April 7-13, 2007 - I'm on TV!

I’ve been working twelve hour days, so I haven’t had a chance to do daily updates. Here’s a big ol’ update on my week.

Saturday: After a busy Friday, I took it easy on Saturday. Aside from stopping for a reuben, fries, and a milkshake from Eisenberg’s Sandwiches, I did nothing terribly productive.

Monday: The cast and crew was on-location in the Bronx all day. This was my first time through the north end of Manhattan and the Bronx. North of Central Park, Manhattan is mainly residential, it seems. The Bronx itself was pretty safe looking (except for one person who, it was rumored, walked down the sidewalk that night showing his gun to a couple friends).

Morning was incredibly chilly and I was under prepared, leaving my gloves at home. Sal had me stand by the catering truck and take orders until they closed shop, so I really felt the cold. Thankfully, Gary had an extra pair of gloves he lent me.

Tuesday: A tandem day (the end of an episode and the beginning of a new one are shot concurrently), with two separate crews. I was assigned to the filming in the Bronx again. This was Vincent’s last day for the season.

Wednesday: We were on-location in my neighborhood. Local noise (ambulances, construction) made shooting a little difficult, but the Locations Department was good about sorting through hindrances. This was my first day working on the next episode (last one of the season).

The highlight of my day was lunch. I was put on fire watch (basically, it’s where one of the PAs watch the equipment, when we’re on location) in front of the hotel in which they were shooting. In and of itself, that wasn’t very fun, but several people came up and talked to me. One woman, Sheila, visiting from Vancouver, was tickled to see that her hotel was being used as a location on her favorite show (it was her birthday, no less).

Thursday: Quite possibly the longest day of my life. The show went to the Lower East Side and being outdoors was incredibly miserable. Buckets of rain fell from the sky, putting a damper on the crew’s spirits. While I had a waterproof jacket to bring, I was ill prepared for any time outside. My shoes and socks were soaking wet after a few minutes outside, remaining that way all day. As there was a CVS near the catering truck, I invested in a new umbrella.

Shooting went until a quarter after midnight. The morning’s inclement weather didn’t help, and neither did the fact that they needed an animal handler for a dog appearing in the episode. From what I hear, animals and babies really slow down the filming process.

Friday: The show was back on-stage again. And I have to say I enjoyed every minute of it. The crew call was noon and we went until two in the morning. But Harry Darrow from Art made my entire day. He used my picture in a newspaper article that appears prominently in one of the filmed scenes. How exciting is that?

The first scene was shot in the sound stages for the “Mothership” (the original Law & Order). Having never been up there before, I was wowed by the sheer size and elaborateness of the sets. They’re huge (and there’s so many of them!).

Another interesting thing to note – the lighting on stage is incredibly deceptive. At nine in the evening, they were shooting a daytime scene in the CI Squadroom. The lighting in there is so good, I felt like it really was midday and was awake and alert.

Photo Album 1
Photo Album 2