Bar Stool Best of Three

In lieu of any plans this Saturday we opted to go out and enjoy British Summer Time. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as we strolled over to the harbourside to get ready for some day drinking. Just me and Rebecca, and a couple of board games we brought along to the pub, we even played a best if three set, loser had to buy the next round. I'd never used so much of my brain on a barstool before but it was well worth it to watch Rebecca get out her wallet and do a walk up shame up to the bar. Back at home we just took it easy. I started reading Project Hail Mary at Rebecca's recommendation and I'm already chewing through it. Tomorrow is looking just as sunny, might finally go out and tackle the garden...

A Box within a Box

 About 18 months ago I was tasked with sending an American cast member's luggage back to the States while holding onto a couple of boxes in case they return to the UK. Today they asked about those boxes left here and my whole team turned around and said 'we remember that, but none of us remember where they ended up'. I then spent three hours doing detective work, racking my brain and trawling through blurry photographs before finding out the truth... We did indeed have them, but they were loaded into the wrong storage container, hence why it got lost. Thankfully it was a problem solved and I came out of it looking like Sherlock which was kinda funny. I spent the rest of the day on catch-up but still managed to get everything done before home time. Very jazzed for the weekend, Rebecca and I have some day drinking and some Bristol sunshine to make the most of.

The Other Shoe

 Can't believe it's almost Friday, another week has flown by and prep still hasn't felt like it's ramped up to an uncomfortable level. What was nice is seeing some of my research pay off, I was looking into international fixer companies and delivered a shortlist to my boss. Today I saw a meeting was being set up with one of the big names I put forward, with any luck that will be really positive and count as another job done. I'm mostly doing backend housekeeping, ensuring all our spreadsheets are up to date and everything is ready to go at a moments notice. I even did the easiest lunch run of my life today... Surely the other shoe will drop soon, but for now, I'm enjoying myself.

Switch 2

Crammed the cat into her carrier before shooting her off to the vets. I know that she knows that carrier is a sign of bad news, but I've never seen her wriggle so fiercely before as she was being picked up to be put inside. Bless her, she spent the whole car ride making the saddest meows but Rebecca tells me she was as good as gold with the vet. She got a clean bill of health too - cat MOT complete.

Back in the office I had one eye on my emails and another on the latest Nintendo Direct where they talked about their new consol, the Switch 2. While the hardware may not be a revolutionary upgrade it still made me watch with child like wonder as saw the new games and system detail bombard my imagination. A couple of my colleagues tuned in for the start too, it was a ton of fun to share that hype train with some chums, especially because we all love Mario Kart.

Mum, Louis and Rachel popped round for a Chinese takeaway. In between mouthfuls of chow mein Louis recounted his recent weekend trip to Center Parcs with his friends which always elicit belly laughs from us. As we waved goodnight I savoured a few moments extra with my teeth feeling normal just before I put in my fourth tray. My jaw feels tight again, but I guess that means it's working.

Short Film Panelist

Still a team member down so my colleagues kept joking saying that I've gone back in time to being a Production Assistant. I'd laugh with them but I was too busy doing a lunch run, washing up mugs and finding lost post. 

The day's highlight was attending an evening event which I was invited to be a panelists for. It was kinda like speed dating for short film pitches, and I was one of the 'experts' that young filmmakers presented their ideas or scripts to so I could provide feedback. I gotta say, the quality was pretty damn high, most of them were just finishing uni mostly but their concepts were fresh and passionate. I gave input where I could and it was mostly on boarded by them, in each instance I gave out my email address for extra notes later on. I'm curious to see how many of them get in touch but hopefully I steered them towards me improving their works.

Save the Cat

 No one truly ever knows what a Monday will bring for them, that seemed doubly true for me today. First up, we were a team member down so it was up to me to fill in the gaps - which meant immediately hopping in my car, driving across town to go pick up a pair of glasses one of my colleagues left at home. Riveting stuff.

A short while later we were having a catchup by the window and someone remarked about how uncomfortable a cat looked perched on a fence. So we all looked over as the cat sat, had a wobble, lost its balance and to save face decided to scamper up the nearest tree. Then it just kept on climbing and climbing and climbing til it got about three stories high. That was understandably cause for concern and somehow I became chief of operation Save That Cat. First up, I needed to check if the fire brigade would actually come out for us. I found the non-emergency number of our closest places and got to make a phonecall I never expected to have.  Turns out they will wait about 24 hours before sending one out which I kinda fair in most cases but this particular tree was very spindly and the cat had nowhere to perch for another 23 hours and 50 minutes so we decided to take action into our own hands. A nearby resident just came outside with a big old ladder to help the cause but alas, it wasn't quite tall enough. Then the contruction team next door got involved alongside their powered machines. We ended up guiding a telehandler up towards the tree to offer up a platform to the cat. We had some salmon for coaxing just in case but the cat eventually realized we were here to help and hopped onto the arm of the machine. We all cheered in that moment, I heard later that the whole of the office were watching out the window at this daring rescue. It was somewhat premature though as halfway through the machine's decent the cat decided it would rather take matters into its own hands and leapt off, colliding with a windmirror on the way down, but still landing on all fours. It bolted away before we could check it it was ok, I reckon it just had a bruised ego thankfully. Perhaps I could sell the movie rights for this story.

Then back to it I was told I had to bring in a hire car for tomorrow. I wish that was a better tale to tell, instead it was a phonecall.

Mother's Day 2025

Popped down to Newbury to spend some time with my folks this Mother's Day. Aside from giving a card and some flowers, my biggest contribution to the day was helping Mum out with her latest jigsaw puzzle. But in between that we went in a great big walk in the countryside while Mum pointed and named every tree. Beech, silver Birch, oat, horse chestnut, the works basically. We're lucky to have such nature in our doorstep, especially this time of year. For dinner we nipped out for a curry, the day went by so quickly though so I had to jump back into the car shortly after getting back home. Daylight saving hours struck hard this Sunday. Yesterday it wouldn't be my bedtime right now. But presently I'm just as tired as I would be this time of night.

Outlast Advocaat

We have a new record on longest lasting bottle of advocaat. That stuff usually don't make it past epiphany in our house but for some reason it was kicking around for ages this year. Felt right to finish it off just before the clocks go forward. The ring in this new era of sorts I did a proper Spring clean. On my hands and knees dusting skirting boards, vacuuming unloved corners and sprucing up all the other spots. Rebecca and I carved out some easy going time too. We finished Adolescence, the talking point TV show that's doing the rounds - I'll be poised to chat with colleagues about it on Monday now which is now often the best part about watching a new series. It sure was nice to have a sloppy Saturday all to ourselves though, best part was watching the cat roll around in the sun on our patio. Plenty more of that to come this year.

Greasing the Friday

Been a good few weeks since I've had to wake up at 6am for work, but pastries were a staple of the early Friday morning meetings on the last job so we're bringing them back - at the small expense of my sleeping hours. It did mean we could pick at the pastry leftovers which is a nice perk. But because of my braces, I held off until lunchtime to check the box for remnants, and if course, only the plain croissants were leftover...

The other reason I went out of my way to make the morning meeting so pleasant: if the bosses are in a good mood they sometimes let us go home early on Friday's... And that's exactly what happened today! What a blooming treat!

Quizzin' Thursday

I kept thinking it was Tuesday today, imagine my delight when I realized I was already knocking on the door of the weekend. The past week has flown by and even today went by in a heartbeat. Again I was mostly doing NDA's and points of research for the Line Producer. I also totally misinterpreted a meeting this morning, thinking it was an online call but in actuality it was in person with about 18 people in it. Teas and coffees apenty in that case. I left my barista job half a decade ago yet that old baggage follows me around.

In the evening went went up the road with Louis and Rachel for another stab at the quiz night. We came painfully close wlto winning some of the rounds but never quite sealed the deal. Turns out we know star signs better than we thought, full house on that section but the other teams were just that bit better.

Laptop Sub

My to do list went virtually untouched today as a bevvy of ad hoc jobs all landed at my feet upon entering the office. Lots of little prep bits and putting important people into meeting rooms, that sort of thing. Then just as their Zoom call was about to start, the work laptop died so I had to sub in mine. I thought it would be for 30 minutes but I was off my device for almost two hours. Regardless, I got a lot done and people are in good spirits overall, even as prep ramps up in workload it all feels managable and we're all confident in our roles - that makes such a difference in a work environment.

