July 23, 2011: Working on The Transporter 24/7! Cyril Raffaelli and Mohammed "Momo" Elachi! Maximus on the mend?

Great.  I'm working on The Transporter at the office.  I'm working on The Transporter at home.  Now, I'm working on The Transporter in my dreams.  Last night, I dreamt I was on set, producing episode #102 (12 Hours) when we ran into a mini emergency of sorts.  One of the actors playing the part of Thug #2 had failed to show.  Fortunately, series Fight Choreographer Cyril Raffaelli had a solution.  Who better to fill in than the guy responsible for producing the episode. All I had to do was hit my mark, deliver a handful of lines, then remember to dodge five successive axe blows aimed at my head – left, left, right, left, right.  I don't know how it happened, by ended up agreeing and, then next thing I knew, I was stumbling through the scene, struggling to remember my dialogue, all the while eyeing that big red axe.  What was it again?  Left, right, left, right, fight?  Left, left, right, right, left?  Oh, shit.

I woke up somewhere between the second and third axe strike.  From what I can recall, I think I was doing okay.

Speaking of spectacular stunts, I had my meeting with the series fight choreographers, Cyril Raffaelli and his assistant Mohammed "Momo" Elachi (pictured above) yesterday for 12 Hours.  We went through the script and highlighted the various fight sequences.  Cyril and Momo asked me where the fight was to take place, how many opponents are our hero was going to face off against and, most importantly, how long I wanted the fight to last.  Ten seconds?  Twenty seconds?  Thirty? Answers in hand, they're now off to study the script, visit the locations, and then craft the most spectacular fight sequences possible.  Next week, we'll regather, discuss what they have in mind, tweak and then it'll be smoooooooooth sailing.  I've made sure to set aside an entire day for the BIG fight sequence at episode's end in addition to a half day for the episode's hair-raising climactic stunt.

It's been very busy on the work front between prep and script revisions but these past two weeks are going to seem like a holiday compared to the next two.  Two huge final days of prep to kick off the week and then I'm into production, eight days on set producing episode two.  Oh, and while I'm at it, tweaking Sharks and rewriting Payback.

And if I have time, I really should get around to filing my quarterly tax installment.

So, took my pug Maximus to the vet today.  As I reported in yesterday's entry, he's been an uncharacteristically unenthusiastic eater of late.  Was it the heat?  A stomach issue?  Or something much more ominous?  Well, apparently, it's none of the above.  It seems he broke a tooth and an abscess developed as a result, making meal time a bit of a nightmare for the (big) little guy.  Anyway, he's on pain medication for now and guess in for dental surgery on Monday.  Wish him luck!