Seattle (SMP)

Dear Reader

It is late afternoon, the Grape Vine is behind me, and it is so named because Interstate 5 winds down the grade like a grape vine. In winter time this pass at 4000 feet turns into a winter wonderland, that means the Grape Vine, the main artery north and south out or in of Los Angeles, closes, usually for a few hours, sometimes days. I live about fortify-five minutes from the Grape Vine, so if I want to play in the snow, I do not have to travel very far for such an experience. The San Joaquin Valley is on my horizon; this is some of the most fertile land in California for agriculture. The ride from the bottom of the Grape Vine to Sacramento is very boring, I use this time to make a sandwich, take a nap, access the Internet, it is amazing how advance cruise control is today.

My goal tonight is to make it to the Flying J, just south of Sacramento, I stop a couple of times to top off my tank and stretch my legs. Around 9 pm I pull into the Flying J, there are several motor homes and trailers parked there for the night. It takes me about five minutes to set up my bed and about fifteen minutes to reach a deep sleep. The reason I like the Flying J, it is very RV friendly; most J’s have dump stations with fresh water, motor home supplies, fuel and a safe place to park overnight.

At 5:15 the next morning I am on the road again, a full tank of fuel and some beautiful country ahead of me. I decide to set the cruise control to 60 to conserve on fuel, for the next eight hours I will be traveling through several passes, unlike my last trip to Seattle, snow should not be a factor in my trip. I fuel up in Weed, California; I will not fuel again until I reach Portland. I can go almost 1000 miles on tank of fuel, usually I fuel up every quarter to a half of a tank, the reason, if I let the fuel tank get under a half, I cannot use my generator and also I do not want the injectors to suck up debris on the bottom of the tank. At 3:30 in the afternoon I reach my destination, Jubitz truck stop, just north of Portland. This is the ultimate truck stop; there is a truck wash, truck repair shop, a restaurant, a clinic, a post office, a store, a movie theatre, a barbershop, a hotel, everything one would want in a truck stop. My motor home was covered in bugs, so I decided to have my rig washed, next I top off the tank, then it was time to fill up my tank, my stomach. I dined on ribs, coleslaw and baked beans, my waitress convinced me to try the apple crisp with whipped cream, and it was awesome. Though, I was tired I decided to see a movie, I watched “Wild at Heart”, I really liked this movie, and I understand why Jeff Bridges won the academy award for his performance in this movie.

If I had wanted to, I could have made it to Seattle that night, my shoot was not until Monday morning and I did not want to pay for an extra day at an RV park, so this why I decided to stay in Portland. After a big breakfast, as Willie Nelson says, “I’m on the road again”, by 11:30 am, I pull into one the few RV friendly fuel stations in Seattle and top off my tank, in fifteen minutes I was in Bellevue. The rest of the afternoon, I clean the RV and pick up supplies, as a light rain falls from the sky.

In my travels the worst traffic I have even been in; is in and near San Francisco, a month ago, it took me four hours to travel sixty miles, according to the “locals” this is normal. In Seattle, no stranger to traffic, the commute to the EMP in Seattle, took me less than thirty minutes to travel sixteen miles, of course I left at 5:30 in the morning, the same trip would had taken me an extra twenty minutes. Last week in Oakland, it took me an hour and a half to travel 6.4 miles; part of the problem is the tollbooth. This is the twenty-first century; tollbooth should be in museums, not on bridges, which brings traffic to a crawl. I think some smart person like Steve Jobs should be employed by the State of California to solve this problem, maybe the “toll pad”? Actually there is FasTrak, unfortunately, it seems most people do not take advantage of FasTrak, instead most pay cash.

