Friday & Weekend

It was super super rainy the whole end of the week.  I literally took a shower in rainwater during the time it took me to leave the building and jump in the van.  Also this day, Kate and I had to roll 2 huge rolling racks full of clothes from a truck around the block to the freight elevator.  Kate had to change into a costume because she was soaked! 

Saturday I decided to go check out the 92Y to see if there were any music groups I could play with.  It was my first time really walking around the Upper East Side...

"An open door to extraordinary worlds."

The box office was closed so I wasn't able to get much information, but I was told to return on Sunday. So, I decided to take a walk down Lexington and just see some of the UES.  I made my destination the Frick Collection museum. 

Dear goodness there is actually a store called "yummy mummy."  I hope I don't go there for a long, long time. 

Ballet flat shope...look at the ones with the peacock feathers in the shape of butterflies!  Or the ones below made from newsprint!

More peacocks! In the form of a frothy hat! 

I had a tasty bagel on my way to the Frick, and arrived at the most relaxing art-viewing experience I have had in a long time.  It was small, and not too crowded, and in a great space with a beautiful garden.  I loved the hand-held audio tour device you could use, and the thought that someone had lived in that very building.  I ended on a painting which the audio tour described as a painting of a woman who looked "In full command of her place in the world."  How calming!  At least someone's got it figured out :). 

I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside so here are some of the outside...

On my way back to the West Side, I was craving some sort of frozen treat.  So, I got some kiwi and chocolate gelato. It was very delicious!!!

On Sunday, I did a little mini-audition for the head of the chamber music dept. at the 92Y. Later that day, I sat in on their orchestra rehearsal. It was a bit sad, with very few members and no cellists at all...but I met some nice Japanese women who gave me some contacts to other musical opportunities in the area.  It was fun at least to play (they were sight reading some Haydn) and worth it for the networking.

I have been hard at work on my Gap Retail Management Program application (aka Gap RMP).  It is the program Karolinka just started a few weeks ago.  Here is an official description of the program, but basically it is a relatively prestigious 9-month PAID rotation program at the Gap headquarters in San Francisco.  It sounds like an amazing opportunity, and most "graduates" of the program are guaranteed spots within the company after completion. This also interests me since Gap and Gap affiliated brands are so big in Japan. The interview process is quite in-depth, and tests skills and knowledge in business, math and analysis, trend forecasting, you name it.  Today I got an email saying I got a first round interview! Hooray. See the email below...looks like I will have to do some homework! Karolinka has been super helpful in helping me prepare for everything, and even got me a connection so I had a phone chat with the director of the program this afternoon!  With a 2% acceptance rate, the competition is tough, but I am going to do my best. Even if I get accepted, the program does not start until September 2012.  In the meantime...who knows? Still waiting to hear back from Bloomingdale's, and working on some networking connections via Heather, work, and friends. 

September 26, 2011 

Hello Makiko,

This email is a confirmation of your first round interview for Gap Inc's Retail Management Program with Mickele Carpenter on Wednesday, October 12^th at 1:30pm. Mickele will call you at (707) 478-9765.

To help you prepare for the interview, please be prepared to discuss the following:

• Quantitative analysis and recommendations based on analysis
• Based on your analysis, have you had an impact on sales, profitability or customer satisfaction.
• Opportunities for process improvement or taking initiative to drive results
• Calculate Retail Math using given formulas (please have a calculator handy during your interview)
• Provide in your own words your interest in the Retail Management Program
• Demonstrate research and understanding of our customer and brands

Thank you and good luck!

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of getting around.  Kate doesn't need to print me as many HopStop directions these days.  Below are some of the places I visited at the end of last week. 

All of these costume rental businesses are in such obscure places, in buildings with other random businesses, such as: 

Trapeze School

And, Environmental Building Solutions...all on the same floor!

Wednesday was Meredith's birthday so Zeb and I coordinated some plans.  I got her a chocolate ice box cake from Billy's.  It was delicious! We've been eating it every day since.

I like their cute minty green logo, it is sort of retro...

Coming home one day from work, I saw this sight.  Enjoying the view on a pink couch outside of Walgreens? Sure, why not. You never know what you will see in New York. 

The next day, I got to go shopping with Amela (designer), Christine (asst. designer), and Jess (production assistant).  Before shopping, we went to lunch at this upscale cafeteria like place, which had a 'chocolate room.'  Isn't the wrapping on these $10 (!!!) bars pretty?

Next door to the eatery was this store that sold new appliances designed to look retro.  The blue stove and the red refrigerator are just too cute! The orange one is a dishwasher. 

So, after lunch, we all went to Century 21 where they were shopping for stock background actors.  They needed party / club / going out clothes for the extras in Dionysus' "Den." This was much more fun than shopping for slippers!!  Amela let me pick out stuff I thought would work and I got to buy it!   Most productions (including this one) have a "shopper," whose sole role is to shop for the designer. This production had a shopper in the earlier stages.  Can you imagine? Shopping for a living?

On Thursday night Zeb, Meredith and I went out for Meredith's birthday.  While I walked there, I guess I walked through the tile district- there seems to be a district for everything here!  Anyway, this place called 'Artistic Tile' had these neat clothes made out of tiles on display in their windows. 

We went to dinner at a place called 'Gravy' in Chelsea, I think.  It was upscale Southern cooking.  I had scallops with honey grits. It was delicious! Also, they had great lamps.  

Slippers, More Slippers!

This past weekend, Anna visited (and surprised Meredith!).  On Sunday, we got pizza from one of their neighborhood favorites, Sal's. Apparently they are very serious about their pizza there and once got angry at Anna for repackaging her takeout slice!

