Interrailing Remeberance

Worked a Sunday which was fundamentally a bit meh but the biggest takeaway of the day was the crew drinks after. There I was, at a decidedly English 'German Beer Hall's in central London, they poured me my first Stein of the night and it reminded me greatly of the time I went interrailing in Munich and went to a real beer hall. Amidst the drinking, around the new friends and colleagues I did a deep dive on my messages to Rebecca to find a photo of me nursing a beer during our interrailing trip. That picture wasn't in WhatsApp, rather on Facebook Messenger (our original platform of communication) and I went on a real plunder of our old messages and photo exchanges. What I found was real love, real playfullness and real sincerity. Five years ago we went interrailing and another five we started dating. Our message log is the lore of our relationship and it's so very endearing to dive back into that.

No Sync Sunday

 Yesterday I waxed lyrical about how great it was to have a mid-week day off, but today I felt the repercussions. Because I'm working on a Sunday, I'm now out of sync with everyone else's weekend plans. Rebecca and Co were talking about having a cosy Sunday breakfast together while I'm doing the mental maths in how early to set my alarm to get the right amount of sleep. All things considered, I had a great little day going out to trendy coffee shops and tap rooms with the London gang with a friend who's come visiting from Berlin, but I had to leave the party a little early so I could check into my hotel and contemplate the four walls. Roll on the working Sunday I guess, and with it the start of my 6 day week.

Friday is the new Saturday

A mid-week day off hits different to a weekend day. Something about knowing the rest of the world is out working while I'm at home playing games in my pyjamas gave me a great wave of comfort. Of course I did some life admin bits too, mostly in the form of rearranging our dining room furniture with Rebecca, but for the most part I wanted to switch my brain right off. Once Rebecca was done with work we sat in the car up to London, pole position for a friend's birthday shindig tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be getting plenty of rest ready for our 6 day week.

Doughnuts & Cookies

 The fake Friday hype train was real and further compounded by the announcement that we were halfway through the shoot. Of course, this meant we were due some treats which arrived in the form or the ever-popular Krispy Kreme doughnuts... Of which I had two. Then some incredibly boutique cookies were produced a bit later on and they honestly looked too good to pass up. I only slightly regretted my decisions but it would have been a shame not to ring in the halfway mark. Off the back of that I went for a swift two pints with the Director's Assistant to talk shop, to debrief after a long week and to steel ourselves for the upcoming six day week. Tomorrow is a day off though and I intend to use everything minute to enjoy the stillness of later September.

Crew Bonds

 I'm counting down the hours now til our weekend off, it helps immensely that we get a 'fake Friday' tomorrow as we finish up our working week tomorrow. With the filming location being so cramped I once again found myself outside, but it turned into a great chance to spend some actual time with the crew and get some bonding in. 

Speaking of bonds, Mark is back from his big work excursion so we got a chance to rekindle our Baulders Gate 3 campaign. We're still setting of traps accidentally, getting into scraps with NPC's and making bad dice rolls... But we're doing it all in style. I've been missing those evenings a lot so it was swell to get another night in.

Bake Off Banter Returns

Settled back into Bristol filming for the duration of this week which is a lovely pallette cleanser after yesterday's jaunt across the country. I carved out a little workspace for myself in an outdoor tent because our location was a bit pokey. I suppose that'll be me for the rest of the week - I heard it's raining tomorrow so I guess I'll get cosy under shelter. 

I power walked back to dive into the start of this year's Bake Off. Louis and Rachel are still up in Ludlow so it was just Rebecca and me watching but I'm already looking forward to the bake off banter as the nights draw in.

Packing the Weather

Whenever we bring out the drone team it feels like the weather takes a nasty turn. Before arriving at location today I heard they had never experienced flooding so bad at the venue, and boy they weren't kidding. We were all legitimately anxious that the rain would stop us from achieving our day, but it held off just long enough to only need 30 minutes of overtime to get it all done. Then it was just the long road home in the now-torrential rain, that journey was arguably more taxing than the day of work. But I'm back in Bristol now with Rebecca and the cat, where I can admire our new floorboards. Work hard, then appreciate what you got.

