Commercial Shoot

So my 2-day shoot is done now. So I thought I'd share a little bit about it with you. First of all, it was a McDonalds commercial. Basically they built a giant adult sized playland that is a replica of the playpen we used to play at in McDonalds as a kid. They have slides and tubes everywhere. Swings and helicopters. Ladders to climb and of course a ball pit. Everything is oversized so grownups can fit in it. There is even a giant bench with a giant Ronald McDonald sitting on it, so when you sit next to him you look like a kid again. One of the McD monsters has his own statue with his arm out, and the sign reads "Those who can fit under my arm can play". The arm is set at 7 feet. There was over 100 extras all dressed in business attire and such. It was awesome.

Basically my job was to be a spy cam and flip cam operator and run around with the extras getting Point Of View shots. So basically my shoes came off and I ran around the playland filming various things. It was a lot of fun and I met some great people. Hopefully I will be able to get some more work soon.

Here is a couple links to some short articles on the shoot:

http://www.spicenews.com.au/2010/03/30/article/McDonalds-constructs-adult-sized-playland-in-Sydney-CBD/DQQRVJTGVF.html

http://www.foodweek.com.au/main-features-page.aspx?ID=6890

Currently Listening To: The Temper Trap

Cryptic Message #2 and The Fastest Movie Review Ever.

I have been to this country for a short period of time. The actual translation may come out a little funky.

Hello, semua orang. Aku punya berita menarik. Saya akan datang ke rumah untuk mengunjungi! Yay! Aku tiba di Kekaisaran Kota (referensi Jay-Z's lagu) pada 1 April dan akan berada di sana sampai ke-8. Jadi bagi anda di Pantai Timur, datang di atas. Aku kepala ke CV ke-8 dan akan berada di sana sampai 13. Lalu turun ke (referensi ke posting samar pertama) aku pergi. Jika anda tidak memahami pesan samar terakhir saya, itu menunjukkan kehadiran saya di Indio. Jadi saya akan berada di sana di bawah sinar matahari mendengarkan musik yang indah dan menari pantatku off. Aku kembali ke rumah pada tanggal 20 selama beberapa hari, lalu kembali ke Sydney aku pergi pada tanggal 24. Jadi, bagi Anda yang bisa menyeberang jalan saya di beberapa titik. Anda lebih baik melakukannya. Mudah-mudahan saya akan melihat kalian semua segera.

Now, to the movie reviews:

True Romance- Good, written by Tarantino, so you know exactly how it will be. Recommended.

Tron- Overrated, dorky watered down old disney movie. Pretty boring and tacky. Not recommended.

Dark City- Weird Sci-fi. Good. Recommended only for peopel who like Sci-fi and Jennifer Connelly.

She's Out Of My League- Terrible. Pointless. Waste of time. Not recommended.

Adam- Good quirky indie flick. Recommended.

Moon- Sam Rockwell rocks it. Great indie movie. Recommended.

28 Days Later- Good. Danny Boyle directed. Awesome filmmaking, cool plot, but there are zombies. Recommended.

28 Weeks Later- Sequal to above. Good. More Hollywood, but better solid plot line. Recommended.

In other news, I got a gig working mon and tues. I will be one of the 2nd Unit Camera Operators on a McDonalds commercial. It is not as fancy as it sounds since I am one of 5 doing that job. But, it is a huge shoot, probably the biggest one I've been on. Over 200 people and a lot is gonna go on. It pays well and hopefully I'll meet some people that can help me out with future work.

Weather has been close to perfect these last couple weeks of March. Note to all, the best month to come to Sydney is March. Less tourist, great weather.

Currently Listening To: Florence And The Machine

Cryptic Message #1

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life. I can feel it in my mind . Oh, I can do it all the time. Plug it in and change the world. Everything is a swirled. So sentimental? Not sentimental no. It’s like a Lisztomania I think less but still see it grow. Like a riot, like a riot oh! I got the vision, now let's have some fun! Come on, we gotta run. I can’t be forced, I can’t be degraded, I can’t be controlled. I’ll be victorious, I’m already enrolled. I’m ready to go with a lasso. Oh, don’t you know! I’ll make my momma so proud, although sometimes my voice is too loud. I’ve got good friends to see. There’s no problem there for me. If you're having friend problems I do feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but friends aren’t one. Here’s how it will all begin. You ready for a little tale of the win?

My honor fly southward seeking exotica. This is how it starts. We go back to your house, we check the charts. You switch the engine on, ready to go. We set the controls for the heart of the sun, oh don’t you know? This is one of the ways we show our age. It’s all the lovely weather, it's not raining, there is no cage. Check your handbook, it's no trick. Take the chapstick, put it on your lips. Crack a smile, we are there. There is nothing left to fear. Glaciers are melting in the dead of the night. But we aren’t there to fight. No superstars will be sucked into the supermassive tonight. We won't let them bury it. We won't let them smother it. We won't let them murder it. You can't push it underground, not even with a pout. You can't stop it screaming out. It is there to stay. A great green field that can brighten anyone’s day. Its been a long time no see... Long time no say. But here I am ready to play. I’m the new Sinatra,
and since I made it here,
I can make it anywhere.

Currently Listening To: Deadmau5
Recently Watched: True Romance, Tron, Dark City, She's Out Of My League, Adam, Moon, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later
-Yes I have a lot of free time now, I'll do a review post next post.

