Snowbunnies
Awful lot of snowbunnies around here... That's what Jeremy said to me yesterday. Awful lot. We were standing near the top of Bear Creek ski resort. Yep, just 2 guys, standing in the middle of a ski slope, with a $16,000 camera tethered to a powermac G4 laptop. Nothing to see here... move along. Snowboarders and skiiers blazing by us on either side. Some would stop, "Hey whats going on here?" "Hey, Mr. Camera-man! over here!" "Hi Mom!" And of course, tons of grief from the ski-lift. Because, we all know everyone's bored on a ski-lift, so it's the perfect time and opportunity to yell at unusual things. 2 guys standing in the middle of a slope without skiis must be one of those things. Unfortunately for us, anyone who was interested in what was going on fit in the "spoiled 12 yr old" category. No snowbunnies. But they were there. This is just another Men's Health minute day. Shooting tips about unusal stuff from unusual places. I just decided to write about it, since it really is worth mentioning. First of all, this is the best job ever. seriously. I will never find a job on the planet as good as this one. Of course I have to keep looking for lesser jobs than this, because I cannot live on this job alone, that's impossible. But for the amount of work and what I do, it's just awesome. So let's break down an average MH minute day, shall we?
Ok, rule 1, there is no set time for a MH minute day. The only thing that remains the same is that it's on a weekday. But beyond that, it could be ANY weekday, and even on rare occasions, a Saturday. The time, is also not consistent. Suppose I get a call that we start at 10am on Wednesday. Well at 9:45 am on that day, it might suddenly change to 1 pm, or even 3 pm on Friday. No one really knows. The times change, heck, even the people change. It's all quite confusing. After that, comes the planning for what we're doing that day. We shoot between 4-7 MH minute segments every day of this. And although they're only 1 min long online, they take about 2 hours to do, each. We do all the stunts and come up with the gags and the jokes, set up lighting, and find the places and people to talk to, to learn the tips. Everything involved is comped from Men's Health or our featured sponsored place. For example, My skiing tickets, and meals yesterday were all free, courtesy of Bear Creek, because we're mentioning them in a video that by the time I type this, will probably be seen by no less than 2 or 3 million people. So everything's free, and I make $100- untaxed everyday that I do this, regardless of how long I work, which some days is as little as 4 hours. Again, obviously not enough to live on, but you try getting paid to go do fun stuff and laugh all day and should you find that job, tell me what it is.
Generally there are 2 types of people in this world who react to a camera. Those who want nothing to do with it, and pretend it's not there, and those who do, and ask questions and try to spoil the shot with their own devices. I know, you'd think type 2 is more annoying, but surprisingly the ones who ignore it ruin it more often. Because the ones who want something, are usually easier to spot and deflect from the shot. But those who ignore it all together sometimes speak during Geordie's (our MH minute man) part or drop stuff, and they just don't care so they won't ever give us break. And of course there's the ill-fated type 3, who hate cameras and yell at us or threaten us if we're within 40 miles of them with a camera. Yeah those people are fun too.
So back to the snowbunnies. Jeremy and Geordie are the 2 guys you can pretty much shoot the shit with about whatever. I mean, there are few bosses that I can tell to go fuck themselves and they just wouldnt care. They are the coolest guys to work with. Geordie is about 5 years older than me, Jeremy is 12 years older. They're the kind of people who try to figure it all out, but know, just as I know, that they'll never figure it all out. And should snowbunnies, beachbunnies, or any appreciable work of art happen to walk by, there's no off-limits discussion.
It's good stuff, and I'll never forget it. But in case I do, it's saved in this entry. Yay!
Ok, rule 1, there is no set time for a MH minute day. The only thing that remains the same is that it's on a weekday. But beyond that, it could be ANY weekday, and even on rare occasions, a Saturday. The time, is also not consistent. Suppose I get a call that we start at 10am on Wednesday. Well at 9:45 am on that day, it might suddenly change to 1 pm, or even 3 pm on Friday. No one really knows. The times change, heck, even the people change. It's all quite confusing. After that, comes the planning for what we're doing that day. We shoot between 4-7 MH minute segments every day of this. And although they're only 1 min long online, they take about 2 hours to do, each. We do all the stunts and come up with the gags and the jokes, set up lighting, and find the places and people to talk to, to learn the tips. Everything involved is comped from Men's Health or our featured sponsored place. For example, My skiing tickets, and meals yesterday were all free, courtesy of Bear Creek, because we're mentioning them in a video that by the time I type this, will probably be seen by no less than 2 or 3 million people. So everything's free, and I make $100- untaxed everyday that I do this, regardless of how long I work, which some days is as little as 4 hours. Again, obviously not enough to live on, but you try getting paid to go do fun stuff and laugh all day and should you find that job, tell me what it is.
Generally there are 2 types of people in this world who react to a camera. Those who want nothing to do with it, and pretend it's not there, and those who do, and ask questions and try to spoil the shot with their own devices. I know, you'd think type 2 is more annoying, but surprisingly the ones who ignore it ruin it more often. Because the ones who want something, are usually easier to spot and deflect from the shot. But those who ignore it all together sometimes speak during Geordie's (our MH minute man) part or drop stuff, and they just don't care so they won't ever give us break. And of course there's the ill-fated type 3, who hate cameras and yell at us or threaten us if we're within 40 miles of them with a camera. Yeah those people are fun too.
So back to the snowbunnies. Jeremy and Geordie are the 2 guys you can pretty much shoot the shit with about whatever. I mean, there are few bosses that I can tell to go fuck themselves and they just wouldnt care. They are the coolest guys to work with. Geordie is about 5 years older than me, Jeremy is 12 years older. They're the kind of people who try to figure it all out, but know, just as I know, that they'll never figure it all out. And should snowbunnies, beachbunnies, or any appreciable work of art happen to walk by, there's no off-limits discussion.
It's good stuff, and I'll never forget it. But in case I do, it's saved in this entry. Yay!