—Acquisition—
I landed the gig through a Los Angeles friend group, which is how most good jobs are found out here.

During the phone screening, the contact asked if I had worked with Canon DSLRs and P2 cards. I told her I had worked with only the former. Then she asked if I owned a car.

I told her that I did, since I could borrow Katie’s car while she was at work. This decision would torment me for the entire shoot.

I was called back later that day and told I would be a PA. She told me to expect the call sheet on Sunday and that the first work day was Monday.

—Day One—
I arrived at 8am to Avenue Six Studios, met the other PA at the entrance, and we waited until the rest of the crew arrived.

The studio itself was a much bigger, much nicer Weimer basement. Large set pieces were grouped in one corner. Each was essentially a wall on wheels, and each had a different style. One was a bedroom wall with crown molding, another simulated a long hallway with windows, and another had stairs built into it.

We rolled these pieces into place all week long, as needed for the shot.

An attached room, called “The Vault“, contained all the C-Stands, light stands, sandbags, extension cords and clamps. They sent me here whenever they wanted something retrieved.

The director arrived and started planning shots with the set crew and lighting guys. The shoot manager pulled me aside and gave me a list of supplies they’d be needing.

I hopped in the car and spent the next 6 hours driving around LA picking up props. I also picked up lunch and almost locked my keys in the car.

I returned to the shoot around 5pm and set up my laptop. The real reason I got the gig was probably My Macbook Pro, since it was able to download footage from the RED camera. I was told my computer would be used, but I was caught off-guard when I was expected to download the footage and replay it for the director.

Most of my lunch shift was spent reading the RED manual and hoping that I’d be ready by the time the camera arrived later that night.

Around 7pm, the RED arrived and we shot a few test shots. Fortunately, their in-house DP was using the RED for the first time as well, so we were able to stumble along together. We left around 8:30pm, satisfied we were ready for tomorrow.

—Day Two—
I couldn’t borrow Katie’s car for all 4 days, so Tuesday was the first public transportation day. I woke up at 5am to board the train at 5:30am and arrive at 7am.

After the worst commute ever, I was still on a bus at 7:30am. That’s when the phone calls started. Instead of transporting myself the last 20 minutes, they sent the other PA to pick me up.

I walked on set an hour late at 8am and set up my laptop as quickly and shame-filled as possible. Within 5 minutes, they handed me footage to download and playback.

The rest of the day was surprisingly much better than the worse-than-Hell morning. My grunt PA duties were 60% replaced with RED duty, and most of my work was (technically) post-production work, which is what I enjoy and am most skilled at.

A few friends clarified later that my position was the DIT (digital imaging technician), who ensures the footage is clean and transfers without error.

The director, who turned out to be a very nice and understanding person, took me aside after lunch to clarify that when one production member has a problem (such as getting to work), it becomes a problem for everyone. Next time a problem arises, he said, simply tell the shoot manager and we’ll come up with a solution.

As another crew member stated later, “When production waits, the production waits…

We left at 8:30pm again.

—Day Three—
This was my lowest morale day. Two days of shooting, each 12 hours long (15 hours if you include commute), had drained most of my stored up energy.

I woke up at 4am to avoid being late again, and I arrived to work at 6:30am, a half-hour early. I kept eating at craft services to burn more fuel each hour to make it to the next hour.

We had a few supply runs today. Since the other PA also didn’t own a car, we drove the director’s car, which is a nice Mercedes. At some point, a small ding showed up on the driver’s side door, and both our stomachs dropped out of our assholes.

None of us had checked the car for dings before, and we weren’t sure if it was new or not. We told the director at the next break. He was upset but not showing it externally. He didn’t say much about it and we went back indoors, since there was more to shoot.

It took until today, but I finally grasped how a shoot ebbs & flows between shots, and I discovered small tasks that could constantly be done.