Amaro and John Speed also visited New York the same weekend. They went to the Maker's Faire, basically a convention about all types of interesting inventions and objects.  I thought the 3D printers sounded very interesting- basically, they can print three dimensional objects, instead of just two dimensional pieces of paper.

On Sunday afternoon, I showed Amaro around the Upper West Side a bit.  We went to the amazing cream puff place, where he got a green tea cream puff (super delicious!).

Back to work on Monday! While running some stuff to Early Halloween, I saw this window display...

Hmmm, very interesting.

That same day, I got to do some shopping for the production!  This time, it was not rentals (like I did for the hats from Early Halloween) or simply for props (like my Salvation Army shopping spree), but shopping for real costumes!  Technically, only union workers are supposed to be allowed to shop, but I guess they needed the help.  I was assigned to purchase 20 pairs of slippers in an assortment of sizes for men and women.  Shopping is quite fun on someone else's plastic. Hehe.

I bought the slippers, and took the train to set which was in Manhattan.  I organized and labeled all of the slippers to prepare for the big day on Tuesday. They had 175 extras coming on Tuesday, who all needed to be dressed!

On Tuesday, I went straight to set with Amela and Jess in the morning. We drove to Brooklyn and immediately got to work.  It was a bit chaotic- there were so many people crammed into the basement of a building.  Above is a shot of the hair and makeup crew prepping extras.
 
Below is a cute 20s style girl...wearing another hat I picked out from Early Halloween! And pretty much anyone you see in bedroom slippers, you can bet that I shopped for them.  All of the background actors are in the underworld- they are "recently dead" being processed in Hades' palace.  You will see the set below...

The area where all of the extras hang out and wait is called "holding."

Hades' Palace, which I think I overheard is actually part of where the Brooklyn Flea is held. I'll have to go check that out this weekend.


 

A huge line of extras waiting to get dressed and approved by the designer.

More action shots of getting all of the extras "established."  The racks on the left are clothes that the designer and asst. designer shopped for in preparation for this day.

The designer is the blond woman on the left, and the asst. designer is the woman in green and navy on the right.

The set costumer pins something onto this 50s era background actor.

Here is the set.  It is incredible how little of the space they actually use to film...because there is so much equipment everywhere else!
 
In the middle of the day, Jess (the production assistant) and I were sent to go buy more slippers- all of the ones I bought on Monday had been given out to background actors! We went to Target and Daffy's and bought them out.  We came back to set with 50 or so pairs of bedroom slippers. It is really nuts how much money films must pour into local economies.

I took a walk in Central Park after work (and after my interview at Bloomingdale's!).  I guess this is the reservoir?  It was beautiful, and the openness was sort of a shocking change from the lack of expanse in the past 12 hours on set.  Refreshing, isn't it?

Week 3 in Review

My third week of working in New York  went by very quickly. I got to work on more varied types of projects this week which I would like to share with you! 

On Tuesday, they were filming in the Chelsea area. They had some sort of shoe emergency, because the costume department for some reason did not have the same shoes for the stunt double for Alicia Silverstone as in the original costume.  So, I ran over to the art supply store, picked up some paint and glitter, took a cab to set, and we went to work trying to make the shoes look as similar as possible.  The originals are on the left and the imposter pair of shoes is on the right.  They used to be a rich cognac color, but they got some spray paint and glitter, and we figured it was good to go! 

The sidewalk on the side of the costume truck looked like there had been a glitter massacre. 

  

It was interesting to watch the filming happen in the city.  It is more hectic, because there are pedestrians and regular cars constantly coming through the set- the road was not closed off. 

Here is "Hermes" and his vespa-riding stunt double. 

After the shoe disaster morning, Sabrina (another intern) and I were sent to Salvation Army.  It was 1/2 price day, and we were told to buy $400 worth of "normal" clothes.  Very loose directions, so we just went for it!  Basically, the clothes will be used for props- not costumes, because there is a scene where there are bundles and racks of people's clothes.  Even if nobody ever wears any of it, it was fun to be able to shop for the movie anyway!

We had to take the freight elevator out of the place because we had so much stuff.  $400 on half-price day at Salvation Army is A LOT of clothes. And we went over-budget. 

The next few days I went to Early Halloween to do returns, and I passed by this jewelry store.  The area where Early Halloween is is incredible- chock full of the most random stores related to apparel, like mannequin stores, or retail supplies, or vintage, or furs.  Take a look at this jewelry store- absolutely floor to ceiling vintage stuff! 

On Thursday, I was assigned to go scope out Central Park groundskeeper uniforms.  Basically, I had to take photos of them, hopefully without them noticing, and capture enough detail so that the costume designer can recreate them for a scene that takes place in Central Park.  I never thought about it before, but all of the background people in films are cast and costumed- it's not like they are in Central Park and some of the real groundskeepers just happen to get into the shot.  I never realized before how every single thing in a film is carefully calculated and purposeful.  I am also impressed at how well the whole organism works- so many departments all have to come together at the same time to get just 10 seconds of filming right. It's a miracle they are on schedule!

So, I got good shots of groundskeepers (I felt like a detective, it was great!).  I even waited outside of the men's bathroom for one of them to walk out the door. What an assignment.

I am feeling like I am getting familiar with the processes and procedures that keep the costume department organized and efficient.  On Friday, I packed 8 boxes to be shipped back to London, full of period costume rentals.  There are a lot of things to remember, because all of the costumes have to be returned in the original box they came in, with the invoices attached, before a particular date.   I am very impressed with Kate, the Costume Coordinator, who keeps track of it all.  Even the way garment tags are hung on the garment bags is specified, in addition to the direction garment bags are hung on the rack.  I like organization (like my obsession with matching hangers), so it suits me well, I think.