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.