From here on out...

Attention all Faithful Res. Life Blog Readers...

Please refer to the new Res. Life website at http://www.reslifebu.com for all of our blogs. Any new blogs that have yet to appear on the website will be there shortly and from here on out we will be posting solely on the website.

Thanks,

Pat

City of Boston, State of Confusion

Darcy aka D.Fizzle, reporting for blog duty as promised. I love my jobs. They are very rewarding because I have so far contributed in some way to the following successes:

#1: Convincing Boston Beer Works (with Elyse) to shut down half of their restaurant for 12 hours, free of charge, and even giving us a parking spot next to the owner’s in their private lot. Then avoiding getting kicked out of said establishment even after our 50 man crew took over, covered up the view of their precious brewing tanks with a very large piece of duvetyn, and possibly contributed to the downfall of their complicated and frustrating DVD system

#2: Doing a sweet K-Turn at a Hess station in a 13 person van while Chris watched in admiration

#3: Continually battling and defeating the dreaded “Easy Cart,” a lighting storage device which Jac and I are convinced is actually a “Difficult Cart” simply masquerading as it’s far simpler “Easy” cousin who no doubt accepts the replacing of light stands in a less confrontational manner

#4: Verbally accosting a large German gentleman in a Shelton elevator and somehow cajoling him into acting as an extra

#5: Thoroughly vacuuming locations so they looked neater than when we arrived, though Chris’s sweeping technique seems to be a real crowd pleaser

#6: Singing random and obnoxious songs that become ingrained in the minds of our crew members for days on end: i.e. “Shake” by the Ying Yang Twins, “This Is Why I’m Hot” by Mims and a riveting tribute to duvetyn version of Wayne Newton’s “Danke Schoen”

#7: Inventing new nicknames and jingles for Dave Runkle: Runky Runk and the Funky Bunch, Runk Master Flex, The Runkinator, Davetyn Runkle, Dave Runkle Esq. "We've Got The Runk," "Won't You Take Me To Runkytown?" "Play That Runky Music White Boy" etc (partial credit goes to Jordan Newman and Rich for the Runkle tunes)



#8: Writing a mind-bogglingly good Key Grip/Best Boy rap that has yet to be produced because, and not to point fingers, but Rich is lazy

#9: Giving Oscar much-deserved back massages on 2 separate occasions… Not to brag, but I’m told they were amazing

#10: Visiting City Hall so many times in one week that the Departments of Transportation and Public Works knew me by name and ran in fear at my mounting requests for parking meters, resident parking spots, and rain dates

#11: Fending off a meter-maid who was prepared to give our truck a $120 dollar ticket for parking in a handicapped zone to unload- this success was a direct result of Jac and I working our feminine wiles, though showing him our permit may have had something to do with it – and I’m pretty sure Alex overshadowed our accomplishment by running out into traffic to rescue a single stray can of Sobe Gold only moments later

And last but not least…

#12 Getting a 9AM phone call from my Dad alerting me to the fact that, due to this project, I have racked up over 1000 minutes on my cell in the past month. Thanks for the heads up, Verizon.

That is all.

Director's Update #5: One Weekend Down, Three to Go

This past weekend we had two successful shoot days, Saturday at Boston Beer Works (North Station) and Sunday at BU's Rich Hall lobby.

Saturday went particularly well, as we began filming with a fun group scene, allowing a good deal of actors to gather together for the first time since our cast readthrough. It was one of our easiest days of shooting in terms of page count, but one of our most difficult in terms of lighting setups and logistics (our only non-BU location).

Sunday was more challenging as our filming all but took over the Rich Hall lobby, despite torrential rain and plenty of student traffic, which our amazing volunteer crew held back during rehearsals and takes. Shooting on location is always difficult, and losing valuable time between takes for students to swipe in the dorms was a great example problems common to even the most glamorous of film shoots.

On location with us was our photographer Emily Berl, who snapped some amazing shots, many of which appear in this entry and will continue to appear throughout future blogs. She'll be with us every weekend, including this weekend's shoots at the Howard Thurman Center at the George Sherman Union at Boston University.

Finally, you may be reading this on our brand new website, and if you aren't, please check it out HERE. It's a work in progress, but we'll continue to update it as we have the blog.

Pat

Ow-perating the Cam

ow ow ow. ow ow ow.

Alo there, this is Oscar, Camera Operator for Res.Life, and that's about how I feel right now, a few hours after we finished shooting our second day of "Res.Life". I knew operating the camera was going to be a painful affair, but I didn't really want to think about it until the day had come. After three months of pre-production-and to be completely honest me sitting on my bum as everyone else in class did a million and one things-I finally got my hands dirty.

