2013 is certainly starting off with a bang!
I've been bouncing around a couple of network television shows. Good times.
One of the things that you learn really fast when working in film/tv is to dress for the weather - studio gigs are great, but you never know when the day will send you outside, or how crazy the elements will be when you get there.
Recently, I was on a scaffold in driving rain, focusing and babysitting some 5k lights. Yup, that's five thousand watts. They come in a couple of different flavors, and look more or less like this:
Rain and cold weather gear are probably the most important investments you'll make. I remember starting out, buying the cheap stuff, and being miserable and sick a lot. Cotton long underwear is not a good choice, and polyester is completely useless. If you sweat, or your rain stuff gets permeated, cotton will become waterlogged and lose any warmth baffling it had to begin with - which isn't a lot.
I know I sound like a PSA here. Seriously though, if you can afford it, get the wool. The price stings, I completely agree. It also allowed me to work overnights in five degree weather without being too miserable. And take care of it, so it'll last you.
Back to the rain. It slanted in every open space, hood - everybody was damp. It was past midnight. We were prepping for a special effects shot where a stuntman gets soaked with gasoline, set alight, and runs around for a while.
One of the guys asked how I was holding up, up there.
I said:
"I really wish we could set this guy on fire now so we can all go home."
Earlier in the day, we were doing a whole lot of blood effects and squibs for some people being gunned down in a store. Effects shots take a long time to set up and reset, so we'd been going for a while without a meal break. It happens, no biggie. It does induce me to say things that sound really horrible out of context, though.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"I'm hungry. Can we finish killing these people and go eat?"
My boss snarfed coffee on me.
I've been bouncing around a couple of network television shows. Good times.
One of the things that you learn really fast when working in film/tv is to dress for the weather - studio gigs are great, but you never know when the day will send you outside, or how crazy the elements will be when you get there.
Recently, I was on a scaffold in driving rain, focusing and babysitting some 5k lights. Yup, that's five thousand watts. They come in a couple of different flavors, and look more or less like this:
Rain and cold weather gear are probably the most important investments you'll make. I remember starting out, buying the cheap stuff, and being miserable and sick a lot. Cotton long underwear is not a good choice, and polyester is completely useless. If you sweat, or your rain stuff gets permeated, cotton will become waterlogged and lose any warmth baffling it had to begin with - which isn't a lot.
I know I sound like a PSA here. Seriously though, if you can afford it, get the wool. The price stings, I completely agree. It also allowed me to work overnights in five degree weather without being too miserable. And take care of it, so it'll last you.
Back to the rain. It slanted in every open space, hood - everybody was damp. It was past midnight. We were prepping for a special effects shot where a stuntman gets soaked with gasoline, set alight, and runs around for a while.
One of the guys asked how I was holding up, up there.
I said:
"I really wish we could set this guy on fire now so we can all go home."
Earlier in the day, we were doing a whole lot of blood effects and squibs for some people being gunned down in a store. Effects shots take a long time to set up and reset, so we'd been going for a while without a meal break. It happens, no biggie. It does induce me to say things that sound really horrible out of context, though.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"I'm hungry. Can we finish killing these people and go eat?"
My boss snarfed coffee on me.
