On Thursday, I took my short film down to NYU to show Stephanie, and her boyfriend Mark happened to be there as well. We screened it in one of their film school’s screening rooms, and I’m not sure how to respond. They didn’t laugh once. I saw them smile at several parts, and they insist it was pretty good and they didn’t really have anything negative to say about it, but… It was supposed to be a comedy. Now I’m left wondering if they just don’t laugh, or if my film isn’t funny, or what my film is supposed to be if it’s good but not funny, or… I don’t know. Just a weird experience.

Luckily, work this week was rather enjoyable. After having spent about 10 hours on the set last Sunday, I came in late on Monday to load seven tapes on to the Avid. It was easy and I managed to create some downtime to play with the timeline, trying to learn how exactly Avid works. It’s a very different workflow from Final Cut / Premiere, but the theory seems to be the same. I need more time on it to really understand it. I wouldn’t be able to do anything of value on it just yet.

Tuesday and Wednesday were just average days, coming in and transcribing, going on runs and whatnot. Nothing really eventful, but on my way out on Wednesday, Dylan said “See you tomorrow.” I informed him that I don’t come in on Thursdays. I can’t remember exactly how he responded, but he seemed genuinely scared that I was leaving for good. Then I reminded him I’m only a three-day a week guy and he gracefully recovered from his accidental slip of concern. I almost offered to go ahead and come in on Thursday, anyway, but I’d already made plans for Thursday that I didn’t want to break. I guess the fact that I’m willing to expand my hours like that suggests I’m starting to truly enjoy work, despite the low nature of what I’m doing. Go figure.

Last night I went to the Rockwood Music Hall in SoHo to see Andy Zipf perform. I’d been listening to him for a couple years, and this was my first chance to see him live. His set was amazing, albeit very short, and he did an awesome cover of the Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. The club itself was a great piece of work, very small and very intimate. Unfortunately it was filled shoulder to shoulder with aging hipsters. Oh well.

I haven’t been doing that much lately. I think somehow I’ve gotten past the initial New York tourist phase and I’m almost treating my time here like I live here. Apart from going to the Statue of Liberty (I’m waiting for a warmer day) and maybe a road (er… train) trip to Niagra Falls, there isn’t really too much I feel I have to explore.

My internship continues to plod along. I spent three days, once again, transcribing raw footage, but only after coming in Monday morning only to have to shovel the snow out from around the rental vans that needed to be returned. It’s amazing how much you can sweat in 30 degree weather.

Sometime either Monday or Tuesday, I overheard Dylan and Michelle talking about needing to load some more footage onto the Avid editing systems, but how they didn’t have anyone to do it, and they didn’t really want to hire anyone new to take care of it… so I stuck my head in and asked if it wasn’t something I could be trained on to help them out with. I’ve edited on almost every non-linear system, EXCEPT Avid. Anyway, Dylan looked into it, and I sat in on a loading session on Wednesday and today I am to go in late (3pm as opposed to 10am) to starting loading footage on my own. It’s not a hard process, but at least I’ll be familiarizing myself with yet another system, which many consider industry standard.

Yesterday, I went with the crew on a shoot out in Long Island. They couldn’t find a paid Production Assistant in time that had a driver’s license (Apparently driving is a specialty many New Yorkers don’t worry about), so I ended up driving the cargo van from Midtown NYC to a small community in the Long Island area. It’s a suburb just like any suburb back in Dallas. On one hand, it reminded me of home, but on the other, I finally saw a place I could see myself living without paying an arm and a leg.

I still love this city, but I’m not convinced that I could live here. Not for any extended period of time, anyway. If I were to work here, I think I would probably see if living in one of the smaller Long Island area communities and commuting every day would be a viable option. I’d be within 30 minutes of the city and I could still drive around recreationally. Parking in the city would be a pain, and I’d probably have to find a commuter parking lot near a subway station closer to the city. I don’t know. Those are just some of the things on my mind. I don’t even have a job yet, so this is all just really big speculation.

Snow, snow, snow. I love snow. The snow is finally falling and I love snow.

...does this mean I need to buy a pair of snow boots?

We all went to the Met today as part of a field trip for the classes I’m taking up here. We were required to go through the Egyptian, Ancient Near Eastern, Medieval and Renaissance sections. As much as I enjoyed looking at all the Catholic art in the latter sections, I was riveted by some of the stuff in the modern art section.

In particular, I saw this giant painting by Salvador Dali called “Crucifixion.” Something about this painting draws me in and I can’t define it. It takes place on some kind of surreal landscape, and floating in the air is a 3D cross from which Christ is hanging. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to convey some kind of message. It’s just… wow.

Work was simple this week. Just transcribed all day, every day. I’m developing a sort of stamina. The longer I do it, the less painful it becomes. The biggest point of the week however, was finding out that this was Taqiy’s last week. He’s been working as a freelance assistant producer for the producer I’ve spent most of my time working with, and he’s been the guy that’s been the easiest to talk to, and I think I’ve learned the most from so far.

