I seem to remember hating Miami to some extent, usually due to circumstances involving the physical abuse from my last job. This time going to Miami was like going home. The terribly laid out airport, the even worse cab drivers, fake tits, faker personalities, and the poorest excuse for hotel hospitality I've ever experienced (THANKS MIAMI STANDARD!)....all this seemed so familiar that it made me happy. (sidenote: when did I become so negative?).
Anyways...I got in late wednesday night, and pretty much went straight to bed (after a bottle of chardonnay in the photographers room as per usual for our travel jobs). I managed to get a few hours of sleep before the 6:30 call time, and it was just a quick drive over to the house we were shooting at. Apparently the house we shot at used to belong to hulk hogan during the filming of some show he was on that I never saw, and is now owned by some dude called michael bay who directed transformers. Not that great of a movie, and I have to say he doesn't have that great of taste in home decor either.
But who am I to judge.....I don't have a ridiculously inconvenient "bet you can't get to my front door" stepping stone labyrinth (I might be exaggerating, but you try lugging 500 pounds in oversized equipment cases across this bitch) .
This was a particularly ambitious shoot, because we were shooting the same model for two days, doing the same shots both days. Why you ask? Well it sounds a little cliche, but we were putting the model dressed as two people in the same frame. This proved difficult because Michael REFUSED to have any tape put on his floor, and how are we supposed to relight 12 shots without knowing where everything was? Thank god our local assistant JP (awesome dude...I've worked with him a few times) came up with the idea to use stickies. Suck on that location managers. On my end, I got to do some great overlays to have while we were shooting the second day that really helped move the shoot along, and it was great to have everyone on set realize how hard I work everyday. It was just that they could see my work as we were shooting that made them realize that I'm not JUST a computer geek. Actually lets be honest. Thats pretty much me. All the time. Everyday.
I hate to jinx things like this before they go to print, but the shoot went fucking perfectly and I would love to post the comps I did of the final images, but that just wouldn't be right. I will however put a few of the images where I was a stand-in, and acting like the badass i'm clearly not.....
The nights during this shoot were particularly draining. I can't believe how much we drank. Seriously it was embarrassing. Its getting to the point where I feel like this is becoming a party blog. I mean the night before the second day of the him/her shoot....jesus. I'm still hungover from that. Between the AD, photographer, hair guy and me, we drank THIRTEEN bottles of wine. I mean probably three of those were drank by a few random crew members who stopped by, but 10 bottles between 4 people is just obscene. I literally drank heavily for all 4 nights we were down there. Thank god one night ended in a drunken makeout session in the pool at 4 am. I would have been ashamed of myself if I couldn't party that much and not get any action.
The second shoot we did at isle morada for one day and was just a totally different vibe, but equally creatively stimulating(ly). It was a more traditional editorial story, but was just beautiful. My photographer is really starting to take it to a new level with his editorials. Its really a great work environment. MC Chandler (nickname for my favorite prop stylist) built this amazing Moroccan style desert tent on the beach and we shot this gorgeous Arabian story. Such a chill vibe, and I can't articulate how much nicer it was to be out of the studio shooting something everyone was excited about. Things are going well and Im headed to LA for a quickie shoot on Saturday. Then we're off to CROATIA. You know how I love travel and this should be one for my record book. Of awesomeness. Sweet action....
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