McBride: one down, ? to go

McBride: one down, ? to go

Man, yesterday most definitely made up for the shitty past few days. As a preface: Jennie, our 2nd Assistant Director, left to go back to work on "Arrested Development" and Sean, the Key Production Assistant, quit. Both are fantastic human beings, and neither of them were at work yesterday. I was a little worried.

The work day turned out pretty well. We worked especially slow, even for us. That's really slow for those keeping track at home. Despite (or maybe because of) that, the atmosphere was so much more relaxed than it had been over the days previous to it. I won't bother you with details from the work day because they're actually quite boring. Instead, I'll show you some pictures of the last day before wrap to give you some idea of what happens on a movie set:



Here we have Dave (left), a fellow PA, and Matt, the medic, who got recruited to be an extra as a uniformed cop.


Here's a picture of my lady Angela, from craft service. You're looking at what mostly happens on a movie set: sitting and waiting. This young lady rocks my world. As the Beatsie, Beatsie Boys say: "She's crafty. She's just my type [in a completely platonic way because she's married and not really my type type]."




You might notice the difference between a hot or live set (top) and a dead set. One is bustling; the other is terrifying. That dead set's actually a courtroom, not a haunted movie theater, by the way.


Here's Seth's, another fellow PA (Key PA for the day), back and the 1st Assistant Director, John running the show on the police station set.


Lunch time, baby! From left to right, there's Seth, Dave, and Brooke who was filling in for Sean's absence. As you can tell, the picture is actually two different ones I shoved together.


That's me and Felix, our security man, and Felix's 'stache. He's not as mean as he tries to look. You know the type: big man, big heart...big mustache.


This is what backstage looks like on a movie set.


There's the Man and the other Man. We've got Kevin, the director, on the left. I remind you that this is the guy who directed the fantastic Motel Hell. He's a badass. And on the right we have the man who needs no introduction, Larroquette. Note the hanging out and waiting. Also, for those that are wondering: those bright yellow things at the top of the frame are air conditioning hoses.

As I said before, yesterday more than made up for the shitty days previous to it. I took JL home after work, and with a few words exchanged about contact information and the next movie, he handed me $100 and said I could use that instead of my card to buy my next books. This refers back to a conversation--the first real conversation we had--when I mentioned that I was in trouble because I discovered a used bookstore a few blocks from my apartment that accepted credit card. Let it be known that I most definitely accept gratuity. As if I didn't have a high opinion of the guy already, right?

So after that, I had to take the producion van back to the studio to drop off the keys. All the PA's were still there, of course, and the plan was to go hang out at the wrap party after they all finished. I got a ride with Seth, and we headed over to a house in which Alex, the Key Grip, John, the Set Dresser, and Geraldo, Grip/Camera, all live a few miles from the production studio. In front of the caravan were Seth and I followed by Dave, then Brooke, then Sergio, Transportation.

Brooke ended up getting pulled over. She was released, and we asked her what happened when we got to the house. Apparently she was talking on her cell phone and blowing her nose at the same time. The cop pulled her over because he thought she was drunk. She explained that she was following us, showed him a copy of her license because he real one is currently in Tennessee waiting to be mailed to her here, and the cop let her go. I'm still baffled by that one.

So anyway, we walked into the house. Some highlights from the wrap party:

Our hosts were drunk when we arrived. Alex offered Dave and I a beer, then started to look for them elsewhere while we got a couple from the kitchen. John yelled my name when he saw me, got up close, looked me in the eyes and said, "Let's do a shot." And so we did.

I thought there was something a little weird when we walked into the house and saw a baby grand piano to the left. The house was incredible. It had a huge, landscaped back yard and stairs leading up to an overlook of the Valley. I don't know who's renting Alex, John, and G--three guys around my age--the house, but I'm sure they aren't entirely vacated from the premises.

I had a long conversation with Jen, Art Department, because she's from Chicago, and she and Steph, Guido's friend, have got to be clones of the same person. It's uncanny.

I learned that James, Gaffer (the guy who controls the lighting), is a Pixies fan.

At one point in the night I saw a very drunk John trying to convince a not so drunk Janice, Make-up, to hop in the hot tub in her unmentionables with him. When I looked at the hot tub later, I saw Geraldo, John and another guy in the hot tub in their boxers. John had poured some Mr. Bubbles into the hot tub, and Alex was scooping out the bubbles with a snow shovel. Geraldo told me to stay out of the "hot tub lane" so I wouldn't block anyone from getting in the hot tub. I'll tell ya: no one was shoving me out of the way to hop in with these fellas. Also, I have no idea where Alex got a snow shovel in California.

I got home pleasantly buzzed thanks to Seth and went to bed at 3AM for the first time in a long time since I've been here. I woke up at 10:30 this morning, half my left hand was numb, and I got AIM messages from several people I haven't talked to in a long time. I was also hungover. I'm better now.

D