Blighty comes to Tinseltown

Saturday, January 22, 2005

Wow, a full day's filming on Unconsciously conscious with Gary, Rich(PA) & Tanya (makeup). Went thru a stack of scenes starting off with the nightmare and extraction sequences. Had to work through every single emotion and being in pain (a lot)! Gary had setup a video projector throwing up random images from his previous films. Completely surreal. We also listened to ambient music when we were shooting vision only. Also shot the scene where Peter (me) pins all of his extracted images onto his office wall. Improved most of it and was surprised how I was feeling throughout. Ended up throwing most of the pictures on the floor and building a strange montage. Gary started using a second DVX camera so the scene could be shot in one take. We didn't need to repeat anything as the first go gave us everything we wanted. We then moved onto all of the office scenes with me in front of two small TVs throwing out white noise and interference. All thru the day I could see most of the images being shot thru a monitor the guys had set up. The cameras have a 24f Cine mode that makes everything look like film. Amazing. Looks incredible. Drove home and spoke to James from HJ but couldn't work as I was so tired.
positives: working on a project and feeling fantastic about everything that happened.
Neggies: a long day and feeling so tired.

Friday, January 21, 2005

Had a very interesting (and varied day today)...
Main points were that I got up at 5.30am, trying not to wake the youngster of course, and drove to pick up Iain Softly (director of Hackers, Backbeat, Skeleton Key) to drive him to LAX in his E500. He was quiet but very polite and he shared a few behind the scenes secrets of various auditions he'd been at for his films - intriguing! Dropped him off and went back to pick up my car atop the Hollywood Hills. Traffic was chocka all the way down Laurel Canyon so I headed for the 101 and the 405 only to see even more traffic - big surprise in LA of course. I was heading for a singing telegram job and eventually arrived to be met with a very nervous looking lady! She knew I was coming but she thought her sister had booked a stripper for her. So I had some fun removing my jacket and tie before telling her that I was only there to sing. She seemed grateful for the fact that I wasn't about to get naked but her workmates seemed a bit disappointed - I think they were aiming for full-on embarrassment. Anyway, that done, headed for class at PHW and enjoyed a 3 hour sess with Tony Savant. Maybe an industry party to go to on Saturday night. Fixed up a lunch date with Jack and Patty. After that, went and saw my new agent to show her my new headshots. She very excitedly picked out three which I'll put up on LA Casting early next week. Off home again to see the missus and the monkey. We all had a jolly time playing around and littl'un headed for his bath. Mel has had a revelation about a new business idea which is very exciting. I had a driving job up at the Bel Aire Country Club and was pleased to see I'd be driving the new fully loaded luxury Audi!! Chatted to Doug, the car wrangler (who was a very nice guy) until the client came out. Interesting drive home. When I was unpacking the bike again outside the client's house, chatted to a lady who drove up to her house opposite. She turned out to be a producer and told me to call her very soon - sounds good.
Got home only to have to go out again on a rescue mission to pick up another HJ driver, Chris. Really great chap and nice company. Blogged and then passed out - ultra tired. Email from Chris L to say he'd be happy to introduce me to his manager (who apparently loves Brits in LA).
High: Mel being happy, seeing monster happy, chatting to a producer, working in class, long crisp ride home from Mulholland overlooking the Valley all lit up - soooooper
Lows: LA traffic!