A myth about Seattle, Seattle gets a lot of rain. False, Seattle averages 37.1 inches of rain, that is less rain than Atlanta, New York and most of the Eastern Seaboard. Today the weather is a combination, cloudy, rainy and sunny. I set up the motor home, made coffee and get the crew situated. We are located in the parking lot of the SMP (Sound Music Experience) museum, if one has never been to this museum, one should visit it. Seattle is known for music, and this museum exemplifies the music scene in Seattle and how it has influenced rock, folk, jazz and classical music. I could not have asked for a better location, there is also the Space Needle, the children museum, the monorail, which takes you to within walking distance of Pike’s Market and a water front view of Puget Sound. Across the street is the Duck tour; I am not talking about water foul, rather a bus type vehicle that travels on land and water for a two-hour tour of Seattle and the surrounding area.

What makes the SMP so interesting is the design of the building created by renowned architect Frank Gehry, who also designed the Disney Center in Los Angeles. The building is supposed to look like a guitar with a lot of round angles and hues. From a photographic perspective the building gives an abundance of options for shooting. Our team spent three days at this location, with no shortage of background ideas.

I have a music video the next day and back to Los Angeles for my next adventure.

San Francisco Part I

Dear Reader

As I made my way up California St. in San Francisco, I felt like Captain Kirk in Star Trek, “Scotty full power ahead”, “Captain I’m giving you everything she’s got, but I don’t think the ship can take anymore.” My 8.3 Cummins engine was running at full power, the mighty Ambassador struggled to climb the 15% grade. The light changes to red, I engaged the parking brake, hoping it would hold the 34,000-pound RV in place, it does. The light changes to green, I throttle the engine to 1500 rpm, I release the parking brake, and the motor home slowly gains speed. The Allison transmission changes to second gear, the engine roars to life as I pass four cylinder cars huffing and puffing. I turn at Taylor Street; on my right is Huntington Park, an oasis in a city made of high-rise buildings. I am in Nob Hill, a place one can spend $8,000 a month on a flat, the well to do call this place home. The people of Nob Hill are very friendly; they did not mind our film shoot. One middle age Asian woman thought her dog was a kid, as she swung her dog on the swing. Tourist and regulars with their exotic dogs walked by, the bells from Grace Cathedral rang out, today is Sunday, as churchgoers run up the stairs for service. Parking is illusive in San Francisco, the church provides parking for their guest at a bargain price of $11, I indicate “bargain”, parking in SF can easily exceed $40 a day. And that $8,000 a month apartment does not include parking, that is another $300 to $400 a month. This is what makes SF such an expensive place to live.

We move to our next location, a park on Greenwich Street called the George Sterling Memorial Park, just off of Hyde Street. The park has tennis courts and a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge. The parking lot is on a suicide slope, normally I would go all the way forward and then cut my wheel hard left, the incline was so steep, I felt the motor home would continue to go forward and not stop until the front of the RV collided with the wall in front of me. I decided to stay put, we only had two shots and then we would wrap for the day, I cloaked my rear wheels. The sun was slowly starting to set, in a magnificent hues of orange and yellow, in the center of the Golden Gate Bridge was the sun fading to black. Two crew members guided me out of Greenwich Street, and onto Hyde St, a street famous for the San Francisco cable cars, since I was backing up, I needed my guides to block traffic for me and watch the rear end of the RV. A car decides to enter the park just as I back up, bad idea; my spotters dissuade the driver from that thought. I carefully pull out into the busy street, blocking traffic for a moment, I pull forward, I made the maneuver in one arc, damn I’m good.

I engage the exhaust brake, as I navigate the roller coaster like streets of San Francisco, in fifteen minutes we arrive back at the Palomar Hotel on 4^th street, I drop off my crew and head back to my base in Oakland.

Technology and Me

Dear Reader

When I first started working in the entertainment industry some twenty-five years ago, the world was analogue. In the last ten years, at least from the photography world, I have seen film slowly disappear and digital become the norm. Most commercials, music video, TV and features are shot and edited in the digital format.