For our first two thirteen hour days, I was in the thick of it with our Prof. Schneider, Director Patrick, and DP Leo, and our wonderful actors as we found the best way to shoot our story. It was a painful process that requires a lot of micromanagement, tweaking, and repeating, but when we get 'that shot', it is incredibly rewarding.

We've done a few dolly moves, including one today that involved the dolly moving forward, as the camera was lowered and I had to tilt up and pan right following the action, but we've mostly stuck to handheld shots. And you know what that means? The 50 pound beast that is the HD camera is on my back for most of the day. If it weren't for my amazing 1st AC Dave and 2nd AC Josh, I would be writing this blog entry from a physical rehabilitation ward in the nearest hospital. Thankfully, I am just in my room, with three cooling pads stuck to my back.

The trickiest bit of handheld camera operating is getting the correct marks and following the action as best as possible. My field of vision is limited to what I can see through my black-and-white viewfinder, and that's it. I cannot see to my sides or behind me, so when I am following an actor or waiting for him or her to come into my frame, I am blind as a bat. This is when I rely on visual cues from the surroundings, or on other guides set by the director or my AC. Also, some of the actors are tall. Really tall. Others are short. Really short. I am neither really tall nor really short, which makes things complicated when a tall actor and a short actress are in a scene together.

My favorite things about the shoot so far? The food. Craft services is awesome. Or are awesome. I dunno. I'm from Puerto Rico. We speak Spanish there. Anywhoo, I also really like the cast, they are nice and very eager to learn and work with us. I also like that because I'm the guy lugging the fifty-pound camera around, I don't have to carry heavy things when we are setting up or breaking down. That's pretty nice.

My not so favorite things? Waking up early. A necessary evil, but still. Also the weather today, poo on that. I also don't like the awkward positions my body makes as I hold the camera. Emily's pictures of me should be HILARIOUS. [on a side note, my hair will probably look different in each picture, as I have a habit of pulling on my hair every.other.second.]

I was extremely nervous before we started shooting. Would I keep the camera still enough? Would it prove to be too heavy for me to hold all day? Would I delay filming because I missed a shot? or I couldn't hold the camera? Would I drop the camera?

These things still make me nervous, but after the second day of filming went so well, I can relax a bit more. I made it work, somehow. You'll see. One day.

Soon.

Betcha don't know what a gaffer is!

Hey all! I'm Jac Woods and I'm the Gaffer on Res.Life. What is a Gaffer, you ask? (It's OK, I get it a lot.) A gaffer is the main lighting guy (or gal, in this case). He or she designs (along with the Director of Photography - aka Leo) and implements the lighting schemes for every scene. In other words, I light the sets. I make it so that you can actually see an image through the camera... because what can you see without any light, right? You with me? Good.

OK, so over the past few months we've been training in the studio with the camera and the lights, which is a good thing because I barely knew anything about lighting before January. But, between the lighting class I'm taking and this class for Res.Life, I've definitely learned a ton this semester and I'm sure I'm only going to learn more once the filming begins.

That brings us to another point... the filming is almost beginning! We start on Saturday and I know it sounds cheesy but I can hardly believe it! Time has flown! I think we're all ready and if not, then we'll have to deal. But, I think we'll do an amazing job. You be the judge though!

I've also been working closely with Leo (and the other crew members) on some extra content stuff for publicity. Hopefully you'll be able to see those videos soon!

Alright, I'm not too good at these blog thingys (hence the reason why I'm the last to write one), but I think I've said my peace, for now at least. I'll give you another update when I have more to say!

Wish us luck!

Director's Update #4: One Week To Go

Here I am giving Kara Doherty, who will be playing our main character's little sister, some direction at our cast readthrough. She was chosen from a pool of 30 candidates and we're excited to have her on board. In addition, we have finally completed our casting, tying up the loose ends of Dan's parents (Society Allegra Holmes playing Mom and David Simon playing Dad) and Raj, the Indian security guard, played by Sunjay Kelkar.

For anyone who has read our blog to this point or anyone who will continue to read our blog despite Rich's posting of pictures of our production office (doesn't it look great? send money. please.), we are about to enter crunch time. Our shooting begins this Saturday, April 14th at Boston Beer Works near the TD BankNorth Garden. It's getting exciting and hectic as our shooting dates continue rapid fire (April 15th, 21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th, 30th, and May 5th).