I could have watched a film tonight but I opted to play some online games with colleagues and people from the Bristol TV scene. I'm getting good at meeting strangers, so long as there's a game in the middle of us to ground conversation. Normally I'd be terrible at throwing myself into the deep end but I'm getting better and better as I get older.

Eco Warriors Unite!

Today's whiteboard question was 'What's the best kind of cake?' Vicky sponge, easy.

Besides that I got a chance to show off how much of the Albert certification I had already completed. A chap from the head office's sustainability team visited our site today so we had an opportunity to sit down and chat all things eco friendly. That's kinda become my baby now, the domain that I'll be overseeing as the shoot progresses which is a sizable duty. Mostly keeping logs of the paper used - how many taxis we book cast and how much fuel our generator guzzles. No doubt we're going to contribute a mountain of pollution on this job, guess it's my job to keep that in check where possible and record everything to feed the great statistics beast.

 

What Would Make Monday's Better?

We have a whiteboard at work that now features a daily question - a 'would you rather...' of sorts. Today's was 'What would make Monday's better?'

 

A) Finding a £20 note

B) Unlimited Artisan Coffee

C) Half a day off

D) Free lunch from Pret (you can tell the age bracket of the person who wrote the question.)

The tally was pretty unanimously in the C column, giving further credibility to my argument that if you ever want to treat a film crew, give them the currency they value most: time. Time to spend time with loved one, time to spend tinkering with hobbies, time to ask questions and time to simply exist. I could have done with a bit more of that as I watched the clock between emails, dreaming of hometime where I could do all of the above.

Boutique Bakery

I sleep so much better when there isn't a cat snoozing on my side if the bed and swaddling up to me for warmth. On one hand, it's adorable but in the other, I do miss unbroken rest. Waking up in our friends house in a bright and airy London flat was a treat. Then the coffee and hot cross buns came out and the morning went from great to idyllic. We had a very leisurely breakfast before walking up to a boutique bakery for some lunch, time went so fast though as we had to dash across London shortly after so we could catch our coach back. This weekend went by far too quickly, tomorrow it'll be back to the grind, the emails, the spreadsheets and the cat hogging the mattress. I already can't wait for the next weekend.

Mickey 17

A delayed coach is usually something I'd groan at, but it gave me ample time to dive into Orbital, the next book I'm reading. In truth, I probably should have tried to get a little bit of extra sleep on the journey since I woke up feeling pretty tired and reading 100 pages of tiny text probably didn't help the cause. I perked up as soon as we got to London though. We killed a bit of time doing some shopping before meeting up with some of Rebecca's friends for pizza and a trip to the cinema for Mickey 17. The film was just so-so, (review on my Letterboxd), but the Picture House venue was a genuine delight, a great space to catch a film in.

Coach Stan

Fridays at work are always tempered with that twinkle of anticipation for the weekend. Better still, I smashed through loads of bits so I have a nice clean slate for Monday... And everything I didn't finish up will become Monday's problem! I packed my bags ready for a weekend up in London with friends, including plenty of books to take up for the coach trip. It's been a hot minute since I caught the coach, I remember quite liking when I was going back and forth on the cheap. Read a lot of books and listened to a lot of podcasts and albums. Hopefully my optimism for coach travel will remain unwaivering after tomorrow, though we do have to get up earlier than I would like on a Saturday to catch a good one. All in the name of keeping friendships alive though and you can't put a price on that.

Keyboard Comedown

There I was. Flat on my stomach, underneath my desk, poking a cable tie with a cylinder of sellotaple applied to the head as I went fishing through the floorboards of my spare bedroom. How did this come to pass I hear you ask? Well I was doing some tinkering on my keyboard and a piece fell off my desk and through the crack of my wood panelling. Lord I felt like a lemon holding my breath and praying that the sellotaple didn't get too dusty as I flossed the floorboards. I felt so dumb that I actually had a bit of an epiphany moment. Why they hell have I spent so much of my life thinking about this damn keyboard? It actually made me quite depressed, when you make an aspirational purchase and it doesn't immediately spark joy and you end up deep in forums and YouTube videos reading about how to fix aspects of it then you know something is wrong. I felt like I was buying into this dream of becoming a better writer because I had a nicer keyboard - one that looked and felt a bit like a typewriter. But that simply isn't the case, every time I press a key I get a weird vibe - a far cry from the confidence it's meant to inspire. In truth it just makes me a bit sad to think about it at the moment.

Tray 3

Swing by the dentist once again for another check up on my braces and another round of IPR. That's where they get an abrasive strip and run in between your teeth, almost like dental floss if it were sandpaper which the goal of shaving off 0.01mm of a tooth. It was hell the first time round and not much nicer today as I bled a fair bit after the dentist went down to the gumline, assuring he was thorough. The upshot is I won't have to do that now for another 3 months, I just have to let my trays do the heavy lifting. Speaking of which, I put my next set in today and once again I'm feeling the pressure on my everything. It's uncomfortable but before I know it it'll be second nature and then it'll be time to repeat the process all over again. I'm probably about 10% of the way through the treatment (if all goes to plan) all I gotta do is muscle it out for a bit longer.

Gotcha Day

In a classic turn of events, my workload ramped up only at the tail end of the day and everything because super urgent. Before the costume coordinator joins us I'm doing the costume transportation bookings, something I'm very familiar doing but still manages to give me anxiety. Probably because every person who owns a railed luton van tends to be over the age of 60 and you can only cross your fingers and pray that your instructions are clear enough. Maybe in 30 years time I should pack it all in, buy a van and do shuttles from London to Bristol. I'd make a pretty penny doing it.

Today also marks the 'Gotcha' day for our cat. Been there years with this little fuzzball in our lives. I like to play it cool in front of Rebecca, playing the stoic figure who is unphased by having a cute animal in the house. But the cat really has transformed the home, lending it a good energy that feels lively and comforting. I hope the cat feels as lucky as we do that we found each other.

Snowglobe Safety

Why is it on the weekends I'm always up at the crack of dawn, yet on weekdays I sleep in well past my alarm. Guess it's linked to the fact there's a bit of Garfield in me since I hate Mondays and find it hard to stomach heading back into the office after such a restful weekend. But, like most Mondays, they're much worse in the anticipation vs the actual day because everything was just as it should be. Emails, phonecalls and arrangements. Bread and butter. Hometime couldn't come fast enough as I couldn't wait to get back to hanging out with Rebecca, laughing at early evening television, playing games and reading books. If that's all life could be, I would freeze myself in a snowglobe and make sure no one would skae it up.

Cover to Cover

Continuing my Asian media streak I dived not into a film... But a book! Convenience Store Woman came highly recommended by Rebecca so I settled into it to see how I'd get on. A few hours later I had finished it. Granted it wasn't the longest book but it felt great to zip through a story like that again. I'm forever lamenting how little I read but when it's as easy and enjoyable as that it's such a treat. I'll try and make a more conscious effort to read going forward, I have far too many in my 'to read' pile now so it'd be great to clear that.

Subtitles Subtitles Subtitles

I realised only now that all I did today was read subtitles. With Rebecca out of town this weekend I decided to have a little movie blow out today. I hand picked three pieces of Asian Cinema that have been gathering dust on my watchlist for a while and now was the perfect time to give them a shot. What I didn't expect was to watch what will no doubt be some of the best films I'll see all year. Supermarket Woman, Yi Yi and Fallen Angels were on the agenda and now of them disappointed.

I realized I don't think I've ever linked my Letterboxd here before but I'll include it here today because I'm now in the habit of writing up short reviews for each film over on that platform. I also just hit 1,700 films watched after today - already hungry for more though.

Here's my LetterBoxd

Lifting Solo Once Again

A cold claimed a co worker so it was down to me to do a handful of two people jobs but myself... Just like old times. In particular it was, physical labour work, the kind of thing I don't do anymore because as I said yesterday, my body is now just an NDA machine. But still it was good to actually DO something during my day. Even if that thing was unloading a shipping crate, just so I could put it all back in a few hours later. The upshot is everyone ran out of work to do, including the bosses so we all clocked off early. Home at a good time in a Friday night, absolutely perfect.

Quizzin' Thursday

My body is a machine that sits behind a desk that turns blank NDA's into DocuSign forms, to then get filed. That feels like the beating heart of my role at the moment in prep, but I do get to do some fun gigs too. I'm designing the cast welcome booklet to Bristol which has a suite of restaurant recommendations in the area, all hand picked and hyped up with a tagline to really sell each spot. If even one person reads it and goes to one restaurant I will have succeeded.

