i invented swag

So today was a studio day, I arrived at work for around 9am, checked my email and went to work seeing what needed to get done for today's show. The answer: not much. That's the joy of not having a show taping on Friday, Friday's are the day for painting, prepping, and getting any kinks worked out for Monday's show.

I helped out wherever I could but like I said, there wasn't much. Until about 10:30, then the "fun" began. As I've said before I'm the designated elevator boy, elevator man?, elevator master?, elevator specialist?, whatever you wanna call me. I'm the guy that takes everyone from the ground floor up to the 6th floor and to the studio :) Once the audience was loaded in it was time to take my place, behind set, and wait for the blocks to be over. The show is broken up into 7 or 8 blocks (or segments) and in between each block is when the PA's work their magic.

After the show it was time to eat and see what needed to be done for tomorrow's show, that answer: I don't know. I went to the office manager, or "giver of work", or as most people call her, Andrea. She sent me to Isabella (who is in charge of the audience giveaways) and my job for the afternoon was to unload the 2 skids of giveaways for Wednesday's shows. Remember, we shoot 2 shows on Wednesdays and we do that so we have Friday's with no show :)

Well normally this is a pretty quick, painless, easy task...today was a little different though. The skids were buried behind everything in the cage. But, without going into painstaking detail, I unloaded 1 skid. It took me just over 2 hours and once it was done, this is what was left in the cage.

Bags Galore!

In total I believe there are 100 bags... I didn't count all of them, but it was a lot. After unloading this skid it was time to call it a day and head home. 

And with that, I'm done.... doing these 1 day at a time, and right after work, is way easier than writing a short novel. Plus the shorter they are, the more likely you are to actually read them. BYE!

hot like wasabi when i bust rhymes

Wow, sorry for the lack of post. I've been a very busy boy this past week. Here's a taste of what's been going on.

Monday was a shoot with our newest designer Joel Bray. This was our first shoot with him and this was also the first shoot we slated! (as you'll see in later pictures, my slating gets a lot better) Overall this was a really fun, somewhat short day and then it was back to CBC.

Marker!

Tough day on set!

Tuesday was a studio day and my entire day was spent painting. I wish I could tell you differently, but I cant. Legitimately from the time I got to work at 9am till the time I went home 5:30-6ish...I was painting. We have new rolling flats for the show and these flats are giant rectangular prisms, one is 8ft x 8ft, one is 6ft by 8ft, and I have no idea what the other one is. But because they are on wheels, they are about 2 feet wide as well...so now instead of painting one wall, you have to paint three to cover the sides. Well Tuesday I had to paint ALL four sides of BOTH flats. So after painting one coat on, I went and got a much needed coffee, waited for it them to dry and went back at it. While I was waiting for them to dry, I sat down at the piano outside the studio (I haven't played piano since I was like 8? 9? 10? I don't even know haha) But I was sitting there, making a fool of myself and guess who walks up right beside me and gives me a little 1 on 1 lesson? Mr. George Stroumboulopoulous :) I have no idea why but I still get starstuck when I see him...and I see him almost every day I'm in the office. So that was sweet, but back to painting. After putting on a second coat on both flats, I headed upstairs to calculate just how much painting I had done. 576 sq. ft. Thats basically a small apartment that I just painted... And I wasn't done yet. 

Both flat colours (clearly first coat)

After the second coats were dry, I went to set and asked what needed to be done, I bet you can guess what happened. Well after a lot of problem solving it was decided that I had to paint a sheet of Masonite. Not too hard. So I painted the first coat, let it dry, painted the second, got it checked, measured it out and it was 5 inches shorter than we needed. Fun. Nicole and I went and grabbed 2 other (bigger) sheets of Masonite and we measured first to make sure it would do the trick, and it did. Thankfully I only had to paint one sheet and I layered it on thick so only one coat was needed. After that it was time to paint some boxes and that pretty much sums up my day. After my 8 hour painting spree, it was time to go help unload the panel van which was full of stuff for Lisa Worth's segment. Once it was unloaded and upstairs, it was time for me to head home. I wasn't covered in paint, but I did have paint in my hair, on my face, all over my hands, arms, and shoes. Thank god for coveralls!

Wednesday was another studio day, but it was 2 show Wednesday so I helped with loading in the audience. When I'm in the studio, I am now the official elevator boy! Load everyone into the freight elevator like their cattle, go up to 6, unload, go back down, repeat. Both shows went off without a hitch and then it was time to...... PAINT! You remember those flats that I just painted? Well now it was time to paint them BACK to the colour they were before. Thankfully I only had to paint 3 walls of the 8 x 8 flat. After painting and getting the approval from LIndsay, I headed home :)


Thursday was a shoot day and what a shoot day it was! It was our first shoot day with Mr. Frank DiLeo.

(Told you it'd be better)

It was a very tough space to shoot in because it was such a small space (I thought Jo was the small space expert!) So small that we couldn't fit the camera, tripod, lights, Denise AND myself in, so I had to sit close by and wait. But the shoot went well and then it was home time!