As a shot setup was finished, I would move all the chairs that the director, shoot manager, actors and crew used to the new setup. I would anticipate when we were ready to record sound and turn off the AC beforehand, as well as shut the doors to “talky” areas. Essentially, the other PA and I made the building a “living” organism that changed with each shot. Like the stairs in Hogwarts.

Today was also the first day of hot chicks on set. The commercial was for an adult website (I never said it was noble), so these broads were top-shelf fancy. Their presence didn’t change the set much, but it was more motivating to have them on camera than, for example, the men for a Rogaine commercial.

We left on time at 6pm, and I got home at 7:30pm. I was asleep by 9:30pm.

—Day Four—
I was able to borrow Katie’s car again (Thanks again to Eddie), and leave at a somewhat sane time (6am). The final day was the most pleasant day, since I understood the rhythm of the crew and the tasks involved.

By now, I had deduced a fair amount of knowledge about the situation I had been hired to PA for.

The production company I was working for was Intermedia Advertising. They hired me and most of the crew as freelance for this four-day shoot. They were renting the studio, Avenue Six Studios, so they could use their equipment and sets. All of these practices are very common, apparently.

We cleaned up the set and left around 7pm. As we separated, I found the director and apologized for my rookie mistakes all week.

“What??” he said.
“Sorry for the freshmen mistakes.”
“What??!” he said.
“Good shoot,” I responded.
“There ya go,” and he shook my hand.

I picked up Katie from Comedy Central and went home. I was immensely tired. Like, mid-afternoon after Relay for Life tired. I was asleep by 9:30pm with a near migraine. Katie made sure I didn’t die and deserves all the Gushers you can give her.

—Aftermath—
Being a PA is a pretty sweet gig, especially as an entry level job, if you’re working with the right people. I found out later that they were paying me $150 a day, which brings me a cool $600 for 4 (so very long) days of work, and comes out to about $15 an hour.

The best part of being on-set is the food. Craft services (a general name for the food that’s always nearby) has bagels, fruit, drinks, cookies and other small snacks, plus the lunch is always delivered, free and delicious.

Lunch is also the time when the crew can actually talk to other members of the crew and learn about each other, potential jobs and the production industry in general.

YOU MUST HAVE A CAR TO PA. The title Production Assistant should be called “Guy with the Car”. Even if you are able to get to work, and even if you are able to drive someone else’s car, it’s unprofessional to be a PA without one. It’s immensely stressful, unpractical and embarrassing to be without one.

A car is required in Los Angeles if you want to have a normal job and any social life. People’s tolerance for the carless lasts for about 4 days.

Overall, it was a great first professional shoot for me. It showed that while productions are the same here as they are in Florida, they need to be sustainable.

So, the DIY methods and temporary bursts of energy that fuel shoots in Gainesville don’t work here. Everything they shoot one day only counts toward that day. Once the sun rises again, the count is reset and must be built up again.

Do that 5 days in a row, and you finish a week. Do that 50 times and you finish a year. You can’t “wing it” for 4 months or 1 month. I barely lasted 4 days.

***Update: A car is required in Los Angeles if you want to have a normal job and any social life. People’s tolerance for the carless lasts for about 4 days.***

–In General–
Public transit is a decent alternative to car, but does not replace it. Your destinations and residence will determine if you need an automobile or not.

The LA Metro is also not pleasant to women. Often times, you’ll need to walk semi-far after using a bus/subway, and you may be walking to or waiting at a stop at night. Chicks should probably have a car, unless you’re the sporty type.

–The Buses–
The bus system is as good as the bus system in New York or Chicago. It transports people with lower income (those who can’t afford a car), and you have to wait for it to arrive. They take a little longer than a car, but sometimes can be as fast since you don’t need to worry about parking at your destination.

A map of buses that come every 15 minutes.

Each boarding is $1.50, unless you have a transit plan. The LA Metro system has monthly plans starting at $75 (break even around 50 boardings), and weekly and daily plans as well. They’re meant for people who have a routine Monday – Friday job, which is rare for people who just moved out here.