Our favourite art gallery / board game place also hosts a quiz night on Thursdays now. I've always been too busy on Thursdays but we managed a team if four between myself, Rebecca, Louis and Rachel, we gave it a damn good shot too. Instead of there being and overall winner, the quiz was broken into a bunch of mini rounds that each came with their own prizes. We were so close to winning one of them but lost it at the final post. Plus I learnt that polar bears are in fact the biggest bear, a fact that Louis will no doubt laud over me for a long old time.

A Team Player Once Again

Piece by piece, everything starts falling into place. The work load is starting to ramp up and the responsibilities of being in production start to manifest more and more. I'm hiring cars again, wrangling costume vans and forward planning meals for meetings. I'm wearing these duties like a pair of old gloves, they fit better than I remember and there's something about them that just feels like home. 

Once the day was over it was time to spend even more time with my team for a pub night together. I suggested a cheaper option than going to a board game night would be if I just bought a bunch of games with me... In hindsight I should have charged commission but we had a good time and that's all that matters. Once again I think we're locked in with a really strong team and I'm proud to be a cog in that machine. That was the main thing I missed in the world of script supervising, a team environment and a core group of people you could rely on and share your highs and lows with.

Vendors Remembers

Though I've been out of the Production world for about a year, a bunch of old vendors still remember my name. I was chatting to a regular car supplier and a man with a van, both of which greeted me as if we were old friends. That's one of the unspoken best things about this industry, you meet a lot of people and touch a lot of lives. Everyone knows we're passing ships but it's lovely when we get to wave to each other off the stern if we cross routes once again. They're helping me inch the needle that is my job list right now, while I didn't strike much off everything is getting closer to being resolved... Just in time for more big jobs to land our way.

Parking Peeps

What started off as a fairly simple sounding task to ensure long term parking has now turned into a code red for everyone in my team. We're all calling up local businesses to find anywhere with a free slot on their books with very limited success. It honestly has turned into one of those hopeless tasks, none of us can relax until it's all sorted. Even during meetings it was ticking over in my brain. Being back home was nice though, stepping away from that madness and headspace to instead enjoy the company of Rebecca and the cat. They are the source of strength I drawer from whenever I'm feeling low or snowed under.

Summertime in March

It's been a little while since Rebecca and I did the North Street Shuffle and seeing as the sun was shining and it felt more like May than March, we took a walk into town. We popped out heads into the usual shops to check it's all still there though the board game shop will be under new management soon and Mark's Bread is chomping into the Tobacco Factory's real estate, otherwise its same ol', same ol'. We wanted to get lunch out today, not just an aranchini ball but some proper street food. A Turkish flatbread stand was happy to oblige and it was there that I ate possibly the best grilled chicken I've ever had. I was just eating it in total silence, transfixed but how delicious it was. The BBQ style of it paired with the bustle of the crowd made today feel like Summertime. It got me excited for the coming months of warmth and outdoor hangouts.

Weekend Worth

Turns out stumbling home at 3am results in sleeping in, which results in less Saturday. That's some quick maths you can trust. I clawed back a bit of weekend worth by watching a film and by doing a big old declutter of my desk drawers and other places. Turns out I have a few out of circulation coins that might be worth a pretty penny online now, that's my inheritance knocking around in my desk drawers as it turns out. 

I couldn't spend that newfound wealth just yet though, but we did spash the cash a little bit at a local wine bar, supping reds, whites and orange wines until past the point of inebriation. Then when we got kicked out we found a new bar and drank some more. It's been a hot minute since I got takeout food in a drunken stumble home but Rebecca and I couldn't pass up some Southern fried chicken. A Saturday we'll spent,eta hope I get a head start on Sunday.

Lockdown Board Game Lookback

 Powered through the Friday by smashing out emails and phonecalls so I could start Monday afresh. Curveball job if the day was helping the locations department unloaded a bunch of shipping containers into a big old van. I certainly didn't expect to be shimmying a bunch of mats, EZups and pop up bins this afternoon but variety is the spice of life as they say.

 But I spent the evening doing something very familiar and cozy. A friend of me and Mark hosted another one of his infamous board game nights, they tend to go on late and this one was no exception. But it's such a historic and chaotic group we are all guaranteed to have a good time. We were howling with laughter at Zoo Vadis, a game facilitated entirely by negotiations which got wilder and wilder. But the best part of the night was at the very end. With a glass of whiskey we hopped onto his computer to look at a bunch of files on his Google Drive of all the old electronic board games he made for us during lockdown. He spent hours scanning in, cropping pictures and creating elements just so we could play an approximation of games during the height of the pandemic. I didn't appreciate it fully at the time but it was his lifeline and I remember those nights on Zoom calls so fondly. Tonight we laughed at the absolutely absurdity and effort of the whole thing, but that was his Fitzcarraldo. He built it and we came. And for that I am eternally grateful.

Tray 2

The further up the production ladder you get the more snowed under with emails you find yourself. I now find that I spend the first hour of my day responding to all the emails that came in since closing my laptop down. Thankfully I can maintain the pace of the rat race throughout the day so I don't get too bogged down but that initial hurdle is always present. Otherwise I was hiring forklifts, getting quotes for costume rails and generally doing all the usual bits and pieces, all in it was a fairly successful day where I tackled my to do list. The only thing holding me back was my new retainer trays which went in last night - boy are my teeth sore again! I guess this is what having braces tightened feels like, it's thankfully nowhere near as bad as the first few days, but eating needs to be negotiated once again and I'm re-learning where to rest my jaw. I just need to keep telling myself it will be worth it and it does get easier.

Parking Mad

When I rejoined the Production team I knew I'd have to do some ropey and stressful tasks and deal with some crummy vendors. I wasn't ready for it to come quite so early into the job though as a parking company let us down massively but leading us on then note delivering on any of their promises. So now the ball has unceremoniously landed back in our court for us to deal with and we're all out of time to sort it. 

On the upside, this evening was filled with games with some of my new colleagues. We hopped into a game of Lethal Company for scares, thrills and laughter and creepy aliens popped out of the darkness and sci fi delivery vans exploded because we forgot to take it out of 'park' mode... Oh the irony of a situation blowing up because of parking...

Pancake Day 2025

To bring a bit of sparkle to the office we arranged a little pancake bar for the titular day. Nutella, bananas, strawberries, maple syrup, lemon, sugar and little scotch toaster pancakes were all provided for people to pick at across the day. Anyone would have thought that I'd be sick of them by tea time but oh no, crepes are a big thing in our house so I got to mixing batter the moment I landed home. I was flipping all night, stacking pancakes high and chowing down on them, just as Jesus would have wanted. Best of all, it's about this time of year that my lemon tree bears fruit, so we got to squeeze some home grown citrus onto our dessert. Truly a day of indulgence, ready for Lent now as I dream of chocolate eggs.

 

A Fixer

Defrosted the car... In March?! I was driving in while the windscreen still had ice thawing on it when my Line Producer called to say that her own car wasn't starting. So it became my mission of the day to get that all sorted. Luckily we have some transport boys on the case and they did literally everything super fast. I somehow got all the kudos though and my Line Producer even gave me a massive hug for sorting it. I tell ya, deep down I'm just a fixer.

My new, but old coworker started today and for years we've been chatting about playing online games together. Well today we finally locked in time for a session and I couldn't be more jazzed for it. All the pieces are slowly coming together on this job and I can already tell that it'll be a hoot.

Better Call Saul

Sunday came and went, but not without Rebecca and me finishing up Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spin off show which turned out to be pretty dang good. We got Bristol's own version of Los Pollos Hermanos as a take away and absorbed the final beats of the show. We laugh because Breaking Bad was a big initial reason why we got together, it was THE show during our first year of uni. I still remember watching the final episode with Jamie, then immediately going back to the first episode to show Mark. Now here we are, over a decade later all still united over our love of that show, and I guess, the world. It was oddly nostalgic to return to that flavour of TV show, the city of Albuquerque and how it's shot is so synonymous with Vince Gilligan's shows now, I daresay I'm going to miss it a lot now that it's all over... Again.

