Scrubs

[Charles Papert]

Wow, this is an old thread! Well, I haven't worked on "Scrubs" for a while now--I left full-time operating on the show after the second season (they are in their sixth now) and have been back a few times to fill in or work on second unit.

Zach was actually quite easy to shoot, because he is a smart guy and as well know a director (he was aiming more at that than at acting when he auditioned for "Scrubs"). As such he's quite camera-savvy and gets what needs to be done to make the shot work.

If you have the chance to look at my reel, the final shot on there (sorry to make you have to wait for the end) is a really interesting one. We had done so many versions of Zach striding thoughtfully down the hall during montages or voice-overs, and when this one came up I thought it would be fun to try something different, so I suggested a roundy-round as we made our way down the hallway. It required Zach to shift with me as I made the loop around him to keep enough distance from the camera, but you don't really notice that happening as he did a good job.

The tough kinds of actors to shoot are the ones that change their physical movements significantly from take to take, such as jackrabbiting out of a chair instead of making a smooth rise, or starting to leave then turning back for one more line, i.e. false starts.

[Charles King]

Charles P. your presents here is always a plus for HBS. Your work is pure masterpiece. Thank you again for indulging us mere mortals with your presents. Your reel is an inspiration which all will try to inspire. Thank you.

[Charles Papert]

My pleasure Charles--I'm on some down time between jobs right now so I can "make the rounds" as it were.

Thought you guys might like this still from the last movie; to me, a rig just isn't a rig if it doesn't have lasers on board...

[Charles King]

Ha Ha. Awesome Charles P. May I ask what movie it is so I can make sure to watch it?

[Alan Dague-Greene]

My wife was flipping through the channels looking for Saturday Night Live tonight. She flipped past HGTV, and I said wait a minute! Go back to that! What do you know? It was Charles Papert on HGTV, getting a home makeover. I was flummoxed. I cannot get away from this stuff, even if I wanted to.

[Charles King]

My wife was flipping through the channels looking for Saturday Night Live tonight. She flipped past HGTV, and I said wait a minute! Go back to that! What do you know? It was Charles Papert on HGTV, getting a home makeover. I was flummoxed. I cannot get away from this stuff, even if I wanted to.

Did you record it? 

[Alan Dague-Greene]

Nah ... a demo reel is one thing. The particulars of someone's fireplace is quite another. Besides, the chances of them doing an impromptu workshop in the middle of the show seemed pretty slim.

[Charles King]

Well, I would have. For crying out loud, it's Charles Papert

[cosmin rotaru]

I would like to se CP's fireplace. I've heard that it's his fountain of steadiknowledge.

[Charles Papert]

Jeez, you guys!

The fireplace may or may not be as Cosmin describes--I can say that it entombs two unlucky pet fish that died just before we poured the concrete for the hearth (they taped that for the renovation show, but it didn't make it!)

For those die-hards who are into home remodelling (I have found for myself that having gone through the process I'm pretty fascinated with seeing other people's efforts), you can see some before and after images here. The master bedroom is the only part that was involved with the TV show ("reDesign", on HGTV)

I had a pretty good time with the taping overall--it was nice to not have to lift a finger for once being on the other side of the camera, and I loaned the guys some of my lighting gear as needed, as well as shooting a few b-roll segments when they couldn't get their cameras out to the house in time.

Anyway--the movie still is from "The Great Buck Howard" coming out next year. Also look for "Balls of Fury", a kung-fun ping pong comedy from the Reno 911 guys that I operated as well.

[Phil Kindred]

Wow-- there's a title to pitch.  Dead Fish and Balls of Fury.  Newman and Redford?  Chan and Wilson?  DeNiro and Pesci?  40 million weekend!!!! 

[Charles King]

THanks for the link CP. The link doesn't seem to work. Thanks again for the movie titles. I'll be on the look out.

[cosmin rotaru]

Verry nice house you have ther CP. Thanks for showing it to us. 
I got some nice ideas from the pics. We're "modeling" our house (if this is the term. We are building the house from ground and now we are "modeling" it ).

I must say that I like both the old and the new look. You probably got borred with the old look, so the new look seems much better for you. But I like both. I like the wood...

I have some questions... we are geting off line here.. from scrubs...
Anyway
- upstairs, yo had some windows, I think, now covered with dors? (the first two pics)
- I see you have the HD projector hidden by the ceilling. Does that require special care? I know they generate some heat...
- very nice vaulted ceilling in the kitchen! (I saved all pics on my HDD ).
- what do you have on the patio's floor? (you say is "safer")
- "the wall of cabinetry has hidden doors to the bathroom and walk-in closet" - not hidden anymore! Now I know where you kip your clothes! 

Thanks again!

Charles K., the link is working for me!

[Charles King]

Now I see them. Thanks. Really nice house CP. It seems the steadicam business is really paying off. THat bedroom is just awesome. Wow!!! and that home entertainment center is to die for.

[Charles Papert]

Thanks Cosmin and Charles!

Cosmin:

Building the house from the ground up--in many ways it would have been easier for us to have done so (except for the brutal building codes here in LA).

Hmm, you like the before pictures??! It was rough, dude. There's good old and there's bad old...nobody ever walked in and admired the choice of materials. Actually there's more wood now than ever before, what with the built-ins that we added and all.

The "windows" in the living room were vestiges of when the house was added on to 25 years ago--that was originally an exterior wall, and they simply left the two windows in place between the rooms (kinda odd). We converted the rear room into an office/ guest bedroom, and built a new wall leaving a 16" space between walls. This was taken up by placing a wet bar in the left hand window which serves the living room, then a Murphy bed in the other side (drops down from the wall for guests) and a closet next to it which used the right hand window for depth. Very slick. I don't have pix up yet of that bedroom because my girlfriend is still organizing her stuff in there!

The HD projector did require a lot of consideration. I worked with a home theater installer and still ended up doing a lot of the math myself to make sure that the distances and heights were just right. It is vented up through the roof with intake and exhaust, and there is a fan on the exhaust side as well. It made it through a hot summer with no problems, so it looks like it all worked out! The nice thing about the enclosure is that it makes what is normally a pretty loud projector  (Marantz VP12S4 long throw) virtually silent inside the room. The home theater stuff and the wet bar were my two over-the-top luxury items in the renovation, but we've enjoyed both a lot! And it's good for resale.

The finish on the patio floor was a material that I can't remember--it went down in stages. It's almost rubbery, waterproof and nice nubbled for traction. The support structure of the balcony was reinforced to make it safer (it felt rickety before, especially near the edge).

The bedroom cabinetry was my nod to the 60's era James Bond vibe--I just love hidden panels and doors in things. It always wows visitors!

"Building" a house was a fascinating venture--often terribly frustrating and stressful, but also incredibly satisfying once things came together and I was pleased to see that probably 95% of our decisions were good ones (i.e. we haven't regretted them yet). I have said that I spent 14 months making daily decisions between 1/4" and 3/8" with the contractor--luckily the same part of my brain that likes the subtlety and obsession to detail in the film business seemed to adjust to this pretty well.

Speaking of which, back to Steadicam...?! (that's OK, there's lots of threads about that thing!)