From my point of view, things are coming along quite smoothly (as the rest of the crew curses me silently). I'll be having two more rehearsals this week with the majority of our lead actors in preparation for this weekend as well as future challenging scenes. But overall, I've been very pleased with the work our actors have put in to defining their characters with me, right down to defining every relationship and interaction even hinted at by the script. What's the deal with R.A.s Katelyn and Jeff? Our actors know the answer.

Speaking of Katelyn (Marie Polizzano) and Jeff (Timothy Aden), to the left is the best picture to result from our first publicity shoot. Possible captions include: "Living With Herpes, But Still Loving Life!" and "Cialis: Making Every Day Better" (feel free to post any more caption ideas here). The picture was also one of three (the other two were magnificent cast photos) sent to Variety to be included in an upcoming special educational issue. For those of you who don't know what Variety is, it's simply the only thing guaranteed to be read by everyone in Hollywood (or at least by their assistants/interns) on any given day. Not bad press for a student produced television show. The contact came from BU's Film and Television Department Chairman, Charles Merzbacher, who we all owe much thanks to.

From the standpoint of publicity, which I am teaming up with Susanne Dahl to tackle, we are getting things lined up quite nicely thanks in large part to a great deal of help from other BU students. Our logos are being designed by COM Senior Derrick Taylor. Our set photographs are being taken by COM Senior Emily Berl. And COM Senior Liz Osaki is, in addition to acting for us as a featured R.A., aiding us in coming up with a PR plan for our planned mtvU airdate in the fall. With their efforts combined, we hope to put together an effective strategy to be noticed outside of the Boston University community, as the plan is, of course, for Res. Life to air at colleges and universities nationally.

Every member of the class has faithfully blogged during our pre-production phase, even if a few felt the need to call me out on my nagging them to do so. Susanne and I hope that even during the crazy time that is production, each member of the cast will find the time to write once, and then once more after production has wrapped in reflection of their efforts and the post-production to come for our editors. Perhaps if you are lucky, Rich will take some photos of the production truck and explain how we will possibly fit all of our equipment inside.

Until then, keep an eye out here for more announcements, including the launch of our website. Okay, well I guess I can let you in on just one secret: the address.

http://www.reslifebu.com

Pat

Production office pics as promised!

Ooooh!! A computer...

Aaaahhh!!! Shelves!

"The nicest 3 hole punch I've ever seen." - Paul Schneider (our fearless leader)

The bane of my existence

1st AD = Stage Manager for TV

"Quiet on the set!...Sound ready?...Camera ready?...Roll Tape..."

Hi! My name is Sara Scheinman and I am the 1st Assistant Director (1st A.D.) for Res. Life. The quote above is what I will get to say on the set right before each take, but as usual I'm getting ahead of myself. We aren't quite there yet. Right now we are still in pre -production for just over another week. Wow, only a little over a week. That is so daunting. In just over a month this whole thing will be over. I have no idea what I will do with all the time that will be freed up (and it will be a lot!), but I know I will miss the exciting crazy sometimes stressful wonderfulness that is Res. Life.

Again, I'm getting ahead of myself. So you want to know what I do in pre-production? I email. I email for hours on end some nights. I email so much that if emailing were sold by a commercial corporation where you have to pay for every individual email you send I would be responsible for keeping the corporation in business! What am I emailing? I email schedules...shooting schedules, breakdowns for the shoots, rehearsal schedules to the actors, and updates and questions to Pat mostly pertaining to the cast. For I am the official "Keeper of the Cast." I am the link between the cast and the production staff.

That's not all I do. (And here I felt deprived when most of the other people on the crew had 47 million titles and I only had one... little did I know what I was getting myself into!) The 1st AD is to Television what the Stage Manager is to Theater. (Like that SAT style analogy right? :-P) Both positions require being the liaison between the cast and crew, scheduling, conversing with different production departments, and ultimately "calling" the show during production. (All those jobs are why it has taken so long for this post to finally be written...)

In addition to emailing and keeping the cast updated I also work a lot with the script and this wonderful program called Movie Magic Scheduling (which has only made me want to throw my computer out the window a few hundred times...). I read through each draft of the script and breakdown every scene which means I figure out what cast members, props, set decorations, wardrobes, vehicles and other random things are needed in each scene. Then I fill out breakdown sheets with all that information in the Scheduling program and from there it helps me make a pretty shooting schedule and other forms that all the crew need. Before printing those I double check with Chris our King of Props and Set Dec about those lists, Susanne and Pat about our cast and extras, and Pat about our shooting schedule. From there this huge packet, about 41 pages long, is printed for everyone and we go over it in production meetings.