My job as a transportation vender has changed too; I had to learn to embrace technology to ascertain the needs of my clients. WiFi is a necessity, wireless printing and remote faxing is expected. In the “old days” the late 1990’s, Motorola had an analogue phone that was connected to an inverter at the handset an RJ 11 connected the phone to a fax machine. The system worked, the phone line was not stable, and one had to resend a fax several times, especially if the signal was weak. Today we use Tulare, a digital to analogue inverter. It is the only unit I am aware of that allows analogue signal converted from a digital signal. When I approached the cellular companies regarding such a device, “they” referred me to “Kinko’s”, they did not understand the needs of the entertainment industry, the “industry” shoots in remote locations. Faxing original documents is essential in some cases, especially when one needs a signature. PDF and jFax are changing that need, however, there are times when an original document is important, and that document needs to be sent or received. Matt from Hot Spots (818 340 5481) handles my technology needs, specifically wireless. In the mid 2000’s we used an archaic device known as the junction box, it was green, with two LAN ports (networking ports) with a Verizon PCI card installed, the card used the older 2G network protocol, the best speed I was able to achieve was 500 kilobits per second. The average speed was more like 200 kilobits per second, considerably faster than a 56K modem, but if you had three or more computers on the same network, the network would come to a crawl.

Today there are a number of routers on the market, my personal favorite is the Cradlepoint; Cradelpoint makes several different devices, from the PHS300 Personal WiFi Hotspot to the more robust MRB1000 Mobile broadband ‘N’ Router, which I have. To be able to access the web almost anywhere is essential, I still feel there is a way to go in terms of getting true broadband speeds. I am hoping Verizon, AT & T, Sprint roll out their 4G networks soon, with nation wide coverage, even in remote locations. I might be dreaming, but the cellular carriers brag about the speed of their networks, but when I can access the internet from a third world country at T 3 speed, something is wrong, at best on location I can barely achieve 1 megabits.

I regress, technology has allowed productions to connect with their offices, download their files in almost real time, video conferencing, and access the web from a smart phone or a computer. My job description has changed too, not only am I a motor home driver/owner, but I am IT consultant in a loose sense. I need to understand my network and assists my clients get online, and stay updated on emerging technology, like the Apple iPad and other products. Fortunately, I know a lot of smart people who keep me apprise of the new technology. I do not consider, nor am I a trained IT engineer, but I understand how my wireless and non-wired networks work. I learned something as simple as inadequate amount of RAM installed on a computer, can prevent someone from wireless printing.

In today’s world it is what you know that separates you from the competition.

El Mirage Aviation Warehouse

Dear Reader

Aviation Warehouse in El Mirage, California; is acres and acres of everything aviation, from helicopters, to mock-ups, all sorts of planes from prop driven planes to jets. There are burned out shells of military and commercial aircraft, even a Russian helicopter used in the Tom Hanks movie “Charlie Wilson War”. I could not stray to far because I had a job to do, which is to stay with my motor home and help out the crew.

My call time was 6 in the morning, according to Google Maps, an hour and half drive from North Hollywood, my base. I decided to give myself twice that time to play it safe, I am glad I did, there was a five car pile up on the I-14. I arrived at the yard at 4:45 AM and pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the crew. Mark the owner of Aviation Warehouse and a friend, arrived at 5:30, and opened the gate. I hung out with Mark until the crew arrive about forty-five minutes latter, the Producer was surprise to see me waiting for them, but I explained I missed the accident because I left at 3:15, she was impressed. Because the yard has soft sand, I decided it was safer to remain on the shoulder of the road, which has steel grating. I am glad I listened to my instincts; one of the big five-ton trucks got stuck in the sand. My motor home weighs 34,000 pounds or 17 tons; I am always skeptical when driving on terrain that is questionable and with good reason.

The sun was slowly starting to rise over the foothills, revealing snow on the San Gabriel Mountains to the south. There was an abundance of life all around, desert flowers were blooming, a creek that was normally dry, had water flowing. One could hear coyotes in the background, and birds of prey flying above. Aviation Warehouse is not really a warehouse in the sense that it is not a big building, rather it is acres of fenced off open land with every imaginable plane and helicopters, and as I wrote many are striped down and some are whole.

