Our location for the Xbox spot I shot on Wednesday was a Masonic temple in Scranton, PA. A secret society having a giant headquarters in a city that's known for being a haven for all things bland is an interesting juxtaposition. Shouldn't these guys be meeting at the base of an active volcano in the Falkland islands? Or in a secret briefing room in the Statue of Liberty's torch? 

The day before the shoot we had a pre-production meeting at the temple and I asked the location manager if she'd give me a tour of the rest of the building. We were only supposed to be shooting on the first floor so I expected to get a polite refusal, but instead she spent the rest of the morning unlocking secret doors and accompanying me down weird passageways. We saw some bizarre things, but my favorite part of the whole temple was the wall of photos that displayed the Mason leaders of the past 100 years.



This guy was my favorite.

I can't claim to know much about the Masons, but I have a hard time believing that this nice old man was ever secretly plotting anything remotely sinister. It looks like the biggest secret that he's keeping is that he's planning to surprise his grandson with a Werther's Original. Please also note that the font used in his portrait is the same one you'll find on the Smile Now, Cry Later t-shirts that they used to sell at lowrider shows in Phoenix.



Jason Mraz was the featured artist in the XBox spot. He was like some perfect amalgamation of every guy I ever shared a dorm room with in college. He was a totally nice guy, super considerate, and really funny. 

Is anyone else noticing that I'm down to about three plaid shirts? It's time for a serious laundry session.