Of course the script has been revised many times, locations have changed, and characters have changed so the breakdown sheets are tweaked and altered regularly. When a massive number of changes occur then new versions are printed for everyone (don't worry, we recycle!!).

Ok I've babbled long enough. I hope you are all still awake!! My next post will be about the next phase: Production. And what it is like to be 1st A.D. ON SET! (Hopefully it will also be funnier :-P) I am incredibly excited to be on set. My background was in theater and my favorite part was always tech week and then the performances. Well, this week is tech week and next weekend is performance number 1!!
-Sara

PS - Pat it may have taken me almost two months to finally post, but look at how long it is! (Sorry Leo! I didn't mean to outbabble you!!...but since I did, can I have the prize? I like Chocolate!)

Leo Rules

Hello, my name is Leo and I am Director of Photography for this here RES. Life show. I have put off this, my first ever "blog," for quite some time, mainly because of the negative association I automatically make upon hearing the word "blog." But I was sitting in my room about a week ago, Rush's 2112 erupting out of my iHome, when i made the realization that I am connected to the "blog" in a very subtle and cerebral way. You see, the word "blog" is short for "weblog" which really should be "web log" meaning "a place where loser's egos inflate to the size of hot air balloons as they decide to air their dirty laundry for all the world to not read." But pretty much everyone knows the etymology by now. So I looked at the word "weblog" and noticed that if you added an "e" and dropped the "g," you would have "webelo" which happens to be the highest cub scout ranking I myself achieved as a youngin. With this knowledge, I decided that it would be okay for me to finally write a blog. Plus, Pat kept yelling at me to write one.

So as I said before, I am Director of Photography on this project, which means that I work with Pat to develop and execute the visual aspect of the show. In short, I gotta make sure it looks purty. Early on, I chatted with Pat about what he wants the show to look like, and from that we established a sort of definition of the visual style we want to achieve. Since this project is a single camera sitcom (like The Office or Scrubs), rather than the more conventional multicamera sitcom (like Frasier or Alf), we get to look at the piece almost as if it were an (unpretentious) short film, as every shot and all of the coverage needs to be carefully planned. It's more fun and more challenging this way.

Currently I am working with the rest of our balls-to-the-wall crew to make it all happen. This coming week is our last training session before we actually shoot, so we're just doing some last minute preparation, getting even more comfortable with all of the equipment and such. Some of said equipment, such as the camera and dolly, was new to everyone at the start of the semester, but now it's like second nature when we go to set up, which I think is pretty impressive. After all, we're using all this "professional-grade" stuff, like the Panasonic varicam HD camera, the Chapman super pee wee dolly, Kino-Flo and Arri lights, and GMC pickup trucks (get it? - "professional grade" - ooh, tough crowd). So what I'm trying to say is this: Dave (1st A.C.) and Oscar (operator) are camera wizards, Rich (key/dolly grip) is a key/dolly wizard, and Jac (gaffer) is a light wizard, or wizard of light since it sounds cooler. And then we've got Darcy as the best boy for grip and electric, and she's some sort of wizard with a electric grip or something. Then all the PA's who are going to help us out with this stuff, and I guess they'll be like wizard apprentices, or "mage-pages" if you want to get cute. And the rest of the people in our class are just badass too. I guess I'm not really any sort of mythic creature unfortunately.

Alright, I'm now realizing that I'm doing exactly what I hate most about blogs; rambling. It's probably cause I just downed my third iced coffee of the day. I should go back and edit some of this stuff, but I'm too lazy, so I'll continue later with another post or two. I should have more to say once we start shooting.

So I think I win the prize for longest entry yet. All I can say is you got what you asked for Pat harharhar.

Director's Update #3: Meet the Cast via our new Actor Blog

Dear Blog Reader,

With filming set to begin on April 14th, you will soon have the chance to meet the cast. The upcoming Res. Life website will feature a new blog allowing the actors to share their thoughts on my directing ability, their character, and their satisfaction with the craft service table.

Will we regret giving the actors free reign to say what they please? I'm thinking as long as there isn't secretly a Tom Cruise of the bunch, we'll be fine. And if not, any publicity is good publicity right?

The Actors of Res. Life

-Pat

Inside Boston: "Making the Sitcom, Part 2"

butv10's "Inside Boston" will be running multiple segments this semester on the on-going process of creating our show. Watch more "iB" clips as well as other butv productions at www.butv10.com.