I haven’t taken them at night yet, so I don’t know if they become scary or not. They’re less frequent, of course.

–The Subway–
The LA subway system is the best subway I have ever been on. It has a been an awesome thing to ride and is the best form of transportation (besides car [and is sometimes better]).

The NY subway system is a bunch of small, crowded hallways that smell like hot garbage. The Chicago subway system is outdoors in one of the coldest places in the country.

Like entering Spaceship Earth. Or something at Epcot.

In LA, however, it’s like entering a Disney ride. The hallways are 2x to 3x larger than NY’s and everything is actually clean. A lot of people bring bikes aboard so they can ride away after getting to their stop. It’s built into the California rock foundation, so rails are able to be placed above & below each other at transfer stations.

The weirdest part: it’s free. Of course, it’s technically not free, but LA uses the honor system. The turnstyles will let you through at any time of day without paying. They want you to pay (hence the plans), but there’s no real downside to not. The point of the subway is to get people off the roads. Theoretically, an attendent could come by and check tickets, but it happens rarely. (I haven’t seen anybody doing that).

Here’s a story that talks about it: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17390428. Even though this was written in 2007, the honor system is still in place.

The subway map. Notice large areas of white.

The downside is that the subway doesn’t go everywhere it needs to. It doesn’t go to Santa Monica or most areas in the surrounding radius of downtown.

But, if you live near a station and have to routinely go to places that are near stations, it’s awesome.

–Hidden Transportation Issues–
So, depending on your lifestyle, it’s possible to not have a car here. However, you will run into problems.

1) Your Car Friends Will Hate You – Over time, you will lose the good will of your car-owning friends. Whenever there’s something social, you may ask for a ride and this will eventually be all you are known for. A group of friends cannot be your alternative source of transportation.

Social situations include getting to and leaving improv shows, going to gatherings (football games), getting home from someone’s house after spending the evening there, etc. There’s a lot to do here, so get used to traveling to it.

2) The Buses and Subways Don’t Go Everywhere – You will need to go some place that a bus or subway does not go to. And you’ll be effed.

3) Jobs – Some jobs may not happen if you don’t have a car. This is most obvious if you can’t get to work (see #2) or if your job sometimes requires you to have a car. I recently had some trouble after booking a PA job when I was told part of my job would be running around to get stuff. I’ve spoken to the hirer since then, and I’ve almost got it fixed. But that will happen to you.

So, those are my public transit thoughts. You need a car eventually (to not be a half-person), but not immediately, depending on where you live and need to go.

Katie, “I was eating dinner.”

Ricky, “I was almost getting mauled by coyotes.”

Katie, “Zuh?!?”

Ricky, “I went for a walk and wanted to go up to the observatory. It was just something to do. It starts to get woodsy, but there’s a road that everyone drives on. I saw a coyote up ahead and it started walking away from me. Ryan had been pointing them out since I got here.”

Katie, “Eep! Stay away from them coyotes!”

Ricky, “So I finally see what he meant by there’s a lot. And then I saw another on the side of the road. He saw me and also started walking away. And that happened a bunch. I started to hear barking/howling from far away, like further into the woods and uphill.

Katie, “Crazers.”

Ricky, “Like frog croaks in the woods, except coyotes.”

Katie, “California is weirdd!!”

Ricky, “I look off from the side of the road into the woods, and I see three of them kinda in a line about 30 feet apart.“

Katie, “Agh! That’s bad.”

Ricky, “And I thought they were moving further into the woods.”

Katie, “It’s generally ok to be around 1 at a time, cause they hunt in packs.”

Ricky, “But they were keeping parallel with the road. Following. Me.“

Katie, “BAD!!! Very bad!!!” A pack was hunting you!!“

Ricky, “So, at this point, I could keep going, cuz I’m on the road. Or realize I’ve seen Jurassic Park enough times to cool it. So, I turned around and walked back. About 3-5 minutes after doing that, a TON of howling erupted at the corner I had been at. All them were doing it. It was loud and insane.