After I knew my crew was set up, I decided it was time to explore the grounds, of course I had my camera and I took a ton of pictures. Since I am aviation illiterate, Mark guided me through the grounds and explained to me what I was looking at. For instance that helicopter next to my motor home look like an Apache helicopter to me, but it was a Russian attack helicopter.

The interesting thing about movie magic is the use of static objects. This is where blue screen or green screen (known as Chroma key, a technique that takes two images, one image is removed usually the background and another image is added) composing comes into play. One of the shots involved the talent flying a plane, the cost to rent a plane, the pilot and other such cost would have been expensive, a simple green screen and a composite shot, one has the picture.

I had a chance to do a little skydiving with some friends; it is the latest fad, skydiving without a parachute. I positioned myself at the end of the ramp, the green screen in front of me, and I jumped. A second latter I touched ground, this was the most exhilarating feeling, of course the plane was only a few feet off the ground, but for a few spilt seconds I was airborne. My feet touched the ground, the audience applauded me, or were they applauding that truck driver who finally gets his pick-up out of the deep sand. On film I would look like I had actually jump out of plane thousands of feet off the ground.

The day was coming to an end, the director got his shots, “it’s a wrap,” he says. Suddenly a whirlwind of activity ensues. Men and women scurry to put their equipment back into their trucks and cars. Since I am driving the production motor home I will be the last to leave. It is expected, the first to arrive, the last to leave, fortunately it will not be dark when I leave, the location has an easy turn around point, therefore I will not need a spotter to assist me when the producer allows me to wrap.

If you are interested at shooting at Aviation Warehouse or you need aeronautical props call Mark 760.388.4215. For multiple day shoots at this location or nearby El Mirage Dry Lakebed, Victorville is about thirty minutes south/east and has excellent lodging and restaurant accommodations. At the intersection of highway 395 and Palmdale Rd there is a grocery store and eating establishments. For film permits and more information call Sheri Davis 951.779.6700 ext. 231 or Dan Taylor at 951.779.6700 ext. 223.

Seattle to LA

Dear Reader

Normally do I ever have a chance to view a project I had worked on, whether the project is a film, a commercial, an Ad shoot, editorial or a music video. $5 Cover a film I worked on last summer in Seattle was screening in Seattle the day I was finishing my Adidas shoot. Being based in Los Angeles, this would have been a little tricky and costly at a time when I am watching my expenses. Working on a film for five weeks, you develop relationships with people, this is like a small family, you spend countless hours with people and for the most part, the shoots are a lot of fun. On smaller projects you develop relationships over time, or in some cases you only work with people once.

When I arrived at the screening I was greeted by a lot friends and familiar faces, I felt I was home again. I was so happy to see my friends after six long months. This film $5 Cover was produced for MTV as a Webisode starting in June 2010. There were two other crews shooting footage to a similar project across the country. It was great watching all three projects on the screen. At the end of the screening there was a Q & A session and then an after party. I had to catch a bus back to my RV, returned to my friend’s house and caught a cab to the after party. I had an awesome time at the party, a side of me really wanted to stay in Seattle, however, I had a job in LA in three days and I really needed to come home.

The next morning, I pour a cup of coffee, and fired up the RV for a two-day trip back to LA. My goal today was to make it to Medford, Oregon, twelve hours of solid driving. I never try to rush myself, I am driving a very expensive house down the road.

I decided to stop and visit my friend Steve who owns an RV park in Tacoma, when I was shooting $5 Cover last summer, I stayed there for a couple of weeks. When I return to Seattle later this spring, I plan on staying there; this is the perfect place for me to base myself. Tacoma is a beautiful city; unfortunately, it does not get the attention like Seattle. Tacoma is a major port city in Washington State, smaller than Seattle, yet it has some very unique architecture, like the Glass Museum and the Tacoma Art Museum. Few films are shot in Tacoma; therefore there are plenty of virgin locations to create the perfect mood for ones film.