Wilds Weekend

All of yesterday I was dreaming about playing Monster Hunter Wilds with Louis and today was the exactly what we both wanted. Getting big damage numbers while wailing on a massive frog dinosaur with and oversized hammer is a great way to spend a couple of hours on an idle Saturday. Better yet was going over to a friend's house for board games in the evening. Armed with chocolates, beer and scotch we sat down and pawed over cards and tiny wooden pieces long into the night. I ended up pulling off a move that ensured Rebecca's win at the cost of our friends and I felt dreadful about it. Guess it's a war game though so some drama is to be expected.

Prospects Realigned

 Returned to the dentist for a very brief appointment to re-glue some blobs onto my teeth. They asked me how my alligners were working out and I was happy to report that I've grown properly accustomed to them now. If you'd have asked me a week ago it would have been a different story but I am once again in awe at how quickly the body adapts. 

I finished my day at work and all I wanted to do was dive into the new Monster Hunter game - I had just created my character and his little cat companion and was raring for some action. But I'd been invited to a house party by some friends from my last job, so I had to choose wisely about how to spend my Friday night, but one of my favourite quotes gave me a guiding light:

 No one on their deathbed ever said 'I wished I'd spent more time alone at my computer'.

I've spent my whole life wrestling with this internal conflict, and chose wisely tonight to go out to socialise. I drank and chatted long into the night, I'll probably be paying for it tomorrow morning but I'll be smiling at an evening we'll spent.

50's Typewriter

More familiar faces poured into our production office all giving our hugs and handshakes. I've said it once now but it's so refreashing to be part of a massive job that feels so humble still. There's so many of us all coming back that it feels like one big family - all of us with out fun quirks for sure but that's what makes us all so special. I got a chance to crack down on some fairly big things today that could solve a lot of headaches for everyone. It feels good to be a problem solver once again - deep down I suppose I always like to be the person people come to with issues that I can fix. 

I'm still umming and erring about my pair of mechanical keyboards back at home. First world problems I know, but it's so hard to weigh up how much I value loud, clacky noises VS how embarresed I feel by using something so noisy. How selfish a person am I basically? I feel like that meme of Bilbo Baggins holding onto the one ring as he asks himself 'Afterall, why shouldn't I treat myself to a keyboard that sounds like a 50's typewriter?'

Isolating IKEA

Hump day down in the office and it was kinda felt by all of us. The highlight of it all was obtaining a wealth of bits and bobs from other productions. We had so many cardboard boxes to crack into, each one containing the promises of money saved and less work for us. Grimey laminators? Don't mind if I do. Knotted charging cables? Hell yes. Strewn about pens and staples. This is what I live for.

On the way back home I had to swing by IKEA to pick something up for my desk at work. Whole walking around I had a sudden realisation that I don't think I've ever been to an IKEA by myself. No one to keep tabs of, no one to make observational (and highly original) jokes to and no one to browse with. It was an oddly lonely experience. The shop always promotes families and friends, and yet there I was, clutching my laptop stand to my chest while riding down an escalator, not really knowing how to feel.

Production Diary

The duty of hire cars has once again wormed it's way back to me. I've called upon my go-to guy once again and I daresay he remembered me! If only I had some good news to share, but the car they dropped off for us got in a scrape en route to us so I had to report some damage but all was well overall. In fact, I'm starting to get saddled up with a few little jobs now, the biggest of which is sending out the production diary each night. Never thought I'd be the person doing that - that always felt like quite a big responsibility whenever I was looking at it from the outside so it's weird to think it's finally me sending off those emails.

Happier Teeth

You know what? I think I'm getting used to the braces now. By far and away the most painful part of using them is removing them for mealtimes, ratcheting and prying them out of my jaw is a horrid experience... For the first few times. Now my teeth and my pain threshold have adapted so things have gotten much easier. Now, they're still not exactly falling off the bone, but it's a marked improvement each time I go to take them out. Which in my mind is evidence that they are doing thier job which is comforting in and of itself.

The feeling of being at ease is also creeping back into my work life. I'm settling back into my production role much better now - I'm embracing the new life I have for the next year and enjoying working amidst a bigger team again. Things are still relativly calm now too which is a treat. It won't last though so I'll try and take advantage of that while I can. 

Typing Treat

We got back well past midnight last night so we had all the right in the world to sleep in. Perhaps I enjoyed the delights of the free bar a little too much last night, or maybe I just slept in a tad too long becasue I felt wretched first thing this morning. Nothing that a late breakfast and a double dose of coffee couldn't fix... Well I say that, but nothing can stave off the Sunday blues which gripped Rebecca and me while driving home from London. Now that I'm back in Production the suite of responsibilites are coming back to me - the rolling to do list lives in my head in a space that I should charge rent for. 

I did want to treat myself a little bit for starting a new office job so I spashed out on a new keyboard - a mechanical one at that. I've never had such a fancy, or versatile bit of kit so it's my new favourite toy now. You can even connect it to your phone! And yes, I am typing up this blog in bed on the keyboard... much to Rebecca's chagrin. 

Licence to Chill

 For the past month every weekend has been consumed by the making of my short film. If I had free time and I wasn't dedicating it to the film I felt super guilty. Well today was the first time in ages where I had a licence to chill. It's been an age since I played a game in one sitting, but whole Rebecca was on the phone to a friend I ploughed through Abzu, a gorgeous underwater diving game which left me feeling all the flavours of serenity. 

It couldn't be all sofa time though as we had a social engagement near London to fulfill. A mutual chum of our turned 30 so we went to celebrate. It was a joint party with three people so there were a LOT of attendees, and since we didn't know anyone that gave us free license to raid the buffet and boogie in the dance floor with a degree of animinity.

Mopey City, Population: Me

Took another day to work from home to avoid bringing any germs into the office. Also to avoid bringing the mood down. I've been unapologetically mopey all day on account on how I'm feeling which is really getting me down. All I wanted to do is go to sleep and let the day pass me by. Hopefully the cold is on it's way out and the braces will find their rhythm attacking my jawline, but until then it's all I can think about.

Braces and Head Cold

First full day with the braces on and a stinking head cold went about as well as expected. I dismissed myself from the office shortly after lunch as in spite of the Lemsip I felt wretched. I also found out that the absolute worst part of this whole removable braces thing is the removing them part. Every time I want to eat they need to come off and because it's such a painful and time consuming ordeal I now have to mentally budget a bit of time before and after each meal. They say the first 1-3 days of these things are the worst and I hope that is the case because right now, 40 weeks feels like a long, long way away.

To improve things a little bit, I heard that I won 'Best Director' for my short film which I'm ecstatic about. I was only in it to make a cute little sock puppet movie but it has turned quite a few heads.

Little Low, Little High

 There's a high-quality Where's Wally poster on the ceiling of my dentist's office. Unfortunately Wally himself stands waving at you virtually in the middle, where your eyeliner naturally drifts to - a shame because I could have done with some kind of entertainment during my hour long appointment. Today was the day we prepped me for braces. I was in store for was a two stage process, first was attaching blobs of glue to my teeth and second was shaving the gaps in between some of my crowding spots. The latter was easily worse as they used what felt like a tiny bow saw to sand in between the gaps of my teeth. The dentist kept asking his assistant for suction to hoover up and liquids in my mouth, at first I thought I was just over-salivating to cope with the pain but then I started tasting iron. Once the procedure had concluded I glanced over to the dentist's tiny tool table to find that it was splattered with blood... All in the name of progress though I guess. I have the very first tray in now ready to endure my first night wearing it. They say the first 3 days are the very worst but so far they haven't been too uncomfortable.

It was also unfortunate timing because I feel like I'm coming down with a slight cold so my face is in a fair amount of pain in general at the moment. What I really didn't expect though was a phonecall from the director of the show I was just on calling to tell me how my short film blew his mind. I could barely get a word in edgeways as he was stumbling over himself complimenting my work, I find it hard to take praise on a normal day but this left me blindsided in the best possible way. He very sincerely suggested I enter it into festivals and should consider going into directing! Whenever I felt particularly rough today I reminded myself of that phonecall and that put the smile back on my face.

Nice Words

I submitted all of the short films for the competition at work and I shared it with a few friends and I'm already bowled over by the responses. Even the script editor messaged me out of the blue to drop me a nice message about it which I'm chuffed to pieces with. It makes the whole endeavour worthwhile knowing that people enjoy your work like that.

