day 21 - jack is wrapped

This day was my last day of filming. I felt excited and upset because I would miss the crew and the cast but I was also happy and excited because I would get twelve hours sleep regularly again.

After the last take was finished on this day I was wrapped for the rest of this movie. Then the director came up to me and said "Thank you Jack for all your hard work and effort put into this film". Everybody started to clap. I felt happy, relieved and proud.

Over the whole time I have been on this film I have enjoyed every moment and I have learnt a lot about what some of the crew do and I have gained more experience about acting.

There is still so much I could have written on my blog - there are many crew members I have not interviewed for you and me. Some of them are...
- camera man
- director
- producer
- stand-by props
- make-up
- wardrobe
- lighting
- line producer
- producers assistant
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd AD (assistant director)
- sound recording
- grips and more

Thank you for reading my blog.

Bye

day 20 - second last day

On my second last day I filmed two scenes in a house. The tricky thing about filming in a house is that you have a limited amount of space. This makes it hard to fit all the equipment and the crew in.

After the first scene was finished my Grandma (my Dad's Mum) arrived. She had never been on set before so she found it very exciting and interesting. Having my Grandma on set was exciting for me because I could show her around my green room and show her all the equipment they use in the film. It was also great that she got to see me acting.

We started filming the second scene around 5:30 pm. I finished at 8:15 pm. It took over two hours to film this scene but this scene will go for only about one minute in the movie.

day 19 - lolly day

On Tuesday I had a night shot. A night shot is where you film at night. My call time was 4:45pm - a call time is the time when you are picked up by one of the production runners and driven to Unit Base. My wrap time (the time you finish filming) was 10:00pm. In the scene we filmed, my movie Mum got angry with me. I had to pretend that it was my real Mum getting angry so I could act scared and worried. The Director told me that if I felt scared I could act scared.

Because our agency people from Melbourne (Ian, Emma and Dior) couldn't get up to Sydney and visit me on set they sent me a big basket of lollies and chocolate. I felt so happy to get a suprise when I arrived at my green room today. Thank-you!

Chris - Location Manager

Q: Can you briefly explain what your role is? The role involves;Reading the script then working with the Producer, Director and Production designer to find the most suitable locations for the movie. Then negotiating to get permission to film there. I discuss things and liase with the police, owners of buildings, council and government agencies.
It's about co-ordinating and balancing the needs of the film crew and community where you're filming.

Q: Why is your job important? I'm between the film crew and the real world, connecting the two.

Q: What do you like about your job? Travelling! I travel a lot. I also like photography and being part of a collaborative effort to make a film.

Q: What don't you like about your job? Too much driving, the long hours and if I'm away from home for too long. On one job I was overseas for 8 months.


Q: What qualifications / education do you need? Drivers license, photography, liasing skills and a good understanding of the film making process.

Q: What other movies have you worked on? Wolverine, Narnia, Accidents Happen, and the Qantas TV commercials - I still call Australia home.

Extra Question;
How did you find todays location?
This was interesting. We needed to match some very specific details with the house we are using for the inside shots. So I checked my data base - I have a huge collection of photo's of locations/houses around Sydney but nothing matched. So I got my location scout to look around. Once we found the right location I then liased with the owners of the house to see if they would agree to let us use the external parts of house for the film. They were happy even for us to completely change their front yard. They had a landscaped front garden but we needed to turn it into a plain yard with a big lemon tree. It was quite a change and part of the deal is that we will re-plant and return the garden to it's original state once we have finished filming.

Day 18 - Lemon Tree day

Today was the day when my family came to visit. My grandma, my grandpa and my sisters came on set with me. In one scene I was driving in a car with my auntie Karen and my dad towards our movie house. When we got there we did lines and they filmed from 5 angles. In my breaks I played football, kick to kick with Chris the location manager and Bear my grandpa. I always have Res' homemade ice-cream and today Mia and Roma loved it aswell. When we were finished I took a funny upside-down photo of Mia. I was extra happy because I had my family there. I think everyone had fun on set.

Day 17 - Pizza Day

Today we were above the beach on a hill. We were filming a scene were I got to eat pizza. It was supposed to be a ham and pineapple pizza, but the real pizza was stuck in traffic, so they got Res to bring out some pizza base and they put tomato paste and little bits of pizza base on top to make it look like a pizza. When the real pizza arrived they were on the wide, wide shot - they were filming from about 150m away, maybe even more to get the view. I thought the pretend pizza was tastier than the real pizza because the real pizza was cold!

Unit Manager - Simon

Q: Can you briefly explain what your role is? The unit manager looks after and co-ordinates the logistics and facilities for the cast and crew on set. I work with the Location manager and have 3 unit assistants.
We provide things like the vechiles, green rooms, make-up and wardrobe trucks, mini-buses, lunchspots/tables/chairs/tents, tea and coffee, security, directions and car parking spots.
Once the location manager has negotiated the location, they handball the job to me for all the day to day stuff.

Q: Why is your job important? It's about keeping the smooth process going, to make the film happen and saving time for the production.

Q: What do you like about your job? The variety of places I go to, I work with nice people. I really like the flexibility and variety.

Q: What don't you like about your job? The weather and the hours. It's usual to film a 10 hr day but that means the unit team generally work 14hrs. We start 2 hrs before the crew and up to 2hrs afterwards. Most of us look forward to the break between jobs.

Q: What qualifications / education do you need? Truck license and a flexible,cheerful personality.

Q: What other movies have you worked on? Australia, Mao's Last Dancer, Kangaroo Jack and Matrix 1,2,3.