Leaving Ludlow

The rain had been threatening our good times for far too long... At least according to Mum who spent a good chunk of the morning refreshing the weather radar on RainToday.com. We ended up ignoring all the forecasts and headed out to yet another local castle. While it wasn't a big military style one for monarchs, this one was more homely and designed for entertaining which was a unique spin. Plenty of guest rooms to inspect and even some nesting birds flying around in the rafters. Dad had a pork roast waiting for us back at base which was perhaps the best dinner I've had all year - I would have eaten more but I didn't want to appear... Piggy.

Rebecca and I had to cut our visit short though as reality beckoned from the hazy visage of Monday. I had to do a big old drive up to tomorrow's filming location so I dropped Rebecca off in Birmingham while I powered on through the rainy motorway. I'm quietly chilling in my hotel room now, enjoying the final bit of peace and quiet before the madness begins again.

Ludlow

First full day in Ludlow was spent in the very heart of town, specifically in the castle that was likely the nucleus of it's history. I gotta say, it was a pretty damn good castle. Plenty of intact spaces, unique areas and best of all: several spiral staircases to climb! Dad took plenty of photos that I have no doubt will end up on the family calendar next year - we really got a lot of mileage from our admission. In the evening we popped out to see Jamie's parents who had recently moved to Ludlow - I hadn't seen them since before Covid but they were exactly as I recall them. There were generous hosts, preparing a dinner for us and sharing a couple bottles of wine around the table. Most remarkable was their home: a clocktower next to a guildhall. Quite literally their attic had hatch into the clocks internals, it was like a museum space plus a man cave up their. Louis remarked how it was his dream workspace and frankly, I concur.

L Shaped Sofa

5:10 was when my alarm went off. It was only just breaking dawn once I got to work - I've forgotten what it's like to drive to set in the dark but at the very least I'm grateful that it's not cold. It was just more of the usual stuff this fine Friday, but all day I was dreaming about going to join my parents up in their Air B&B in Ludlow. We're all up there for the late Summer family holiday. I opened a beer, sat down on the corner piece of an L shaped sofa and thought 'This is the Life'

On Set, Off Piste

We went a little off piste on set. With only a day and a bit to squeeze in all of our scenes we went a little pick up crazy. We were getting tiny snippets to cover a variety of scenes - many of which were not on the call sheet or supplementary paperwork... Thankfully as an ex member of production I had the skills to create new documents to help us. But because the day kept changing so much I was really starting to sweat a bit trying to keep up. Think I did ok though, I found a bit of free time to go above and beyond by amalgamating it all into on big document, in order too! Whoever thought script supervising would be so paperwork heavy...

Natter in the Road

Been a little spoilt on this gig recently. All the filming locations have been in town and easily accessible for me on foot. For the next handful of days however I'll be driving an hour to and from work along winding country roads. What made the time go quick on my journeys was good company. I gave the directors assistant a lift in, the perfect space to debrief about our days and shoot the breeze. Better yet was on my way home I called up Jamie for a catch up. It's been a hot minute since we chatted but it felt like only yesterday. His PHD is going about as well as it can but he's looking forward to the end of it now, following that we just talked about video games and what's been taking out fancy. Always have loads of time for Jamie, a bonafide good egg.

Hoist That Table

We're looking to get our floorboards renovated sometime in the near future, but a text from our chap meant that future was much nearer than we'd expected. He put forward tomorrow and we blindly said 'sure' before the ramifications sunk in. And so, I spent this morning dismantling furniture and dragging everything out of our dining room. Once again our dining table proved to be the bane of my DIY life as I had to solo lift it out of the room with only a fraction of clearance through the door frame whilst hoisting it above a radiator. Work today was chill in comparison to that malarkey!

I didn't get a chance to see Louis today due to my working hours, but shout out to him because it's his Birthday today. Hope we can catch up sometime later on this week because we got a good old gift that he's gonna love. Plus I can finally give him a card I bought way back in February because it was spot on.

The Thought That Gets Me Through

I steeled myself as I hiked up towards Clifton for work. Getting back into the swing of a 10 hour work day is a big ask of most people and for some reason today it almost felt insurmountable. In reality, once I got onto set the day was rather standard and went by pretty swiftly. A lot of us a slowly dreading the next few days since they will be pretty torturous. Long commutes and quick turnarounds are on the horizon but I'm just trying to enjoy the here and now. Moreso than ever before I keep looking forward to sleeping next to Rebecca and being lucky enough to wake up next to her each morning. That's the thought that carries me through the rough patches these days.

