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So I've completed my first shoot in La la Land !
What a completely crazy and fun week. Pre-pro Monday-Thursday whipping it all together. Shoot Friday and Edit Saturday.
Shoot Day entailed a stupid O-clock start - 4.15am. Drove onto the 101 Freeway with JJ and D, in what felt like peak hour traffic even at 05.15am! Does this town never sleep...
Then at 05.45 I step out of the car onto the Stars of Hollywood Boulevard - and walked into the Shrine to the Oscars...The Kodak Theatre!!! Such an exciting moment for me; to be where the Oscars are held for my FIRST LA shoot was somehow significant, and hopefully a good omen.
We shot a wonderful comedy skit between JJ and Rory, who came to play. They were both brilliant. Richard lit them beautifully. Wrapped this location at 09:00 and then we were back on the road (101 Freeway again). 20 miles out to Thousand Oaks and up a winding path into the hills and onto Reptile Ranch with the wonderful Jules Sylvester.
Raised in Rhodesia, a rifleman in the army, and then inspired when when Born Free was filmed on his Dad's farm in Kenya Jules became a lion tamer in Edinburgh and an animal trainer extraordinaire for the movies after that. Jules is now one of the most respected animal trainers in Hollywood-having handled everything from alligators to zebras for over 350 motion pictures, television shows and commercials. But his speciality is SNAKES. If you think Kevin Bacon is the lynchpin of 6 degrees of seperation you haven't met Jules Sylvester!!!
Here's a taste of some of the films he's worked on (and the animals he trained,and wrangled for the moves): Deep Impact (All Animals Two by Two), Demon 2, Desert Saints (Snake), Dracula, Dead and Loving It (Bugs), Dude, Where's My Car (Iguana), Dusk 'til Dawn (Snakes), The Education of Little Tree (Rattlesnakes), Eye for an Eye (Moths), Elvira, Misstress of the Dark (Spiders, Snakes, Rats, Worms), Face to Face (Voice Over • Swahili, SAG), Fatal Pursuit, Fire Down Below (Rattlesnakes), TThe Freshman (Giant Lizards, SAG), Galaxy Quest (Leeches), The Great White Hope (Scorpions) Godzilla (Rats, Iguanas), Golden Viper (Snakes), Gremlins (Dogs), Gun Crazy (Rattlesnakes), Hardshell (Spider, Rats, Silkworms, Ants, Dog, Cat), Hard Target (Rattlesnakes, SAG), Hellraiser 4, Hell Squad (Tiger), Honky Tonk Freeway ( Lizards, Rhino, Elephants), Hook (Snakes, Scorpions, Spiders, Birds, Dogs, Beaver, Monkey), The Hulk (Monkey, Frogs, Snakes, Lizards), Ice Pirates (Wolves, SAG), I'll Be Home for Christmas (Snakes), I'll Do Anything (Goldfish, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Birds), I Married a Monster (Spiders), Indian In The Cupboard (2nd Unit • Butterflies), The Inferno (Rats), Johnson's Family Vacation (Alligator), Jungle to Jungle (Spiders, Snakes, Monkeys, Birds, Lizards, Pigs,Turtles, Crocodiles, Jurrasic Park (Snake, Goat, Steers), Leprechaun IV (Spiders, Scorpions), Lethal Invasion (Rattlesnakes), Looney Tunes (Lizards), Lost Souls (Cockroaches), Mac 'n Me (Bugs, Lizards), Manhattan Arizona (Rattlesnakes), The Man Who Wasn't There (Alligators, Lion), Me, Myself and Irene (Tarantula), Men in Black (10,000 Cockroaches), Mimic II (Iguana, Tarantula), Minority Report (Rats, Cockroaches, Spiders), A Moment of Silence (Dog, Rattlesnake), Monkey Trouble (Monkeys, SAG), My Antonia, (Rattlesnakes), My Favorite Martian (Snakes), My Girl 2 (Hoofstock), My Stepmother is an Alien (Dog), Murder in the First (Rats, Bugs, Spiders), National Lampoon's Vacation (Dog, SAG), The Nature of the Beast (Snakes, Gila Monsters, Stunt Body Double), The Neighbor, Apt. 16 (Dogs), Never Cry Wolf (Wolves, Voles, Ravens, Mice), Nightmare on Elm Street 5 (Spiders), On the Road to Wellville (Wolves, SAG), Out of Africa (Lions, Dogs, Owl, SAG), Pals (Chickens), Parallel Passages (Scorpion), Parasite (Spiders, Birds), Par 6 (Tarantula), Phoenix (Cockroaches), Project X (Snakes, Chimps, SAG), Psycho II (Spiders), Quest for Fire (Wolves, SAG), The Relic (10,000 Beetles), Rough Magic (Owl, Spiders), Sheena, Queen of the Jungle (Chimps, Elephant, Rhino, Big Cats, Birds, Snakes), Slow Burn (Scorpions), Something Wicked This Way Comes (Spiders), Starship Troopers (Cochroaches), Step Kids (Rattlesnakes), The Stone Boy (Dog, Chickens, Cat), The Sun Chasers (Rattlesnakes), Surrender (Wolves), The Sword and the Sorcerer (Snakes), Tank Girl (Flies), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I & II (Turtles), There's Something About Mary (Snake), These Old Broads (Snakes), Till the End of Night, To Touch the Wind (Wolves, Raccoon, Frogs), Venom (Rattlesnakes), Vital Signs (Tarantula), Where the Elephant Sits (Snakes),The White Lion (Lion), Wild Wild West (Tarantulas).... and of course Snakes on a Plane!
Phew - what a life he's having... It was such a pleasure to be film JJ interviewing this lovely man, and also being wrapped in his 9 foot python Banana! She was so sweet and beautiful...not so keen on his tarantula the size of a mouse. it even struck at the camera lens, actually as did the cobra, and the rattlesnake, oh yes and the iguana...feisty bunch really.
His reptile ranch is in the wilderness that Murdoch is currently decimating by leveling the hills and building a golf course..shame really. Jules lamented the shrinking home to bobcats. Lunch was had sitting outside enjoying the environs and chatting with this gentleman and great storyteller.
Shame to leave..but we jumped back in the cars, dashed back along the 101 at 2pm (while the bollowing clouds of a huge bushfire i Griffith Park made me hanker for my brigade back home) and off to a Spa where they do Chocolate Massages. Any woman's idea of heaven. JJ got the treatment and we all ate chocolate. Wrap at 5.30 - and it was Veuve Cliquot to celebrate and a lovely evening of chat and laughter with cast and crew out by the pool.
Then up at 6am this morning to be in the edit suite by 8am. Finished at 3pm. It looks great and all cuts together well..and now I am anticipating the LA Aussie mafia party of the season! More on this after the fact!
Time for a cat nap now...  | Currently watching:
Born Free
Release date: 04 March, 2003 |
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