His contract was up as of yesterday, so he’s moving on, going to Houston for a few days, actually. On my way out Wednesday (my last day for the week), we exchanged information and I subtly expressed an appreciation for his guidance. He refused to make any kind of good-bye, though, insisting that the world of production is much, much too small and that we’d run into each other again soon. I hope he’s right, because I enjoyed working with him.

Dylan, the producer is still there, and he’s a cool enough guy, but he’s always in high gear, pushing through trying to get the show done, so the time in which I can get to know him and talk to him about the company, etc. is very limited. I’ve kinda gotten to know Michelle, the P.A., but she’s also freelance and I’m not sure how much longer she’ll be around.

The nature of this business is so transitory that it has me wondering how I’ll be able to repay my loans, but everyone seems to be getting consistent work, provided they’re willing to use their contacts and start off with the low-end stuff. I’m curious how much a general freelancer makes, but I don’t know how to ask about that without getting too personal. After all, it’s impolite to ask how much someone makes and stuff like that.

In any case, I don’t really have too much new to report this week. I’ve been kinda cooping myself up in the Lamb’s, trying to get over this damn cold of mine. It seemed like every time I went outside, the blast of cold air made my cold twice as bad. It’s mostly gone now, but it’s still a pain in the ass. The Hard Lesson Learned: Even if the weather is only in the 40s, if you’re going to be outside for an extended period of time and there’s a chance of rain, a hoodie is not enough—Wear a real jacket.

So The Bronx at night… officially a bad decision. Brian wanted to see if he could find the restaurant where Salazzo was killed in The Godfather, and supposedly it was deep in the Bronx. And someone told us that particular part of the Bronx isn’t that bad.

Oh, but it is. You don’t want to be caucasian in the Bronx. Not at night. You could cut the racial tension with a knife. We were white, and we were not wanted. There were random people standing alone in random spots, and it reminded me of delivering pizza to the ghetto in Waco, with the crack dealers on every corner. You could feel their stares pierce your soul. Needless to say, we got out of there VERY quickly. I don’t want to think what would have happened had we stayed a second longer. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable in my life. It was very… very… scary.

I guess trying to find a restaurant in a real notorious borough where a fictional character was slaughtered should have set off red flags, and I guess it did. But Brian said he talked to Ruth, who works in the Bronx… so… whatever. I’ll never go back. I’ll keep to the Manhattan / Queens / Brooklyn areas.

But now for a pleasant update: Work has been interesting. I came to the realization this week that a production company, at least so far as the one I’m with goes, doesn’t actually MAKE anything. They hire all technical workers from out of company. Almost no one in house is responsible for shooting and editing and what have you. This bit of knowledge deflated my already diminished expectations further, but luckily things look to be on the upswing.

On Saturday, I went on a shoot with the producers I’ve been spending most of my time working for. Upon arrival, the resident equipment guy, Assaf, gave me this really long lecture about never leaving equipment alone and about all kinds of protocol which should be common knowledge, but apparently had been ignored in recent weeks by other members of the staff.

On location, they made me the guy responsible for moving little bits of equipment such as cables and monitors. I was yelled at a few times, told to hurry up. So I did, taking the barked orders in stride. After all, if I can bark out obnoxious orders like that on my own set, why shouldn’t they? By the end of the day, Assaf pulled me aside and thanked me for the good work and said he felt like he could trust me, and that was rare. I guess most people just don’t know what the hell they’re doing… and I do. Or something like that.

Monday, I’m supposed to go see him in the equipment room and he might have some stuff for me to do. I don’t know what that entails, but I’m almost certain it’s better than logging tapes, and it’s one step closer to the production side of a production company. All this is just to say that things are getting better with work, and I think I’m actually starting to enjoy it a bit. Just don’t let them know that.

As for my free time, this weekend has mostly been a really lazy weekend, and I’ve loved it. Thursday I kicked my own ass by walking the long loop around Central Park (roughly 6 - 8 miles, including trip to and from the Park). It took about two and a half hours, but it was so beautiful. I’m in love with northern Central Park (the Harlem area). The little ponds and waterfalls and Harlem architecture in near sight just make the area absolutely beautiful and peaceful. I can’t wait to go back.

Then Friday night, Travis, Brian and I went to Little Italy again… and I had the greatest meal I’ve had yet in New York City… details to follow:

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MEALS OF NOTE:

“Da Gennaro Ristorante” - Italian - Pollo alla Bolognes, White Zinfindel
Thoughts - OH MY GOD, THIS PLACE ROCKS! The Pollo alla Bolognes is chicken breast, topped with a slice of prosciutto, smothered in melted mozzerella, on a bed of your choice of pasta and marinara sauce (I chose Fettucine). I really don’t know what to say other than THIS MEAL WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Easily the best meal I’ve had in New York so far. I think the restaurant was brand new, because the place was packed, so we were seated outside (luckily it was a nice evening, 55 or 60 degrees) and the manager came and chatted with all the customers, leaving business cards for people to take. The glass of white zinfindel wasn’t particularly special, but that’s ok because the meal was just THAT amazing. Highly recommended. If my family and I are ever up here at the same time, I might have to bring them all here. No. I WILL have to bring them all here. THAT amazing.
Total Cost - $28 (includes $15 plate, $6 glass of wine, tax and tip)