Painting the Front

Busted the shorts out once again to get me through the sweltering day. I chased down a few more pancake places, eventually settling in a cheap but wholesome looking one who looked just right for us - lead actress was happy with the result too so that's all that matters. 

Back on the ranch, Rebecca let the painter finish up doing the front of of the house. I almost didn't recognize it when I headed home tonight! I'm dead chuffed with how it turned out - ignore the scaffolding in this picture and hopefully you'll agree its a smart colour.

Pancake Punter

Couldn't believe 9 months later that I'd find myself back in Brean. I'd been there any n the dead of Winter at the height of Covid, now I'm there on a bustling, stonkingly hot day. Not that I got to enjoy the lovely seaside because I was properly busy today, running around doing other people's jobs again. Just as I thought I cleared my to do list, then I got a request for the ages. Kris Marshall is ordering in an ice cream van for the crew this week, not to be outdone, Rose Williams also wanted to treat us all to a crepe truck... and I was asked to souce it. The search didn't start well, the favorite was away on holiday and it turns out finding a quirky caterer to feed 300 on 3 day's notice is a bit of an ask. Hours later though, I found two ideal contenders who locked in their availability. I presented them up the food chain and I got lavished with gratitude. Just need to seal the deal with them all tomorrow, then I can forget about all the stress and look forward to crepes this week.

Mirai

A sore head was the only symptom of my night out on the town, nothing a paracetamol and a bit of moaning couldn't cure. Had to be fighting fit for the BBQ lunch Louis and Rachel were whipping up. I've never eaten so much home made hummus in my life... Then came the grilled aubergine and blue cheese burgers in freshly baked ciabatta rolls. Those guys are always upping their culinary game, don't know if I can ever match their hospitality.

Bulbus with grub, we retired to the living room for a film. Mirai was a movie I'd heard generally good things about and it seemed to fit the vibe. A young boy's life is changed upon the arrival of his baby sister. The dynamic of the household shifts and the boy is left to accept new truths about his family, as dispersed through a time and space bending oak tree. Tonally, it plays it very close to films like Eternal Sunshine, Mr Nobody and The Tree of Life. The pitfalls in making a film about the collective human experience is sometimes you miss the mark when moments fail to resonate - you can also fill your film with too much esoteric imagery. While Mirai is still guilty of a few of these, when it works, it really works. Special shout out to the attention to detail in how the children behave and move - the lead child is occasionally bratty and to the film's credit it doesn't shy away from this. It's an honest and occasionally whimsical coming of age story with just the right amount of fantasy peppered in. At times it can feel a mite directionless, but thankfully it sticks the landing.

Make Way. I can Run the Machine

So there I was, working in a Saturday. One of my team forgot they were working today, while another at least had the decency to give me a heads up about their absence. As a result, I did the job of 2.5 people. I ran around a lot more than expected in and booked in a taxi for a member of cast, all went well though and the day went very smoothly. As we were working a Saturday, the folks upstairs splashed out on a coffee machine for us. After getting one round in I asked if I could have a go on their machine, they happily obliged..  perks of being a barista once upon a time.

 

 

 

On wrap a handful of us were invited to drinks with the cast. I was one of the lucky few who ended up enjoying pints with people I'd never expect to be drinking with. 

Ray of Sunshine

We had an on set birthday for one of our cast members, they turned 18 today so it was a milestone to celebrate. The decorations we put up in her trailer went down very well, and she was over the moon when she saw her cake. She came onto our truck to offer some of us a slice. the 2nd AD pointed at me and said 'This is the man you need to be thanking, he arranged the cake', she turned and beamed at me. 'I can't believe you even got my favourite type of cake!' (I just got lucky) but her thanks was deeply sincere and it brought a massive smile to my face. 

The Sun poked out from behind the clouds so it was actually warm enough for me to break out my iced coffee. I offered it out on the communal WhatsApp group and our Floor Runner asked for a batch just to offer around. A few minutes later I get a message from the Producer which was literally just a photo of my coffee in his hand.

In stark contrast to the stressy vibes of the week, today was a true delight to work. Everyone was happy, professional and grateful for eachother. I'm glad my efforts quietly made everyone's day a little brighter.

Script Man

I simply did not stop for the first few hours of my day. While setting up a tea table for some men attending a marching rehearsal I overheard on my radio that a scene was being amended. As I'm mister script printer, this was all news to me. I had to chase down approval from the producers quickly before handing the new scene to the cast and crew. Then the scene got amended AGAIN moments after I thought I was done.

Though it was a stressful day, I found a fun job to get stuck into: Birthday planner. A cast member is turning 18 tomorrow, big birthday for them basically so it was left to me to ensure their day was special. I sourced a gorgeous cake and decorated their trailer with bunting and balloons. Hope she's a fan.

Headless Chickens

Busy day on set once again, somewhat exacerbated by the fact out director was constantly trying to be a bit clever with the scenes. Though the end product will undoubtedly be very good, it meant that the AD team were once again running around like headless chickens. I frequently get strongarmed into assisting them which of course I don't mind, but it does make me chuckle at the amount of dud requests they all get. We make it work though... I mean, that's all we can do!