Sea Legs

I earned my sea legs in more ways than one today. The reason I was spirited away to set is because we're filming on a boat over the next few days. It turns out, my boss is suspectable to sea sickness so I was asked to step in. I didn't know how I'd be on the ocean in a small tug boat but it turns out I was right as rain. Can't say the same for some of the rest of our crew sadly but there's no shame in being poorly. But being constantly moving up and down, side to side has totally tuckered me out. I'll sleep like a lot, then it'll be back to sea for me.

Fielding Your Questions

Part two of my training course involved giving something back. We headed over to a group of student filmmakers to give a little Ted Talk about our careers and how we got there. I fielded a bunch of questions about being a Script Supervisor which most people (understandably) had a lot of questions about. The enthusiastic ones really got a lot out of us, I got a glimpse at some of the work they're up to and it's leaps and bounds where I was at their age. Children are the future, but they also make you look back and ask 'where has all my passion gone?' Perhaps I should try to rekindle it...

Things I'm never super passionate about is when plans change dramatically. I was due to join the shooting crew in Cornwall on Thursday but a sudden shift meant that I got a phonecall at 14:30 asking if I could packy bags and get down there. So I had to abandon my plans to see the bonfire at Victoria Park and miss out on Rachel's mulled wine and Bake Off night which is a little sad. Hopefully all will be well at work tomorrow, but I'm a little on the back foot.

Affirmations (?)

While the main unit has a travel day up to our next location, I stayed back in Bristol with a couple of the other trainees to do a handful of training courses. Suffice to say, it was a very nice way to ease back into the working week, especially when a complimentary tea table was included. I'll be joining the crew properly on Thursday, and I still have some prep work to do to get my head back into the game, but for now I'll keep it in a low gear before the madness continues properly. 

My courses today were most affirmation lead, asking us to consider our backgrounds, why were got into the industry and what our friends and family think of our jobs. Some decent self-evaluation and psychology basically. As I've gotten older I have to kinda admit that a lot of my passion feels dried up. One exercise asked us to consider why we might find our role spiritually nourishing and, if I was being honest with myself, I couldn't think of an answer. 

That question was also designed to identify any red flags in your career direction...

Sunday Bubble

On my final day off Rebecca and I did a little date afternoon over at Chance Encounters to play some board games that we don't have lying on our shelves. As much as I love hanging out with her at home, it's even better being ourselves while out and about. I'm still mentally preparing myself for being away from home for basically a month. I'm planning what to pack, factoring in how cold it'll be and how much entertainment I should bring to share with others. But at about 16:30 today I sat in the Sunday bubble, that cosy but fragile space that breaches the chasm between weekend and work. I'm still in that bubble now, but the light is starting to piece through its surface. What does November have in store for me?

The Lizzie McGuire Movie

The dawn of my final 48 hours on hiatus made me refocus my time off to-do list, which mostly compromised of games and TV shows I wanted to finish up. We're now very almost done with Rivals (just the last episode to go) plus I clocked in a few additional hours on Alan Wake 2 which I'm admittedly forcing myself through to the end. Despite my obviously busy agenda, Rebecca's movie pick wasn't on my list, but the Lizzie McGuire movie was her choice and in our house, you honour people's nostalgia watches. I never was and never will be the target demographic for Lizzie McGuire but I was low-key charmed by how uncynical and uncomplicated the story was. Plus it was all set in Rome so we got to see all the landmarks that were covered in scaffolding during our visit.

Back 2 Work

The 'Back 2 Work's scaries started to manifest in the pit of my stomach. I generally feel a little on the back foot about the next few weeks because a bunch of information landed a little later than many would have liked. I may have to do a bit of homework to get back up to speed. But before I commit fully to real work I wanted to do a bit more on my next YouTube video. So I set up the old sofa cushion recording booth and got all the voicework in the can. I don't know when I'll be able to dive into a big edit session but it's good to be prepped.

Happy Halloween 2024

It's been about 7 years since I last got my hair cut by a barber so the experience of a stranger approaching my face with electric clippers was more than enough to get my heart racing this Halloween... Turns out chatting with our mortgage advisor was even scarier. 

All jokes aside, this Halloween was spent with good company. A friend of ours was hosting an exhibition of his artwork in a gallery uptown so Rebecca and I surprised him by dropping by. So lovely to see an old Coffee #1 colleague doing what he's passionate about. We had to hurry back to catch Louis and Rachel for a spooky movie: the 70's Invasion of the Body Snatchers which matched our horror comfort level perfectly. I got a lot of love for the original which arguably biased my view towards this one which was good in parts and slow in others.

Only other thing to mention this Halloween was my pumpkin. I've always wanted to do a Boo ghost from the Mario games but whenever I looked at stencils they required that extra peeling step that I wasn't accustomed to. Well, last year I taught myself that technique so I was armed and ready to do a Boo pumpkin. Turns out people figured out a pattern now that's carving only so my prep was all for naught. BUT the pumpkin itself I'm super proud of! 

 

Happy Halloween all!