Reflections on Film

Photo Reeflections:

On my breaks on set, to pass the time I usually go over to the guys on “B” camera and try to learn all about the camera and how it works. It is so fun. I have learned how to pull focus, calibrate a lense, set up shots, dolly operate, do the camera report, and framing a shot. I have also learned about the different lenses, different filters, and how the camera processes light. To really make sure I understand how a camera works, the “B” camera guys gave me a real film camera for my birthday. I love it. I have been taking the camera everywhere and it’s amazing how differently I look at the world. I see beautiful and interesting things everywhere that I want to capture on film.

The film camera works differently than a digital camera. You have to get your film developed so nothing is instant and it makes you be more thoughtful about taking photos. The reason you don’t get your photos right away is because when the film camera takes a photo, the shutter opens for a certain amount of time (depending on what you set your shutter speed to). The aperture opens or closes a certain mechanism inside your lense allowing a certain amount of light to pass through the lense. You have to choose the aperture as well. The light passes through the lense onto a mirror inside the camera which reflects an image onto light sensitive paper (film) and the image is “recorded” onto your film. Once the film roll is full, you have to develop it by putting it into certain chemical baths in a very dark room. It’s complicated to do it all manually, it takes longer than pointing and shooting with an iphone, but I hope it will teach me more about how to frame a shot, and what light settings and lenses to use for the best picture. It also has made me think a lot before I just shoot the camera.

I have finished my first roll of film. I cannot wait to see what I captured. I plan to take many pictures. I want to take pictures in color and black and white. I plan to do a series of portraits and landscapes. I want to capture Lost in Space from behind the scenes as I see it. I also want to take pictures of Vancouver and the other locations we shoot. One day I will look back and see all that I have done and these pictures will tell my story.

My last day as 11.

Sometimes, you get to step where no one has stepped before...
It was my last day as an 11 year old, and I had to go on a location shoot. Everyone was nervous. We were going to Brohm Ridge which is a glacier that has been in existance for thousands of years. It is surrounded by peaks of jagged rock, four of which are ancient volcanos that exploded many years ago.

The night before we went to this location, we had to have a safety training where we talked about avalanche training, how to use an avalance transmitter, the buddy system, and the modes of transport we would be taking to the 8,000 foot elevation at the base of Mount Garibaldi.

On my last morning as an 11 year old, we were picked up at 7 am in an SUV. We drove 30-45 minutes up bumpy roads to the "snow line" We were met there by a huge red vehicle called a "Snow Cat" It's basically a tank with a shovel on the front. We headed another 30 minutes up winding roads covered in snow. The view out the window was spectacular. We were surrounded by mountains. We could see the Tantalas range, we could see Black Tusk, we could see, Table Top, and in the distance straight up we could see Mount Garabaldi, an ancient volcanoe that exploded many years ago leaving a peak that was both breath taking and forboding. It looked like all the snow on top of it would just fall on top of us. There is a First Nations tribe hundreds of miles away that found a piece of Mount Garabaldi which means the volcanic explosion was so forceful, it sent pieces flying HUNDREDS of miles away! And that was where were were filming Lost in Space!

We arrived at an old lodge in our Snow cat. This was where we needed to change into our space suits and get into hair and make up. Then, we got into a "Snow Quad"  and headed another 20 minutes straight up.

At last we arrived. The crew was there. It was a small group. Smaller than normal as we had to bring only what was necesary. The cameras looked lonely on the untouched snow. A mountain expert named Andre met us there. He would be with us the entire day. He knew weather patterns, he knew how stable the snow was so we could avoid sink holes and avalanches. He placed the Avalanche Transmitter on me and I followed him to a place on a ridge that no one had stepped before.... It was like a thick white blanket for miles. The snow glistened in the morning sun. And we began to work in this beautiful, quiet wonderland.

When I finished shooting, the stunt coordinator asked me if I wanted to ride on a snowmobile down to the lodge. I said yes of course and off we went leaving the peaks of Mount GAribalding in the distance.

The last day I was an 11 year old, I walked a glacier where not many will ever get the chance to go. I rode on snow mobiles and snow cats on roads that were built just weeks before to allow us to access this beautiful place. This year has been so full of unexpected adventures. This seemed like the right way to end this amazing year!
I wonder how year 12 will be....

                   





                                           

It's about the work...

Filming on location this long can get very lonely. You can sometimes feel so homesick and tired, you wonder if it is worth it. Everybody tells me that what we are doing now is the "work" part. That in the future, once the work is done there will be many perks. Audiences tend to only see the finished product and they don't see the work so the business of acting seems glamorous. But if they saw the work part... it can be really rough.

