I could get used to this.
The first day as a rigging electric on the big budget romantic comedy with the A-list starlet. We showed up at the stage, waited an hour for a truck to show up. Then we went to breakfast. Came back to the stage. No truck. We wait another hour, build some shelves and then went to lunch. Its probably become apparent that food is important to me, so I like the direction we're going in. After lunch, Mark and I, having been left to wait for a truck were not sure really exist are told it will not arrive until the end of the day. We decided to go to the mall. Its a little known fact that a lot of technicians are shop-aholics, and Mark and I are no exception. I purchased a spiffy new pair of hikers. If your going to do this job, your going to spend a lot of time on your feet. The shoes are important. Mark went off the deep end and bought the new macbook pro he's had his eye on for a while. Nice. The truck finally arrived at 5pm. we put in 2 solid hours of work and called it a day. Electrics work at a different pace than grips and we try to avoid carrying heavy stuff. I'm much more philosophically aligned with this way of doing things. I'm not totally trying to avoid hard work. But I'm not trying to kill myself either. I'm really looking forward to being an everyday electric for the next 9 weeks as well as going forward. I'm not totally ready to declare myself retired from gripping like Mark is. You never know what the future holds. But this is they way I see my career going, and I hope it continues.
I do forsee a "grip problem". The rigging grips on the shows are my boys. Guys I've worked with a lot. They are all awesome guys, but they are going to ride me hard. To them I am the greatest disappointment. A legitimate grip turned "maggot" (popular grip term for electrics, because they cluster to cable like a ...). Seriously, theres a lot of love between me and those guys. But practical jokes are very popular on a film set and I'd be wise to watch my back at all times.
4 comments:
Hello!
I like your blog! Nice to see other crew out there in the blogosphere!
Enquiring minds want to know what's up with yer blog!
Abbey Blue --
I once worked a job with Abbey Singer's grand daughter, who worked as a production manager. Very nice lady.
Very nice blog, too. I like hearing the east coast perspective. I never worked as a rigging grip, but did my share of commercial and low-budget feature gripping a long time ago -- enough to know I wasn't a grip. I don't know that electric is any easier -- that 4'0 and 5 wire banded is awfully heavy -- but I wish you the best of luck as you walk the path of the juicer.
I'll stay tuned.
http://hollywoodjuicer.blogspot.com/
Hey Lee,
I worked with you for a day or two last year on some small film in Rhode Island (that shall remain nameless!) and I cracked up when I saw that picture of Mark, especially since my boom operator was just looking at those kinds of geeky shoes we wear on set. Good to see your blog, good to see you guys are still rocking.
Tim
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