Have You Ever Been Tied Up?

Have you ever been tied up?  Not in the 50 Shades of Grey kinda way but in the fly me to the moon kinda way?

Maybe not, although… you may have felt the pinch of a climbing harness in your past.:)

D is for duct tape.

Click here are get some instruction on how to make a” Judy” of yourself with duct tape!

I love duct tape or as I have always called it “Gaffer’s tape”. I grew up in the film industry so we always had silver rolls of duct tape around the house that we used to close, hold or fix just about anything. I didn’t even know that it was called ‘duct tape’ until I went to buy some after I moved away from home.

“‘Tis healthy to be sick sometimes.”

Henry David Thoreau

I have made it! All the way to Easter that is!

Some years the first few months of work can be really, really slow, and some years they can be booming. This year pilot season in Vancouver was crazy busy… our local union was putting every available person to work just trying to get bodies to fill positions… regardless of experience.

What does that mean? Well, don’t get sick!   Sickness is not an option!!

“Let’s talk about sex, baby, Let’s talk about you and me, Let’s talk about all the good things, And the bad things that may be, Let’s talk about sex….”

~ SALT ‘N’ PEPA

Shot from the opening credits of the TV series Masters of Sex

We costumers are some of the ‘lucky’ few that get to be on set during a sex scene.  Yep right on set, really, really close.  Some of you who have had the experience may know this already; it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be!

Very Superstitious, Writing’s on the Wall!

Stevie Wonder

I thought I would continue my thoughts on working with actors… this time with some good old fashioned wives’ tales involved!

Am I superstitious, sure, aren’t we all in a little way.  I always follow the rules of:

Don’t open an umbrella in the house (or the costume truck)! (by the way this isn’t a superstition in Korea!).

SHIT FIRE AND SAVE THE MATCHES!

The other day on set, our actress yelled, ‘Shit fire and save the matches!’ in the middle of a scene.  Nope, that wasn’t her line… she had fumbled her actual line a few times in a row and was getting frustrated with herself.

It was funny!  I almost cracked up in my hiding place behind a lighting flag.

I was reminded of this yesterday after reading a blog by the Anonymous Production Assistant.  Kendra wrote in and asked the Anonymous PA about how to talk to and deal with actors on set.  Anonymous wrote a great response about how a production assistant could approach dealing with cast.

WATCH WHERE YOU STICK THAT PIN!

The amazing Edith Head!

Let’s talk cast and background fittings.

As a Set Supervisor/Key On-Set Costumer I normally help the Designer with fittings on the main cast before we go to camera. This allows the actors and myself to meet before shooting starts. I get to hear some of their concerns and desires to do with the costumes, and figure out how to best work with them on set.

I was talking with our Designer and Coordinator/Supervisor the other day and we came up with a few things that would be very helpful for everyone to know when given the opportunity to help out in a fitting.

These are some little tips that will make the fittings go easier and help with figuring out all the pieces… sorting, labeling and such… when the fitting is over.

All Tied Up!

Tracey Graham learning how to lace a corset up at lunch!

What a great, albeit, busy week, and I am on still the run and not sitting down!

Thus… a short blog!

This week we called the union dispatch to get a day-call costumer to come in to help and Tracey Graham join us!

First day on set ever and she rocked it!

I thought I would throw in a photo of our lunch hour lessons with Tracey. We have 5 women that need to be laced back into a corset after lunch, and we threw Tracey into the deep end of our western town pool.

Having a laugh and learning at lunch! Even if it is just sitting with your plate of food and asking those burning questions, it will help to get you to the next step.

Getting all tied up can be fun if you are asking the right question while you do it!

Click here for a great blog on Corsets and Crinolines from the V&A, take a look!

“There are three kinds of people; the ones that learn by reading, the few who learn by observation… and the rest of them that have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”

Unknown Cowboy

Okay he’s a Brit, but who could complain! (Aliens & Cowboys)

This is our last weekend before camera and as always crazy busy! Fittings, alterations, breakdown, paper work, load the trucks… and many other things to get done before we roll early on Monday!

Forgive me informational blog this weekend and take a look at the email that production sent out to us a few days ago! Cowboy or no these are still words to work, live and laugh by!

THAT’S LIFE!

So true are those words.

I am currently on one of those shows that is all encompassing. We are establishing between 10 and 20 costumes a day and the script travels between India, Brazil and San Francisco.

The background players are changing constantly between scenes and countries. This week we have done explosions, bullet hits, fight sequences and everything else in you can imagine!