Late nights

hey guys.

We have had some crazy nights for the film but last night/two nights ago it was 11PM till like around 10AM on set then I couldn't book a room till 1PM, so I passed out right at the bottom of the stairs...! I still feel scattered and dazed, so last night I woke up at around 1AM and decided to go to the pub, which I am very glad I did.

Oh, I almost forgot! Melbourne Victory bought two Brazilian strikers!!!!

Woooooot!!!!!!!

What up.

I have been soooooo busy lately I haven't had time to get on a computer for a while. anyway I will try and remember what has happened this crazy week. Steve's wedding reception was fantastic. I got to sit next to the happy couple at the main table with my family. Tom and Steve both mentioned my mum in their speeches which was very touching.

I got to meet president carter and his family. The boat house is a beautiful place for a wedding. we had boat rides and lots of drinks and I eat heaps of smoked salmon. Then we went to this party (Steve's friends from school and me) at this nice apartment, there were some cool girls their and we drank lots more, amazing view from his roof of central park. Then a lovely girl named Dena arrived, a friend of Rachael. She is nice and we got on very well. That night we all went out to this club and danced and drank more. After that we went to some dudes house for another party. I think I got home that night.

This week of shooting has been so crazy. We are shooting from 4PM to 5:30AM so I get to sleep sometime after 6 and then wake up at like 1:00PM and have like one hour for my self before I have to be back on set. it's frustrating but still fun. Ee make it fun. The extras on set are so hilarious. They eat all the food, they pass around their portrait, they wear the most ridiculous clothes for the occasion, E.G. This one guy, OK OK the scene is an Indian restaurant, nothing fancy. This Italian looking guy with longish black hair is wearing one of those extremely tight pure white tops with long sleeves and one of those black boater hats, not sure if that is what they are called but picture what Rocky would have worn. Then this other guy, he spent 20 Min's practicing fake eating, then he asked me if I could find him a pair of black sunglasses to go with his suit.... idiot! who wears glasses at dinner, and besides his back was to the camera and he was out of focus. We are all starting to show our quirky side a bit more I think- which is funny- we all know each other pretty well now so it is always funny. It has been a lot of late working nights recently and they all kind of blurred into one. This last week, I have had maybe one hour to my self per day before getting to the shoot. Today I have the whole day off because tonight we shoot from 11PM till 11AM which shall be an interesting experience. I haven't even bothered to book a room for tonight as I wont be sleeping.... obviously.

I hope everyone is well and I hope that my family got home safely and everyone is in good health. I am still having fun in NY, it still rocks. oh last night was the first post wrap drinking session we have had. it was cool to see the real side of people like this. we played pool. Tiny table, giant balls, short cue's and the strangest rules I have ever heard of: never two shots on any foul ball, you must nominate the pocket and which ball you plan to sink.

It is insane.

Rainy day of shooting

Today was cool- hard but cool. I got a walkie talkie today, which was so cool. One of my jobs was to "Lock down" or "blocker" which basically means to stand at a street corner and tell people either to cross the street, or go a certain way and not to stop and look at the camera. At one point- and dad you can probably relate to this- it was like trying to herd sheep. There was a school just finishing for the day and hundreds of kids and their parents with four ways to walk, I had to make it three. But i got to use my walkie talkie :)

Then it started to bucket down with rain, I went crazy and ran around everywhere moving sets and equipment, ordering PA's to help lift sand bags to bunker down black screens and sun blocks.

I am starting to feel more like i know what I am doing and I don't need to be asked to do something as I already am on it. Although, the one time I am chilling talking to one of the extras (Italian women mind you) I got called out for not helping.

Whenever I can, I watch the monitor so I can see how the director of photography plans and sets up the look of the shot. The crew is cool and it has got to the stage where everyone knows each others names which is good. It seems like I am the only one on set who has cigarettes so I am the go to guy for that. I am wearing, right now, nine layers of clothing because of the rain and wind, should get warmer soon. We have the weekend off so it should be a good one.

I have a dinner tonight, a wedding reception tomorrow and something on Sunday, (I forget what) then we shoot scenes at a club on Monday. I have to recruit extras for that this weekend, partying kind of people, which is cool as it is a great way- "fitties" as my English friends would say.

Steve's Wedding

Hey guys!

Yesterday was my best day in America yet! Steve's wedding was fantastic! We went into the Met Museum and had the ceremony "illegally".

It was lovely and I was so thrilled for Steve. It brought some tears to my eyes. Afterwards, we went to this beautiful bar/restaurant called the "Boat House" on the lake in central park, had a few beers.

Then Krista and I had sushi (our little ritual) on 72nd street.

After that I went to Soho to watch the Champions League final; Barca came from a goal down and scored two in 10 Min's and won the match! After this we went to this really exclusive Hotel/social hangout of the rich and famous and had drinks poolside on the roof, it was called Soho House. I didn't stay for too long as I had prior engagements. Great day!!

Familigha Arrive

Last night was great. Went out to dinner with Tom, Rach, Steve, Sarah, Krista, Coralie and two of her long time friends who I hadn't seen for some time. It was great to see the family! Another looong day on the movie set today. I don't have much to do during actual shooting except odd jobs and heavy lifting. Today, Piper, best known as her leading role of "jersey" in the famous movie "Coyote Ugly" came on set to play the role of Bettina. She was very nice. This movie actually has some very well known faces. It is great to see the process of a film being made. During shooting, it is pretty long and boring with not much to do but props will be needed again in a few days and I will be back on the bike. I have made some good friends in NY. My first few weeks in London are already sorted accommodation wise thanks to my new English mates, namely Piers; funny guy and hopefully Hugo or "prince Harry" as we call him.