Sunday Sabbath

Another Sunday come and gone. The end of a weekend and the start of a new cycle. What's in store for me this week? Well, a fair bit more filming that's for sure. But before that all kicks off I want to reflect on today. Sunday's have become a safe haven for Rebecca and me. We observe our own Sabbath, refraining from lifting a finger unless totally necessary. It's in this holy time I feel most at peace: reading or playing games with Rebecca in the sofa with the cat only a stroking-arm's length away. Just the thought of the above image is enough to relax my heart.

Cleaning for Cobras

I was pushing the hoover around first thing this morning, tidying up after someone's messy paw prints. They simply wouldn't do in our nice clean house before Rebecca's parents arrived for a visit. They were mostly down to spend some time with us and to head out to our favourite local Indian takeaway which did not disappoint. Right not my belly is full of lamb saag and Bombay Aloo so I very badly need to sleep it off. My eyes felt heavy after the 2nd pint of Cobra so I am beyond shattered now.

Pizza Practice

Feels like yonks since I had to get up for an early start. I blinked and now the mornings are dark, cold and just a little bleak. The chill never quite left my bones today since we were posted outside and I foolishly neglected to wear a jacket, I kept waiting for the sun to come round but it never came.

I thawed out once I was in the company of Mark and Lucy... Or maybe it was their 400 degree pizza oven that brought me back to life. Mark hand stretched pizza dough and applied toppings to custom pizzas, he loaded up the paddle and gave Rebecca and me a chance to cook our own pizzas. We won't be quitting our day jobs anytime soon but we did a commendable job of not entirely cremating everyone's dinner. More importantly, we had a ton of fun doing it, plus we got to eat some delicious pizza! While the crusts were still warm we chatted the night away eventually losing track of time - it tough to imagine a better Friday night than this though.
 

Feeling it Thursday

Belted myself in for one more studio day and what a doozy it turned out to be. Not much dialogue, but lots of actiony beats which was electric to see coming together. By the end of today though I felt the tiredness hit me, the thought of one more day feels like another mountain to climb. Just doing it one step at a time will make it more manageable but an earlier than usual start is making it an uninviting prospect.

Studio Stability

Just another day in the studio for me. Sitting in a dark room with the crew all tip-toeing around during takes. We have a good laugh on those days though, without the inherant stresses of location shooting we can settle into a nice, stable rythem. Of course, after too long we'll be clambering at the walls for an escape and that's coming a lot sooner than we think. With the temperature dropping, the second half of the job is looking to get a bit trickier. Thankfully we all rely on each other on this crew so we'll make it work.

Happy 31st Birthday to Me!

Didn't feel 31 when I woke up, but I did feel very loved throughout the day. I opened up my cards with Rebecca over coffee plus her presents. A customary bag of coffee beans was first up (always appreciated) plus a unique graphic novel project called Building Stories which I cannot wait to dive into properly. Graphic novels have long made up a part of my gifting pool so early September doesn't feel right until I've read at least one.

I was at work today too, back on set in the confines of the studio. Though I didn't publicize the fact it was my birthday, word still got around. My old Production team summoned me into the office at lunch and I was greeted with bunting and a cake which was very sweet of them. Once we wrapped for the day the whole crew sung me Happy Birthday, that's never happened to me in a job before so I didn't know where to put my hands. 

So yeah, I could hardly ask for a better work birthday. My co-workers, Rebecca and all the well wishers all made an ordinary Tuesday extra special - I'm extremely blessed to keep such good company.

Bye Bye 30

With a later start to my day I had the whole morning to wrestle with the idea of turning 31 tomorrow. Like breaking in a pair of shoes it took me a whole year to get comfortable saying I'm in my 30's - now I'm firmly locked into that decade. Do I feel my age though? No, in my mind I'm still 26, a fledgling of the TV industry and recent homeowner. Lot has changed in the blink of an eye. Yet I still believe I'm young at heart, I've not grown up, just grown older. My heart still flutters at the thought of opening up Birthday cards alongside breakfast and Rebecca has kindly rearranged her work hours so we can spend some time together before I'm up and out to work.

In the meantime, see ya 30. It's been real.

Brotherly Brunch

It was only a matter of time. We took our visiting friends up to our favourite local brunch spot: The Sundial Kitchen and about halfway through our food who should stroll in... Louis and Rachel with their visiting friend. It was actually a lot less awkward than I thought it would be but it's still pretty funny for a chance encounter.

