And it's all over. The airport shuttle is coming to get me in about an hour, so I've got to take a quick shower and pack all my stuff up. Our high falls went up to around 30 feet today, which is over what your average performance calls for these days, but it was good practice. Ish and Marque got us going on the air ram, as well, which is basically a pressurized launchpad that triggers when you step on it, sending you flying through the air. I'm going to start taking care of things around the room, so I leave you with this recording from last week: the martial arts guys fight presentation.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bami
I haven't written anything in a few days, because I've had the undesirable position of not being able to talk about anything I've done without a huge weight on my shoulders. I was a little concerned when I got into my room Monday to find missed calls from Heidi and dad on my phone. I called dad back and he made small talk, which I thought was weird because we'd had small talk the day before. Heidi called on the other line and asked if I had heard about Bami, and I immediately switched back to dad to ask him.
Bami had a sudden stroke, and they didn't expect her to make it through Tuesday. It didn't really hit me until I tried to sleep that night, but it was one of those nights where you lie on your back and stare at the ceiling for an hour, then look at the clock and realize it's only been five minutes. I was in no condition to be set on fire the next morning, a statement that Clay pointed out should probably be true of most mornings. I took Tuesday off to answer phone calls and catch up on sleep, and everybody was very understanding.
We did the last part of driving today, and I remembered how, whenever I would drive Bami anywhere, she had a habit of asking me if I liked driving. I didn't really have any musings she'd appreciate during high falls and wire work, because those were things I never did with her.
Really, at this point I'm at a loss for more words, so I'll just say this: I love you, Bami, and I'm glad you're with Bumpop.
Bami had a sudden stroke, and they didn't expect her to make it through Tuesday. It didn't really hit me until I tried to sleep that night, but it was one of those nights where you lie on your back and stare at the ceiling for an hour, then look at the clock and realize it's only been five minutes. I was in no condition to be set on fire the next morning, a statement that Clay pointed out should probably be true of most mornings. I took Tuesday off to answer phone calls and catch up on sleep, and everybody was very understanding.
We did the last part of driving today, and I remembered how, whenever I would drive Bami anywhere, she had a habit of asking me if I liked driving. I didn't really have any musings she'd appreciate during high falls and wire work, because those were things I never did with her.
Really, at this point I'm at a loss for more words, so I'll just say this: I love you, Bami, and I'm glad you're with Bumpop.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
All in due time
Every day, I get about two or three cool or interesting videos to put up, but with the awful internet connection in the hotel, I have time to upload one a day. Housekeeping showed up between that last sentence and this one, and I've since relocated to Barnes and Noble to let them do what they do best. I was hoping there'd be better internet here so I could upload a few videos, but they make you pay four bucks for two hours. I can at least compress the videos and write this entry, then go back and upload/post it all.
Our second and final day off was nice and relaxing, and Stephen and I slept in until about noon, and then he went off to do some shopping while I went to Barnes and Noble to use it like a library. I got a coffee and scone and read Batman Year One and A History of Violence, which took about four hours. It was awesome and a great change of pace from getting up at 7 and running around all day.
We went to a park (the name of which eludes me) where we're finishing up the last of the workshop, and split into two groups. My group went down to the docks, where a large open space near an old World War 2 hangar allowed us to do some precision driving. Steve Buckler taught us a few interesting ideas and showed off a bit of his stuff, but not before giving us the long list of injuries he's acquired in his day.
Josh and I stuck together for the most part, switching seats every so often into the fully-reclined passenger seat. I have to tell you, there's no feeling of vehicular freedom like driving a car when nobody cares if you fuck it up. I'm not saying we were reckless, but it was definitely a load off my mind.
Speaking of reckless, we noticed that some people fight as well as they drive. Josh and I wanted to get as much time in the cars as we could, so when two more drivers hopped in, we moved to the back. The guy at the wheel, Mickey, immediately hauled ass down to the starting point, screeching the tires and swerving to land about ten feet to the right of where we were supposed to be. When Josh voiced his concern, Mickey responded with, "Oh, are you scared?" We then began a jolting, screeching trip to the end of the slalom, and Danny leaned down to critique Mickey. Josh and I quietly exited the vehicle, concluding that Mickey fights as well as he drives.