I was so busy writing about my short film yesterday that I forgot to mention that I've started my next gig! A nice long one that's super local to me which is always handy. Starting work with a familiar team so it already feels like a homecoming. Relearning all the Production steps is tricky after moving away from Script Supervising, it kinda feels like remembering a dance I saw in a dream once. It's mostly all there but I just need to do the steps a little longer before I'm fully in the swing of things.

No Show

Once upon a time, this blog used to be a secondary platform to drum up hype for upcoming Cafe Studios projects. Today I have the privilege of rekindling that purpose by unveiling our latest short film, No Show.

 

You can check it out here! 

It's Kyle's Birthday! He's got the snacks, the decorations and the hottest new video game to share with friends... But will anyone actually turn up? 

No Show was a real labour of love, shot by Rebecca and me over a couple days for a short film competition going on at work. Aside from ensuring my arm was never in shot, my greatest challenge with this one was crafting the end sequence which is meant to highlight the connection between ourselves, a video game controller and the screen. That interplay was really exciting for me to craft in the edit and I wanted to try and do it justice because alI genuinely feel that film and TV still have never quite managed to explore that space.

Special thanks go out to my Mum who helped bring our main character to life by crafting the puppet and his dapper party hat. Shout out also goes out to Mark Stopher for lending me the old Cafe Studios camera and providing tech support for the other side of a telephone.

Thanks in advance for checking it out, hope it's a nice surprise to see another lil film on the old Cafe Studios channel.

Film Festival Admin

I chained myself to my PC to finish up the edit on my short film, having only a short break to go do a dog walk with some friends after lunch. I tapped the mud off my wellies, then it was back to it but I'm happy to say it's all done and dusted! I did half forget that I'm also arranging all the data wrangling, uploading and presenting side of things for the film festival so after finishing my film I had to get on top of compiling everyone else's. That took a bit more time than I had expected so my short isn't quite ready for my grand, public reveal (which will be the first Cafe Studios video in over a decade!) That will come very soon indeed so stay tuned.

The only other thing I sorted today was repackaging my production rucksack. I dusted it off and crammed in all of my beloved stationery so it's ready to decorate my desk once more. I thought I'd be experiencing a full on identity crisis at this point but I actually feel more comfortable in my skin than I've ever felt.

Sacrificial Saturday

Sacrificed a most of my Saturday to continue trimming down and reshooting patches of my short film. Bless Rebecca, she was very patient and helpful being my camera assistant once again. I daresay she got the hang of it after learning how to rack focus between two subjects - somebody get her a day rate. 

The deadline for film submission is tomorrow evening so I'll continue scrambling to get it done in time. I've always needed a dose of time pressure to motivate me but it's already in a pretty good place - I've got to kill a few more of my babies and time cuts to my soundtrack a bit more, all manageable within my timeframe. Here a little behind the scenes picture for a few weeks back - full video hopefully here tomorrow or the day after!

 

Warm Wishes and Early Leavers

That's a wrap for me in this one! 149 shoot days of being an Assistant Script Supervisor and what a ride it has been - from the balmy heights of Summer to the freezing dead of Winter, I have seen it all. I endured it all alongside a stellar crew of immensely talented and resilient people. A couple of them I wanted to give thanks to - the best way I could think of was through bottles of wine and kind words. When they announced all the people that were leaving today my name was in the mix and I got a big applause from the gang followed by more hugs than I knew what to do with. I felt extremely loved and lucky in that moment, after starting this job feeling like an imposter I finally felt accepted and that I belonged. The show runner passed on a special present with a very thoughtful card inside, another one for my growing collection of correspondence of thanks. 

I dropped the mic, now I'm off onto pastures green. My new gig starts on Monday but my memories of this one will endure for a long, long time.

Ext. One More Time

This final block has been characterised by long stints of cold, outdoor work - something we've been avoiding a lot recently but old habits die hard. It's turns out that filming in a woodland, at night, in Winter can be marginally chilly and uncomfortable. But we powered on through like we always do, leaning on eachother for laughs and support. This marks my final big location day on set and I will miss it all in my own way. Being back in the office is naturally easy breezy, but the bonds forged in the dead of cold last all the longer.

Back of the Pub... Again.

Just like the very first day of our shoot, the crew all found themselves crammed into the back of a remarkably small pub. This time however though everyone was happy, comfortable and in their lane. The day went off without a hitch and I even had a seat where I could sit next to my Script Supervisor - unlike day one... 

I did hop out briefly though to help someone unpick some of the progress reports. I'm pretty new to that side of the gig, data inputting and easy to corrupt spreadsheets give me a prickle of anxiety, but having two heads tackle the problem proved to be fruitful. There were just some tiny numbers that didn't add up, sometimes it was my fault, sometimes it was their formula, but the important thing is we fixed it all! Great to know that all of our hardwork is accounted for in the most literal sense of the word.

Bye Bye Brabazon

I returned to the studio site where we based Sanditon from. It was a bittersweet reunion, an awful lot of good memories were formed there and they all came flooding back with every step I took. Scenes from our production haunted me, faces returned to the forefront of memory and I half convinced myself that many of the crew were just waiting around the corner somewhere. Instead it was just a vacant old hangar. The sets and promenade build were long gone, only their echoes exist somewhere in space and time. Apparently today will be the last ever day the site is used for filming before it's being converted. I said my goodbyes in silence, driving away knowing it may be the last time I ever stand there.

Underwater Shooting

Drove to London and back to do my first ever underwater filming day. In reality, my day was quite slow paced and easy going which gave me the time to cast my eyes around the studio and admire it's setup. I did forget we were basically filming next to a giant swimming pool so everything was a bit moist and a bit chlorine-y, but the footage we got looked terrific. As my time on this one draws to a close, I realise that I've basically seen the whole show. Every shot, every scene, every location - that makes me a little invaluable, but to me it'll be super interesting to watch back the finished product, to see where the editor places their scapel and stitch together the show. When we go to the underwater bits I will pause and say: that was a pretty cool day.

Post Bday Brekkie

We ran the final few yards of Rebecca's Birthday weekend, the last event was a giant breakfast for everyone who stayed over in Bristol with us. It was a great opportunity to have a little debrief about everything and mull over the highlights. Between mouthfuls of sausage and eggs we laughed about last night, softly nodded our heads while recounting dance moves and spending time with good friends. I already can't believe I've had the last four days off work, it's going to feel alien returning to the rat race. 

Before that though, we had to get in a small gaming session with Mark, Lucy and Dan. I recently picked up big space board game which I was eager to share with someone. The rules teach took a while, and the game itself was longer than The Brutalist, but the thrills and upsets were well work the time sink. Mark very generously lit up his grill for chicken wings and burgers (a final bit of weekend indulgence), perfect fodder for an afternoon of cardboard and card warfare. I'm already excited for the next time I crack open the box.

Rebecca's 30th Party

In spite of having a late one last night, a brisk sleep and a power nap was all I needed before I did it all again tonight. Rebecca's birthday celebrations continued with the main course - the big party. We rented out a nearby venue (and favourite brunch spot of ours) for a full blown shindig. The whole night was basically perfect. Great food, plenty of time for dancing and great company. Several friendship groups collided and mingled together, more importantly everyone had a terrific time. Rebecca made the most of her big party, only now that the dancing has stopped has she realised just how much her legs hurt from dancing. She's a little sad it's all over but no one can argue that she threw an incredible party which rung in her latest decade.

 

 

Michelin Star

Continuing on from Rebecca's birthday weekend, we decided to ring in her new decade in style by dining at a Michelin Star restaurant called Cor. I have never eaten anywhere like it before. I suddenly developed a new appreciation for a scene in The Bear where they begin rebuilding their place - they're not building a restaurant, they're building a church - a venue that places food on a pedestal. Indeed, I have seldom eaten so well. We got the three course lunch menu and it was superb. We also got the tip off that their tiramisu was the bee's knees so we just had to try that too. Their big twist was using fruity pantone instead of sponge fingers, it worked better than I had anticipated.

Once home I made my own tiramisu. A big slab of it, alongside a pile of brownies all ready for Rebecca's party. Moments after licking the spatula clean I was getting ready to go out to enjoy my wrap party (despite the job not quite being over yet.) Gosh what a fun time we all had, plenty of familiar faces popped in, several of which I had a good chat with while queuing for the complimentary booze and food. There was plenty of time for dancing afterwards too which was a joy. So many good people are part of our crew and it was a delight to share the celebration with them. I dare say it was the best wrap party I've been to!

Happy 30th Rebecca

 Gosh. All I did today was eat.