Casting My First Show

Hello Cyber World! My name is Susanne Dahl and I am the Casting Director for Res. Life. It is my job to work with Res. Life's Director, Patrick Sullivan, and fill the roles of the script with the type of actors he invisions. Though, I have some previous casting experience I called on a few of the pros at BU including Professor Paul Schneider who has directed several films and TV series including a few episodes of "90210" as well as meeting with the Assistant Director of the School of Theater at BU's College of Fine Arts, Paolo DiFabio (isn't that the most amazing name you have ever heard?) for more direction.

After taking in all their words of wisdom, I set out to cast my first show. Res. Life had a lucky advantage. BU has an incredible School of Theater and were able to find our four leads and some smaller roles from their large pool of talent.

The daunting task was to cast the other featured roles of Res.Life including the mom, dad and 10 year-old sister of the main character, a disgruntled middle-aged sercurity guard and about 10 more college-aged males and females to fill the other RA roles. We posted an open casting call on Craig's List and New England Film. From those two publications, about a dozen other casting websites picked up our posted and added it to their own website. We also designed a flyer through the help of BU's AdClub and contacted our fellow casting directors and acadamia for recommendations. From there, I spent about two weeks scheduling and contacting actors.

We held the open call over a weekend in February and auditioned over 100 actors to fill 13 roles. In the real world, I would have had dozens of eager casting interns to assist me, but since we are a student production, our fablous crew stepped up. Where else are you going to see the DP, producer and head gaffer doing errands, organizing actors, filming auditions and food runs for the casting director. It was kinda great. Not gonna lie:-)

The most interesting (and at times draining) auditionees were the 10 year-old little girls. We had over 30 young actresses walk through our door with each audition lasting about 5 minutes. That doesnt seem like an excessive amount of time, but for a hand full of college students who are used to communicating with their peers and intellectuals (well most of us anyways:-) ) bringing our verbage down to a ten year old's level was quite the challenge. We were amazed by some of these young girls and their enthusiasm for their crafts. Some of them already had more impressive resumes than my own. One little girl even had her own TV show! After going through all 30 girls, we picked Miss Kara Doherty. She is a very sweet and charasmatic girl and we are so excited to have her on set.



By the end of the weekend, I think all of us involved rethought going into the business (a very common experience in this business I've heard). However, I was completely recharged the next week when I notified the actors we chose to cast. They were so excited and greatful. We are still in the process of extras casting which is a little less stressful, but equally important to the overall film.

I think the moment I am most excited for is when I get to see the cast on set for the first time. It will make all the millions of e-mails, runs to Kinkos and meetings completely worth it.

Inside Boston: "Making the Sitcom, Part 1"

butv10's "Inside Boston" will be running multiple segments this semester on the on-going process of creating our show. Watch more "iB" clips as well as other butv productions at www.butv10.com.

Zen and the Art of Camera Maintenance

So apparently writing a blog entry with a witty title is the cool (“hip” if you will) thing to do… So allow me to introduce myself: I’m Dave Runkle, First Assistant Camera. I am also the token techy/geek/leetzor-haxxor on set. Basically, I get to play with a bunch of really expensive toys (and hopefully not break them). I work closely with Leo, the D.P., to make sure the camera is set up correctly for each scene and adjusted just how Oscar, the camera operator likes it.

After shooting is done, I’ll also become an editor – but that’s a ways off still so we’ll save that conversation for another day… Until then, keep safe and if you understand this: LFG CoT/TK/KARA, then look me up…

~Dave

So this guy walks into a production office...

Hello and greetings from COM 223E! I am Res. Life's production coordinator Rich Kearney, not to be confused with key and dolly grip Rich Kearney, I can't stand that guy. Always cryin and moanin, "oh i need more tools", "oh this wrench is the wrong size," "i wanna four foot piece of track" Waaah Waah Waah, shut up already. Sorry I go on tangents, but ANYWAY, as production coordinator I run the official Res Life production office. It's a magical little place with shelves, bulletin boards, filing cabinets, shelves, and even a computer (with the Internet on it)! (I'll be sure to include a photo next time!) From our office I maintain our master and weekly schedules, as well as contact and crew lists, and send them out to whomever it may concern on a semi-regular basis. Production Coordinator is by and a large an organizational and detailed oriented position that operates as the communications backbone of the production managing the flow of information between the various departments. At least that’s what I read on Wikipedia. But ANYWAY, in layman’s terms, I write a lot of emails. My daily activities include fielding compliments, bothering Professor Schneider, smacking around our archaic printer, waiting for these meddling kids to get off the darned computer, facebooking, re-delegating tasks, disseminating information, gumming up the works down at the copy room, answering all of Elyse’s requests with a resounding ‘I’ll put it in my queue,’ stuffing everyone’s mailboxes (virtual and physical) with various items, and occasionally ordering take out. Oh yeah and I got us some sweet office supplies too, like an erasable wall calendar, and what Professor Schneider called “the nicest 3 hole punch I’ve ever seen.” (pics to follow!) I’m in the office all day on Wednesdays and sporadically during the week. If you wanna chat some time gimme a call on the office line at 617-353-5971 (please no seamstresses, carpenters or methodical planner types). And beware of that grip guy, he stole my name, he’ll steal your gloves.

