The Last 24 Hours Have Been Insane!

1) Osama Bin Laden was killed--a little confusion over when the mission was authorized and executed; sources say a week ago, President's speech said that day.

2) Osama Bin Laden's rotting corpse was ditched into the ocean--a little sketchy and seemingly hasty, but still, good riddance.

3) Another film day is done.  Jordan Petersen's senior capstone film Weighted shot it's second day--interiors in a local house.  Some tricky shots and logistical challenges that came with working on multiple floors and inside/outside spots on the property without radios, but my crew (I was Best Boy grip) built two-story C-stand scaffolding to black out windows with duvatine, while concealing kino-flo light banks under the cloth to create a nighttime effect at 4:30 pm in the afternoon.  I love my grips, they rock!

4) ... Isn't that enough for you?  How much more am I supposed to accomplish in a day?  Sheesh!  You all expect too much from me.

... not that I couldn't have accomplished more and wowed you even further.

Here's a fun video for today.  You'll watch it more times than you will ever imagine--it is suprisingly addicting.

First, the review by the New Yorker--an excellent preface to the masterpiece.

Now, the video iteslf, "Shine on Me" by Chris Dane Owens:

Enjoy!

Peace!

- Mont

Martini Shot!

"Martini Shot."  Definition: (n) the final shot of a day of filming before the blessed call to "wrap" is announced.

So this morning was an early morning.  I was up at 4:30 to make it on time to my bike for a 5:30 am call time.  The sound stage it was at was only a couple of miles, and it only took me 15 minutes to make it over, plus the weather wasn't too bad.  But 4:30 is 4:30.

On set we were filming the VFX element of a student, Jordan Petersen's, capstone film "Weighted."  More info on the film can be found here. We shot on a green screen and had a harness with a rope-and-pulley rig to hoist the actor up.  It was the first time I have ever worked around harness and rigs, though not my first time on a VFX shoot (my first experiences in the film industy involved working as a VFX assistant on a green screen shoot).  It was pretty cool to see how it all looked, and knowing the skill of the VFX supervisor, Nick Dixon, it'll turn out excellent.

After we wrapped for the day at 12:30, it was off to another student's capstone film: "Mr. Bellpond's Masterpiece."  The two films are so different in style, and each should be exceptional in its own right.  Since equipment was being rented from the same school facility, Bellpond's crew had to wait until we checked in our gear before they could take it out.  I ran swing between the two projects, moving stuff back to be checked in and helping set up other equipment at the locations.  I was only there for a few hours as I needed to go home and get something to eat and take a dearly-needed nap.

As a sidenote, for lunch I ate a bacon cheeseburger from Dairy Keen in Heber, UT.  It was exceptional.  It was not the most delicious thing I have ever eaten, but it used real meat and the bacon was cooked to perfection.  And it was real bacon to boot!  It was complimented by a scrumptious rasberry shake.  I love that the "small" sizes at these kinds of joints are a fast food place's "medium" size.  It's like stealing extra goodness.  Without doing anything wrong!

I have finished my first year of college and my first semester in the BYU film program.  Huzzah!  To celebrate, I'm posting the link to my final fiction film for my Basic Media Production class, TMA 185, entitled "Brothers."  If you feel so inclined, you can compare it to the rehearsal cut that was done a month or two ago and is also up on my vimeo account.  Leave some comments: what worked, didn't work, confused, or impressed?

It's late, I'm gonna sign off for the night.

Keep it real, yo!

- Mont