We had lunch at a place that's apparently a favorite of Dave's, Burgermaster, which might have been called Overpricedmaster. The meal was not worth what was paid, and a lot of people were kind of dissatisfied.
The afternoon had a lot of wire work, including rappelling and ratcheting. Rappelling was incredibly easy, since I did the semester-long adventure games class, so I helped out when I could there. Ratcheting was a lot of fun, and again, when I can do so I will upload video of it. I'm going to head back to the room and post this, so I'll see ya'll later!
Our second and final day off was nice and relaxing, and Stephen and I slept in until about noon, and then he went off to do some shopping while I went to Barnes and Noble to use it like a library. I got a coffee and scone and read Batman Year One and A History of Violence, which took about four hours. It was awesome and a great change of pace from getting up at 7 and running around all day.
We went to a park (the name of which eludes me) where we're finishing up the last of the workshop, and split into two groups. My group went down to the docks, where a large open space near an old World War 2 hangar allowed us to do some precision driving. Steve Buckler taught us a few interesting ideas and showed off a bit of his stuff, but not before giving us the long list of injuries he's acquired in his day.
Josh and I stuck together for the most part, switching seats every so often into the fully-reclined passenger seat. I have to tell you, there's no feeling of vehicular freedom like driving a car when nobody cares if you fuck it up. I'm not saying we were reckless, but it was definitely a load off my mind.
Speaking of reckless, we noticed that some people fight as well as they drive. Josh and I wanted to get as much time in the cars as we could, so when two more drivers hopped in, we moved to the back. The guy at the wheel, Mickey, immediately hauled ass down to the starting point, screeching the tires and swerving to land about ten feet to the right of where we were supposed to be. When Josh voiced his concern, Mickey responded with, "Oh, are you scared?" We then began a jolting, screeching trip to the end of the slalom, and Danny leaned down to critique Mickey. Josh and I quietly exited the vehicle, concluding that Mickey fights as well as he drives.
We had lunch at a place that's apparently a favorite of Dave's, Burgermaster, which might have been called Overpricedmaster. The meal was not worth what was paid, and a lot of people were kind of dissatisfied.
The afternoon had a lot of wire work, including rappelling and ratcheting. Rappelling was incredibly easy, since I did the semester-long adventure games class, so I helped out when I could there. Ratcheting was a lot of fun, and again, when I can do so I will upload video of it. I'm going to head back to the room and post this, so I'll see ya'll later!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
The day that does not require an AK; it is good
Stephen and I slept in a little today, allowing ourselves the freedom to get a good, solid lunch without worrying about packing. It was our last day on the University of Washington campus. We started out by polishing our found weapon scenes, and I took Danny's advice about acting crazy and applied it to our group.
I came up with the concept for our scene, which made me pretty proud. I'm not sure how I came up with it, but Meg and I were new to the neighborhood, and Rob and Zana invited us over for a welcoming meal. When we arrive, Rob says he's ready to take the steaks off the grill, and our faces fall. "Rob," I say. "Meg and I are vegetarians. Surely you're aware that meat ... is ... MURDER!" and thus begins the violence. Rob and I fight while Meg and Zana face off, and we switch briefly before switching back. Eventually, Zana seizes an opportunity to choke me from behind, at which point I bite her arm, realize what has happened, and panic, screaming, "Oh god, what have I done?!" before fleeing with Meg in tow.
It worked beautifully. As if the scene weren't funny enough already, Meg brought a bottle of wine to class today, saying we could offer it as a gift to Rob and Zana, and then snatch it off the table as we fled at the end. The other students loved it, and they laughed at all the bits we intended to be funny. A lot of the other skits went extremely well, both serious and silly, but I feel bad because Stephen got stuck with a really shitty group, and Dave tore into them when it came to review time.
