Dave Brubeck...

We’ve shot most of the documentary's interviews with a possible re-shoot day with Gretchen and a shoot day at the jazz festival in the works. Read More...

Hiatus

So, I’ve been on hiatus from the Smile project for the last two weeks, but that’s all coming to an end. Read More...

...but you can't take 'em out.

Today we shot Gretchen’s interview for acts 2 and 3 at a house in Grosse Pointe, I think, Farms.  The last time we shot Gretchen was at the Cadieux Stage in Detroit, and she was uncomfortable there, so we moved her to this house she owns and uses as a guesthouse and shot there.  

This time no space suits were needed.  Now, when we go into a place we move and rearrange things to suit us and that's what we did here.  Kevin did a great job lighting the scene and the interview was going well.  The way things were set, Gretchen and the camera were in one corner of the living room with the rest of the room as a backdrop.  I was setup on a kitchen counter with the monitor and a list of questions. 

The area consisted of just counter space and the stove.  And the way things ended up, me and the monitor were on the stove.  Now, the stove was one of those flat electric stoves with no burners... you see where this is going.  So, halfway through the interview something happened, and I bumped one of the switches on the stove to high.  And just like something out of Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Laurel and Hardy, Turner & Hooch, the stove started to heat up.  And boy was that a surprise.  Luckily there was no fire.  The moral of the story is, you can dress them up, but you can't take 'em out.

Thanks St. John Hospital

We started our shoot today with an interview with one of the doctor’s at St. John Hospital.

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What does Bruce Harper and Sting have in common?

So the day started pretty well, we arrived at the Dirty Dog Cafe at 7:45ish and started the drag-in and setup.

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How many producers does it take?

Ok, I love the Smile project’s producing staff.  Yesterday I was talking to one of the producers (Alisa) and we were going over some things when she made a remark about the Christian McBride shoot on Monday.  And I said, “I didn’t know any of that,” and she said, “Yeah, that all happened."

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Not Ready?

Ok, it’s the night before our next shoot, and I feel unprepared.  I don’t know why; it’s not like I haven’t been involved in plenty of news productions that were woefully unprepared, but I digress.

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Days Off?

The last two weeks have been busy, shooting in Los Angeles and Detroit.  After this past Monday’s shoot we have a small break, but we’re planning to go back to LA in August to shoot Kevin Eubanks’ band at a jazz club called The Baked Potato and to New York to shoot legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck.  So, although we are not shooting this week or next we are planning.   

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