May 5, 2006

return of the McC

Who should I see on my return to work this morning but the one and only Frank McConalogue!

Back on form he told me all about his convalescence. Thankfully it wasn't his back he hurt, he bruised his ribs when he fell off the back of the truck. He headed straight to the hospital where upon a very pretty doctor told him to strip to the waist, so he took his trousers off.

This coming from the man who says 'you'd have to talk to at least 30 make-up girls to get to know the real Frank'. No surprise really.

Posted by colin kennedy at 2:46 PM | Comments (1)

April 8, 2006

Pain in the back

Last week Frank was standing on the tailgate of one of the lighting trucks in the snow and rain when he slipped and fell off the back of the truck, badly hurting his back.

Hopefully he will be joining us again soon and we will be able to get his stories from him then, including the The Sparks Moll and Overcome with Emulsion, forthcoming excerpts from the as yet unwritten Croc Clips Ate My Jeans.

Posted by colin kennedy at 4:32 PM | Comments (3)

March 30, 2006

Best Boy

Photo: colin kennedy

This man is Frank McConalogue and he is the best boy.

Below is a quote I have taken from Oliver Stapleton's great website about the movie business and should answer your question:

The Best Boy is simply the next one down the line in Seniority from the Key Grip or the Gaffer and is usually responsible for the paper work and liaison with the Production Office. They aren't either Boys or Girls but usually Real Men. Don’t ask me where the title comes from, but all things lead back to the Old Days in the Studio, - so ask someone who was there. A Key Grip said this:

The term Grip and Best Boy come from English theatre. The "Grip" is a term for a bag of tricks. So get the grip, or bag if tricks, became the guy with the bag of tricks. "The Grip". And the Best Boy as the first assistant was the best boy Apprentice of sorts, to the gaffer doing lighting with limelight.

Frank MccConalogue has been working in the industry since the mid-70's and has gathered a myriad of stories. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing some of these on the site, hopefully in lieu of Frank's memoirs 'Croc Clips Ate My Jeans'.

Posted by colin kennedy at 7:52 PM | Comments (2)