Camera Volunteering

My close friend and door stopper to the film industry has signed on to work with a company for four movies. I don't know all the details but I do know the first flick is a werewolf movie, awesome. So of course I told him I want to volunteer some of my time expecting to be doing some sort of grunt work because well that's what you do. You start with the lifting of heavy objects till they ask you to do something more complicated. You volunteer till they decide they want you around more often. In my previous experiences volunteering they've always ended up paying me. Not that they signed me on to the crew but after volunteering a couple days they suddenly need a daily so instead of going to the pool of potential dailies they asked me to work. Now that's a non-union show and I'm not in any union yet so I'm not sure how things will go, I don't even know if this is a union show at all but I'm hoping if they like me something can happen. I've taken the required course for the Nabet union, I just need a few more hours on set experience and I can be a permittee.

So of course I want to work near a camera, that's what I've decided to get into, but I also don't expect anyone to let me near a half a million dollar machine. So I get the word from Eric that his brother is working in the art department. Perfect. I need to know how to set up shots and really doing any job is a step, art dept is a good step. I'm all set to head out there the first week of March. This weekend I get a call from Eric, it seems he's asked the Director of Photography (a big important position) if they can use help in the camera department. It turns out they want to have two camera crews going at the same time so they do want volunteers! I'm sure I'll still be doing heavy lifting and running errands that have little to do with camera work but I'm ready for that. I'll bust my balls for four, twelve hour days in exchange for learning a little and adding that time to my total hours on set, it's the way it goes and I'm excited. I did not expect to be anywhere near the camera team at this early stage of my career.

My secret hope is that after this week of volunteering, and perhaps another week or two later, that someone may offer me a real job. It's four movies so this crew should be together for a while so it's within the realm of possibility. Of course there is the union to worry about, the filming will have to be going well (not going over budget) and the people with the power will have to like me but the stars could align and the one thing I have power over, people liking me, has gone very well in the past. Opportunity is knocking.

I also have a cat update. We are fostering a cat named Tatoo. He's a good looking cat but he's terrified of humans. He loves Brewski and always wants to play with him but he runs away from all humans. He'll run so fast and hard that he'll often slip on the hardwood and slam into doors and walls in his desperate attempts to escape us, even though all we're doing is walking past him to the bathroom. He has slowly been getting more and more confident and less and less scared of us and this morning we had a break through. For the past week or so he's been attacking our feet in bed, not ideal for us but a good sign nonetheless. Yesterday he was even on the bed with Kate while she took a nap. Today he came up on the bed while I was trying to squeeze in one more hour of sleep and started pawing at my hand. I was actually sleeping and I awoke to gentle pawing at my hand. I knew it was him right away, poor Brewski had his claws removed years ago and Jedi would never paw at my hand. So I let him paw at me and eventually he started licking my fingers and chewing on them, much the same way Brew likes to chew on fingers. Excellent news thought I so I let him paw and attack my hand for a half hour or so. I've got a few scratches on my hand but he's still a kitten and that's what kittens like to do. Plus I've got to get this cat straightened out or we may end up keeping him and I don't want that. If he's terrified of all humans he won't get adopted and I can't let him live in the SPCA or bounce from foster home to foster home. And he's totally in love with Brewski so even if he never comes around to humans he needs some kind of contact and Brew is it for the moment.

That's all the crap I have to say for now.