The Sound and The Fury

Greetings, lovers of the world wide web! My name is Alex Swanson, and I'd like to give you little taste of what I do on the grand production that is Res Life. Like many members of the crew, I have multiple yet equally involved positions. First and foremost, I'm what you might call "the sound guy." The fella with the headphones on, fooling around with various knobs, buttons and blinking lights on a small mixer and forcing Elyse to work her rump off, shifting this way and that as boom operator - that's me. Essentially, I help make sure the audio of this show is clean, clear and appropriate for the scene at hand. I have to say, it's been quite fun to fiddle around with the sound equipment, learning the ropes and praying that nothing gets broken or tangled up. The real pressure for me in regards to this particular position hasn't really set in yet, but come shooting time, my ears will have never been so alert!

My second task is that of 2nd assistant director. Right now, this job allows me to sit in on various production meetings, soaking up bits of information involving budget, transportation and casting. From there, I help out with all of these areas of the production in as many ways as possible, from making up transportation maps to making breakfast runs. All in all, it's a great experience, and will be highly beneficial on this production as well as future films and shows.

Well, that's my intro for now. I'll be back soon to give you updates of a more "in the moment" fashion. Do it to it.

Alex

Propmaster: Not as Mystical as it May Sound.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Chris Maggio and I am the prop master/ set decorator on the television progrum Res.Life.

While I might not be able to provide an incredibly interesting blog entry full of animated .gifs and fun flash games, I can at least describe to you what my role on the show is. As you may be able to figure out, I am responsible for obtaining the items we need for props and to decorate our sets. With this responsibility/honor in hand I am also allowed to determine some of the artistic look of the show alongside the help of numerous other crew members.

Although my job is quite extensive and time consuming, when it comes to our Monday preproduction meetings my role is quite reminicent to that of the boy picked last in a game of dodgeball. Much like I would sit in the corner and be bullied by the rugged sportsmen in my local gymnasium, I sit to the side during the camera tests, only occasionally being called on to stand in as an actor. While this experience is much more pleasant than my days in gym class (the absence of "swirlies" being a big factor), it is really our Friday production meetings that bring me the most involvement/joy.

Watching the camera crew practice is actually really cool (I would be lying if I didn't say I was proud and really impressed at all their hard work), but my role is usually a bit more involved at the end of the week. On Fridays we usually sit around a big table and talk about who we have to get in touch with and how we can solve problems plaguing the production. Basically, the two production meetings during the week allow the whole crew to work on different problems, while we all strive to reach the same goal...and as the shooting dates fast approach, this teamwork is insanely necessary!

All we have to do now is figure out how to get our content onto cellular telephonemachines.

-Chris

Director's Update #2: Casting Updates and Webisodes

As you may have noticed on the right hand side of our blog we have some new additions to the Res. Life cast.

Those listed under "Cast" have speaking roles in the pilot episode to air on mtvU. There are still speaking roles to be cast and we hope to be wrapping up our efforts shortly.

Those listed under "Featured R.A.s" have landed themselves an exciting gig. Each of the actors will be featured in the TV pilot as the episode takes place on the first day of R.A training. In addition, however, we will be utilizing their talents (along with our lead actors) to film short, comedic episodes for the Internet. These "webisodes" (which we hope to also translate to "mobisodes" on cell phones) will introduce briefly the characters seen but not heard in the pilot and flesh out the world of Res. Life with unique stories, with many drawn from real Boston University R.A.s.

It's an exciting challenge to be entering the world of online and cell phone video as we shoot our pilot episode, but it's one we're up for.

More to come soon.

Pat

Film/TV Student at BU? Good. We need help...

MTVU Pilot Production Needs Help

Interested in audio, lighting, camera, or grip work? Want to help out on a real television set?

Res. Life, a new pilot to be aired on MTVU is a completely student run production that is looking for production assistants for all areas of production.