After lunch we practiced on a makeshift live action stunt set, the kind they have in Universal Studios or Disneyworld, but it was a lot of sitting around mostly. We didn't end up leaving campus until 7 pm, which was exhaustingly boring. Stephen said he was going to take a shower as soon as we got back to the room, but he lied. I snagged the shower first, and managed to hitch a ride to Rob's birthday cookout with Caitlin and Cailin (spelling not guaranteed). A ton of people were there, and we all had an awesome time.
A few of us split off after an hour or so and went to check out downtown Seattle. We went to a club called the War Room, which was almost entirely populated by Asians. There was dancing and drinking, and Brock DDed us back to our hotels. When I upload the extremely low-quality fight scene and the fantastic demonstration Josh presented in the parking lot, I'll post them. Much love, ya'll.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Another two-days-in-one post
I guess you'd say things are picking up a little bit. Yesterday was martial arts choreography in the morning and then filming in the afternoon, and we got through the filming so quick that we went straight into the review instead of doing it today. The instructors said the fights had been improving over the course of the workshop, even though mine was criticized again for low energy and a lack of acting. I got video of it, though I'm not sure I want to post it at this point. Danny told me he wanted me to go crazy in the next fight to try and put some action into me.
After the review, Dave said we were ahead of schedule for the first time in stunt school history, which troubled Stephen and I. If there are twice as many students as usual, and we're ahead, doesn't that mean that we're getting even less time devoted to us than when there are only 30 students? It's a troubling thought, and more and more I'm becoming skeptical about the administrative elements of the school. We had the business meeting this afternoon, discussing networking and proper behavior when it comes to getting and keeping jobs, which restored a lot of my faith in where this school is taking me.
During the meeting, Danny mentioned the importance of having a professional voicemail message (I need to double check mine. It's pleasant, but not very professional) and a professional e-mail. He specifically used "number one stuntman" as a bad example, so I'm hoping that this blog URL will be taken the way it was intended: a joking reference to a Big Tymers song from 2000, which feels so very, very long ago. I need to ask Danny if maintaining my school email will reflect well on me for my prestigious education, or if it'll just look like I'm a student forever.
Overall, though, I'm feeling pretty tired and a little disenfranchised. I don't feel like I've picked up a lot of new information here, though Dave said that it would take three or four days of SAG work to make the cost of the school back, so hopefully it'll pay for itself quickly.
After the review, Dave said we were ahead of schedule for the first time in stunt school history, which troubled Stephen and I. If there are twice as many students as usual, and we're ahead, doesn't that mean that we're getting even less time devoted to us than when there are only 30 students? It's a troubling thought, and more and more I'm becoming skeptical about the administrative elements of the school. We had the business meeting this afternoon, discussing networking and proper behavior when it comes to getting and keeping jobs, which restored a lot of my faith in where this school is taking me.
During the meeting, Danny mentioned the importance of having a professional voicemail message (I need to double check mine. It's pleasant, but not very professional) and a professional e-mail. He specifically used "number one stuntman" as a bad example, so I'm hoping that this blog URL will be taken the way it was intended: a joking reference to a Big Tymers song from 2000, which feels so very, very long ago. I need to ask Danny if maintaining my school email will reflect well on me for my prestigious education, or if it'll just look like I'm a student forever.
Overall, though, I'm feeling pretty tired and a little disenfranchised. I don't feel like I've picked up a lot of new information here, though Dave said that it would take three or four days of SAG work to make the cost of the school back, so hopefully it'll pay for itself quickly.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Moving right along
I was way too tired to write anything yesterday, so I'll touch on what we did briefly.Yesterday was the first time we did anything remotely new to me since I've gotten here: tackling and the mini trampoline. There really wasn't much to the tackling, just making sure both people go down as one so there aren't faces and shoulders knocking into one another. It involved a lot of running and yelling and sudden impact, and the time spent outside on Sunday had my allergies acting up. Before long, I got a sinus headache. Yay!
The trampolines got a lot of use during the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show, where the shot would show Sarah Michelle Gellar grabbing some hapless vampire and beginning a throwing motion, then the angle would switch to them soaring through the air. Off-camera, conveniently, was a trampoline, and that's what we did: acting like we were being thrown or forced unpleasantly through the air.