So that's pretty much where I was at last week when one of those "perks" walked right into my school room. I had filmed several scenes with the director for 105. Her name is Deborah Chow and I really really enjoyed working with her. But I was tired. It was day 10 of 10 days to film episode 105 and everyone was on edge because they didn't want to fall further behind. On top of all that, I had to do 5 hours of school. It was a very tiring day and a day I was wondering if all this work was worth it.

As I sat in the school room doing my math, suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Let's go!" said Chad the 2nd AD. "I'm taking you to meet The Flash!" I knew he had been trying to make this happen since January but because of my schedule and The Flash's schedule it was hard to figure out. But today was the day!

We hopped in a transport vehicle and they drove us 5 short minutes from our film studio to Vancouver Film Studios (VFS). I hopped out of the van and made my way towards Stage J.

I entered the big soundproof door and saw the speed lab. Before I could even take one step into it, Tom Felton (AKA Draco Malfoy) ran up to me and said, "You must be Max! I've been looking forward to meeting you. Give us a hug!" He had a thick british accent. We chatted about Lost in Space and filming when all of a sudden The Flash himself, Grant Gustin, came over and flashed a big smile!
"Hey Max! I'm so glad this finally worked out!" I was so euphoric, I could barely remember what I said. I do know that we talked about music, and Aviator Nation (we are both fans), and rain, and shooting a tv series far from home, and how hard season one of anything is, and family, and summer plans, and of course The Flash! He was so nice and humble and before I could even ask, he said, "Let's get a photo!" Then he introduced me to the rest of the cast before they were called back to film a scene.

Grant grabbed a pair of headsets from the sound cart and handed them to me so I could listen and watch them filming from the monitor. And then he was off.... like the flash.

I watched for a while then I got called back to set to film another scene. It was an awesome day. Somehow when I got back to my stage, I had a bit more understanding that moments like this would never happen unless I put in the work.

whale watching

I woke up on yet another rainy Vancouver day with gray skies and big globs of water firing on my window. I thought to myself, "how am I going to whale watch in this weather?" I walked downstairs to see my mom and dad already dressed to head out on our adventure. I was immediatly rushed to the table for some cereal and shot back upstairs to get dressed. We had to be in Steveston(a port town where we would go whale watching.) at 10am sharp to check in with Vancouver Whale Watching. Steveston also doubles as Storybook, Maine on the popular tv show Once Upon A Time. As we drove through the streets of this town, it seemed oddly familiar to me. I was half expecting too see my favorite characters boarding the boat to go whale watching with us!!!

I could not wait for the whale adventure to begin. All my life I had wanted to see a whale in the wild. I was hoping to see Orcinus Orca, also known as an Orca. I also wanted to see a Minke whale, They are rorqual whales, commonly associated with the blue whale exept much smaller.  Both Orcas and Minke live off the coast of the pacific north west with Humpbacks and Grey whales. You could say British Columbia was whale watching heaven if you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. There is never a guarantee that you will see a whale at the surface from your boat, but I hoped that we would be lucky!

We walked up the worn wooden stairs to the small office to the check in and get our parking pass. My sister looked at some stuffed animals while I read a book on whales. When my mom got the parking pass, we moved our car across the block to a lot. We walked a short distance to a small cafe called Pier side Cafe. The trip could take up to 5 hours so we watched to pack a lunch. When we left the cafe with our sandwiches,  we walked down to the docks where somehow the sun was shining. It was a beautiful view with the water glistening in the sun and the mountains surrounding the small town. All of a sudden the screeching sound of metal being drawn along concrete peiced the air as the captain opened the steel gate to the entrance to the boat. We filled in our Zodiac double decker boat and prepared for the long journey through the Georgia Straight and out into the Pacific Ocean that surrounded the Gulf Islands.

The water was very choppy as we headed out. Our guide welcomed us and told us she hoped we would be lucky enough to see whales, but we would also see other marine life and birds of prey.

We had left the dock not 20 minutes when I saw him. "Bald Eagle!!",  I exclaimed.

There he was soaring through the air as if he was an ancient dragon leading us out to sea. He was beautiful and graceful. I could almost feel his power as he flapped his wings only one time and glided along the glistening ocean. We were lucky enough to see glimpses of this beautiful species 3 other times throughout our journey.

An hour into the journey we could smell something very fishy!We were all aware of the smell when at once we heard the barking of what must have been a hundred Stellar Sea Lions. They were baking in the sun on a small patch of rock in the middle of the ocean. We stopped pour boat to watch these playful creatures (who must have had really bad gas) interact with each other. It made me a bit homesick as they reminded me of my dogs.