Shoot Days: April 14, 15, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30 and May 5, 7, 8. All days will be approximately from 7am to 7pm. We will accept PAs for any amount of days.

*Directed Study* credit is available for students who can make a serious commitment to the project. Credit will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

If you are interested in helping out please email your name, contact info, and dates of availability to newtv@bu.edu. If you have questions about credit please contact Professor Paul Schneider at paulsch@bu.edu.

Location Managing: Pretty Much The Coolest Thing Ever, Besides Being A Pirate

Here’s the thing about blogs:
There is the obligatory pressure to sound interesting. All the cool kids are doing it. And yet, I am by no means a cool kid… so how did I gain access to this snazzy blog? Valid question.

My name is Darcy Forlenza and I secured my blog-worthiness by becoming Location Manager & Best Boy/Best Boy Grip for this fine production. My job is both as easy and as difficult as it sounds. The locating part is easy enough – it’s the securing of those locations that kills. For example, barging into a stranger’s dorm room while they’re eating a delicious sandwich and somehow convincing them to let me return multiple times with a group of 10 to 30 other people to measure, photo, and leer, set up cameras, lights, and props…is not always easy. So thanks to all of you who invited me in and/or currently resist the urge to run in fear when we pass on the street. To those of you who said no or were a big jerk, I will assume you were having an off-day.

So far I’ve gone through the script and determined all of the required locations. After brainstorming with Pat (director) and Chris (props) about the desired “look,” I scouted a bunch of dorms, meeting rooms, lobbies, and restaurants on and off BU campus, taking photos and talking to various head honchos for info on how to reserve the spaces. As a class, we visited the areas a couple of times, and now we’re in the finalization stage. I also have to think about where craft services (food) and wardrobe/makeup can set up, where the circuit breaker boxes are in all the buildings, elevator/loading dock access, parking for actors and crew vans, parking permits for shooting on a public sidewalk, the logistics of creating a closed set in active university common areas, and other fun stuff like that.

My job is pretty cool, because it involves talking to people (which I like) and convincing them to be generous with nothing in return but my hearty handshake, unending adoration and the chance to see their high school tennis trophy in the background of a scene on mtvU (a formidable challenge). And also, as a lighting and grip assistant, I get to light things (always good) and grip them as well (a favorite pastime).

Thank you for reading my blog. I won’t let it go to my head.

Auditions This Weekend!

I Work Hard for the Money

Hi! My name is Elyse Punia, and I am the Producer for Res. Life, a New Television Production. Being the producer officially means that I handle the budget and oversee all aspects of production. Unofficially, I write emails. all day. on special days, I also spend a lot of time on the phone. also all day.

Currently, one of my main projects is balancing the budget. While details will have to remain anonymous, we just received a nice sponsorship from our university that essentially sacrificed one student's tuition. Unfortunately, we are still over budget - a common college student problem. (Note to all readers: Would you like to sponsor a student-run production featuring lots of up and coming future industry leaders? Please contact me at newtv@bu.edu with subject line "I LOVE RES.LIFE!")

Despite our budget concerns, pre-production is running smoothly. Our first open casting call is occurring this weekend, February 23 - 25 at the Boston University College of Fine Arts. For more information, please check out our event on Facebook, or email newtv@bu.edu. The four leads are already cast, which takes a big weight off our shoulders, but the rest of the cast is just as important - watching auditions makes you realize how many talented people there are in the world. And how much they should be in a student-run production about residents' life...wink, wink.

Location scouting is also a high priority. Pat, Darcy and I are working together to find appropriate and available places to shoot. So far, the most difficult will be finding dorm rooms. Building a set is pretty much out of the question, budget-wise, so instead we have to find real places to shoot in during real time - harder than it sounds. Right now, I'm just glad it's supposed to be 45 degrees tomorrow, so I won't be freezing while assessing the usefulness of one dorm room to the next.

Other than the balancing act, casting call and not being cold, Res.Life is going well on the producer-front. My emails keep coming, my phone bill keeps growing, and I'm getting really good at playing with budgeting software. It doesn't get any better than this...

See you soon!
~elyse

Operating Cameras

This is what I see most of the time as the Camera Operator for ResLife. My name is Oscar Rohena and as the Camera Operator, I will be the actual person holding the camera when we get to filming the pilot. Patrick, the director, and Leo, the Director of Photography, have informed me that there we will be using mostly hand held for the shoot, so I need to mentally prepare for holding this very heavy camera for hours on end.

For now, I am also working as our on set photographer until we get someone more professional who can shoot while everyone [including me] is doing his or her [very important] job.