Breakfast was an open top bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon and avocado.

Lunch was an afternoon tea: more sandwiches, scones and a frankly ridiculous amount of cakey bits.

Dinner was a finger buffet with a surprise cake for afters.

Rebecca's Birthday was a day to celebrate excess, in fact her celebration spills out over the next two days as well. While today was the big day itself, it felt like an amuse boushe compared to what's to come. Rebecca's folks came down today so we could all celebrate together, we popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and rung in the big 3-0. I feel like I need to lie down for the next few hours then digest everything before we go again for the fun and games tomorrow, but until then: Happy Birthday Rebecca!

Farewell Rebecca's 20's

Had just about the easiest filming day of my career. Three shots of building establishes... That's it. If the last shot wasn't set at night time we would have been wrapped two hours into our day. Instead we lingered around, had a two hour lunch break and just hung out with eachother for most of the day. Never again will I see a day like this - sometimes this one has been a really weird job.

Back home I wrapped up Rebecca's Birthday present and we opened a bottle of wine to celebrate the last day of her 20's. They slipped by into the expanse of everything, stretching off into infinitely and tomorrow. She's indifferent about the decade ending, but I remember being torn but too exhausted from work to mentally process the whole ordeal. I just hope Rebecca has a good extended birthday weekend, we have lots of fun things planned so no doubt she will.

Farewell Drone Team

I stationed myself back in Oxford with the drone team for what would likely be the final time on this job. Those guys were always a little safe space for me as I tried to find my footing in the script superving world, I could go in with them, do a day and be considered a peer, rather than just an assistant. We'd seem it all together, the lashing rain, cars going up and down stretches of road, people walking across mountain, sunsets and sunrises. They likely did some of their best work with us today, some gorgeous stuff over the city which looked awesome. I'm back in Bristol now though ready for one more quick day tomorrow before I'm off for the rest of the week. Already looking forward to catching up on some sleep properly.

Handover Shenanigans

I'm not on the main unit for most of this week, nor will I be around for Thursday and Friday, so I the duration of my workday (and spare time) was spent doing handover bits. Lots of niggly reference material was accumulated, lots of details were fired out and timings documents were scrutinized, all so I can park my work for a few extra days. The work day itself was quite brief but I constantly felt like I was playing catch-up as I tried to do my normal duties as well. Someone remarked that I looked tired... How does one respond to that really? I just smiled.

Sock Shooting Day 2

 Woke up with my shortlist playing over and over again in my mind. Stirring porridge, shot list, brushing teeth, shot list, getting dressed, shot list. Rebecca stepped behind the camera once again to be my 1st Assistant Camera and we got some good stuff in this morning. She had to dash off to meet a friend halfway through the day so I flew solo for a bit picking up any bits that didn't require too much action. I got some great macro shots of Smarties and Party Rings (my dissertation on food porn is once again showing it's influence), plus I even did some sound recording of those snacks going into bowls which is objectively a great, great noise.

 

The day's filming was latterly a bit rushed because we started loosing the daylight. Worse still, a prop clock I purchased decided to dramatically end it's life by falling from the wall mid-take, leaving behind shattered dreams and glass. Effectively I'm missing a couple of very easy shots before I can complete, but there's ample material to begin the edit process while we grab the rest at a later date. 

 

I'm truly knackered now though, Rebecca and I both independently stated that it doesn't feel like we've had a weekend. Doubly so for me as I did a travel day up to London after dinner tonight. Just hope all the sweat and toil is worthwhile.

Sock Shooting Day 1

I felt incredibly supported by my immediate family throughout the day. Mum and Dad drove down to Bristol to help me prep for my short film, in particular Mum who helped do some arts and crafts to bring my main character (a sock puppet) to life. We all got a broth bowl and noodles at Pho for lunch which gave me the energy I needed to dive into making the damn film. Boy oh boy, did I forget how much filmmaking is a labour of love. When I wasn't troubleshooting with the camera, or fudging the lighting, I was internally stressing about making every shot as good as it could be. Bless Rebecca who got a crash course and a diploma in guerilla filmmaking all in a couple of hours. We shot long into the evening, undergoing the highs and lows of achieving a shot. Whenever I was demoralised and started losing the faith she picked me back up again so we could get that perfect take. 

I'm truly blessed to be around such loving and patient people who are willing to share their time all so I can make a silly sock puppet movie.

Forbidden Knowledge, Part 2(?)

I wrapped up my farewell gift to my boss early this morning, ready to pass it onto them as a way of saying thanks for them taking me under their wing for our third block. She taught me so much about the job over the last few months and I'm so very grateful to have spent some time alongside her and supporting her. The working day itself finished three hours ahead of time so we were all laughing, it gave me a little more prep time on my short film which I'll bre cracking in with tomorrow.

What wasn't on my bingo sheet for this year was another person stepped forward to express an interest in Script Supervising and start shadowing us: one of the stand ins for our main cast members! I was only too happy to continue spreading the love, but it all just came as a pleasant surprise - no doubt we'll see them again by our monitors, learning the tricks of the trade.

Forbidden Knowledge

A few months back I tried to get someone onto the job who was also interested in getting into Script Supervising. I got my big break because of shadowing so I wanted to repay that kindness to the universe by getting someone new interested in the role. My attempts were kiboshed at every turn (an odd thing for a production that's so eager to put trainees first). Thankfully, that person got a small placement as a locations marshall for our current filming place so when they weren't too busy I passed on my iPad and showed them the ropes. They were arguably better than I was when I first started out, in fairness they were fresh off a training course on the subject so they really seemed to know what they were doing right from the get go. Some under the radar learning though made me feel like a renegade, passing on forbidden knowledge.

I did the final push of prop buying for my upcoming short film. I don't think I've ever spent so long scrutinizing buttons in my entire life but it'll be worth it. Mum is coming down this weekend to create our hero sock puppet and I already can't wait to meet him.

Dialing in Favours

Called in a few favours to get some bits and pieces done for my upcoming short film. Mum is doing some material buying for the main character and some old camera chums have a slider I can pick up for gratis. Is this what being a Producer is like? Calling on favours from your favourite people to get something made... Perhaps this is telling that I still don't know what a producer does. Kinda sucks that we finished quite late tonight with clawbacks for the rest of the week. I want to do more prep work but I also need to prioritize my sleep.

Cafe Camera

There was a ray of hope that we might wrap early again today but those hopes were dashed on the rocks. The whole crew seemingly forgot we were shooting outside for the last couple of hours and we've been spoilt recently with filming interiors so we were ill-equiped for the exposure. For the most of my day I was treated like the support hotline for the second unit who had dozens of queries about the show and continuity. It's nice to be needed, but I'd prefer to be needed under less ASAP conditions.

I unpacked the old Cafe Studios camera once I got back to do some quick camera tests. It's amazing how quickly all the old buttons and switches came back to me, the whirr of the auto focus and the snap of the battery lock. One more rodeo with that bad boy is coming up and I'm already getting jazzed about using it properly.

One Second

Before I knew it, the work day was over. Wrapping two hours early is rarely a reality but I used my time wisely back at home to catch up on my film watchlist with One Second, a Chinese movie about an man who has recently broken out of a labour camp for one humble reason: to see a movie with his daughter in... And she's not really in the movie, rather she's in the newsreel portion of it and is in screen for meer moments. Such a charming premise, it's an Asian Cinema Paradisio in a lot of ways since it features a handful of loving shots of audiences being brought together by the power of the screen. It has incredible restraint not to go in for big, saccharine moments though... Even when the film deserves an emotional close up it holds back. It's muted tone is somehow the film's best feature and biggest flaw though as we don't have quite enough space to truly connect with the characters, but there's more than enough charming and inspired images that make the film worthwhile.

One More Burns

To continue our Burns weekend, we did the traditional meetup with Louis and Rachel for a plate full of haggis and glasses full of red wine. My favourite part of the meal is watching the guys finish up cooking as Rachel puts on a YouTube video of 3 hours of bagpipe music, often to Louis' chagrin. We had the food as a long lunch, befitting of a quiet, rainy Sunday. Once home, Rebecca and I said we're both feeling like or respective social batteries were drained so we took a bit of time apart to do our own separate things. Rebecca read books and watched true crime documentaries, while I finished up some video games, basically doing our best 'brain off' activities. I feel rested and ready for the week ahead now, only a few more weeks on this shoot now, I'm honestly struggling to remember life before this job, I'm beginning to crave a change of pace.

