Operation Firestorm

I'll begin with the frantically eventful weekend I survived and promised to scribe down on Monday. Sorry I'm late, but I finally have some free time on my hands. The weekend went great, I showed up on set early on Saturday but late on Sunday. Apparently either no one cared I was late, or no one noticed. Saturday was just all new, said what up to all the regulars (the people I'd met once before on set back in December) and they asked me to explain my six-month absence from the set. I told them I had school and other priorities, but now I'm in the middle of a seven-month break away from school before finishing my degree. So the day starts and all of a sudden the director Marc and the producer Allan decide I should be in charge of the slate. Now to those who aren't familiar with designations on a shooting set, a production assistant (which is what I am) should be nowhere near the slate at any time. The PA is the director/producer's bitch, basically. We do what we're told. I arrive on set for an eight hour day on Saturday and an hour in I'm suddenly promoted into the camera department and dogpiled with a list of new responsibilities. Problem was, I didn't know what I was doing!

The second assistant camera should be the one handling the slate and clapping it at the start of a new scene. I was excited to be holding that thing during shooting but I was scared that at some point I'd miss something or write down the wrong scene and take on the slate before the shot started. Believe me, I screwed up a lot.


I was yelled at by the Director of Photography, Rion Gonzales(at the right in the pic above), but the first AC was very forgiving with me, because it was a SHE. Michele(on my left) calmly corrected me after Rion would blame me for having the wrong take number, scene, and roll number on the slate. Of course this was all a learning experience for me and it was done the hard way, but it stuck in the end. I remember in one scene while I held the slate in front of the camera and Marc was yelling at me to call the scene out loud and Rion was yelling at me to position it properly in front of the camera, the model I was holding the slate in front of poked me and said, "I think you're doing a great job." Even though I couldn't move because it would affect the slates position on the camera, I smiled and said thanks to her.

Of course after the shoot we all became friends and Rion apologized for being so hard on me to which I replied "You were doing your job, it's all good." Later we got to know each other. The shoot on Sunday was seventeen hours long, but very laid back, and I was more comfortable with the slate that time around. Over the two days we shot five commercials, two interviews and one model shoot for Establishedmen.com. Great experience. When the producer Allan drove me home on Sunday at one in the morning he mentioned the first time I came on set six months ago, which he and a lot of other people found knee-slappingly comical. He started the conversation imitating me:

Allan: Arvind can you get us some breakfast?
Arvind: *laughs
Allan:...so can you grab me a bagel and a triple triple?
Arvind: Are you joking, or...?
Allan: No I'm not joking, there's a catering truck outside.
Arvind: Are you serious?
Allan: Yes I'm serious
Arvind: Really?
Allan: Yes!

Allan brought that memory up because he'll always remember me for it, my first official day as a production assistant, and my refusal to understand/believe my real responsibilities. He was telling me that Diedre, the Art Director, mentioned about me, "He was so cute and so innocent, but he didn't believe you were treating him like a bitch." LOL.
Any real shooting set will provide you with unlimited amounts of food, did you know that! That's right, free food for everyone on set.

On Monday I was with Sharlotte interviewing an up-and-coming Toronto-bred Indie artists named Barry Szeto. His R and B is phenomenal, I know personally because he sang into my camera. Great guy, personality-wise he was very respectful and cheery, surprisingly after twelve hours shooting his music video at a restaurant in Richmond Hill, Toronto. I personally think he deserves the fame he's after because he's bearing the right attitude, which may be unaffected by time and pressure, but I pray he doesn't crack. He called me by my first name, offered me to the catering on set (which I technically wasn't entitled too), and he was very thankful to our crew for the opportunity to be interviewed and give shout outs.




The weekend so far was great, very sudden and unexpected. Like a movie done right it had its twists and turns. When Sharlotte was dropping me off Monday night we talked about our collaboration and she gave me permission to advertise Southpaw in the video interviews she puts up on her page at vervegirl.com. I was pleased with this opportunity for maximized media exposure, excited too! That night I thought about what Southpaw would be. I made the name up more than three years ago and at the time it really meant nothing more than a dream. But today I realize that that dream is coming to fruition and I've been diving faster and harder into my goals than ever before. I've decided to label the next seventh-months of my life Operation Firestorm, which will be strictly dedicated to continuing to do what I'm doing and strive for a proper definition and purpose for Southpaw Productions, a name that has had no purpose until now except to look cool on paper.

