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Stage hopping......


old school

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  Hey Richards..... Greetings.  I may have been with RVD on his one and only trip to the hall. I am guilty as well. I can come up with only 4 trips, mostly years ago. I helped out with an event last year, but it is a small contribution to say the least. The union has made my life and so many others much better than most. After working the hours we work, when we work, it is hard to come up with more hours that we can control/or lend to the cause of the union. It is an excuse, but it is mine. I admire those who can.

  My first trip was now 29/30 years back, and it was a packed madhouse. Mad old guys talking about crazy old rules that made them mad cause the times changed. It was packed, it was loud n long, nothing happened after 4 hours. The other trips were better, but not that much. Now I'm sure it is less crowded. I wish I knew the way to do it all.

  RVD, good to hear more of your family's history. Very deep.  I love back lots and stages. We are lucky and I hope others are as well.

CrewC

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  • 4 weeks later...
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I'm working at USC today on a ESPN spot, and I seem distracted enough by being back here, remembering being a young film student.

CrewC

I would love to hear stories of USC in the old days, especially now that the new building is going up and I'll soon be one of those who can talk about "how it used to be". I was chatting with Doug Vaughan, Midge Costin and Don Hall about the film school when it was still in the stables the other day. I wonder if they were teaching when you went there.

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Back to the origins of this thread:

I worked at Steiner Studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard last week, covering for Brian Miksis on "Damages".  For a couple of days there was some studio hopping happening.  We were on stages 2 & 4, Matt Price was on stage 3 doing "Cupid", Mike Lonsdale was on stage 6 doing a Macy's commercial, Tony Starbuck was on stage 1 on a Comcast commercial, and the "Brooklyn's Finest" sets were on stage 5, though they were out all week.

Fun stuff.

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Hey Daniel, fun stuff indeed. That is why I started this thread. When I first started out much more film, most TV, and way more than half of commercials were shot on stage. Stage Hopping was the norm. Always great to visit ones peers. Time passed. Things changed and that style was replaced with much more location work. Super true in commercials, 80+% in my case. So when it happens now for me it is more special than ever before. Enjoy it.

CrewC

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  • 1 month later...

I have been at Hollywood Center this week, the old Zoetrope where Francis Ford did "One From the Heart" and today my comteks where getting interference, so I sent Marydixie next door to see if the mixer was broadcasting on channel E as I was. Turns out he was and told her that he knew how to fix it, but did I ? I said WTF? It was my old mentor, Roger Daniell, 'The Godfather' messing with me. We have been having fun stage hopping, catching up and talkin about the old days... Great day in my book.

CrewC

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It was my old mentor, Roger Daniell, 'The Godfather' messing with me. We have been having fun stage hopping, catching up and talkin about the old days... Great day in my book.

CrewC

Please say hello to Roger...  I haven't seen him in years and I miss that. I wish I had a job so I could "stage hop" too!

-  Jeff Wexler

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Hey Jeff I will for sure. He says he visits here @jwsound and has started to respond under the "Who I am today" thread, but wasn't happy with his posts yet. He will sometime and I'm sure it will be great. If you were here with us we would have close to 100 years of experience between us and I wouldn't be the oldest guy on the set for a change. I'm not saying who would be, but it wouldn't be me...  His Cooper and mine have 40 years of use and are still going strong. I wish I was built that well.

CrewC

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I've recently been working and stage hopping at Silvercup Studios:

Allan Byer on "Gossip Girls"

Larry Hoff on "Fringe"

TJ O'Mara on "Ugly Betty"

Griffin Richardson on "30 Rock"

And on Broadway Stages:

Stu Deutsch on "Naked Brothers Band"

Work in NY is outta' sight right now.  No rest for the weary.

Daniel

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm a huge stage hopper.  I almost never work or visit a lot without finding out whos where and checking in to shoot the bull.

On the subject of studios, do any of you get an errie feeling sometime when you suddenly realize you are standing in the exact same spot that you stood in 10, 20 or 30 years ago on another show? 

For example, since stage 16 at Paramount was where I worked on my first feature (Foul Play in 1978) with Jeff Wexler, I re-call the spot where the gin rummy table was set up and even where Don Coufal stood when he was pissed off at my worthless ass for playing cards with Roger Sherman all day instead of paying attention....as Yogi Berra said, "it's always Deja Vu all over again".

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sitting on the set here in Long Beach, ash falling from the smoke filled sky's of Southern Cal and up walks a guy who is a sound man. As we talk a little, they call lunch. I invite my fellow sound guy to eat with us. We have a nice meal n talk. Made my day. His name is Andy Elderman. From New York, but now out here. I like visitors. Even on weird So Cal days when it looks like the end of the world.