Katie, “Yipes, that means there were even more there than you saw.”

Ricky, “I dont know if it’s cuz I turned around or what would’ve happened if I had kept going…”

Katie, “Alright. No more night walks.”

The World-Famous Griffith Observatory and Coyote Emporium

If you’re involved in any creative media field, LA is typically touted as the place to go for real work. Thousands of actors, directors and special-FX guys move to the city each year with the hope of finding a successful project. I joined them since it was time to leave UF anyway.

LA has one of the best climates for a city I've been at yet.

—How to Move—
The first step is to save up money before you leave. Typically, $1,000 is a low amount to have, while $5,000 is generally the upper ceiling. This pile of bills will pay for travel and your immediate expenses while you job search.

The key to moving out here is knowing friends, relatives and contacts. Very few jobs are handed out to strangers. Knowing people will bypass the resume queue to get you an interview, and that’s when your resume and personality matter.

When you start your job search, make a list of everyone you know who lives here. And then make a list of resources in your hometown that you could use to discover more people. For example, using your college’s Career Resource Center/professors/faculty advisers is a great way to find people who you can contact. You should use both your primary circle (I know you), but also your secondary circle (I know him/her and they know you).

The other key to moving is subleases. The population of LA is constantly shifting and the market for subleases reflects that. Search Craigslist for a temporary place to stay before arriving and immediately afterward. If possible, stay on a friend’s couch while you search. A sublease provides access to a bed, a bath and a place cook (without buying pots or pans or a bed).

In addition, a sublease reduces financial risk. A 3-month sublease allows you 3 months to find an actual job, and an chance to escape LA if nothing shows up during that time. Most subleases are between $600 and $900, depending on location and quality. The amount you saved up determines the amount of time you can exist in LA without a job. For example, if you saved up $3,000, you could live for 4 months in a $600 sublease without a job. That fact will help you sleep at night when a few weeks go by without any leads. You could waste an entire month and still have 3 months to rebound. Less hair-pulling stress.

All these people want your job.

—The Car Situation—
LA is one of the most car-centric places in the world, and it’s true. It typically takes at least a half-hour to go 10 miles here. It takes an hour and a half during rush hour. Also, parking is the worst thing in the world. Unless you have a dedicated spot, it’s almost as bad as UF on a game day.

That being said, I think it’s possible to live here without a car. I just moved here, so I’ll update this after I’ve been here for a while.

BUT, what you lack in car, you have to replace with extra time and more physical burden. A monthly pass for the LA Metro is $75, which includes subway and bus passes. The subway is only good if 1) You live near a stop and 2) You need to go somewhere that’s near a stop. It will probably be a quick way to get to a bus stop that’ll take you closer.

I haven’t tried the buses yet, so I’ll update when I do.

The final alternative is biking. The LA weather is almost perfect for biking (at least in the summer), and you’ll get to your location in about the same amount of time as a car during rush hour (or faster for short distances). The downside is you have to use your legs and avoid getting hit. It’s professional biking, and works for some people and not others. A 1-mile commute means 1 mile on the bike. A 20-mile commute means 20 miles on the bike. At least you don’t need to worry about parking.

Those mountains would be parking lots if they weren't so mountainy.

—The Job Situation—
You will find almost all of the jobs through a friend. Too many people live here to have your resume selected from the pile. Once your friend recommends you, that’s when your skills and resume will come into play.

You also have to be much better here than you were wherever you lived before. If you are one-in-a-million talented, that means 3 of you exist here in the main city alone. 15 of you exist if you include the surrounding area. There’s a lot of fucking people.

So, a job search consists of both looking for positions, but also constantly meeting people. Let’s face it: young people don’t know anything and need to be paid by older people until they can actually do something on their own. Anyone you meet may know a guy who knows about a position that you want.

