"new" pics. from a month ago.

I use that term loosely. I've posted these photos to Facebook and MySpace, so I figured I'd post 'em here as well. These are some pictures from this year's 48 Hour Film Project - featuring various cast and crew from "Goode & Ledbetter."











finally, rest for the guano-covered weary.

I've been having quite the busy past few weeks. I haven't exactly been absent from my computer, but it does feel strange to sit in front of this eerie blue glow for more than 15 minutes.

I've also been well-educated in the nature of bats since my last post, as well.

For example, did you know that:

1) Bats eat mosquitoes?
2) They make cute little chirping sounds when they're disturbed...and high-pitched shrieking noises when they're ANGRY?
3) They look like burnt chicken nuggets when you find one dead outside a building in the blistering heat?
4) They poop...A LOT.

Yes, I've had quite the encounter with bats in the past 2 weeks. We've been working with an entertainment company to document a local company that "evicts" animals from the dwelling-places of humans. Y'know, they'll relocate (but won't shoot) that pesky Cotton Mouth in your front yard.

So one of the big jobs that this local company has is to get rid of some bats in a well-known Victorian house in downtown Little Rock. And by "some" bats, I mean thousands. We followed our heroic bat-removers on their scout, through their "prevention" process (installing bat-doors and caulking windows, cracks, anywhere bats can get in from the outside), and their renovation process (cleaning up bat poo, putting in new insulation, repairs).

Our "talent" consisted of the owner of the company, Mike, and a few of his employees - Tommy, Nelson, and Bubba. Yeah, every company in Arkansas has to have a Bubba, right? They were (and still are) awesome. Laid back, funny, down-to-earth fellas who shy as far away from drama as possible. They're heartwarming, hardworking, and incredibly tan - due to days out in the sun chasing after raccoons, repairing damages to roofs caused by squirrels, and rescuing wounded critters.

But the most challenging part of it all was the heat. We reached highs surpassing 100 this week - which meant heat advisory and a stay-indoors-past-1PM policy. Unfortunately, the high of 99 last Friday meant absolutely nothing.

I started out last Friday morning by hopping in a car with our executive producer on our way to Dardanelle at 7:30AM. Our mission: to document the adventures of Tommy and Bubba in a Presbyterian church filled with bats. The guano falling from the ceiling had caused a stench so bad they had to cancel services. AUW to the rescue!

By the time our day was over, I had been physically pressed the most since the beginning of that week. I'd climbed a 40 foot ladder (I'm not quite the fan of heights) to follow Bubba and Tommy onto the roof to shoot them installing bat doors. I videotaped the end result of spray-foam hardening in an opening while bats had tried to get out some time ago: bat skeletons and gross orange stuff.

I had also fit my upper torso into the attic of the church, later that afternoon, for approximately 8-10 minutes. The temperature ranged anywhere from 120 to 150 degrees. Drawing close to the tiny entrance in the ceiling caused whatever body part was nearest it to immediately perspire. I'd say that part was pretty dangerous - at least for me. I had simply perched myself inside to make sure Tommy, Bubba, and Tim would not pass out and fall through the ceiling.

And last, but not least, right before we wrapped, my last shot was in the space beneath the bell tower of the church, a narrow room with a high ceiling. Its flooring was filled with a mixture of 4 inches of guano and insulation. I met this mixture with an unsteady hand as I hoisted myself and my camera into the space. But at this point I had already had guano fall into my hair, stepped in it, accidentally wipe it on my face...yeah, gross.

All that to say...it was still fun. It's not every day I get to be in a small room with bats flying inches from my face, waving a camera around to try to capture their irratic circling and high-pitched squeals on tape. I'm hopeful that we'll get picked up. This ride has been amazing.

And if you've never seen a bat in real life before...just think: flying chicken nuggets. ;)

sweat, bug spray, and sunblock.

That's how I smelled about an hour ago. Now I'm fresh and sweet smelling as clean laundry and daisies. ;)

This week has been a whirlwind. It was my first shoot ever to work 10-hour days, and on a project that required a lot of attention-to-detail, thinking on your toes, and being ready and available for anything that was needed. 32 tapes of footage. Countless scenes and shots. Multiple cameras. Since Sunday's 6:30AM call time to today's 8:00PM wrap, I've been working as a script supervisor/tape wrangler/PA/driver/shopper/"slater." And that last title was in no reference to Mario Lopez. ;)

I love teamwork, and I hate egos. I love it when people who are passionate about something come together and utilize their skills and talents. Today marked the end of an awesome week. The weather conditions were insane, as well. Today we shot out at a house in Mabelvale (a gorgeous back lawn might I add) in mid 90's temperatures for hours at a time. Crew call was late - 10AM - so you can imagine all of us drenched with sweat only an hour into our shoot.

It was my first time working as a part of a production company FOR a larger, much higher-grossing studio out of California. And for being my first experience, it was cake. Our director, Strath, was amazingly calm and laid back, but definitely commanded attention with his amical demeanor and Australian accent. He was very talented - and amazingly easy to work with. His wife, Marcy, was incredibly sweet, great to talk to, and equally mellow. They were awesome. As were Bob and Amy, our freelance lighting technicians and shooters. Very down to earth, hardworking, and fun to be around.

This week also gave me more insight into the joy of what I do. Every now and then, questions such as "Do I need to stay in this career field forever?" and "Should I do something else?" tend to slip into my mind. But I like what I do. I like it enough to want to do it for a living - not to the point that I'd hate to do it as a hobby, and that's a good thing.

With Ultimate cancelled for this weekend, I'm looking forward to finally settling down and doing things around the house that need to be done. For example, I've got 5 happy loads of laundry just waiting to be done. Woohoo.

I took a look at myself in the mirror a bit ago to see how much I had tanned. I say "tanned," but I really mean "how much blacker did I get?" You see, we Blasians aren't too proud of getting any darker. I don't like looking like a dark African native. I've turned a few shades darker - not too unbearable, but still, something that I won't be proud to show off. ;)

I also went to the 48HFP awards ceremony on Thursday. I was so tired at the end of that day that I almost didn't go, but it was worth it. I felt as though all the awards that were handed out were well-deserved, and Amalgamated (once again) did an awesome job with their film this year. While "Goode & Ledbetter" didn't win any awards, it did make #3 out of the audience awards of the entire 3-day screening process.

It's always nice to know that we'd make some money in the box office. ;)