-BLOG OUT-

Tired talk

My good director friend Marc Morgenstern has been offered a full-time job as a director, which is pretty impressive but also means big things for me. I know I claim to not depend on people but this gets me closer to what I want. I don't plan on asking him to "hook me up", I realize a lot of hard work goes into what we do, so I plan on impressing him with my own short films. He hasn't said it but I know he considers me his protege. He just let me borrow his HD camera so I have two cameras (the others is Nazeems) to record interviews with celebrities (I'll get to that afterwards). Tomorrow I will be on set with him at Pie in the Sky studios in downtown Toronto shooting a commercial. I remember more than six months ago when I was first about to hit the set for a Saturday shoot and I was nervous as fuck. I know a lot of you remember this because I kept telling everyone how scared I was because of my lack of knowledge and experience, it was my first time on a real set and I didnt know what was coming my way. It really talk me never to ignore an opportunity regardless of how seemingly frightening it can be because it turned out to be a terrific shoot. People were unusually friendly towards me, the producers, the PA's, the photographer all liked me, which is uncannily contrary to what I've heard of stories of showbiz crews. They were guiding and gave useful advice, and I swear I learned more on that one day on set with those people than I did in four years worth of film courses at UofT (then again that was all theory). Since then I do my best to say no to even the shittiest opprtunity.
Tomorrow I'm actually looking forward to seeing these guys again. I'll be honest, I'm not really excited to do all the physical work I did, but I'm trying to ignore it because this is a learning experience for me and I have it at my fingertips, no saying no now. The producer really likes me, I can tell because he drove me and the other PA's home, but gave me advice on what to have if I do decide to be a production assistant part-time. I'm lucky to have found this people, I consider myself blessed. There's also free food on set, and the caterers will be raided...by me.
Marc and I.

As for the celebrity interviews, yes I'm working with a freelance reporter for Vervegirl magazine(Sharlotte Lawrence) as an unpaid videographer/photographer. Unpaid because I've known her throughout my four years and UofT and I'm looking to expand my portfolio rapidly within the next six months (and it's going much better than expected). This videographer gig is allowing me to better my technical knowledge of video and sound equipment, and Nazeems camera and Marc's camera work well enough for me to apply a high degree of creativity to the shoots (mind you creativity is limited while shooting an interview). It's funny how my friend Abdi was with me during last weeks shoot and he and Sharlotte are hounding me about how I want the shot; it's not until I finish explaining to them the layout of the interview and how I want it done that I realize, My God, I sound like a professional director. Look at me! Haha. We've already interviewed three Canadian bands, next week is Billy Talent!
Sharlotte, Crystal Antlers, Abdi.

I realize that a lot of people would desert their companions in the prospect of fame. But when fame leaves them they have nowhere to turn to, unless you have a forgiving friend. I've seen and heard of stories like this on TV and in autobiographies and it makes me wonder, if I'm presented with an opportunity like that would I act the same way? I certainly wouldn't leave my friends or family, but there would be an absence while I work my way up. Remember these words loyal readers, because if I do go missing one day you can rest assured I'm coming back for everyone who was there for me...EVERY one; and I have a good memory so I know who falls into the category of EVERY one. Even the littlest speck of respect or an available helping hand, you will be rewarded greatly. If you think I'm lying, or you feel like I will when I'm off and it looks like I'm not coming back, just know this blog will be here forever (unless blogspot crashes), so just copy/paste the last paragraph of this blog and send it to me and I will reply with an assuring comment, letting you know my promise is still valid. To the EVERY ones, you know damn well who you are, I know half of you are reading this right now. But remember, the promise is only initiated if I get that opportunity. Key word: IF.



-PEACE OUT LOYAL READERS-