In the end, your independent projects will be your best resume. Start building your online persona because people will Google you to see what you’ve done and how good you are. It’s much easier to do independent projects where you currently are before moving. Moving to LA should be because you’ve done everything you can locally to prepare your portfolio, skills and personality.

You’re going to need that experience to 1) Even be considered by an interviewer and 2) Hold a candle to someone who did stay for as long as they could becoming an awesome actor/actress/director/cinematographer/editor/writer.

—Overall—
Los Angeles is a beautiful place to live weather-wise, and lots of funny, engaging, friendly people live here.

LA is one big game of Facebook.

You have to know people who are better than you and you have to be better than everyone else they know. Any other scenario causes that “struggle” you hear about. People who aren’t good enough will get lower-paying jobs and have less momentum until they become better and until they meet someone who likes them.

But, the perfect time to move is around 22 and 23. That gives you some room to run and lets you plant some roots to know the town. Don’t underestimate having a friend! A comforting, familiar face will remove the anonymity from the city.

A friendly face takes away the scary.

—

I’ll update more as I learn more. If you want to follow my Twitter (@rrklop), I’ll post some facts I learn with the hashtag #LessonsInLA

Since February, I started making a documentary about my friends who were going to the 2011 College Improv Tournament. It can be seen at WhetherTheWeather.com starting August 8. While I have been around several video and live productions, this was my first time being in charge of a full-fledged project. I’m still alive, but a production always shows you the areas where you were underprepared. Here’s what I learned, and some general thoughts.

This group portrait hangs in the hallway outside the iO Chicago practice rooms.

The First Time You Do Something, It Won’t be That Great
I overheard a friend who wanted to get a screenplay developed. He mentioned the idea to his girlfriend and she said, “I believe in you and I think you can do it, but it will be your first screenplay. It’s not going to be good.”

WOW. That’s the wisest thing I’ve heard in 2011. It’s absolutely true. The first time you do anything, it’s not going to be good. The best you can do is put in extra effort so that it at least looks like it’s your second time doing it.

Great things are made by people who have done similar things 30 times, 80 times, 1,000 times before. The first thing they did sucked, and it sucked hard. If you’re making something for the first few times, put all you can into it, but it’s probably going to be less than impressive until you learn how not to make bad things.

I had a few clips of this place as b-roll. Without an extra person, I didn't have the energy to get more b-roll, which I found is super useful.

Have as Many Cooks as You Have Dishes
The biggest issue I faced was that 98% of the production “team” was just me. I planned, contacted, interviewed, shot, edited, and made everything. To drive the point home further, let me use capslock: I made EVERYTHING. (except the music)

While this does make some things easier (no differences of opinion), it means I had to focus on everything at once. Once something was planned, I had to go shoot it. Once the shot was set up, I had to decide which questions to ask. Once the rough version was edited together, I had to color grade it. As is typical with me, I committed to more than I was ready for and had to develop bigger focus-marathon muscles to get it done.

Having someone else to trudge along with me through the snow-covered city of Chicago would have been a huge relief. Back in Florida, having someone else who was dedicated to giving their time during editing would’ve been extremely useful.

Some of the creative mis-steps of the piece are due to a lack of quality time to reflect on the project. While a dedicated director would be focusing on who to interview (such as other CIT teams), I didn’t have time to imagine a better documentary as I was filming the Sunday Group backstage. Similarly, more complex interview segments could’ve been built by a dedicated content manager, instead of someone who was fixing the sound and simultaneously deciding which interview answer works the best.

I actually have very few photos from Chicago simply because I was entirely focused on video. My brain just couldn’t handle trying to get photos as memories in addition to getting to the next interview.

One of the few pictures of myself in Chicago. My feet were crying.

Making Something Great is Really Hard
All of us watch extremely high-quality shows and movies all the time. We horribly take for granted that those creative pieces took a team of people months to create. As an audience, we don’t have the chance to see the gigabytes of crap they delete on their way to the final product. I’m sure the big studios delete terabytes of crappy media before the final version is released.

