Back to Los Angeles for a Filming

Your mom and I took the long drive (much longer now since we moved north) to the LA area to shoot some production images of our friends' Craig and Matt's television pilot. They raised enough money to hire some actors and all the behind-the-scenes people to get this thing done, so we volunteered to document the day. It was definitely an eye-opening experience into just how much work goes into filming in that industry.

On the way south, we wanted to stop and say hello to the Schott's and see the kids. Roscoe is growing up quick! 

We always have a blast playing with the kids. Hazel is quite the adventurous and fun spirit.  

Before hooking up with Craig and Nicole, we drove to Long Beach, where the Queen Mary now rests. Its a huge retired ocean liner from the 1930's that served in WWII and eventually was decommissioned. Now it's a museum and hotel with some restaurants and such on board. 

We stopped for a drink in the Observation Bar, an art-deco themed bar fitting of the Queen Mary's era. 

The beach city of Long Beach from the bow of the Queen. 

Your mom dressed for the occasion and had a lot of fun taking some pictures throughout the boat's historical halls. 

On the day of the shoot, we took some time to walk around Pasadena, where the filming started. We always sniff out a good place for a beer for me and a good place for books, antiques, or home stuff for her. 

This is the crew of the filming. Craig's telling me to get out of the way because I'm standing in the line of shooting. It was very interesting watching all the work that goes into each small segment of film. Hair and make-up, wardrobe decisions, the time of day and the natural light was a huge deal, not to mention all the pre-planning that goes into securing a location, hiring the people to do the job, raising money for the equipment, etc. It was exhausting! They shot from 10 in the morning until after 1am that night! 

The last scene of the day required pitch black nighttime, and as they waited for dusk to clear, Craig (on the left) and Matt (in the middle) ran over lines for a climactic scene with the third principal guy, a good actor they auditioned for this role. It took a while to get it just right and their discussions about how to do all of this were fascinating. The work of actors in this industry is indeed a bizarre one.