I was back on the road again, the weather was almost perfect, cloudy, but no rain. My real test will come when I hit Grants Pass, a place where weather can turn very scary in winter. I have my chains, but I do not want to use it, unless I have zero choice. I stop in Eugene for fuel and coffee and then I head for Grants Pass, hoping for an easy drive. Fortunately the pass is clear, no precipitation; I am now an hour north of Medford and enjoying an exquisite sunset. I pull into the same truck stop I stop at a week earlier, since I have my commercial drivers license I am allowed in the drivers lounge and watch a little TV and check the weather reports for tomorrow. The weather is not good; snow is expected through the Siskiyou Pass tomorrow morning. The Siskiyou Pass starts in Ashland, Oregon and heads south to the California border. Though I have made this trip before, winter has always concerned me, the road can ice up and heavy snow is not uncommon.

The next morning I decide to sleep in, I do not want to hit the pass until the ground has a chance to warm up. It is now or never, I enter I-5 south and head home. There is a slight mist falling, I am not too concern about the weather yet. As my RV climbs the pass the mist turns to snow, I back off on the accelerator and engage the ATC (Automatic Traction Control). A bus in front loses control and hits the guardrail; the road is blocked for several minutes; the driver and the passengers seem to be Ok. I am a little concerned; my trip might end before it begins. I drop my transmission to low gear and let gravity keep me on the road. Big rigs and personal vehicles pass me as if they are driving in a different dimension, a dimension where the weather is bright and sunny. I decide not to take chances, and keep my speed down and my distance far from the knuckleheads that pass me like NASCAR drivers trying to win a race.

As I enter the California border signs pop up “Chain Control”, I get an uneasy feeling, I thought the worst was behind me, I am wrong very wrong. Cars, trucks and big rigs chain up, I search the shoulder for Chain Monkeys (individual who put chains on vehicles for a price), and I could not find any. There is a slow moving truck in front of me, he is driving with chains, since “we” share the same width, I decide to keep my distance and follow his tire tracks. The idea works, and soon other vehicles are following “us” up the and down the grade, “boys and girls I think we have a convoy”. Sorry I just had a 70’s moment.

By the time I make it past Shasta, the snow turns to a heavy rain. It is time to find a truck stop; the last time I fuel up was three hundred miles ago. I still have enough diesel fuel to get me home, but I do not want to push it, I do not want the fuel gage to drop past a half tank. Finally I find a “Flying J” the perfect place to take a break, get fuel and some lunch.

When I get to Sacramento the rain is heavy, it is late afternoon, I am tired, but I need to get home. I have a job the next day with a new Client and it will also be my birthday. I drive on, listening to my XM radio and taking occasional calls from friends. By 11:02 PM, I see my exit; I am exulted, home at last. Home at last.

Road trip to Port Angeles, Washington

Dear Reader

It is late afternoon in Los Angeles; the sun is slowly setting as I head up, Interstate 5 north of Castaic, California. My destination is Port Angeles, Washington a twenty-four drive in a motor home. My goal tonight is to make it to the first truck stop north of the Grape Vine. I have been working the last three days and I am exhausted. I have three days to get to Port Angeles, so I can take my time. Just north of Highway 166, I spot a truck stop, since I have a commercial drivers license, I can utilize the professional drivers lounge and showers. Fortunately, I have everything I need in my motor home, including a bed and a shower, so I decide not to use the driver lounge.

The next morning I head out, destination Medford, Oregon. The time is 4:45 in the morning; my goal is to make it through the Siskiyou Mountains, before nightfall. It is winter, I do not want to hit black ice, black ice can form when the wet roads turn icy. For a seventeen ton vehicle black ice can ruin a good day, not to mention a very expensive vehicle.

