A few more updates on the general craziness here in the Secret Underground Lab;
The visit by the Cub Scouts (a few posts up) got written up in the local newspaper, the Fillmore Gazette. Well, the Fillmore Girl Scouts saw the article, and now they want in too. We'll be setting up a tour for them soon, as well as some other various school groups.
And I'm going to be giving a talk soon at the Fillmore Library, to a bunch of youngsters. The general subject is going to be about Building Things, discussing what Art, Craftsmanship, and Engineering are. We'll see how it goes.
The Movie Shoot Madness continues. We did a two day shoot the week before last, and have a three day shoot coming up this week. And it looks like it's going to become a fairly regular thing for a while. These are scenes for the TV series Shooter, the continuing adventures of Bob Lee Swagger, ex-Marine Sniper. They are working on the third season episodes now, which will be shown later this summer. There are a bunch of scenes in underground bunkers and grimy basements, and our building is working out real well for them. Plus they are also shooting some scenes at other nearby locations around Fillmore. They are renting several units down at the far end of our basement, storing props in them and re-configuring them to be various set rooms. They love the old walls and beams and plumbing and stuff.
They are very happy so far working with us, and it looks like they may be coming in every two weeks or so through the summer. It's somewhat of an inconvenience for us shop guys, but it pays really well for our landlord David. And he needs the income to pay for all the repairs and improvements on the building, and to keep our rents low. Plus, it brings in good revenue and value to the city. And we're still in a battle over zoning and building use permits and requirements. This all helps the overall cause of what we're trying to do with this building.
On Shoot days, everyone else is basically shut down. We can be in our shops, but we have to be quiet. Jon's and Keith's shops are fairly well insulated, so they can mostly work. Rob, Mike and I can't run any machines during the shooting hours. Rob and Mike only come in a couple days a week, so they've just been arranging their schedules to avoid the Shoot days. For me, I do most of my heavy work at night anyway, so it isn't cutting into my working time too much.
During the Shoot day, I function as a Site Manager, watching over our shops and helping with any questions or problems related to the building. They give me one of the set radios, so I can listen to all the ongoing chatter among the crew, and they can call me if needed. It's fairly interesting to listen to. TV Series shoots like this are surprisingly complicated and tightly scheduled. There's maybe 100 people in the building, shuffling in and out by the minute. About 20 box trucks parked outside, loading and unloading lights and sound and props. Limo vans pulling up, dropping off actors. It's a madhouse, but pretty well choreographed. At the last session, they shot about 20 scenes in one day, several takes each.
More of it this week. I mostly stay hunkered down in my shop, working on the computer and listening to the set radio. When they finally wrap up, around 5 or so, the place empties out in a half hour. All the people and trucks vanish. Suddenly the building is quiet again. Then I can take a quick nap, and get back to work building basses!
The visit by the Cub Scouts (a few posts up) got written up in the local newspaper, the Fillmore Gazette. Well, the Fillmore Girl Scouts saw the article, and now they want in too. We'll be setting up a tour for them soon, as well as some other various school groups.
And I'm going to be giving a talk soon at the Fillmore Library, to a bunch of youngsters. The general subject is going to be about Building Things, discussing what Art, Craftsmanship, and Engineering are. We'll see how it goes.
The Movie Shoot Madness continues. We did a two day shoot the week before last, and have a three day shoot coming up this week. And it looks like it's going to become a fairly regular thing for a while. These are scenes for the TV series Shooter, the continuing adventures of Bob Lee Swagger, ex-Marine Sniper. They are working on the third season episodes now, which will be shown later this summer. There are a bunch of scenes in underground bunkers and grimy basements, and our building is working out real well for them. Plus they are also shooting some scenes at other nearby locations around Fillmore. They are renting several units down at the far end of our basement, storing props in them and re-configuring them to be various set rooms. They love the old walls and beams and plumbing and stuff.
They are very happy so far working with us, and it looks like they may be coming in every two weeks or so through the summer. It's somewhat of an inconvenience for us shop guys, but it pays really well for our landlord David. And he needs the income to pay for all the repairs and improvements on the building, and to keep our rents low. Plus, it brings in good revenue and value to the city. And we're still in a battle over zoning and building use permits and requirements. This all helps the overall cause of what we're trying to do with this building.
On Shoot days, everyone else is basically shut down. We can be in our shops, but we have to be quiet. Jon's and Keith's shops are fairly well insulated, so they can mostly work. Rob, Mike and I can't run any machines during the shooting hours. Rob and Mike only come in a couple days a week, so they've just been arranging their schedules to avoid the Shoot days. For me, I do most of my heavy work at night anyway, so it isn't cutting into my working time too much.
During the Shoot day, I function as a Site Manager, watching over our shops and helping with any questions or problems related to the building. They give me one of the set radios, so I can listen to all the ongoing chatter among the crew, and they can call me if needed. It's fairly interesting to listen to. TV Series shoots like this are surprisingly complicated and tightly scheduled. There's maybe 100 people in the building, shuffling in and out by the minute. About 20 box trucks parked outside, loading and unloading lights and sound and props. Limo vans pulling up, dropping off actors. It's a madhouse, but pretty well choreographed. At the last session, they shot about 20 scenes in one day, several takes each.
More of it this week. I mostly stay hunkered down in my shop, working on the computer and listening to the set radio. When they finally wrap up, around 5 or so, the place empties out in a half hour. All the people and trucks vanish. Suddenly the building is quiet again. Then I can take a quick nap, and get back to work building basses!
