Photographer on a Hollywood Set Assignment

Thursday, June 16, 2016

I decided to check out another photography seminar at Canon Experience Center. Tonight’s seminar started at 7pm, and it is about “Shooting on a Hollywood Set with Mike Kubeisy.” He worked on such TV series as NCSI, CSI, and Dragnet, where he photographed forensic-related props for movies and TV series. He told us some stories about working on a Hollywood set, which included working with war vets with PTSD as well as working with various actors.

A couple of days before he starts on a job, he receives a memo, which is like a production sheet or chart, detailing what he needs to do on a particular day as well as where it takes place. This chart includes the set, scenes, cast members, days, direction or instruction, shooting notes, stand-ins, props, atmosphere, time, and his assignment throughout the day, on each day that he needs to show up. 

The scenes tend to be gory, but the forensic details are not real. Each episode takes one week to shoot. 

He displays some behind-the-scenes pictures of working on the set. (I have been around some films, TV shows, and infomercials being filmed in my area, and I have stopped, just to check it out.It looks interesting, but it is also tiring and tedious work, because there is a lot of sitting around and waiting. For example, the movie, Kiss the Girls, had a scene shot at a nightclub that used to be across the street from my townhouse. On the way to the gym, I had stopped to see the commotion, and I ended up hanging out there, watching everywhere, and chatting with the nightclub waitresses, who had a role playing themselves in the movie. I saw Morgan Freeman standing outside on his break, smoking a cigarette, and he looked very tense. Some extras mentioned that Ashley Judd had to leave in her limo with her little dog Emmy Lou because Irvine pet stores didn't carry the dog food brand that her dog eats. But I remember that everyone was popping gum and eating lots of candy, like a sugar high. Furthermore, I recently watched an infomercial being filmed, which is a similar process).

He talks about some important and useful tools for photographers, which includes Photoshop, Lightroom, Kelby 1, Aurora HDR, Hunt’s gift card, and some Social Network sites, such as Linkedin.

There was a raffle for some items, and some people won something, but my number wasn't called.