CrewC

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Thanks Robert for the kind thoughts. I feel bad for all the Southern Californians in harms way. My place is in a very old part of Fullerton far from the fires and chaos. Ash n smoke are thick, but we have seen worse unfortunately. California is crazy, seems so peaceful most of the time. If it weren't for the fire's, earthquakes, and riots i guess everyone would move here.

CrewC

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was working day 3 of 7 on a commercial for a .com. Been awhile since we did this big of a .com for sure. Today we shot at the Sony Lot in the 'Scoring Stage' where they have recorded the music for all their films since sound came around. Sony Studios were the old MGM stages of yesteryear. MGM was known for their 'Musicals' more than anything else. This is where "Wizard of Oz" was recorded. The big room was basically a converted shooting stage from way back when. They had many 'Iso Rooms' along the back wall and a ton of Gobos, stands, and mics. We shot a scoring scene that was straight playback mostly for us. I did playback off my laptop running ProTools LE, my preferred method. We rerecorded it on one track and the room on another for dailies. The control room was state of the art and pure heaven for music mixers. Outrageous custom Neve mixer at the center, with all the mics you could ever want. This place had not only a vibe, but the history as well as a sound that made my day. Tomorrow it's back to reality as we shoot on the new back lot we call downtown LA... Great day if you can subtract the 2 hr ride home.

CrewC

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Way back in my sound career, (late 70's) there was a commercial company that did a boat load of B / B+ work named 'FilmFair'. That place was a training ground for many of us here in LA. I worked so many days, with many gifted craftsmen there who went on to bigger things. FilmFair had an office/small stage/parking lot complex on Ventura Blvd near Universal. Well thats where I pulled my Eurovan into today after a 20 year absense. It has a new name now. This being Hwood, I'm sure it has had many names. Inside the stage these days is a TV News set that is real, but that doubles as a TV News set for film work as well. For me there were many flash backs to the early days. Lazlo, Vilmos, Jordan, Jimmy working hard, and making it look easy. It seems so great in retrospect. Very old school compared to today. These days on a commercial set I am the oldest cat by 5, 10 years or more. Not today. This job has some real gifted film vets my age and has been a joy to work on. At the same time there were many new, young, hungry kids on the job wanting to get good at what they think they want to do. I wanted to tell them how fast it all goes, but I knew they saw their progress as a slow motion thing at best. I wanted to tell a few some tips, but you can't. You need to do it to learn it, and that takes time.

CrewC

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hey crew,

  I've learned quite a few tips on this site and ramps, so please don't hold back. In fact, write a book and I'll buy it. I didn't have the benefit of going to school for sound, have a mentor, or be in any learning situation other than the field. I can understand hesitating going up to someone and offering advice, but that's one of the main reasons I come here. Keep posting :)

On a different note, I totally understand having to figure things out for yourself. Ever read the cantar manual then play with one?

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Hey Graham, I doubt I will ever write a book, but if I do, you better buy one.... I will hold you to your word. I learn a lot here as well. I am addicted to jwsound.net so I will always post when something comes to the surface for me to riff on. I have 20 some sights/blogs I visit everyday I am at work, but this is the only one I post on. It beats watching them light the set. Thats Marydixies job. I think mentoring can be a good thing and those with experience and desire to do so should. I have mentored many, and that is just my family in the biz. I have also mentored a number of non sound people as well, aka 'Video Monkeys'... Depending on how much they really wanted it, most turned out to be well regarded pros be they sound or video contractors working here in Hwood. A couple of them... Well, what can I say. It takes a lot of hard work and personal honesty to do well in all fields IMO. I learned from some of the best. I feel the need to pass some along to those that want it.

  I am not a big manual reader. An option of last resort for me, but at times a must. Never easy for me, or is it the manual...  Me.

CrewC

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  • 1 month later...

This is not really a stage hopping post, more a location post, but really all of So Cal is a stage. I'm shooting in Palmdale today. I must of shot out here over 300 times in my 30 years. It is on the other side of the mountains of LA in the high desert. It is either hot and windy, or cold and windy. It has grown a thousand fold out there in the years I've been working as a soundman but the weather is always the same. We all know what we are getting into shooting out here, but the Ad Agency doesn't always seem to realize how harsh it will be. It was 32 degrees this morning as we stood in line for breakfast. A veteran crew all dressed for the gig. Up rolls the agency in shorts and flip flops. The look on their faces as they started to get out of their rental car was priceless. Wish I had a camera. The Producer took them straight to wardrobe for extra clothes. Now they are circled around the roaring heaters talking louder than usual. I love this Biz.

CrewC

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Guest Ken Mantlo

Great story Crew.  I always enjoyed the out-of-town clients on commercial shoots that show up in obviously brand new shorts, Hawaiian shirts and milk white arms and legs on day 1.  Day 2, same get up but sporting a horrible sun burn.

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