Yesterday on
CLIMBING THE HOLLYWOOD LADDER
Was Shooting with Vilmos Zsigmond and Fred Goodich. Yesterday downtown LA.
well it was an interesting day to say the least. First day I Shot With Vilmos.
wow what a pleasure to work with a Legend Cinematographer. we got along great talked allot we are both Gemini's and had allot in common we have fun.
I am not venting or Ranting just recounting the Day LOL.
First shot of the day was at City Hall downtown La.
OK i wish this was not the case but im just going to say it like it was. "as i said i would "
ok now i have the opportunity to work and be filmed by a World famous very accomplished DP. so of course i jump on it he is 82 and i may never get the opportunity to be captured in his lens again.
This is For The camera company that owns and rents the camera's They Have Money, Im not going to name the company at this time because of NDA and all.
This Legend Vilmos Zsigmond who has won the Oscar for Close Encounters of the third kind. and has worked on allot of great films with the best Directors in the world. enough said.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005936/
This is a no pay, no budget ,no origination, just a fucked up shoot LOL now ive done student Films that were more organized. Should have seen the writing on the wall when i showed up and parking was not taken care of. Downtown in a big van i have no cash the parking attendant guy wont take a CC there is no one from production around the lady who is supposed be running stuff is no where to be found. Ahhhh Deep breath Day One. Have a Shit load of my wardrobe in the van and have to park 4 city blocks away. who ever the Producer, First Ad, Line Producer's are not doing there job. OH yea They were not on set. and were not present. Now i get that they have no money and have to do other things. However there are things that just must happen on a set. there must be a First Ad. Assistant Director to run the set so Dir And DP are free to do there jobs. Motorcycle wont start battery low, Keeps dying, Motorcycle is smoking like a mother.
another Deeeeep Breath :)
Im able to get it going and the shot is me coming up and stealing the bike. keeps dying. battery getting low. wont start. the bike wrangler is nowhere to be found.
have to take off fast down the sidewalk and "We don't own the The sidewalk" meaning we don't have permits to block foot traffic and or the people on hand to lock it up and control when and where people go. so naturally there are lookie lue's were downtown LA. at City Hall there are people everywhere. and i have to charge down the sidewalk on a motorcycle i have never ridden and we don't own the side walk..... Ok i can do that. we get that shot and move to the reverse from the guy's pov whose bike im stealing. "Bike wont start" out of gas. never got topped off before it came to set. bike wrangler do's not have a gas can we cant get the other shot and time is short. i have to go 5 CITY blocks to my van and get a gas can. long story short we don't get that shot the other side of me stealing the bike.our permit runs out in 4 min.
im Feeling very bad for this 82 year old Legend standing in the sun. with all this unprofessional bs going on. around him. were in the sun No water and well just about nothing is going as Planned. but we get the shots we can get and that's all ya can do. I did my best to joke and make things as light as i could under the circumstances. Fred "the Co Director co Cinematographer" and i Kept passing back and forth an imaginary bottle of water. I do love Me some Fred.:)
so we Wrap that location. move over to 7th and Hill.
ya gotta remember were Downtown on a Thursday. its packed with people, homeless, Office Police, tourists every walk of life. people see a Movie camera and naturally want to look or get there mug on camera We don't have security and are understaffed. All in all the second location went ok we got what we needed. we get the shots we needed there i was not in them but an Afro american man dressed as a really dirty batman comes by and Fred Dir, asks him to be in the shot. loved it we were laughing our asses off , at least i was that was cool and funny, he got five bucks and was on camera, cool for him. dam The extra got paid good hustle my Brother. wondered if Robin was around and will he be Jealous ?
Now there is No Food. anywhere. its now about 5pm i got to set at 10am for a 11:00 call time and have not eaten anything. Tree is starving. Little Luke skywalker The new puppy is Kind of tripping. Oh Tree agreed to shoot behind the Scene Still's. Love to have my Tree onset shooting stills i get good coverage and we get to spend the day together.
We have a company move over to 9th and Center. Finally lunch 7 hrs of work no food. ok stand in parking lot eat subway. no problem. im easy. we Have gas for the bike. were getting ready to car pool to drive to the 2nd st Tunnel and park . i get in the back of the Motorcycle Wangler's suv a very nice one i mite add. and there is difficulty getting everyone going. im in the back behind the back seat where you store stuff. people are jumping in. and this 82 year old cinematographer Legend climb's up with me in the back and jockeys himself to get seated????? i look up and there are 25 year old's sitting comfortably in the seat. WTF???? i say ok he is a grown man he can make his own choices. and we get to spend more one on one time together. we have great conversation and get to know each other time on the ride.
Get to new location bike is good. Have to do a get away continuation shot on the Motorcycle up Hill st stop at the light,Take a left cutting in front of the General traffic once the light turns green and speed past camera down the 2nd st tunnel. No problem. We Do not own the street so its regular traffic. can not use a helmet was not established they had me in a fedora, cops are everywhere headed to police station there is a very heavy police presence and i have to Drive a motorcycle in a fedora with no helmet,No Problem. get to there they want me to start about a block south of the light and someone had lost all there break,transmission fluid or gas is all over the street, and my back tire is not getting Grip and sliding all over the place. Ok i got this. lol it was an interesting day . Iv'e learned that the best thing to do in these situations is remain calm, stop and get very present in my body with a still mind. And not get frustrated. so that was my day. Love Vilmos what a great old guy who has "been There and Done allll that in Hollywood for over 60 years. I really hope to get a chance to work with him in the future on a Proper Shoot. all in all it was great to watch a master Camera man do his thing. and an Honer to be captured by his Len's back at it on sat and Sunday. were shooting in the La River and that is just well a huge Cement Thing that the River runs down. you have seen them in hundreds of movies.
The camera. Does not see Stress, Dis organization or Frustration unless it is Present in you. Yesterday i was able to do my job and make sure it was not there in my feelings. I used the emotion as my own in my efforts to get away on a Motorcycle i just stole . so lets see what the rest of the shoot brings. We should get it all dialed in. first couple of days are always rough on a shoot.
No one went to the hospital today.
That is all i could figure to do. at Work.
On my Journey While
Climbing The Hollywood Ladder
FR. :) Blessed.
