Let it snow!

Today's call time for us was 1 pm. What a huge change from all the other shoots we've been on this year!(that Kent Parker is all right with his scheduling!) We only needed to do the miniature snow for the Hess Express gas station today, and this was shooting at around 4 pm. For some reason, this year went really smoothly. I guess after 8 years we finally know what the director wants. :) We use baking soda for all our miniature snow fx. It works superbly with a host of different scales. The best part about using baking soda is the ability to be able to 'sculpt' it with compressed air. Gently blowing it with the air creates ultra realistic snow dunes. You can actually get those wind blown, overhangs you see on ditches in the winter. The biggest problem is keeping the parking lot surface clean so the toy car tires don't get marks on them and appear to look wobbly when the car rolls into frame. It took a few hours to set up and sculpt the snow to everyone's liking, then the shooting only ran about 40 minutes.

After the shoot, we went to dinner with Kent, Erica, Lisa, and Dale. This was a great treat that certainly doesn't happen with every commercial. All of these people are great to work with, there are no swollen egos or an imaginary hierarchy, just really great people. Dale will be heading back to Vancouver on Sunday, and I wish him continued success as Visual Effects Supervisor on ABC's new series 'Once upon a time'.
It's only been a few hours, but I can hardly wait until next year!

8)
JO

The 8th year in a row!

Last night was a late one for me. I was finishing up all the last minute details on the Toy Fair booth stuff. The last thing on our list was the regular yearly maintenance of the Hess gasoline miniature gas station model.We have been very fortunate to be able to work on all of the projects we turn out. Some are great, and some are fun, but to be able to work on a yearly commercial every year for 8 years in a row is something special. Hess gasoline is a major gas station chain in the U.S. and every year they launch a new collectible 'Hess Toy Truck' in time for Christmas. What the truck is every year is a closely guarded secret, and I will never tell, never I say! We have, in the past, done some pretty awesome stuff for this shoot. I've made camera rigs to full size stunt bikes, and more snow fx than the North Pole. The best part of this gig is getting to work with people I haven't seen in a year. Dale Fay, the director, is one of my favorite people to work with, and as he lives in the states, I look forward to seeing him every year. The 1st A.D. Kent Parker is another amazing guy. He works in the area, and has hired us for other stuff, through his own production company. Other people have come and gone on this job, so there is always someone new to meet. This will be our first time working with the new art director Alan Fellows, and I hope to work with both him and the new producer Erica Parks in the future. Jody stayed last night to give the gas station a cleaning and paint the 8'X 8' parking lot pad. There is always broken pieces here and there that need repair and paint. This gas station model is 8 years old this year, and has survived it's many shoots with a fair amount of grace. Tomorrow we are off to Boothworks to help clear up some of their massive overload on the toy fair stuff. I think we are helping paint some stuff for them. Then Saturday we will be back on the Hess shoot dressing the baking soda snow for the gas station miniature.

8)
JO