michelleroca.com

This past weekend, I PAed on a VH1 shoot that came to Orlando called “Bongos 3.”  This is your typical reality dating show with the difference being that this season, instead of staying in a house or mansion, they toured America.  Vying for the affection of the bachelor, the girls stopped in major and not so major cities- which should prove to be an interesting back drop for new challenges like truck stop olympics or dance contests on top of the St. Louis arch.

Aside from my car overheating and breaking down every day (I even got pulled over for it), the shoot was pretty exciting.  My first “dating” reality show and first time on a project that shot for 24 hours/day, was tiring but exhilarating none-the-less.  Working the 2PM - 2AM shift, I was lucky enough to catch on-set action in between doing transpo runs and completing odd jobs for the Production Office.  Having such a talented, seasoned group of PAs that really teamed together to make sure everyone had what they needed made everything run a lot smoother.   Shooting in City Walk and at the Hard Rock Hotel, our crew was pretty massive for crowd control and logging the reality as unfolded.  Much to my surprise, the reality (well, most of it) wasn’t scripted like I had anticipated it would be, based on what you hear about other reality shows.  Most of the craziness stemmed from the multiple crews they had running around making sure they had the necessary coverage.  

Best moments were transporting the crew from Hard Rock back to the Gaylord Palms Resort (where the out of town crew was put up), and getting to chat with everyone about their different experiences on set back in LA, New York and a few other places.  I know it’s crunchy, but after a long day, it was the smack talking, some times nostalgic and often humorous anecdotes from the crew that kept me alert and productive, and the overall morale high on and off set.   Fast-paced without a moment to rest, this shoot went by quickly.  Even though it was a nice break from school, I am more than ready to get back to not being nocturnal.  Excited for the next gig to come to town…

Overall Rating: 3/10

Last night, I saw Peter Sollett’s Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.  This film reeked of Juno inspired witty catch phrases, trendy indie music references and awkward (not endearing) acting.  Unfortunately, I’ll have to admit that I wanted to see this film because of Michael Cera.  I wish there was a better reason, but I might as well be honest.  Ever since Arrested Development stopped airing, I have to settle on getting my Cera fix in other ways.  It’s not like I held high expectations for a film that so clearly seemed to depend on the recent success of Jason Reitman’s  Juno to draw audience.  However, I hoped that it would have been better.

Not a shade more or less dorky and hopeless than he was in Superbad, was Nick (Michael Cera): a pathetic guy who was dumped by his bitchy girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dzniena) who he couldn’t seem to get over.  In an attempt to win her back, he proceeds to embarrass himself by burning her mix CDs- a move that garnered an “unexpected” interest from Norah: cue likeable slightly obscure girl (Kat Dennings).

When Nick plays a gig with his bandmates at some club, both Norah and Tris happen to be there rockin’ out to his out there music.  In a move to one-up Tris, Norah talks to Nick and convinces him to play boyfriend/girlfriend with her.  And this basically sets up the film for expected, ritual and cliche events that are pawned off as “unusual and quirky” New York night time frenzy.  Amidst the gum motif that seems to travel every where from the toilet to a few different people’s mouths, and the superstar band “Fuzzy” hype, there exists a few romantically awkward and sweet moments that don’t seem so forced between Nick and Norah.  The seemingly disorganized plot points contribute to the films jumbled, on-the-fly feel, and ultimately provide a PG glimpse at life in New York on the indie music scene between two off-beat teens who grow to appreciate each other’s nuances during the evening the film takes place.

In this case, the novel was probably better.

This past Sunday, we wrapped on Jesse Chapman’s senior thesis film:

“The Exposition Report”

Being the first Capstone to shoot this semester, we were a little nervous about how things would pan out.  Albeit, it was one of the more simple shorts production-wise, but our crew had an entire summer to get rusty, so there’s was really no telling how the first day would go.

After a few (minor) set backs with working the TelePrompTer, the Projector, and lighting, we ended the day on a parody of a Mac commercial scene that raised our spirits and had us all laughing uncontrollably.  The acting was phenomenal and it’ll be difficult for Jesse to settle on just one 30 second cut for the film.  It took almost an hour to set proper lighting for the News Anchor scene (see David above, Writer/Script Supervisor/Stand-In) and the Mac scene (see Me, Producer/Stand-In), but once we got it, it was quick moving.

Thankfully, the schedule was relatively light and we were able to make our days (though we ran a little late 2 out of 3 of them).  More details and reflections to come about the shoot, but for now, check out the EXR Blog for updates and clips!