We continued another 30 minutes when in the distance I saw a splash of the fluke (tail fin) of what looked like a giant Orca! Our guide pulled out her binoculars and looked for a moment as we all held our breath in excitement. "Over there! 12:00  o"clock!" Our guide pointed straight as she continued, "There is a pos of Transient Killer Whales and they are in the process of hunting a seal. We will cut off our boat jets and follow along for the next hour."

Transient Orcas are some of Vancouver's most common Orcas yet they are not so common to see unclose as they are always on the move. Transient Orcas diet consists mainly of fish and sea mammals. Today, there were five Orcas in the pod eating a seal. There was absolutely no blood as the Orcas kill their prey by drowning. It was amazing to watch these graceful killers working as a team to conquer their prey. The teamwork was incredible to watch. Orcas live as a family for their entire lives. They never leave their mothers until their mothers pass away. It was clear to see how smart and dedicated to each other they were.

Just as we thought it was over, a big spout of water sprayed in the air so c;one to our boat that we could feel the water spray us. Our guide told us that we could never drive this close to the whales, but if the whales decided to come to us, we could stay perfectly still and watch. It was hard to make a noise as being this close to them sucks all of your breath away. It is truly AWESOME.

After about 10 more minutes of close contact with our boat, they swam away and they took all of the magic of the sea with them. We were left speechless. We turned our boat around and began to head back the hour and a half to Steveston. We passed tiny islands with lonely houses on them. It seemed like we were watching a movie because the landscape was so beautiful and perfect.

When we finally docked our boat and got off, we headed back to Vancouver with our brains filled with the beautiful memory of our time on the Pacific Ocean watching Orcas in their natural habitat. I don't think I would ever want to see one anywhere else. They truly belong in the ocean so they can be together and be free.

Will Power

When I first got cast as will Robinson I asked my parents if I would get to meet the original Will Robinson from back in the 60s (Bill Mumy). I really wanted to meet him so I tried contacting him through Instagram. He did not get back which was a little disappointing but I figured he was busy.  Flash forward to last Thursday I was walking to set to film a standard scene in a really small studio with tons of extras. I was walking in trying to find the director when i turn the corner and standing there were Burk and Matt the two writers, Zach the show runner, and Neil the director with phones out ready to take photos smiles strewn across there face It was weird but i said hi to each of them and then I turned to the last one who I did not recognize he had reddish hair looked older but there was something familiar about him. I just stood there trying

to see who it was, and then when he smiled  it hit me it was... Bill Mumy. When I saw him a big smile ran across both our faces. We introduced ourselves by saying hi Will Robinson. he was super kind. He gave me this awesome photo of the original cast. We talked about how we both play mandolin and how cool the sets are. I had to go to to the spaceship but I could not wait to see him tomorrow.


I was walking to see the new set(It was a new part of the spaceship) we were filming on. We were back in the spacesuits and as I was about to get my space jacket on he ran over. I was so siked. As I saw him running over I said," hey man good to see you again" he replied with a,"Hey I heard you like comics." I then immediately said," I LOVE Captain America." Bill  said," No way so do I." I then replied," I also have a few star wars comics." You wont believe what he said next." I know Mark Hamill. In fact he was at my house on Tuesday." My eyes went wide with amazement I couldn't believe he new Luke Skywalker. He said," if you come over to my house when your in L.A I will invite him over." I was speechless. All I could say was ," That is so cool." I finally said," time is flying by, I cant believe I have been here for almost 3 months." He then said," I know it feels like yesterday we were filming the final episodes of the original lost in space." We talked about how it was crazy how different everything on set is now like Visual FX, and CGI( computer generated Images).



After I was done with that scene I went over to do a behind the scenes with bill and the robot. Me and bill had to walk into the Spaceship and be comparing it to the old one but then the robot would walk up behind us and scare bill. I had to reassure him he was safe. In between takes of that we talked about doing school on set and how its weird going from almost dying in a scene to doing math. We talked about how I am writing a song about Pete Seeger he went on to say," I love Pete Seeger. When I was 11 I bought a banjo and the Pete Seeger song book and learned how to play." I told him I would send him a recording of the song.

The weekend flew by. Before I new it I was on set. I was not working but I had to do school. I knew it was bills last day on set so I was glum but when he stopped by school he gave me some awesome Captain America comics. We had to say goodbye right away because had to go onto set. I was sad that he had to go but I new I would see him again.

