Cèilidh

 I'm holding back my eyelids before I drift off, but I keep cycling the day over and over in the meantime. We all agreed as a friendship group recently not to buy each other Christmas or birthday gifts anymore, rather we should funnel that money into regular meetups. So, Rebecca, Mark, Lucy, Dan and I all met up to hang out in Surrey for a round of Topgolf. Before you ask, it's a bowling type of sport where you take it in turns at a driving range and hope to sink goofballs into large targets on a green in front of you. I started off dreadfully, all straight knees and rigid wrists. Once I watched Dan a bit (a seasoned golf chap), I got a handle on the posture and got much better.

The main event though was a Burns night extravaganza at a taproom. Haggis and all the trimmings were consumed alongside a dram of whiskey and a cèilidh chaser. We only stuck around for a handful of dances but we had smiles plasted onto our faces. Burns night will continue tomorrow with Louis and Rachel, hopefully I can sleep off the merriment til then.

The Brutalist

My boss had to step off towards the end of the day because she needed to attend a house viewing. It could the 'the one' for her so I didn't want to deprive her of that, so I opted to step up for the last few hours. While I was a bit sweaty, I actually ended up doing a decent job. I answered every question about continuity swiftly and pointed something out to the director who later came up and thanked me for the spot. I left Friday in a great little mood, so I thought I'd treat myself. With Rebecca away tonight, I took myself to the movies to check out The Brutalist... Here's my LetterBoxd write up.

During the film's epilogue a character sheds some light on the philosophy of Brutalism, revealing that the work isn't intended to make a statement, rather it's reflective of nothingness and how humans need to accept the lack of meaning in the world.

The Brutalist is a story told in two halves, kept alive by a refreshing dedication to sustained shots that permit performance to do the heavy lifting - the on-screen results are often electrifying. 

Act one has a great sense of buildup because it's about people with dreams. Act two on the other hand is about the cost of those dreams and how people let you down - it's messy, ugly and disappointing... and I mean this quite literally.

The moment an in-world train goes off the rails, so does the storytelling. Scenes feel increasingly fractured and devoid of context. We hop over to Italy for ambiguous reasons (because the plot demands it, apparently) and the final few scenes with Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones feel hurried and unresolute. It kinda lost me in the last stretch which is heartbreaking because everything that came before was exquisite.

Does this mean the film is in harmony with the art style it champions? Possibly. Does that also mean the conclusion is inherently unsatisfying? Almost definitely.

Storyboard Fake Artist

To thaw ourselves out we all enjoyed another studio day, with all the infrastructure and amenities our hearts could desire. The crepe van was the icing on the cake of course, keeping us on side as we huffed the haze being puffed out the fog machines. Same again tomorrow, with a relatively early finish time so there's all the time in the world to enjoy a real Friday evening.

This evening however, I wanted to do something a little productive so I continued storyboarding my short film idea. I got the ending down pat now, just the logistics of the film's intro now which I just need to settle on. Again, I've had this idea rattling around in my brain for a while and I'm eager to scoop it out and show it to the world. There's always the urge to sit and brood on an idea until it's perfect, but in this instance I'm just keen for it to exist.

Chilling / Not Chilling

 Back to standing on the side of the road for me, this time with very little to do in terms of immediate work. However, this freed me up to do plenty of prep stuff for the double bank unit next week AND for my new boss who has asked for a few bits and pieces. The whole time I was thinking to myself 'I wish I had a laptop' but I made it work by standing up with a phone in one hand and an iPad in the other. In the midst of all this I had other people emailing me at all angles... I just wanted to be cold on the side of a road in peace, instead I was getting whiplash on how busy I was meant to be.

Side Step Up

I low-key mentioned to my Script Supervisor boss that my next gig wouldn't be within the same department as it's looking like I'm going back to Production. I didn't want it to come across like a slap in the face considering all the mentoring I've been doing with her, but thankfully it actually made her double down on the training. She stepped me up to supervise the whole of the afternoon today (while she stood by as a safety net) and it all went pretty well! I'm a little sad to be closing the door on Script Supervising, but this move back is the right thing to do at the present time. After such a feel good day I walked out to my car to drive back to Bristol and my laptop slid out my bag. Now it won't recognize there's a battery connected to it so it doesn't power on anymore. Into each life some rain must fall.

The Comforts of Home

It was pretty novel to drive up my old road and head into work. It was even more crazy to think that my crew, a team I've worked with for the better half of a year, were all stood in a location that has a lot of personal history to me. That feeling of 'what a small world' was almost enough to distract me from the bitter cold of the day after standing outdoors for basically 10 hours straight. My collection of chilblains is growing nicely along my toes, a sign that I should probably double sock tomorrow. I did get to press my feet up against the radiator when I got home and warm my bones in a hot shower. No matter how tough the day can be, the comforts of home always see you through.

Close To Home

Clawed back some of my weekend by setting an alarm early - this gave me ample time to waste on video games first thing which is just what the doctor ordered. We also swung by a friends house for games and snacks. We discovered that I have a penchant for memory based games, but my reaction time and spacial awareness still need work. All the way through today there was a niggling thought: work tomorrow... Worse still, I had to do a travel day so I was ready to go close to our next filming location. And for the first time ever, that also meant I got to stay at home with my parents before a shoot day. They were mortified to hear I was getting up early for work (and by all accounts, tomorrow is a bit of a lie in for me) but I'll hopefully be able to dispense some fun stories to them tomorrow evening.

Some of Our Favourite Things

Being away from home all of last week made me want to ensure this weekend was extra special with Rebecca. It started a little hypocritically because we both slept in for a lot longer than either of us had expected, but we still managed to get a lot of things done together. Rebecca made blueberry pancakes which we topped with maple syrup my family brought over from Canada and we headed up to a nearby micro taproom for some drinks while we played some 2 player board games - our little date afternoon. Then there was video games and a film together, basically spent the day doing all of our favourite things... The only 'unpleasant' part was pressing send on a very large chunk of money towards paying off our mortgage. Ultimately a good move, but saying bon voyage to your wealth is always a little vexing.

Drone Benchwarmers

I was nestled inside a unit car for two hours of my working day. We went cross country so we could shoot some drone footage so I was summoned down as the main Script once again. It was a very short little unit, but never in a million years did I expect to spend the day crewed up with familiar faces: a 2nd AD I met a couple years back plus an old base runner - both of which were very glad to see me too. The shoot ran super smoothly and we all got home early as a result. With the extra time in my day I ran up the road for board games, there's one game I always bring because the owner loves to play it and tonight we roped in a new pair of faces to join us and they had a blast too. When I step back I realize it's quite an odd thing to spend a Friday night often in the company of some total strangers, teaching them how to play board games... But it makes me smile big time.

Bananagrams

Landed on set and I was immediately being pulled in multiple directions for requests. Splinter units, questions about dialogue, reference photos and complimentary copies of board games, it all, very suddenly, came my way. I rolled with the punches though and got through the day A-Ok. Our final day out in a remote location to be exact. Literally everyone was so excited to up and leave, it felt like a Friday. Just one more day though and then I can enjoy the first idle weekend of 2025 - cannot wait!

OJ's Glove

I clicked my heels together as I left my hotel room early this morning, for today was the day my new touchscreen gloves arrived at a nearby parcel pick up point. I got dressed, popped out, greeted the high street, picked up my post and dreamed about how useful the gloves would be on set. Returned to the hotel room, ripped open the parcel to try them on and they were far too small. I was like OJ in court trying to squeeze them over my fingers. The gloves didn't fit, so I had to acquit... To the expensive return policy of the website.

So yeah, that was my morning. The days work was same as before in this location - continuing one scene while the sun was up, then onto another bunch once the sun had set. The whole time I kept thinking to myself 'I wished those damn gloves fitted'. At the very least we got to pop into the hotel bar this evening with a few crew. The very nice staff member kept extending the closing time for us and continued to pour us drinks. Ready for one more day on the road before I'm back in my normal bed.

Fleeting Spring

Managed to play video games in my hotel room this morning without completely losing track of time. Driving in was leisurely too because the sun was shining, so much so that a lot of the crew were stripping off all their winter coats. Of course, they all went back on again the second the sun went in but it was a fleeting glimpse of Spring. After dinner the day really felt like it was dragging along. I kept thinking it was Thursday but we're not even halfway through this week. I told Rebecca I'm missing her, and I never thought I'd say this, but I'm also missing the cat sleeping on the bed with us. I'll be eating my words soon enough, but the idealisized image of my bed is what I'm longing for the most.