Yesterday was a shoot with Erin McLaughlin and it was all about having a nursery that can grow with your child. This was probably the coolest nursery I've ever seen (not that I've seen many/any). It was designed for a 10 month old boy and as you'll see below...Sailboat themed. Denise is a sailor, so she was pretty much in heaven all day. This space was great because it had room for the camera, tripod, lights, Denise AND myself! Bigger rooms require more shooting, but the actual shooting is easier because you have room to move around and get the different perspectives. It was a great shoot day and to end such a great shoot day, we used the dolly :) After using the dolly it was time to wrap, wrap, wrap. We went home and let the weekend begin!

"Like"

The reason I haven't been blogging everyday after work is because I come home, and continue working. You remember that Saturday night like 2 weeks ago when I went to Grace O'Malley's and shot? Well this week was spent editing/rendering... And when it comes time to do the rendering, I leave the computer to do its magic and I go watch tv, eat, hang with friends, anything really :) But as of last night they are all officially rendered and exported :) Time to load them on to a flash drive and take them  back to O'Malley's. That is... after Wonderland :)

Sorry for the lack of post, and it won't happen again (hopefully), but thanks for sticking out the short novel :)

i got what you need

Thursday was a studio day and on the show we were featuring DeeDee's lacquer tour, you remember that long day? That's the one :) Well my jobs for that day including: being the elevator boy, wrapping everything used in DeeDee's segment, helping the boys load everything to be returned into the van, and after the show was finished taping, it was time to do some camera testing.

We're looking to redesign the set a little but it's a lot more work than you think, its not just "this looks bad, take it out... this looks good, put it in" You have to satisfy everyones wants and once you agree on something you have to put it on the set and move the camera around to the different camera positions to make sure it comes across as nicely on camera as it does in person. For example, you may really like a lamp, and it may work for certain segments but as soon as you go to one camera position, that lamp may be appear to be growing out of your talents head... you don't want that. So I was down on set to help take out and put in set dec pieces, including lamps, tables, armoires, chairs, tables, everything. But the best part was being one of the only camera savvy people on set... so who do you think got to move the camera to the different positions? And take direction from the director as to what they want the shot to look like? Thats right :)

Maybe a studio camera operator is in my future :)

So I was down on set for a few hours doing that and by the time we had made some decisions it was time to head home.

Enter FRIDAY Stage Left.

Yesterday was supposed to be an outdoor shoot with Carson Arthur but in case you were in oblivion all day yesterday.... it was kinda pouring rain. Like excess of 35mm of rain, pouring. Well Denise and I got to location, met up with Carson, unloaded the car, got everything set up, got the intro done, and started doing his first stand-up.... And then it was Niagara Falls from the sky. We all ran for cover and tried to wait it out, but Carson pulled up the radar on his phone and sure enough we were just at the tip of the storm. We waited and waited and talked and waited some more, finally it was time to call it quits and head back to the office.

That is, after going to The Source Shop and picking up some much needed things, like some BNC connectors, tape, grease pencils, and a brand new slate :) Once we got back to the office it was time to get to work. I put my new purchases to work and started tearing tape for marks, it was as exciting as it sounds, but its a necessary task if you want to be a true AC.

Essentials :) (this is a VERY small portion of the gack I have now :) exciting stuff)

There is a reason for doing this prep (other than Steven and Chris, of course) and here's that reason.

After I finished work yesterday, I made my way over to Joe Sutherland's Rentals to pick up a Sony HDV-Z5U and 2 lav mics. Why would I need all this? Well this weekend I was supposed to be working on a pilot that Melissa Coghlan is producing/directing. So I went to pick up the camera and get a quick walkthrough of everything, then I took everything home and played with it some more to get even more comfortable with it. However, when I woke up this morning there was a text message on my phone saying that the shoot has been postponed until a later date. Downside: I didn't get to do what I was hoping to this weekend. Upside: my step-sister, Jaclynn is visiting for the weekend so LOTS of family time together, my friend Matt is coming tonight, and tomorrow we're going to Kensington Market for "Pedestrian Sunday"...I've never been, but it sounds awesome! 

Anyway, I feel that this post has gone on long enough and it's time for me to not be sitting in front of a computer screen. BYE!  

T minus 15 seconds, guidance is internal

Here's your Hump Day Update!

Last time we talked was Friday, well a lot has happened since then.

Saturday night was a pretty awesome time. Erin had her friend up, I had Matt up, and I was working. You're wondering how that could be "a pretty awesome time"? Well I was working at a bar :) I was hired on (through Melissa) at Grace O'Malley's to shoot the band that was playing, Signal Hill. They're an awesome cover band out of Halifax and they were playing O'Malley's for 3 nights and this was their final night. It was great because while my family and friends got to enjoy my $100 bar tab (which didn't last long) I got to be at a bar, doing what I love, and having a great time. But after shooting on Saturday night, I have a whole list of equipment to invest in.

Sunday (after plenty of sleeping in and relaxing) I headed back to O'Malley's to pick up the footage and audio from the night before. That night was spend importing and starting to edit, and then the real work week kicked in.

