On Set +1

One of the perks of marrying into the industry is that I get to take a sneak peak at what goes on...without actually being terrified about my job security. Every time I think that Mr. E has an awesome gig I'm reminded that he could get fired over guacamole on his boss's lunch.

So when Mr. E offers to pick me up during work I'm both intrigued and seriously worried for his job. Then again, in his workplace it's common- even expected- to prank, cuss and do your own grocery shopping.

I really detest driving in new places (like a broken record over here) but I'm actually a fairly good passenger/navigator/backseat picture taker, so all in all I'm kind of a toss up on road trips. We drove from the production office in Burbank to set in LA. Now, set is actually divided into multiple locations including base camp and the shooting location, as well as additional smaller satellite locations. Each day a set map/location list is sent out to all of the appropriate parties...and it's about here I think that my small experience as a stage manager would have helped tremendously if I wanted to pursue film. 

Really the call sheet has all of the relevant information for everyone- closest hospital, a small map of the surrounding streets, the locations of all of the pieces and parts to set, the names and numbers for all the people who are on call for the day, etc. Traffic is highly regulated by a single security officer and a network of trailers- no stars on the door but the porta-potty I used was one of the nicest I've ever been in. Mr. E has to tag his car with a "Wish I Was Here" card so he passes scrutiny.

Apparently in LA there are all sorts of yellow signs up on the lightposts- this direct you to a film set! Once you notice them you'll start to see them everywhere. They're semi-coded as initials so Wish I Was Here became WIWH. I spotted another for C6- any ideas??

We stopped by a satellite location to drop off some high-res photographs that the Visual Effects (that's VFX, guys) made for the artist. There were two retaining walls in a residential neighborhood that the city permitted to be spray-painted for the movie. I can only imagine how much that would cost! Seeing as how they were in plain view of the street, I could resist snapping a picture, but seeing as how I'm not looking for any legal attention, we'll keep it a sneak-peak peek.

Really, the city of LA is fascinating- there are truly all walks of life here. All I know about the city is what I've seen from movies (go figure) and it surprised me that it was both similar and so very very different. Don't call me an Angeleno yet!