Time Froze

Repacked my bags and re-steeled myself for another Monday. I'll be living out of a hotel and doing night work for most of the week, video games and maybe a movie or two will have to keep me company in the mornings. Not that I'm homesick at all, but it will be nice to be reunited with Rebecca and my own bed to sleep in. Thankfully the days are going quickly, being out in the cold makes you forcefully will time to get a wiggle on it turns out - the week will go by in the blink of an eye.

Cold = Character Building

 Did the Sunday sweep from London back to Bristol, but we stopped in briefly on my parents. Rebecca and I always joke to brace ourselves for the chill of the house and today was on another level. I was passed a blanket more or less on arrival so we could drink coffee in some degree of warmth. Having grown up with it I don't mind it so much (older generations would call it character building), but it still makes me chuckle to remember waking up in my old bedroom before school being able to see my breath. Maybe that's why I like to sleep in colder spaces to this day...

Another week fo filming lies before us, hopefully we won't get snowed off again. I'll be living in a hotel for most of the week, it's a pretty Dickensian room with single glazing and a large writers desk inside but it's plenty charming and near to location. I'm just hoping I don't turn into a popsicle again.

Loads of Limonchello

 Back down to London for the last of the Christmas engagements with Rebecca"s family friends. I was blown away by the fact most of them had watched (and loved) Rivals so I was flooded with fun questions to answer for most of the night. Better still, for the past month I had been preparing a batch of limonchello for tonight which I finally got to share with everyone. While it wasn't perfect, it was pretty good for a first ever concoction but everyone loved it. While I know I can sometimes be a fairly quiet guest at finner parties, sometimes I bring the goods.

Where's My Kettle?!

It was only after I left my hotel room that curiously didn't have any tea/coffee making facilities in the room is when I realized exactly where my tiny kettle was hiding. Not that I got a chance to use it because I misread the callsheet and my start time for this morning so I was in a manic dash to get out the door. I landed just in time though for another day stood out in negative temperatures. Never have looked forward to sitting in a heated car more in my life, and even after an hour long drive home I hadn't quite thawed out. At least I'll be back in my own bed this evening with Rebecca and the cat to keep me warm.

The Cold Cometh

All the warm clothing in the world didn't quite prep me for the fierce chill of our next location. Night shooting didn't help either but we're in for a penny... The one saving grace was knowing there's a nice warm hotel only a short drive away at the end of the day. Walking into my room I got temperature shock and now that I'm tucked up in bed ai cannot wait to enjoy the warm dreams I'll be having.

Nosferatu Once More

Our first studio day of the block was utter bliss. I think it's the first long stint we've done indoors over the last few months so we all got a chance to appreciate shelter from the elements. We were all doubly glad when we're wrapped early again and only a short drive home for me. 

I took Rebecca out on a little date night to see the new Nosferatu film which looked exquisite but still fell into the shonkey pacing of the story. It was also a total jump scare fest, but watching it in a packed cinema, projected on 35mm was pretty dang cool. To add to the blood and nastyness, Rebecca wore her brand new Dr Marten's on the walk into town. On the way back she started hobbling and I needed to give her a piggyback... Her feet were molded by the shoe but not without some real pain. I had to help yank the boots off when we got back and let me tell you, her blisters were nastier than anything in Nosferatu. And that film has a man eating the head of a live pigeon.

On Set Snow Day

 While driving in a coworker to location we both got a message on the crew chat. 'Snow is very bad, please hang tight somewhere til we have made the roads to set safe'. So we pulled into a nearby service station and pondered about how long we'd be waiting for. Minutes? Hours? Either way, we both quickly agreed that the best thing to do was have a nap. So right there we each swaddled up in our respective spare jackets and got a bit of shut eye. We started stirring once the sun came up properly, so we hopped out the car to stretch our legs.... Only to find a good number of crew cars around us, each with snoozing coworkers inside. Very humbling.

Once we got the all clear to come to work it was clear it wouldn't be a full day. All of our material was outdoor stuff to match to yesterday... When there wasn't snow on the trees. So we cheated a little bit and then poked off to do some pretty cutaways then called it a day. SNOW DAY!

Wet No Legs

I convinced myself I was wearing my waterproof trousers, yet when I stepped out the car only the blue of my jeans greeted my eyes. Same goes for my wooly hat and I was gutted to not have either on a day like today. We were doing a bunch of car stuff today which often means I'm warming the bench due to seating space on the following vehicle. It made for an easy breezy first day at least, a chance for us all to refund our feet and run the last few miles over the finish line.

Gotta remember my hat tomorrow.

See Ya Tree

It's funny how quickly we can go from delight to disgust in seeing Christmas stuff at the supermarket. The season is officially over and I was in Asda, phone in one hand, tape measure in the other as I talked with Rebecca to figure out how big a storage box we needed to stow away our decorations. We didn't want to leave anything to change so I walked a 64L box back - if it were any bigger I could have used it as a boat to get back home in through the rain. 

De-decorating the tree is always a sordid affair, but it was nice to look at our ornaments one more time. A couple of new ones came to stick around this year, and each and every one of them has their own story to tell. I look forward to recalling them again next December. 

Back at work for me tomorrow. Hope my body remembers what it's like to be jolted awake at 5am.

NY Slice

It feels like a different lifetime since I was at work, it's only just dawned on me that I don't have another week off, I only have another day. I did my best to spend it well by offering to hang out with a chum from work - a golden opportunity to play some social games and to get my head back into the filming headspace.

Then this evening it snowed! Rebecca and I had planned to grab some takeaway this evening and merged it into a wintery walk. Heading back home at night with a carton of hot pizza in the snow as police cars passed us by, it was almost like strolling through Manhattan. Then we munched our slices while working together to solve whodunnit murders - basically the perfect evening.

Best Games of 2024

I pulled up a chair and got to writing, finishing up my best games of the year article which you can check out here. I had a good time getting back into the swing of typing up quick paragraph pitches of games and condensing my thoughts. Increasingly, I'm trying to write about why games have stuck with me which is a fun thing to meditate on - anyone can say that they liked a thing, the hard part is quantifying how it made them feel.

Keeping Up the Resolutions

I gave a lift to our New Year guests up to the train station and gave them both a cheery hug goodbye. I felt bad not staying outside the car to wave them off properly but the sudden cold snap forced me back into shelter. True to my mini resolution, I did a bit of writing today - I'm cracking on with my best games of last year list that I'm so fond of doing. I got more done than I'd anticipated which is great so hopefully I can publish it very soon indeed. I'm back to reading too, I picked back up The World According to Garp, my Kindle delighted to inform me I was 11% of the way through it so I picked up where I left off. I also wanted to make a habit of wearing a watch more often so I wouldn't have to glance at my phone to check the time... Of course my watch battery died this morning though...

Happy New Year 2025!

So, here we are. On the dawn of another new year. Yesterday Matt and Ben joined us in Bristol for some early merry making before heading off to Mark and Lucy's for food, festivities and friendly games. We met Harold, the giant octopus that was won at a Christmas carnival. His 8 arms meant we all had an extra hand to hold during Auld Lang Syne, and an extra glass to raise as we rung in the new year.

New Year's day was naturally spent sleeping off said champagne, the chilly rain outside gave the perfect excuse for us to have a duvet day with our guests. We spent quality time together playing games and appreciating little things - basically doing the things that I want to do more of in 2025.

Looking back on 2024, it was a bit of a placeholder year for me. I blinked and I missed it, especially after landing my latest gig which hoovered up all of my time. If we're talking achievements l, suppose the job could be considered one. I got my first Assistant Script Supervisor role and continued to develop my skill set. The small uptick in salary meant that Rebecca and I could visit Rome, something that's been on our list since New Year's Eve of 2020. 

My watched movies list ballooned too, resting on 107 new films to me this year - My favourite of that bunch was 1999's Human Traffic, loveable for it's rough edges and commentary on the unbearable weight of being rudderless your 20's.

Perhaps I sound a little down about last year, but I'm treating it as a wake up call. Going into 2025 I want to ensure the year doesn't pass me by. I want to do more things that I want to sing from the rooftops about. I want to write more, read more and create more. I want to feel a marked growth between myself today and the person I'll be in 364 days. 

Til then, Happy New Year!