Thursday, June 28, 2007

Fantasmic & Friends

I have officially been signed off now as a followspot op for Fantasmic at Disneyland. I have to say it is one of the hardest shows I've ever spotted. I sit in a tower about 50 feet up in the air and when the wind kicks up the tower sways. I'm not afraid of falling, I use a fall arrest harness and lanyard for safety purposes, but the hard part is keeping the spot steady enough to make the pick-ups and follow the actors smoothly.

My hardest shot is Peter Pan at the top of the Columbia but since I'm new, they are letting me get away with picking him up in a wider iris and narrowing down after I come on. Eventually I'll be able to get him in a tight shot at the start and follow him when he flies down to fight Captain Hook.

I left my job at Pirates and said farewell to a lot of new friends. I know it's a risk because Disney isn't going to give a newbie a lot of work, but if I want to succeed, I need to have a clear schedule whenever they do call me for work. Financially I saved a lot of money so that if a rainy day comes along I will be ok, and I am ready for that. Plus, I am using the "free time" for my neglected friend and family duties. This weekend I'm hosting a baby shower for my niece, who is doing quite well and should be home in August after being born three months premature (Thank goodness for life-saving technology) and next weekend I am designing lights for my friends wedding up at Mt. Sac. (Gotta hate that no alcohol on school district campuses policy!) But pictures will follow if all goes to plan and it's worth putting on a portfolio. Hopefully the schools inventory is as available as they have promised and the short load in time is plenty enough.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

New Job

Well today was my first official day working for The Mouse. I'm loving it so far. Great people, learning a lot, working with great technology. My first day was 12 hours long (6am to 6:30pm) with a 30 minute lunch. Built truss, hung some light Mac 700 washes, profiles and Mac 2k's. Fun times.

I'm hoping this job works out. So far, the hours aren't great, not enough that is... But if it doesn't work out... There's always the cruise ships.

Tiffany and I went to Fish in a Bottle for some great sushi afterward to celebrate. She's got a lot more hours than me though because she's been placed on the training crews for Fantasmic. Grrrr....