Our visiting chums from London certainly felt the charms of Bristol. They're slowly getting burnt out by the hustle and grind of the big city and expressed how peaceful and easy-going our neighborhood felt. It's easy to take that for granted when you're living it day by day but their comments gave me some more perspective - we really do live in a cool spot and I'm very grateful for all the local businesses that make it so wonderful.

Bristol Besties

I said I'd help Rebecca tidy the house a bit first thing this morning, so imagine how guilty I felt when I slept in til quite late. So I ran to the shops and hoovered like a maniac before bringing our guests into our home. These chaps hadn't seen our house before, nor had they seen too much of Bristol so we took them to see the sights. We did the scenic routes of the town center while stopping at a couple of cafes along the way, they mentioned they really wanted to catch a movie so we ducked into the Watershed to see Sing Sing, a film I reckon will crop up plenty when the Oscars nominations start rolling out. We took them to King's Street for a swift pint then ended up back at home for tea and chats. These guys are Rebecca's childhood friends so she was somewhat anxious about making a good impression during their stay - I don't want to blow my own horn but I don't think we could have done a better job than today.

Fight Sequence

A big juicy fight sequence was our sole focus today. I've never filmed one before at this level so it was an education seeing how they piece it all together with the stunt team, and cast doubles. It's choreographed just like a dance and everyone hit their marks beautifully every time. Made life a little easier for us which was welcome because frankly, wrap couldn't come soon enough. I'm looking forward to the weekend now for some well deserved R&R - we have some guests coming down to stay with us this weekend but they'll be a delight.

Cats in the Loft

Drove my carpool pals back to Bristol for another day at the dream factory. The rain was awful driving back in and because today's location was so pokey I was worried I'd have to stand out in the rain all day, as it transpired though there was a huge room in the loft where we could set up shop. Better yet, the location has resident cats who popped in every now and then for a some love. While the day was short for us the crew are a tad weary after doing a second week of overnighting and funny hours. We're still smiling, just with bleary eyes.

Scrappy 2nd Unit Vibes

Put my game day hat on once again because it was 2nd Unit time. Honestly, I really dig these days because the crew size is so small and scrappy, we're just a small film crew going out to shoot some gorgeous interstitial material. Our director for the day was super chill too and very happy to listen to my notes about coverage. The only thing that stopped us shooting was the sun dipping down. I got let off a bit earlier today too which was great so I hung out in the hotel bar and later enjoyed the company of our crew mates over a few beers. We've got a good bunch on this one, I'm chuffed I got to spend some time with them outside of work.

Spaffing the Split

Working split days sounds like a blessing but it's a curse in reality. You get a nice long lie-in at the top of the day but you're on til super late later on. I ended up spaffing it early on by waking up too soon in the day and then living to regret that by 1am today. Still, the day itself was pretty easy breezy as we spent a good chunk of it waiting for the sun to go down. The yawning started soon after but I'm on my way to a nice, crisp hotel bed as I write this.

Didn't Even Need to Pack a Bag

Slung my iPad over my shoulder and barrelled headfirst into another manic Monday. I exaggerate, the day was totally chill and we actually ended up wrapping a little early which is a nice bonus. We're getting ready to do a few more away days so I've repacked my hotel bag - which was actually quite easy because it's still mostly ready to go from last week. It should calm down a bit for us all after Wednesday is done and dusted. We're back to 1am finishes as well so I'm getting my sleep in now before I start crashing hard while supervising a shot.

Sleeping Beauty Over Here

Rebecca somehow slept for a whole eleven hours last night. All the while I was up and about cracking on with my Sunday and chipping away at my humongously long RPG which I've been working through for the last 3 weeks. Once sleeping beauty awoke from her slumber it was time for sla deep clean of our spare room - we have some rumoured guests with potential cat allergies so we went to town on the place. There was time leftover to play some games with Louis and his buds online, always fun to play with a different crowd, even if their in jokes are tricky to navigate. 

The only other big job this weekend was renewing my passport which expired a few months back. You can take your own photo now instead of going to a lil' booth in a WH Smith's. After reading and re-reading the guidelines Rebecca channeled her inner DOP and managed to get the winning shot of me looking sternly serious. I'm almost a hundred pounds lighter for the pleasure but hey, I saved a few bob taking my own photo at least. I put my crimson passport into an envelope and waved goodbye to that era of British travel for good. If only we could go back...