Rain starts to hit my windshield, I slow down to fifty-five and let the dare devils pass me like I am motionless, safety first is my prerogative. I stop at a Denny’s for breakfast at 7:04. By 7:46 I am back on the road. I notice the CHP is giving out free speeding tickets, they ignore me, I am traveling below the speed limit. By the time I reach Shasta, I am fighting near blizzard conditions, I back off on the accelerator, if conditions worsen, I am going to call it a day and search for the nearest rest stop or truck stop. As I head to Yreka, the snow stops, I engage the cruise control and let the Cummins diesel engine push me up the pass. I make the descent into Ashland, Oregon; the exhaust brake helps me keep a steady speed down the pass. North of Medford, I find a truck stop and call it a night.

At five in the morning I am on the road again, I have one more pass to go through and then the drive to Port Angeles is relatively flat. The sky is grey with an occasional showers; small towns dot the scenery, ambiguous towns, until the mountains make way to cities like Eugene, Salem and then finally Portland. I have been to Portland numerous times; surrounded by two major rivers the Columbia to the north and the Willamette River to the east.

The GPS comes to life; I am approaching WA 16 West; now I am driving in unfamiliar territory. The rain is coming down in buckets I am slowly making my way up the peninsula. I have several options; only one includes a non-ferry trip. I decided to avoid the ferry and enjoy the view of the rain forest, the Olympia Mountains on the left and the Puget Sound on the right.

It is now late afternoon, Port Angeles is several miles away, and the mighty Highway101 is nearing its end, about forty miles north west of Port Angeles. My destination is on my right, the Red Lion Inn, there is a large parking lot to greet me and a king size bed to rest my head on.

The next day I put my walking shoes on and I get a taste of Port Angeles. I walk along the shoreline watching a man play with his dog; a small sailboat heads south along the bay. Several cargo ships unload their cargo; a ferry ship from Vancouver Island slowly emerges from the early morning fog. I head north on Front Street; Port Angeles is a timeless city made of brick buildings, cafes and boutiques. I find an old movie theatre, something that was modern in the fifties; a marquee shows the name of a movie now showing. I put a mental note in my head, I

come back at five in the afternoon, I cannot wait to see what the theatre looks like inside.

I get a text from the Producer, dinner at 7:30, meet in the lobby. I retreat to my room for several hours to get some much needed rest; I have four busy days ahead of me and a two day drive back to LA.

To be continued…

Deer Creek Road, (Ventura County)

Dear Reader

It is a place one has seen a thousand times before in commercials, movies, photos and TV shows.

It is early morning, the road in front of me is pitch black, I have my high beams on, to the left of me is the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. As I navigate the winding highway known to locals as (PCH) or Pacific Coast Highway, I slow down, it is easy to pass up Deer Creek, especially this early in the morning. The sign for Deer Creek comes up like a deer in my headlight, I hit my brakes, the motor home comes to a stop. I drop my transmission to the lowest gear, the 8.3 Cummins engine comes to life, I am climbing a 15% grade with two 180 degree turns. I will need all the torque my engine can give me to make it up to the summit, a mile away. The CHP has their lights flashing indicating the entrance to the turnout, I make a wicked right turn, the type of turn that most motor homes would have to make in three moves, my RV makes it in one move. The location manager positions me to the proper parking spot using a high powered flash light. My journey has ended, the sun slowly rises from the east, revealing a sunrise that is difficult to describe, so I grab my camera and take pictures.

Deer Creek Road, just north

of the Los Angeles County line, in Ventura, is a place that is perfect for shooting a car going down a winding road with the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands in the background. Countless commercials, TV shows, photo shoots and movies have used this stretch of highway for this reason. The turnout has a large parking lot to base camp and allows an optimum place to mount a camera for a shot of PCH with its curving road below.

On PCH just north of Deer Creek Rd. is Point Dume, another fascinating location to shoot at, this is what makes our base camp on Deer Creek Rd., so important, we have three major locations within a couple of miles of each other, and one base camp. The turnout, can allow a helicopter to land and still be able to provide room for the production vehicles and crew parking.

For your next production consider this locale and if you need motor homes, portable restrooms and passenger vans please feel free to call me (Mike Green @ 818 317 7099). If you just have questions about locations I have a growing library of locations pictures.