Spliced finger, 80 hour work week, exciting career path.

I want to start with the view I had for the weekend working on the Smirnoff commercial. These people really know how to find the best locations. This is a bar called Long Table in Bangkok. It's worth a second visit.


Some stuff to share. The past three days I've worked a total of 40 hours. A lot of over time and pretty hard work when you are filming a commercial. I much preferred working on a feature film— there isn't as many company moves, and the pace is a bit more manageable for me.





Speaking of rushing through things, I managed to get a few injuries on the job. The most notable one was from using my Leatherman. I grabbed it and was using it for a bit, then realized when I looked down after adding a filter to a bulb, that my finger was full of blood. I mean a lot— and I don't get freaked out by blood, but this was one of the few times I was concerned.

Pressure and elevation were the only things I remembered to do. I rushed to the set nurse and he poured alcohol and antibiotic on my finger. The adrenaline finally died and I could really feel the pain from these liquids. Holy crap I haven't hurt myself physically in a really long time. It took him awhile to stop the bleeding, then I realized how deep of a cut it was. That pain resonated for the rest of the day. I never felt pain like that before. Yeah I've had worse accidents, but this time it felt really different. Yeah I've had some emotional pain to deal a few months ago, and this felt a lot like it. It's going to sound emo but you know the feeling when you're in so much pain that where it hurts start to become numb; but the numb-er it got, the more painful it gets.

Enough of that— the wound is mostly healed now and I shouldn't be typing on it—much less about it.


I wanted to write about how the Director of Photography was on this commercial. At first he seemed really cool and laid back. He was young and talented and I liked that about him.

However after working with him, his pretentious side started to come out. There was a bit of racism that surfaced, which I don't like. My dad was the gaffer, and I can't say he's the best gaffer in the entire world, but his experience working on very huge films has him pretty high on the list for what he does. Sometimes the Thai way it doesn't work as smoothly to some Hollywood eyes. The DP was more closed to see how things would turn out using the Thai way, and started looking down on the Thai crew like we don't know how to make a film.

Psh.. We probably made most of the films that inspired him in the first place— and we did it well.

A few lessons for me after working on this show. When (and please know it's not an if, but a when) I become a real famous DP, I'll always see the crew in the most positive light. Because even though they might not be able to beat the physical time and be as fast as how my brain can imagine a scene, they are the ones busting their asses to make my movie. Always thank the crew— no matter if I'm Joe Schmoe, or the honorable Roger Deakins.

After working so much in the past few days coming home completely muddy/dirty/stinky/soaked in sweat, I can only tell myself "I love this." The adrenaline rush from being on set and trying to get things done has no substitutes for me. Maybe it's my better-than-sex cake. I'll try to be careful not to lose a finger on the next set.

Pete