Last Day-Hollywood part 3
Day 3
After a late room service breakfast of French toast with a crispy corn flake topping, we packed up and checked out of our hotel. Raffi picked us up and took us on a tour of his production studio. He has two giant posters of his director idols, Clint Eastwood, and, Alfred Hitchcock. In his office he has an award that looks like an Oscar but he said it was a different type of award given out for commercials. We met up with his brother, Sam, who is his VFX man. He has three giant monitors for his computer plus a couple small ones. He brought up the CGI white tiger he’d been working on. Raffi said for animals you have to build them out; bones first, then muscles, skin, and fur. It even had whiskers.
Next, he showed us his 3-D room and explained how 3-D films are made. There is actually a streaming film for your left eye and an identical one for your right eye. The images are flashed back and forth at an extremely rapid speed and that double vision creates an illusion of depth. He has a huge 3-D television mounted on the wall and has it all hooked up to various computers. My husband and I don’t see 3-D movies because they are never offered with captioning but Raffi pulled up subtitles on the movie and the captions were actually 3-D too. The words hovered in air right in front of you. We both agreed we liked it. Raffi says 3-D televisions are going to take off and that the Discovery channel will be launching their network in 3-D soon.
From there, we moved to his mini theater where he works on color. He showed us a few music videos he made and explained how he does certain shots. On a rap video it looks like it was filmed in downtown NYC where several streets were closed off so the rapper could have a massive outdoor party. Everyone jumps up and down, dancing and singing along. It looks like a very real throng of thousands of people. In reality, there were only 6 people filmed.
After the office tour, we drove to Beverly Hills and had lunch with the family of trainers, Sophia, Irena, and Jackie and their two hugs dogs, a Great Dane, named Odin, and a Doberman named Zeus. We met Raffi’s assistant, Jessica, who brought in lunch and Sprinkles cupcakes. Sam came and showed us his tricked out I-Pad that he refurbished to look like a Star Trek padd with red alert sounds, phaser firing, and torpedoes. Raffi brought along his golden African Ball python, named Fanindra, who I quickly became comfortable with despite my squeamishness. She was quite a lovely snake though when she gets bigger I may have more reservations.
The coolest thing of all though, was when they brought out Zaika. She is a five month old white tiger who is being trained by the team. She loves to jump and play. Under the watchful eyes of her trainers, we were able to take turns feeding her and were even able to pet her back. Her fur is soft, and her tongue is rough like sandpaper. We offered her a sort of raw meatball that she gently took from our hands and then licked our palms for any remaining pieces. She talks in her own way too. She makes different sounds and noises and her trainers are expert at understanding them and sensing her moods.
She took a dip in her tub several times and seems to love splashing water everywhere. She lounged on a large outdoor chaise and jumped around like a newborn as she played with the dogs that treat her as if she’s one of the pack. Raffi’s friend swung by the house with his Porsche and we got some marvelous shots of Zaika in the Porsche, which he’s trying to sell by the way for $30,000, so if anyone is interested, let me know and I’ll pass along the info.
After lunch, we were presented with a special gift, an actual whisker from Geera. The whiskers fall out naturally from time to time but it’s rare to actually find one. The whisker is about six inches long and pointy on one end. It’s very stiff like a thin type of wire and they use them just like house cats. They can stick their heads in a hiding place or a hollowed out tree trunk and if the whiskers don’t come into contact with the sides, then the tiger knows his body will fit. After saying our goodbyes, Raffi took us to the airport and we flew home and spent the entire flight back talking about our adventure.
Pictures on my website.
After a late room service breakfast of French toast with a crispy corn flake topping, we packed up and checked out of our hotel. Raffi picked us up and took us on a tour of his production studio. He has two giant posters of his director idols, Clint Eastwood, and, Alfred Hitchcock. In his office he has an award that looks like an Oscar but he said it was a different type of award given out for commercials. We met up with his brother, Sam, who is his VFX man. He has three giant monitors for his computer plus a couple small ones. He brought up the CGI white tiger he’d been working on. Raffi said for animals you have to build them out; bones first, then muscles, skin, and fur. It even had whiskers.
Next, he showed us his 3-D room and explained how 3-D films are made. There is actually a streaming film for your left eye and an identical one for your right eye. The images are flashed back and forth at an extremely rapid speed and that double vision creates an illusion of depth. He has a huge 3-D television mounted on the wall and has it all hooked up to various computers. My husband and I don’t see 3-D movies because they are never offered with captioning but Raffi pulled up subtitles on the movie and the captions were actually 3-D too. The words hovered in air right in front of you. We both agreed we liked it. Raffi says 3-D televisions are going to take off and that the Discovery channel will be launching their network in 3-D soon.
From there, we moved to his mini theater where he works on color. He showed us a few music videos he made and explained how he does certain shots. On a rap video it looks like it was filmed in downtown NYC where several streets were closed off so the rapper could have a massive outdoor party. Everyone jumps up and down, dancing and singing along. It looks like a very real throng of thousands of people. In reality, there were only 6 people filmed.
After the office tour, we drove to Beverly Hills and had lunch with the family of trainers, Sophia, Irena, and Jackie and their two hugs dogs, a Great Dane, named Odin, and a Doberman named Zeus. We met Raffi’s assistant, Jessica, who brought in lunch and Sprinkles cupcakes. Sam came and showed us his tricked out I-Pad that he refurbished to look like a Star Trek padd with red alert sounds, phaser firing, and torpedoes. Raffi brought along his golden African Ball python, named Fanindra, who I quickly became comfortable with despite my squeamishness. She was quite a lovely snake though when she gets bigger I may have more reservations.
The coolest thing of all though, was when they brought out Zaika. She is a five month old white tiger who is being trained by the team. She loves to jump and play. Under the watchful eyes of her trainers, we were able to take turns feeding her and were even able to pet her back. Her fur is soft, and her tongue is rough like sandpaper. We offered her a sort of raw meatball that she gently took from our hands and then licked our palms for any remaining pieces. She talks in her own way too. She makes different sounds and noises and her trainers are expert at understanding them and sensing her moods.
She took a dip in her tub several times and seems to love splashing water everywhere. She lounged on a large outdoor chaise and jumped around like a newborn as she played with the dogs that treat her as if she’s one of the pack. Raffi’s friend swung by the house with his Porsche and we got some marvelous shots of Zaika in the Porsche, which he’s trying to sell by the way for $30,000, so if anyone is interested, let me know and I’ll pass along the info.
After lunch, we were presented with a special gift, an actual whisker from Geera. The whiskers fall out naturally from time to time but it’s rare to actually find one. The whisker is about six inches long and pointy on one end. It’s very stiff like a thin type of wire and they use them just like house cats. They can stick their heads in a hiding place or a hollowed out tree trunk and if the whiskers don’t come into contact with the sides, then the tiger knows his body will fit. After saying our goodbyes, Raffi took us to the airport and we flew home and spent the entire flight back talking about our adventure.
Pictures on my website.
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Anyway, I am sooo glad you have had a wonderful trip. You and your family! That is wonderful. I cannot say enough, how happy I am for you. Good Luck!!