Today we started out doing some martial-art kind of things, which in stunt terms is just fighting for the camera in a more controlled, stylized fashion. It was really, really boring, but I'm looking forward to choreography tomorrow. Then came the only part of this school I was at all concerned about: stair falls. The instructors built two sets of stairs for us to go down and then padded us up. We'd get varying amounts of padding based on the jobs we got in the future, but for the training part we were allowed to get comfy.
If you have ever heard the expression "as easy as falling down stairs", you should know that it is a gross, horrible lie. Falling down stairs properly is complicated as hell. The way Jason put it during his explanation is that we can fool gravity in two ways: going really slowly by controlling our bodies, or by going fast enough that we set the pace before gravity gets a say in things. Falling down stairs involves the latter. One thing he said made it seem a lot easier: just imagine the stairs as a floor with holes in it. The edge of each step has a surface to it, and there's some space between them. And it's at an angle. These things are all window dressing, the surface is the important part.
Once we finished up with class, we took a trip out to the Value Village to get clothes for our fire burns next week. Pictures of that here: hope this works!
When the video of the stair falls finishes uploading, I'll post it. Goodnight!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
First day off!
I actually slept in today, which is a weird concept. Before I left to come out here, Kenny was over and talking with dad for a bit when Seattle came up. He said he'd be out here visiting his sisters at the beginning of August, which happened to coincide with my first day off.
I called Kenny the other day and we sorted out how things would work. His sister Sandy got me this afternoon and we went by her place where she and Kenny were putting in a new bathroom. They still had some work to put in, so she dropped me off in Kirkland by the waterfront and I walked around and explored for awhile. They got me a little later and we went to their other sister Diane's place. Diane's husband Kent made a bonfire and grilled corn and salmon. There was a salad with edible flowers on it, which were really pretty but I couldn't get much taste out of.
Afterwards their friend Jason finished up a cobbler he'd made with blueberries from his yard, and we sat around the fire with their dogs and talked. It was a nice day off, and I'm rested and ready to kick some ass tomorrow. Mini tramp and bulldogging!
I called Kenny the other day and we sorted out how things would work. His sister Sandy got me this afternoon and we went by her place where she and Kenny were putting in a new bathroom. They still had some work to put in, so she dropped me off in Kirkland by the waterfront and I walked around and explored for awhile. They got me a little later and we went to their other sister Diane's place. Diane's husband Kent made a bonfire and grilled corn and salmon. There was a salad with edible flowers on it, which were really pretty but I couldn't get much taste out of.
Afterwards their friend Jason finished up a cobbler he'd made with blueberries from his yard, and we sat around the fire with their dogs and talked. It was a nice day off, and I'm rested and ready to kick some ass tomorrow. Mini tramp and bulldogging!
Second fight video
I wasn't able to film the actual filming of the fight, so I recorded the review session. Jason stops the fight halfway through to complain briefly, but he has a valid point. Dave was a lot gentler this time around!
It's official!
I love you, mom. I love you, dad. But the simple fact remains that this is the first blog post I've made while being somewhat drunk.
Tomorrow is our first day off, and everybody had kind of a fantastic time. Right now, I'm not 100% sure where my Roma zippy is, but I think it's with some girl one floor down. Let's do this chronologically.
Class went well, we got our knife and club choreography and it was absolutely awesome. Zack was a great partner, I was less comfortable with him than I was with Stephen, so we stepped it up a bit. I handed off the camera to Stephen to film, but he missed the fight, so I caught the review version, so enjoy the messed up color and Jason criticizing us during a long pause sequence. The intensity was kicked up a ton, and it felt awesome.
After class, I talked to Kenny briefly, and his sister will pick me up tomorrow afternoon to attend a barbecue (which means free lunch/dinner!) and I get some quality time out of the hotel. Stephen and I had more teriyaki chicken, which will probably be a staple of our dinners since we have so much rice and so many chicken breasts. He stayed in to talk to his girlfriend while I walked with Greg down to the Olive Garden where Danny and Jason and about thirty students were getting dinner.