Monday was an awesome day, we were shooting in Briscola. In case you haven't been there, heard about it, or clicked the link to find out more, its this really nice restaurant on College. I didn't even get to eat the food but I still highly recommend going there. The shoot was with Andrea Ford and this was our first field segment of the season with her :) It was great because we got to use both the Microdolly and the spreaders! Lots of tracking shots! The place was just stunning to shoot, especially because we were the only people in the restaurant!

Tuesday was... a long day. Tuesday morning I started out at the studio, and was there before 8:45. I balanced my petty cash, checked my emails, and most importantly, went and got a coffee. After helping load in the audience, I worked on set for the first 2 segments and then it was up to eat lunch and off to location to meet Denise. We were shooting a segment with DeeDee Taylor and it was all about lacquer in the kitchen and bathroom. Now what made this day long was that we didn't start shooting until 2pm, normally at that time we'd be able to see the finish line in sight, not just starting. I'm not going to get into any gruesome details about the shoot, but I will say that I didn't get home until 9:15 last night.

Anyone in production just went pffft 12.5 hour day...thats nothing... and you're right, but when your body is used to working a pretty cushy schedule of 9-5 (usually), that 12.5 hour day feels like an 18 hour day. Needless to say after that I went home and slept like a rock. And finally, that brings us to today.

Today was a shoot with design blogger Lindsay and if you go check out her blog, the spaces we shot are right on the front page! Her basement home office, and the newest addition, Oscar's bedroom. Lindsay has never been on camera before and for it being her first time, she's a total natural :)

But enough blogging for me, I have to go edit! See you tomorrow? Maybe?

if i share with you my story, would you share your dollar with me

Today was a very sweet Friday.

This morning I went to work, expecting to leave at about noon to go shoot at a restaurant with Andrea Ford. Well I got to work and that quickly changed, there was a whole bunch of scheduling and rescheduling that took place and a lot of shoots for next week got switched around but you guys don't care about that haha. You care about what I actually did do, and the answer, not a whole lot. I know I probably shouldn't say that but its the truth, my morning was very easy. And then it was lunch time and then after lunch I helped Isabella get the audience giveaway for Monday ready...this meant unpacking boxes and putting the giveaway into the bags provided. Again, pretty easy, but necessary.

But while I was doing that I got a text from Melissa (one of the producers) saying that she had a paying gig for me for saturday night and to call her ASAP... so I did. And now I'm working on saturday night! My best friend/second half/almost brother Matt is coming to town on saturday and we are going to have a great night "working". More details on sunday.

After unpacking the giveaway it was time to head out for our easiest shoot ever. It was the before of a "kitchen" but literally, there was nothing. I mean no counters, no stove, no fridge, no microwave, no sink, no cupboards, 1 electrical outlet and a newly laid floor. How long do you think it would take to shoot something like that... I'll give you a hint... Under an hour. AN HOUR! Never have I ever had a shoot that was load in, shoot, wrap, load out in under an hour. And I mean EVER.

But yeah, that sums up my day... Time to enjoy the weekend!

YTV The Next Star!

So! Remember those YTV Music Video's I worked on? If not, click here.

Well, here's a behind the scenes and the actual music video. Check it out, keep an eye out for me and most importantly, enjoy!

Behind the Scenes!

Actual Music Video!

all he needed was some rockets on the side of a car

Well these past 2 days have been pretty busy, busy but awesome.

Yesterday we were back in Kitchener to shoot the "afters" of the kids bathroom makeover. And as promised, here are some pictures :D

A little "Behind the scenes" action

More "behind the scenes" action

I can't give away the whole room so here's some parts of it... just watch the segment when it airs :)

It's pretty incredible to see what it was, and what it is. But overall an awesome day, full of talking about awesome things...literally. You know The Book of Awesome? Well Jo brought it with her so while Denise was busy shooting beauties, we flipped through the book and would argue each awesome thing, tell a story about said awesome thing, and just generally laugh. We talked about farts for quite some time haha. 

Yup, that pretty much sums up that day haha.

Today could be included in that "Book of Awesome"...ever wanted a room makeover? Well these people did, and they won a little contest...I bet you can guess what happened. And again, here are some pics from today...but I'm not going to give away the whole space. That would be too nice of me.

Great start to the day!

Sneak Peak

His

Hers

I Love Lamp

"Like"

This is literally just the tip of the iceberg....this place looks incredible. Denise's shooting looked just as incredible and this piece is going to come together incredibly. Did I mention, incredible? How about 3 discs full of incredible? Thats a total of about 2 hours of footage for an "after" of a makeover. Not a bad day at all haha. Lots of tripod shots, lots of dolly moves, lots of incredible. Period.

p.s. here's what NOT to do on set.....

This is a picture of me telling Melissa not to take a picture during a take.... Clearly she didn't listen haha.

Anyway, that's all for me tonight, see you again tomorrow :) Or maybe you're reading this "tomorrow" in which case, I'll see you tonight ;)