Reality Show Kicks Off (Sort of)

I'm trashed! I was on set for 18 hours yesterday, from 8:00 A.M. till 2:00 A.M. Normally, I wouldn't be quite so physically wrecked after a day like that but, for this production, I was shooting both video and stills. That meant I was working fairly hard and mostly continuously for those 18 hours. I shot about 5-hours of production video and 1200-1500 stills. The day's pay was good but I ain't getting any younger.

One thing, amongst many, that slowed yesterday's production down was the arrival of the Hollywood guys with a small production crew of their own. I say "small production crew" even though their crew was larger than our crew. Such is often the case when Hollywood meets the "other" Hollywood.

The Hollywood guys were there to shoot a short-form pilot (promo, teaser, whatever you want to call it) for their possible reality show I've previously written about.

As expected, the day was filled with more than its share of mishaps and unexpected twists and turns. For the most part, these screw-ups were funny and exactly what the Hollywood crew was hoping for. They didn't hang out for the full 18-hour day but they were there for at least eight of those hours: More than enough time for them to grab some footage that, when edited, will provide a funny and dysfunctional view of an often funny and mostly dysfunctional industry.

We shot in an automotive repair shop, a body shop actually. The place was fairly large so that made it easier to move gear and people around without everyone being on top of each other. (No pun intended.) We used Lowell caselight fixtures to light the video. (Think Kino Flo, color-balanced, fluorescent if you're unfamiliar with Lowell's less-expensive counterparts.) I used my monolights to light for the still photography. I was given an extra pair of hands (a production assistant) to help schlep the gear around.

My P.A. is a guy who redefines the words "clumsy" and "idiot." He was often more hindrance than help and, as a result, I wouldn't let him touch my strobes. (I let him move the Lowell lights around as they weren't mine.) I also forbid him to touch my Canon 5D and my Sony HVR-Z1U HDV video camera. Sometimes you have to assume the possibility of the worst and take preventative measures, especially when working with (marginally) functional morons. My so-called assistant, of course, was exactly what the Hollywood guys were hoping for in terms of our crew, including my less-than-sensitive treatment of him.

The pretty girl at the top is Felony from yesterday. Nothing criminal about women having Felony's assets. I've shot Felony before but that was more than a few years ago when she was 19. She's twenty-something now. I haven't spent but a few minutes going through yesterday's pics and this pic of Felony is one that kinda, sorta, half-way caught my eye. I put in a whopping five minutes or so of post on the pic. It could probably be much improved if I had the will or energy to do so. There's probably much better in the set. I'm just too freakin' tired today to look for them.

Felony has some really nice, big, uhhh... ears, don't she? Felony captured with my Canon 5D, 28-135mm IS USM, ISO 100, f/8 @ 125. Three lights illuminating her: Main light modified with my Larson Relectasol and two other sources, either side of the model and very slightly behind her, modified with small, shoot-thru umbrellas. Felony did her own makeup. No MUA on the shoot cuz, well, cuz it was quite the low-budget production... which often means I get paid more cuz they want me to do more. (Jimmy don't cut his rate when people cry poverty in one breath and then ask me to do more in the next... breath, that is.)