Life on Mars

Busy!

The last few days are a mash of mess in my memory... I can't decifer one from the other.

But I will try :)

Thursday
Come in early (10am) to shoot the E! Dr.90210 Christmas commercial. Italian producer Vivi came up with the idea and a bunch of us volunteered to come in and do it. OMG SO MUCH FUN! Studio B was set up pretty sparsely (white background, one main light and one fill light w/a boom). What I (and the others) had to do was step in front of the camera alone and say what we wanted for Christmas- plastic surgery-wise. I know, I know... the feminist/naturalist in me is dying slowly of torture for my intrepid acts, but the hollywood-hungry sellout in me is thrilled. Vivi gave us a list of things we could say, but also mentioned that we could make up things we thought were good.

Among the possible things to say on Vivi's list:
"I want botox on my temple"
"I want breast augmentation"
"I want a nose job"

Among the things ACTUALLY said during the shoot:
"I want implants on the small toe in my left foot"
"I want a round, perfectly shaped ass" (said with a VERY SERIOUS FACE by my big scottish bossman Stephen)
"I want anal bleaching, you know... to raise my confidence"

And, lastly, the things that I said:
"I want EVERYTHING"
"I want to augment my left buttock"
"I want to get rid of my 3rd nipple"

hehe :)

Also... my design for the Halloween Conference Room Bash helped the international department win 1st place among all of E!, and apparently some unexpected recognition. A promo producer came to my desk and asked if I could be the Art Director for a new commercial he was planning. The job? Create a miniature replica of the "Central Perk" from the tv show Friends for a hand puppet reinactment of the opening scene. Would I be interested?

Resounding: YES

Due Date: the following monday.

Panic. I stayed up until 5am wrestling with how I should do everything, and contemplating my design.

Friday
I came in early (again) to attend the screening party for the commercials. We all sat in Big Bonference Room 3A, ate snacks, and laughed hysterically at each person's turn. People would stop by the more we laughed... and soon there was a huge crowd. Awesome.

Had a small meeting with the commercial producer. He gave me relative creative freedom with only a few restrictions. An artist's dream!

Because of a technical error, worked until 4:30am. Bossman Bryan let me crash at his place, and then... bright and early at 10am on Saturday morning..

Saturday
.. came back to work to help with- of all things- ACCOUNTING. Bryan is the best boss ever- he bought us lunch for coming in. Finished at 3:30pm

4:30pm got home and straight from there started working on the set. I plopped down on the living room floor and made myself a permanent fixture to behold by all... Chris came in and joined me (he had a comic strip that was due with about the same amount of turnaround time) and we kept popping movie after movie into the dvd player to keep us company.

I collapsed and dragged myself to bed at 2am. I hadnt moved from the spot AT ALL.

Sunday
Woke up at 8am, showered, and resumed living room control. Again, Chris, movies, and work until about 3:30-4am. Again, never moving.

Monday
Deep, drowning despair. It's crunch time! Woke up at 9, worked until noon.... finally finished the main set pieces and the furniture. Then got ready for work and brought everything with me.

And the producer loved it!

And now I am working (til midnight, my usual shift) and then when I get home I need to do the finishing touches and be fresh and ready by 9am tomorrow, when we actually shoot the commercial.



All I want is to sleep.

...

And I'm starting to think that my choice to stay in LA was a good one. :)