there's always someone cooler than you

Today panned out to be one of those 'which do you want first, the good news or the bad news?' type situations. So I think I'll just start with the good for the sake of our sanities.

GOOD: Everything looks amazing on film. The lighting is great, white balance is surprisingly consistent, the actors' expressions are flawless. Latch did a steady job as DoP, and things were generally well-timed.

BAD: The fucken sound is shot to shit. Half of it is good, the other half sucks some major hairy moose balls. How gutting. I don't even think we ca blame anyone as Kyle mentioned numerous times while holding the boom that a mysterious buzzing would appear and then disappear. This is exactly what I feared would happen! I never knew nightmares could come true like that. Just.. fuck.

It's just so painful to watch.. I mean to hear it, it literally grates on my ear drums. How can something so good be so inherently bad? argh.. Anyway. So we captured and that process went as well as could be expected. I stayed around until 6pm, putting together the first minute or so of the rough cut on my own. Some of the other stayed back longer, I think Latch was pretty intent on putting it all together in one hit before Friday's class.

There's always the ADR option but in essence that just means more dicking around. I can't quite describe this just-been-kicked-in-the-guts feeling properly. Or maybe nuts would cut it better. If I had nuts I'm sure the feeling would be similar. Drama, drama, drama. Does it ever end? Will it...?

a sneak preview of my pre-production

1 - mike's pipe, tv hits mag, tablecloth
2 - dull kitchen painting by request of jen
3 - gwen stefani - emo bedroom fodder
4 - fruit bowl, 2 oranges, 2 aprons, there's also a hairtie for the lou that isn't in the shot
5 - 2 x 2 placemats, one being of reverse phallic design (peaches, ahahahah *ahem*)
6 - marilyn monroe poster as per the script

Enjoy.

the inner shop-a-holic gets her fix

So this arfternoon, after work, I pretty much raided every Asian variety store in the Brunswick/Coburg area, scouting for the props that would best suit our quaint little production otherwise known as Potato Cakes.

And boy did I strike gold!

I can't wait to show the rest of the group the Monroe poster I found. I also got one of Gwen Stefani, looking hot and pouting accordingly, as well as a bunch of stuff for the kitchen, Lou's outfit, tacky shit that will come in useful on the day. I'm so proud of myself. AND it's all within out budget. Score! Got to love doing things the cheap and nasty way :P I think it has salient thematic connotations for our film as well, just quietly.

I gotta say, I am thoroughly enjoying this role right now. I've got such a clear idea in my head of how I want these sets to look, and how I want them to translate onto film. It's kind of phenomenal. I guess being this visually orientated is finally serving a productive purpose in my life. Can't say I haven't waited long to draw that conclusion! Point being, however, that if we don't nail the look and style of the film it isn't going to elicit the desired reaction from our audience... which in my view, is basically going to undermine the whole reason for making it. True?

Gonna get some pics of these babies up and running so all can see... ahh.

aced it.. all that worrying for nought?

Soo the TV1 exam I dreaded with great ominousness turned out to be rather.. simple in the end. I scored 54/54, which according to my calculations is PERFECT MARKS. hehe. Yay for getting that hurdle out of the way, and yay for being able to concentrate solely on pulling next week's production off.

We finalised our actors tonight, so everything seems to be falling into place nice and smoothly. It's such a headache though. Jen's done a fantastic job coordinating everyone and making sure we all have the contact details of the people we need. I'll be finalising wardrobe and costume over the weekend and buying the rest of the props, so things are definitely picking up in that department.

Must remember to bring my notes on genre as well. God there's so much to take in, I fear an early onset of senility creeping up on me.

Tonight I'm watching Mickey Blue Eyes (love my gangster/mobster flicks.. even the pseudo-British ones), so hopefully tomorrow I'll have some note-idge on the way editing is used within that narrative, and will find some way to incorporate that into our own drama. This is particularly timely as Latch will be finalising the storyboard so this sort of thing will need to be carefully considered early on.. I want as many details as possible to be sorted by the day of the shoot so that somehow, it all adds up in my mind to something frasible.

The countdown begins.

fine tuning, more for my sake than anyone elses

I need somewhere to store this list, and here seems to be the most appropriate.

Things I need to finalise in the next week:

Costumes - mostly for Alice. Once we've picked and actor and I know her body type I can find exactly what I'm looking for. Will be aiming for the pseudo-goth look though, so the black and fluro pink nail polish will be coming out of the vault. Watch out!

Set design - I need to get my hands on a bland checked tablecloth, preferably of the green variety, to match the funky art deco ovens in our beloved kitchen. Somehow want to incorporate that pet budgie into the mix, but fear I'm becoming too adventurous for my own good :P

Props - I'm trying to think of new and inventive ways to incorporate boob-like imagery into the shots.. Nothing like a bit of tongue in cheek (and if Hitchcock can get away will phallic symbolism, then we can do the reverse!).. Might invest in a cheap fruit bowl and some well-rounded apples.. or peaches if you're that way inclined.. haha.

I'm sure there were more things. No doubt they'll come to mind when I hit 'publish'.

I'm kind of crabby that work won't give me the time off to come to this weeks castings.. But if I'm not earning cash, I'm not gonna be able to buy all of this stuff, and it's no secret that a production designer's is probably the most financially demanding - because when I visualise what I want, only I can really go about getting it. I just wish the same went for an endless pile of money...

i <3 suburbia

Nestled somewhere within the quaint greenery of melbourne's inner South East lays a charming brick veneer home that will become the location for my group's TV1 project.

We met up yesterday afternoon at said location, in Orange St East Bentleigh, and each pretty much fell instantly in love with its rustic appeal (you should see the old-style green oven.. it's TO DIE FOR). The backyard is a bit shabby, I'm trying to convice the others that it makes for a crap establishing shot and we ought to be focusing more on Alice. Other than that though we have good access and most of what we need is already there, we'll just need to organise/prepare the food and figure out a way of doing the plate smashing So we've got that sorted. I brought along my digital camera and we took a few snaps to help piece together the storyboard. Will burn those onto disc/memory stick so everyone else has a copy for their perusal.

I've already started gathering props for our characters. Bought a $4 pipe for Mike the other day, and am hunting around for a grandpa hat as we speak. Found a 'desperate housewife' apron for Lou as well - utter gold. Will be gathering emo-style posters to make one of the bedrooms look more like a girl's room.. might throw in a bit of Leonardo di Caprio for good measure as well :P

On that note, I'm going to finish watching the rest of The Departed now.