12.27

Wow I must say I'm impressed that people are still reading this blog. That's dedication! 

Well Christmas has come and gone and I must say I'm glad the holidays are wrapping up. As you can imagine, things are much more busy this time of year than normal. There are a lot more special events, shows and basically things to entertain the holiday crowds. 

We had a special Christmas (excuse me, Holiday) Show in the theatre which I had to create some video elements for. Most of the work went into this 2 minute animated video I created which was essentially opening credits for the show. It introduced the singers, dancers, stage staff, tech team and the orchestra. I shot individual video of each person and then put them on Christmas balls that dropped in and out of the video. It's hard to explain the entire concept but it turned out pretty well. It was projected on the massive sike while the orchestra played behind the video. It was cool because we recorded the orchestra playing the music to a click track so I was able to edit to the song. Then when they played the music live it lined up exactly to the video because they used the click track. 

The day before Christmas Eve I helped set up a massive balloon drop that was to be released during the Christmas Eve celebration the following night. We worked until about 3 in the morning to fill 750 balloons and stuff them into this net we had constructed and suspended above the Centrum on Deck 10. Now I wasn't in charge of the design of the balloon drop, I was just helping the stage staff put it up. In fact I told them that I thought it wasn't going to work and it turns out I was right!

When they went to release the balloons on Christmas Eve the rigging lines that were supporting the forward part of the net broke and the entire mass of balloons began to drift down towards the side of the Centrum in a massive blob. The video of the chaos is pretty hilarious. Stage staff sprinted down the stairs to Deck 8 where the ballon mass got stuck and were finally able to cut the net and free the balloons. So the balloons just rained straight down on one side of the Centrum rather than dropping from the center as planned, but the guests thought it was funny and everyone had a good time regardless. 

Christmas Day was super long and it was definitely weird to be celebrating Christmas not only while I was working, but while being on a cruise ship in 85 degree weather. However I was so busy the entire day I didn't really feel homesick because I didn't have time to worry about anything! The following day I slept until 11:30 and it felt great to recharge my batteries. Just in time to gear up for the New Years celebrations. 

And the show goes on…