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one heck of a valentines day

On Valentines day which happens to be my moms birthday we were not filming at the studio, this means we were on location. In fact we were filming on the opposite of the studio. We were filming on a mountain. This mountain was just outside of a town called squamish. Squamish means mother of the winds in skokomish. Squamish is on the sea to sky highway because it is 40 minutes away from whistler(the big mountain).

When we arrived it was raining but the view was incredible we were 1,000 feet above Howe Sound and there were mountains surrounding us. I got into my wardrobe and headed off to school . When I got there the view was even better we were on the edge of a cliff. Across the Howe Sound were more mountains with snow-capped tips and trees covering the base like a winter coat. When the wind blew it made a noise that sounded like someone was singing opera in an echo-y room.

 I could not wait to see the set,but getting to set was hard. We had to take a one lane dirt road on the edge of a mountain. It also was slippery. when one truck was going up nothing else can go down the road because if they met in the middle everything would turn into chaos.I could not imagine the stress put on the traffic guards. The trucks had to go down backwards because there is no place to turn around. The road was really scary because it was straight down if it fell. The first time I went down we freaked out because the truck was bouncing on bumps and swaying and we were going backwards down a MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!!


when I arrived on set it was all muddy and wet but there was fire all over. It was a bit confusing.but I did not have time to think about it because I was rushed over to meet with the stunt coordinator to set my route along the mud. the reason I met with the stunt coordinator is because if I stepped in the wrong place I wood sink a foot into the mud. We had to change it a little because everything kept sliding. When we had that done we started filming. It was a little challenging because I had to mime where the thing I was seeing actually was, But I got the hang of it. Set was really cool because you are surrounded by the mountains, and you feel like they are just watching down at you like hawks stalking there prey. Then Brian came down Molly and Toby. But we did not have alot of time because we heard it was going to rain. We franticly tried to film as much as possible because we were afraid of roads washing away and rocks sliding. We did not film as much as planned but will be going back another day.


we are back in squamish hoping it dos not rain. If you do not here from me send a search party.

  

A day in the life

When you shoot a film or tv show on location, you have two homes all the time. You have the home where you go to sleep at night, and you have the home where you spend ALL OF YOUR TIME! For me, that home is Bridge Studios. And even if you aren't filming many scenes on a particular day, you still end up spending a lot of time at that home.

Today, I didn't actually film anything., but I spent all day working. I had to get to Bridge very early!

Today we had a driver picking us up because Everyone on set gets worried about snow. Vancouver does not get snow very often(oddly enough). I dont know why I was so tired I had gotten 9 hours of sleep. I did  not have breakfast at home because they serve it on set. It took me a while to get ready but when I got out the door the transport car was already waiting. It was the same guy who had picked me up from the airport,Dave. On the way their I pretty much just sat in the car and looked around. Me and Dave talk about how the flash films across the street, Once upon a time films next door, and super girl films 25 minutes away. Those are my top three shows in that order.

       when we arrived Greg was waiting for us he said breakfast was ready on set then he told me my schedule. I would go to school, then to hair and makeup. then to lunch, then to get my space suit on and off to a body scan. Even though I am not filming my day is really packed. When I walked into school I tried to get onto classroom but my CPS account has been deleted. Then I tried to get on my blog but it kept taking me to the cps sign in which I could not do. I really was getting mad at google. We emailed my mom and ms zumpano and tried everything. It was an hour later when ms zumpano fixed the problem and added my private gmail account to the blog. Thanks ms Zumpano. now I am writing this blog.

      I also had to go to hair and makeup to get my hair cut.  I have to get my haircut on a regular basis because I need to have the same hair in every shot.This is because we have only filmed two minutes.. I have gotten 4 hair cuts in four weeks. I love hair and makeup. Everyone is so awesome and kind. Zabrina the head of makeup gave me cool Canadian baggage tags.  Fran the person cutting my hair is really nice and even when I have a bad hair day and my hair does not want to go down she always is calm and somehow fixes it. And Luther. Luther is zabrinas wiener dog. He is so awesome. Whenever I walk into the makeup room he jumps up on me grabs his ball and starts licking me. He looks like this...
he always is wearing cute sweaters. I think he even has a leather jacket.
















      After hair and makeup they loaded a representative from props,makeup,and hair into a transportation van to go down to where I would get my body scan. A body scan is where they put me in this giant slander crate with a bunch of cameras and they take 3d scans of my body so if they want me falling off a cliff they can just animate it but make it look real. They scanned me in my space suit and a couple of other outfits. It took about two hours. You have to do a bunch of poses so if they want you running or screaming they can have those shots. It was like playing dress up. When it was time to go I walked outside and it was snowing so hard I could not see 20 feet in front of me. I had a full day and was really tired so when I got home I ate tacos and went to bed.