I miss my friends and my family but I am so glad to be here, if I was a billionaire I would pay for everyone to come over here instead.

Catch up

hey guys and gals.

I've been so busy recently, since the fundraiser I have had some great nights. NY rocks so much. The people here are so friendly! I got my bike stuck in the turnstile at the subway and like 3 dudes missed their train to help me get it out. Last night, me and these cool english people wanted to watch the Danny hattan fight and we went to this little pub and asked if they would show the game, they weren't. this barman spent about 10 mins calling other bars, his competition asking around if other bars were holding the fight and if there was no cover charge. what a legend!!!! had some good night on the town. watched the FA cup the other day! second best game I have seen in a year! (australia vs uruguay being the best) gerrard!!!! what a legend, what a goal!! we won. I have been running around all day every day finding and making props. ummm, I know I am missing alot of cool things that have happened in the last couple of days but there has been so much stuff. I tell you what I hate; hot sweedish girs who like you but have a boyfriend back in sweeden who they will see tomorow. It's unfair. Went to this cool cuban, salsa dancing place the other night, it was fantastic, had heaps of fun. Catch ya later.

Fundraiser

hi,

...last night was cool, went out to the fundraiser for the movie. Lots of people, a massive loft with free drinks, met some cool people, the view was great. Went out for dinner with some people to Bono's restaurant, some woman bought my dinner which was very kind. Still tired today as we had a late night partying with some Swedish lasses.
I spent much of today (10th) working on Ajay's apartment, using a tub of tea to make the walls look "aged". I thought I did a good job. Tonight, I am going to go to the gym with Steve which shall be a bit of fun. I have a bike I got for $40 and the biggest baddest chain and lock you've ever seen. ...and I also have a phone now. So, everything is running smoothly for me now, just very busy and tired all the time,

Jake.

...tired

Hello all,

 

I'm pretty tired and have been drinking a lot with late nights. The other night I met these cool people.  two ex crack dealers who were in jail, a nice black girl and a Hispanic girl. We hung out and had some beers- it was cool. They were really nice and invited me to this big party out in Brooklyn, I didn't go because my head was still hurting from the night before and Brooklyn is far away... and they were honest to me and said it could be very dangerous for me at this party/club. I spent the whole day painting an apartment for one of the sets. Ajay's (the director, writer, star) girlfriend is Heather Burns. She's cool. She was Miss Rhode Island in Miss Congeniality, amongst other things. Last night slept at a little place in Harlem. Two English guys and I rocked up at around 3am in the morning and it was safe. I actually feel safer in NY than I do in Melbourne. Anyway, I am off to rest my weary legs for a bit.

Funny as..

just went past the apple shop so I thought I'd just say a quick word.
I got $100 to buy an assortment of props. I am skating round Manhattan with all sorts: bicarb soda, flour, cigars and this crazy Chinese herbal stuff that kind of looks like weed. Glad Wrap and hundreds of gram bags... Not to mention my pad full of things like, and I quote: "weed, coke heroin: - bicarb soda, glucose" If I get arrested I hope they give me my one phone call, with which i could clear my name. It's pretty good fun. Now, I'm off to buy a carton of cigs, bye!

Props

Well it seems as though I have even more to do for this movie. I, along with Steve are in charge of all the props, which is everything from "hospital tags" to "flat screen TV', even a "jar jar binks collectors jar" basically everything you see in a movie that someone is holding, using or standing around. I am going to buy a cheap bike so I can hoon around the city finding all these little things. It seems like a lot of work but in reality... It is a shit load of work. Inbetween revised script reading and importing fake hand guns I will try and get some sleep. Although I think Steve might be doing most of the more complicated props, I will be getting hundreds of intricate things that you take for granted in a film. I will also be working with Steve to set up sets and apartments and helping with the overall image of the film. Tomorrow when I get the revised script I will be reading it and highlighting every single object that is being used. Things like "bag of brown heroin" and "dime bag of weed" should be interesting. Then I have to organize which props go to which base location, and order them. Writing all this out actually helps me to memorize my responsibilities. I am lucky because I am working with pretty cool people. This, Steve dude from Australia is pretty cool.

In the deep end.

...just catching my breath. I came back from the first meeting, met
Ajay, he's very nice. I had a real feeling of "oh god" in my stomach as i realised i knew least about what i was doing. i am organising a meeting for the art staff tomorow and trying to synchronise a location inspection for wednesday. feeling a little nervous but it's cool.
Jake, dont fail me now!

A day with Sarah

Yesterday I met Sarah, Steve's fiance. We had brunch at this lovely little west side restaurant. Really nice food! Then we took a walk downtown through Soho and stopped for a couple of refreshing mohitoes, a strong drink. Sarah showed me her neighbourhood and her apartment. It was a lovely view from her roof and the weather was really warm. All the English guys in my hostel are really sun burnt ha ha. Sarah is really lovely, kind and funny and we had a great chat about all sorts of stuff. To the family coming over; you will love her, she's cool. Haven't seen Steve yet as he is still in LA, I hear hanging out with the lead singer of Tool or something. I heard Marcus' birthday party was awesome! Wish I could have teleported back to Melbourne for that one. Happy birthday mate and I am glad you drank my share. The weather is great, the people are great everything is great here, lovin' it! I heard there is a big computer shop somewhere around here where it is FREE INTERNET so I might be able to load up some pictures if I go there as time and money aren't on my side in these Internet cafe's at one today I am going to the production meeting and on Thursday I am going to the films fundraiser, and Michael Impirioli will be there and i am looking forward to meeting him, he plays Christopher Moltisanti on the Sopranos and he also writes a couple of episodes for the show each season, I'm a big fan of his but i wont let him know that ;) hey Louis, how's things mate. Get dad to help you start an email so i can message you personally.