Think of the latest great thing you’ve seen and think about the different parts of it. Every element (the actors, scenery, music, special effects, even camera cuts) all have to put in the movie by a person. Someone, somewhere, decided that Voldemort’s head should be full of veins. Someone, somewhere decided that the Tale of the Three Brothers would be told mostly in silhouettes.

More often than not, we respect someone’s creative choice because we realize how effed they would’ve been if it hadn’t worked out.

Chicago is Not That Great
This may be really controversial, but I just don’t like Chicago. One of the toughest challenges of this project was trudging around the Chicago winter and standing on a platform 30 feet in the air, waiting for the trains in the cold. Everything was wet. I was miserable anytime I was outside at night.

Before you decide to move somewhere, go there first! I thought Chicago was a viable option after I graduated, but I just can’t stand the cold. I’m probably spoiled, since I live in Florida, but no amount of improv can replace going outside in shorts, sandals and enjoying a breeze.

You’re Showing Your Project to the World
The glory (and bane) of the Internet is that everyone sees everything you put on it. Realistically, the word “everyone” is less scary than realizing specific people are included within “everyone”. Who cares what everyone thinks? What does the head of iO Chicago think? What do the people in TSF think? What does that one person you admire who could potentially give you a job think?

All those people are included in “everyone”. And all those people have opinions that they can tweet at you.

All these people are awesome and know so much about improv.

Overall
It was very worthwhile endeavor. I’m glad I go to go. I’m glad I got to create something that a bunch of young improvisers can benefit from. It’s another feather in the cap, and I’ve got so much free time now that it’s done.

As a youngster, I worked in a grocery store in Yazoo City, Mississippi. I was a teller in that store. I’m not trying to impress you with a title; that just means I told people to move as I swept.

In the summer months, our business was awfully slow. I remember so vividly the day that the boss was trying to get us all busy, and there was nothing to do.

“Why don’t you get busy?!” he said.

“Well, Mr. Anderson, what’d you want me to do?”

“You can clean these shelves, you can move this out and dust those.” He pointed to a shelf that had two cans of tomatoes on it.

I said, “Well, Mr. Anderson, it’s just two cans of tomatoes.” I guess it was the way I said just two cans of tomatoes that got to him.

He grabbed me by the shoulder and said,
“Let me tell you about those two cans of tomatoes, boy. First of all, it started out with a case, and that’s 24 cans. Now, we’ve sold 22, and that means we’ve got all of our money back.

He continued, “But two cans there represent profit, and profit is what enables us to stay open, and that’s the way you get your salary. So, what do you think of those two cans of tomatoes?”

“Mr. Anderson, those are two of the most beautiful cans of tomatoes I have ever seen in my life.”

It’s called wireframing.

Essentially, you lay out all elements of your webpage in just black and white. You determine the location of pictures, text and whitespace by using dummy elements. To place a picture, put a big box with an X in it. To place text, use a block of dummy text called “Ipsum Lorem”.

When you’re finished, you essentially put clothes on your site by adding colors, graphics, images and content.

*Full disclosure: this website doesn’t actually exist anywhere. It was a mock-up I made at Stickcore as a simple preview for a potential client.

1) Improv documentary: All the footage is shot and I’m currently in the editing process. Under the advice of a local video guru (Houston Wells), I’m currently transcribing each interview I managed to obtain, which is about 20 or so. The rough cut phase comes after that.

2) Money: Recently, I landed a job with a local web design company. It pays only a basic rate, but it provides steady income for a creative job, which is more preferred than being paid to lift things. Hopefully, I’ll actually end up with a good reference (instead of my other jobs).

That’s the basics. Occasionally, I’ll post things I’ve done in the past three months.

BUT here’s something I did tonight. While Photoshop and Illustrator are fine tools, they have one drawback: 3D. Both programs have pseudo-methods to create 3D objects, but they look like crap. Recently, I started playing around with a program called Cinema 4D, which is designed to create (amazing) 3D objects. See: