Universally Stop Motion

Mira and I headed for Universal one Thursday morning before she had to go to work and I was stopping by the hot stop mo set to greet everyone. We got there before the crowds, so we decided to take advantage of the 5 minute wait for the Walking Dead attraction (it opened a month ago and is already so short haha). It was fun! But it's kind of a one-time thrill. 

The real reason we were going was to see the Laika exhibition at the Globe Theatre though.

There wasn't any line for the exhibit before it opened, so we walked around instead. We walked down to the Lower Lot to go on Transformers (which is now our favourite ride). And as we circled back to the Globe, the Kubo face characters were out! They were so cute - dancing the whole time.

And then we entered the exhibit. I was stunned to find that there was no glass or barrier around the puppets and props - such a great treat to be able to come up close.

I filmed a bunch.

I fell in love with the Sisters. Mira was having fun but also being patient with me - we ended up spending close to 2 hours in there.

Biggest puppet ever. And me dying over Coraline as always.

When we got out the short wait times were long gone - the wait for the Hogwarts ride was actually the longest I've seen. So we decided to go watch WaterWorld as the last thing before Mira left. When she did, I decided to kill another half hour in Hogsmeade. I saw my favourite show (student acapella).

And got myself a frozen Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks (shortest queue and better ambience). And naturally I was a toddler and managed to spill it all over myself. 

I got it cleaned off with a swish of my wand though, and was ready to visit the set in Max' and Sean's apartment. I sat down on some random stairs by myself to wait for my uber and when I looked around I found out that more than 20 people had joined me, haha. Trendsetter.

It was cool to meet the producers and live-action talent for the project and I got a good introduction to the gig.

Hailey picked me up and was kind enough to drive me pretty close to Venice. We talked our way through rush hour and it was just a really nice time. I then walked some of the way to meet up with Laura (one last time before she headed on a 1-month holiday) and Will, who were headed back from the beach. I strolled through a rare green area in Mar Vista and it was really great to feel the community that was present.

 We ate back at the apartment and started watching the old Hobbit animation (Gandalf appearing out of nowhere all the time was the funniest). I left early though. I was hanging out with Mira again for some shooting star action.

We drove up the PCH to Malibu and found a spot without clouds or light pollution. It was crazy to see the abrupt change from a total cowered sky to a completely clear one. Eric joined us too! We spent a few hours star gazing, and we saw some good shooting ones (albeit not as many as we had hoped). The highlight was a 4-second long star that flickered almost like a firework!

In the morning I headed back up to Burbank to get started on the stop motion. I was animating with Michael these first days and we were figuring out how to best keep my hands from shaking too much. C-stands are good. 

Everyday we took a lunch break outside the apartment and I got to go to a few great diners - very AmericanTM.

We did some easy shots and some hard ones too. The ones that were longer than 6 seconds were rough.

But we had a lot of fun too. The guys' reaction to the texture of lipstick was the funniest. They days were long and as I would wait for my nightly ubers, we would just hang out, sketch, and talk about nerdy stuff.

Saturday I swung by Sam's place too, as it was only 5 minutes away. We drew and watched Mean Girls out of the corner of our eyes.

I would drive by the Train museum at Griffith park a few times on my way up. It's such a cute spot. 

To keep hair away from everything I kept my hair in a bun - and it was the perfect size to hold onto rolls of gaffe tape. I got a little too used to the weight though, and went to lunch still wearing my gaff-y halo.

I even got to go to my Gesture class.

Wednesday was my last day. I read the last of Jonathan's Sky Doll, shot some close-ups, waited for approval with The Office - and then I was wrapped. I stuck around for a few hours, getting some well-deserved ferret cuddles and watching more television.

It was a really fun and cool experience to have had while I was over here. They were all so talented and bubbly and I felt very well-treated.