The Self-Centered Vain Post

I have had no comments in my last 2 posts. So maybe a little narcissism will help with that. This entire post will be in short note format so it's easier for all you lazies to read.

I am officially laid off and I am now looking for another part time job to hold me over while I look for a real industry job.

I winked at myself in the mirror today at the gym. Then felt kinda embarrassed because I was in a public place.

Having all the days free is strange and boring.

Since my Chippendale Dancer dream job can't happen right now, I applied for the next best thing. Topless events. There is a story about how I came about this, but I'm not getting into it. I would basically be a caterer (serving alcohol or appetizers to functions) with no shirt on. You can see the pick I sent in to the company below:

For your enjoyment.

I like that pic.

Downloaded some new music. It sounds good. I have great taste in music.

The sun is finally out this week. Perfect weather.

I got a $50 Borders Gift Card from work. I'm gonna get me some books.

I can't think of anything else. This post was completely unnecessary.

Hopefully I'll have a nice big post full of info after St. Paddys Day.

Currently Listening To: Fanfarlo

Oscars and Some Other Stuff (This is a long one)

Unfortunately I did not get to watch the Academy Awards this year. Since I am in Australia, it was on today (Mon) at 12:30, which means I was at work. I did however follow all the results as they came on my computer. This year was a great year and I am satisfied with most of the winners, except for TWO BIG PROBLEMS. Avatar getting absolutely no good awards and Sandra Bullock. Both of those are examples of pure politics, which make me angry. The Oscars are one of the most prestigious award shows in the world. It is the highest honor someone in the Entertainment industry can receive. When winning an Oscar it should be for your talent not by who likes you the most or other factors.

So let us begin. Sandra Bullock. Has been around a while, American sweetheart type. We love to watch her. She is entertaining. And she is a good actress. Don't get me wrong, I like her. Oscar winner? NO! At least not for "The Blind Side". I'll break it down. The other people in her category: Helen Mirren (already won recently), Meryl Streep (Is always nominated and won recently), Gabourey Sidibe (too unknown, and Monique had already won for Precious, so they have paid their dues there), and Cary Mulligan (too unknown, not a favorite). So who is left... Sandra Bullock, yeah lets just give it to her, we know her well. That is how it works. But mark my words, I am sure that at least 2 other people in that category had a better performance than SB, yet the Academy doesn't seem to look at that.

Now lets move on to Avatar. This was the biggest movie ever in the history of the world. It broke record after record both domestically and foreignly. Yet, it gets no major award? James Cameron is the full force behind Avatar. He wrote, directed, and produced such a groundbreaking movie, shouldn't he at least get something? So again, it goes to politics. Kathryn Bigelow wins Best Director. I'll put it simply like this, she is the first woman to be nominated in this category and the first woman winner. Simple as that. She won because she's a woman. Now I am not sexist by any means. I fully support women having equal rights in all aspects of life. But unless a woman truly is the "best director" in the category, than she shouldn't win. She directed good actors (her lead was nominated for best actor), good actors don't need much direction. Also the scale of her film didn't need much direction either. Whereas James Cameron directed mediocre actors with absolutely nothing to work with. He had not set and no props, he directed them to perfection in front of a green screen. That takes some talent. This is snub #1 for James. This upset me almost as much as when Ang Lee won best director over Spielberg in 06. Why? Cause he is Asian, and his movie was about gay people. It sounds bad, but its true. I have a fully valid argument for that which I'm not gonna get into right now.

So after the Academy stabbed James Cameron in the heart, they decided to twist it. Both he and I alike probably thought: "okay, okay, so he (I) didn't get the directing award, but that means that they were saving the best picture award for him (me)." But nooooooooooooo, no best picture award either, it goes to , oh wait of course, The Hurt Locker. Now I will tell you right now I have seen it and it is a great movie, but by no means "Best Picture" worthy. James Cameron deserved at least one of those awards. He practically single handedly got Hollywood out of its financial rut.

I'm done with my rant. Lets move on to the fun stuff. In honor of the Oscars I have decided that I would like to watch the Best Picture winners from every year that I am alive. So here is how the list looks so far (* seen it already):

The Last Emperor, Rain Man*, Driving Miss Daisy*, Dances With The Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs*, Unforgiven, Schindler's List*, Forrest Gump*, Braveheart*, The English Patient, Titanic*, Shakespeare in Love*, American Beauty*, Gladiator*, A Beautiful Mind*, Chicago*, LOTR Return Of The King*, Million Dollar Baby*, Crash*, The Departed*, No Country For Old Men*, Slumdog Millionaire*, The Hurt Locker*.

There are only 4 movies I haven't seen. So this should be easy. I will keep this tradition until the day I die.

To the other stuff. My job has made cutbacks and has laid off my entire team. Most people were gone last week, but they gave me and 2 others a couple extra weeks to work. So this Friday will be my last day and I am unemployed once again. I'm not exactly sure about what to do. I am still actively pursuing TV/Film work, but don't seem to be getting anywhere. I will just keep trying.

Currently Listening To: Metric

Recently Watched: Alice in Wonderland- Good. Very watered down for Tim Burton. It is aimed for kids so don't expect anything too dark and bad ass. Wasn't exactly what I expected but still enjoyable. I am very disappointed the "Un-Birthday" song was never sung.