I ordered a martini the way I like it at the bar (Bombay, two drops of vermouth, up, olives) and the bartender turned the bottle upside down and kept going. I watched her intently the whole time, my smile spreading with each negligent second. It was the strongest martini I've ever had for less than eight dollars. Everyone else ate, and I had a great glass of Chianti (no farva beans or liver, unfortunately).
We moved on to a karaoke bar I can't recall (four nights of karaoke a week, completely unacceptable) but Joon and Jana were buying round for everybody, so I proceeded to enjoy myself. If it weren't for my dramatic necessity for perfect spelling, this would be horrible. I got up and sang The Strokes' "Reptilia", which is probably the song most suited for my vocal range, loaned out my jacket to this girl Erica who was too dumb to wear sleeves, and got a ride home with Danny. We listened to his lyrical stylings on his iPod on the way home, including the stunt school theme song, and a charming little ditty called "You're A Stupid Cunt".
Danny is a good person, and I love him dearly.
Tomorrow is our first day off, and everybody had kind of a fantastic time. Right now, I'm not 100% sure where my Roma zippy is, but I think it's with some girl one floor down. Let's do this chronologically.
Class went well, we got our knife and club choreography and it was absolutely awesome. Zack was a great partner, I was less comfortable with him than I was with Stephen, so we stepped it up a bit. I handed off the camera to Stephen to film, but he missed the fight, so I caught the review version, so enjoy the messed up color and Jason criticizing us during a long pause sequence. The intensity was kicked up a ton, and it felt awesome.
After class, I talked to Kenny briefly, and his sister will pick me up tomorrow afternoon to attend a barbecue (which means free lunch/dinner!) and I get some quality time out of the hotel. Stephen and I had more teriyaki chicken, which will probably be a staple of our dinners since we have so much rice and so many chicken breasts. He stayed in to talk to his girlfriend while I walked with Greg down to the Olive Garden where Danny and Jason and about thirty students were getting dinner.
I ordered a martini the way I like it at the bar (Bombay, two drops of vermouth, up, olives) and the bartender turned the bottle upside down and kept going. I watched her intently the whole time, my smile spreading with each negligent second. It was the strongest martini I've ever had for less than eight dollars. Everyone else ate, and I had a great glass of Chianti (no farva beans or liver, unfortunately).
We moved on to a karaoke bar I can't recall (four nights of karaoke a week, completely unacceptable) but Joon and Jana were buying round for everybody, so I proceeded to enjoy myself. If it weren't for my dramatic necessity for perfect spelling, this would be horrible. I got up and sang The Strokes' "Reptilia", which is probably the song most suited for my vocal range, loaned out my jacket to this girl Erica who was too dumb to wear sleeves, and got a ride home with Danny. We listened to his lyrical stylings on his iPod on the way home, including the stunt school theme song, and a charming little ditty called "You're A Stupid Cunt".
Danny is a good person, and I love him dearly.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Armed combat
There's really not a lot to be said about today. We split up into two groups and switched off. I paired up with a guy named Zack from Chicago who had also played Romeo in the past, so we shared some common ground. We went over knife work, which was really just like the unarmed stuff except with something in your hand, and then switched over to club work, which was just like swordplay. It was easy to work up a sweat in either environment, but the technique is all pretty simple. Tomorrow we'll do choreography and that will be exciting. Plus, there will be another video up!
I went on an adventure, trying to find a liquor store out here because I thought gin and tonics would be a good way to unwind after days of violence, and the nearest one is about a half hour walk away. It was therapeutic, and I realized I was walking around a strange city I'd never been in before. It's kind of fun thinking about it like that.
I went on an adventure, trying to find a liquor store out here because I thought gin and tonics would be a good way to unwind after days of violence, and the nearest one is about a half hour walk away. It was therapeutic, and I realized I was walking around a strange city I'd never been in before. It's kind of fun thinking about it like that.
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