitement.

Today's plans are (1) laundry, (2) packing, (3) seeing Ali (though not in that order) and (4) trying to get a good night's sleep.

We'll see how things go.

Inaugural post

Welcome to Cloverleaf Pictures, the website/blog for me, Chris Gentes, as I dip my toes into the water that is the film/tv/video media industry.

The whole reason I'm starting this blog is because this summer, I'll be doing an internship at @radical.media in Los Angeles. Carrie Chiusano (of "Phillip and Carrie" fame, although that means almost nothing to most people, it's just how I refer to them) asked me if I was going to blog my experiences this summer. At first, I was against it, not sure whether I'd be able to keep up the commitment, but then I decided to give it a go. You never know until you try, right?

So, here it is. My new blog. Enjoy.