Saturday and Sunday

Saturday

I've never been so pleased and at the same time terrified while working on a scene for a film. Specific details will be left out of this blog, as will some pictures. There are things I want to share, but I won't. Why? It will ruin the fun of seeing the film for the first time. Sure, there are only a handful of people checking out this blog, but I still feel as if I could spoil things for those that are part of the production in some way.

I will just say that for one key sequence, being two feet away from the action of the actors at work was, as I said above, terrifying. Reason one) There's the whole blocking thing, which sometimes I second guess myself on. That's where the actors give a lot of feedback. Much of the time what's said is "Well, how would Paul react to this, given that point A, B, C and D are all going on at the same time, in physical space, and in his head... how would he deal with this, where would he be?" Because having that answer, or an idea of that answer, can drastically help the scene and the actors get into character. Reason 2) Jeff and Rudy are... there are no words for how phenomenal they are: individually, together, playing off of each-other, etc. There's a natural chemistry between the two. In part because they know each-other, but also because they are so incredibly focused on the scene and the moment-to-moment guts of the thing. It's terrifying because it's so real.

Yesterday afternoon was Scene 31 - 36 (minus a couple small things, but those can be picked up once we shoot the Naomi stuff at the end of the month). This went from 12:00, with the first shot around 12:45, then we wrapped this around 5:00pm. I took that time to sit in bed for about 15minutes, then got back up to dump some of the material onto the computer to free up some space on the card. Rudy took off for a bit, then Jeff went to Tuttle's to bowl a few games -- he does have a few bowling scenes, so he needs to be fully concentrated when on screen holding the bowling ball.

Once we arrived at Tuttle's at 6:32, I believe he said he bowled a 179 with a 15 pound ball. Though, as he stated, "I felt like my hand was about to be ripped outta my arm." That's no good. First day of photography for Andy and Harold. Energy was in the air!

The thing that's happening visually on set is sometimes different from what I imagine it being. Whether that comes from laziness or because I suddenly realize I can get all of this dialog said with one take, one medium or wide shot, and no fancy cutting to this or that shot. The bowling alley stuff (Scene 8) was tricky at first. There were kids, a lot of kids, the music was loud and the black-lights were turned on. Yup. Saturday night at 6:30pm, and the black-lights were on already. At first I was going to turn them off, and have the back bank of ceiling lights on, and Mr. Janke said he could, but then decided the sudden change of atmosphere was going to enhance the scene and turn it into something else; something better. Sadder or funnier, something. The actors added a few pieces of dialog here and there, I floated the frame from character to character a little bit, and that was that.

Small file size, not the best quality picture.

The last thing we shot was not scheduled, but we went ahead and did it anyway. The scene wasn't scripted, but it was in the script. Scene 12. We shot some footage around the bonfire at my parents' house. Nine-and-a-half minutes of straight shooting that was entirely improvised by the actors. Then I threw in a scene that wasn't scripted. We've been taking away minor things and adding other small things back in. The schedule isn't becoming more difficult because of it either.

_______________

Sunday

Second day shooting at Tuttle's. Myself and Jenn showed up at 8:32, Shaun Pakenham and Tim Jankie [an actual real live Tuttle's employee] were there before. Earl and Jeff showed up shortly after. Jenn then went across the street to Dunn Bros. to get some coffee. I need my coffee or else I'm awful.

This big bar opening didn't go down exactly the way I envisioned it. I wanted more people around and about and walking here and there. Extras are hard to find. It's one of those things, but it doesn't ruin what the scene is. Jenn set up the Zoom, I set up the lights/camera, Jeff and Earl rehearsed it, Janke was doing bartender stuff, and Shaun sat quietly in a seat in the background. I feel terrible that I didn't have Shaun doing more. But he definitely added to the scene; subtle things, about posture, when to walk out of frame, etc. So it was nice. I like details like that. 

Jenn's been real helpful. I'm quite thankful she's helping. If she wasn't here to do these things, the speed of the shoot would be slower. I'm still not quite used to people setting up lights or mic stands or tripods or anything, mostly because I'm so used to doing everything solo, that once real people want to help, I don't know what they should be doing. It's all still a learning process. Also, I want to be the director for the actors. That's my focus, or at least that's what I want my focus to be. Have I been doing that? I don't know. It's tough to say. You go and shoot, then wrap, reflect, watch the footage, done. Did I answer questions? Did I give all my notes? Did I shoot it right? Nervous twitchy fella type of questions. 

At 9:29am I was informed that we had until 10:00am in the bar. We rehearsed the scene a few times, but now had 31minutes to get it done before the bar was going to open. Sh*t. But it all went well, even though there were some children in the bar that occasionally expressed their excitement for breakfast by screaming and yelling. It all worked out. Now looking back at the footage, maybe the scene was too lit. Exactly what I didn't want to. I think once things start getting cut together it will look fine. But as it stands, it's too lit. 

I'm certainly interested in what people have to say about Earl's introduction. There's a nice awkward clash of style and deliveries between Paul and Burke -- down to earth, uninterested, normal vs. eccentric, theatrical, over the top, odd. Does it make sense? We'v developed a reason for Burke. I already talked about it in an earlier blog, but it's sad. He is loud, but it comes from a lonely place. 

At 10:13 we wrapped the bar scene, then ate some breakfast. I had a killer headache. Killer. Shaun, being the awesome guy that he is, volunteered to run back to his house to get aspirin. It worked tho. 

Jenn and Earl at the table. Gear sits around.

We shot some additional scenes inside the alley, up at the front desk and out in front of the building. They went well. They only challenging thing is the music playing in the background that could not be shut off -- which I am fine with, it adds to the realism -- but it will be interesting to play around with. On set Jenn had me listen to playback. Useful tool.

______________

We did a few more things, but I am dead tired and about to crash. It wasn't a long day with things constantly happening, but it was still long. Saturday for me was 11:15am to 10:30pm; including set-up and break-down. Today was 8:30am to 5:00pm. I'm now tackling a headache. Tomorrow is a nothing day. Maybe some editing, maybe some sitting around. "Stalker" came in the mail a week ago. I'll watch that in the afternoon maybe. Good stuff. 

Until next time!