During this pre-production period, I am getting trained on the fantastic Panasonic DVCPRO HD [HDC27hp], which shoots in beautiful 720p. This is the first time that I have seen what High Definition can actually look like, and I have to say, it is quite an exciting future we are looking at. Everything looks crisp and detailed, and the fuzziness of Standard Definition cameras are now gone. I don't think our own eyes even see the world in such high definition. It sounds strange, I know, but trust me, you will remember my words the first time you see a true, uncompressed high definition image, on a high definition monitor.

This image, of our DP Consultant/Professor Austin De Besche, is actually from the high def monitor next to the camera, taken through my camera. Austin is usually our stand in, and during this workshop, we were practicing dolly movements, and lighting techniques. He sat in his chair, gave us instructions and we tried following them as best as possible. I am the only one on the dolly along with the camera, and Rich and Dave, Key Grips and 1st AC respectively, push and pull me along, as I try to keep a steady hand and keep the subject within frame, respecting the DP's directions.

It can be really exciting being the camera operator, yet at the same time very intimidating. Getting 'the shot', at the end of the day, is up to me, that is my one and only, very essential job. I'm sure I'll be updating more as the semester goes along, especially adding more pictures from production, and updating in whatever other aspects of production I get involved with.

-Oscar!
Camera Operator

Director's Update #1

My name is Patrick Sullivan and I was chosen to be the Director of Res. Life, an original script based on the experiences of real R.A.s. It's been one month since our class, the New Television Workshop, began the process of pre-production and we've been extremely busy.

As the Director I had the chance to meet our writer and begin the process of re-writes which has continued since. From there I've begun to plan everything from the look of the show (with the help of my Director of Photography Leo Bonarrigo), to the costumes our actors will wear (with the help of Susanne Dahl and Chris Maggio). The professionalism of the job is certainly a new experience and it's a privilage to be working with some of the best students at BU.

The team has been working hard in all areas to prepare for production, currently scheduled to begin in mid-April. We've begun to secure locations. We've scheduled auditions to complete the casting. Our camera crew is experiencing hands-on, professional training on the equipment we'll be using. We're planning a website and advertising campaigns to increase the exposure of the final product. Across the board we're on track.

To be on track, however, we're having to constantly adapt our plans, from adjusting the budget with each new expense to tweaking the prop and wardrobe lists to account for the changes in each script update. Over the course of the semester, this blog will be similarly updated with posts from members of the cast and crew, allowing them to discuss their responsibilities on the show as they are being fulfilled.

We hope you enjoy this insider's view into our production (as well as the finished product) and be sure to check back for the launch of the Res. Life website soon!

In the News...

Boston Herald, February 15, 2007

Res. Life Auditions

Boston University's Dept. of Film & Television announces open call auditions for RES.LIFE, a 1/2 hour TV Comedy to be broadcast on MTVU. Shooting in April, Res.Life portrays the lives of college Residence Assistants (RAs) and their difficult job of taking responsibility for a new class of unpredictable freshman.

All auditions will take place at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts located at 855 Commonwealth Avenue in Room 102.

Friday, February 23rd from 5:00-8:00pm
Saturday, February 24th from 1:00-4:00pm
Sunday, February 25th from 10:00am-2:00pm

We are looking for actors who fit the following descriptions:

-“The Bratty Little Sister”- 10 year-old Caucasian female
- “The Mom”- Middle-aged upper class, Caucasian female
- “The Dad”- Middle-aged upper class, Caucasian male
- “The Security Guard”- Middle-aged Indian Male
- “The Resident Assistants”- College-aged males and females of various backgrounds

Please RSVP with a preferred audition date and time along with current contact information for yourself to newtv@bu.edu . We will be in touch to schedule your exact audition time.

Spring Semester Begins

In the Fall of 2005, Boston University produced the original television pilot "Roller Palace", which aired on mtvU in the Spring of 2006.

For the second iteration of the class, BU students will be producing the original script "Res. Life".

The class will be supervised by Professor Paul Schneider and is comprised of the following Boston University students:

producer/assistant sound mixer Elyse Punia
director Patrick Sullivan
director of photography Leo Bonarrigo
1st a.d. Sara Scheinman
camera operator Oscar Rohena
1st a.c. David Runkle
gaffer Jac Woods
casting director/script supervisor Susanne Dahl
location manager/best boy/best boy grip Darcy Forlenza
production coordinator/key & dolly grip Richard Kearney
prop master/on set wardrobe & set dresser Chris Maggio
sound mixer/2nd AD Alex Swanson