September 6, 2005 - After the Thrill is Gone
Jerry and Amanda have left for the second time. They were all smiles, and very sad to go. What a great couple of people.
I like to guage the success of my shoots, not on the quality of the film, but on the mood of the crew.
September 3, 2005 - The Big 10
Today is my 10th year anniversarry! I'm celebrating like most husbands do on their 10th. I'm treating Jerry and Amanda to a weekend of fun. It's their wedding present.
My wife is so patient.
August 24, 2005 - An Apple A Day. . .
Yesterday I noticed that I was covered in bug bites. I was so sure that's what they were. I mean, over the last week I've been to a nasty abandoned prison, in the woods, two nights underwater, in creeks, and stumbling through thick brush. All this during a Tennessee summer, I'm sure something attached itself to me.
My wife sprayed me with Solarcane to numb the itching. This morning I woke up and had even more bites all over my arms. Mic sprayed me again and went off to work. I dragged myself to the shower and was in there for only a few minutes when the entire world went black. . .
I came to a few moments later with a tight chest and labored breathing. "Hey, wait," I thought. "Those aren't bug bites, those are hives!"
I called my wife and she rushed home and took me
to the doctor. Yup. It's hives all right. . .
Stress induced hives. Cool! I've never actually passed out before!
I'm taking it easy tonight.
August 22, 2005 - One More Thing
Okay, so I thought my last shot was yesterday. I remembered on my way to drop off the camera that I needed an extreme close up of the name on a file. I pulled the camera out in the back room of AC, Inc. and got the last shot with one light.
Now I'm really done! (Except for returning all the gear, of course. That's the fun part.)
August 21, 2005 - End of Days
My last day.
It really can only be described as a hodge-podge of random images. I was
told by at least three people that I looked really bad. One person tried
to offer me some water and said, "You really need to sit down or take
a nap or something. You don't look well."
I can't really tell. I'm just trying to finish the
film. It's actually funny when you start the day with a trip to Starbucks,
but you know that the coffee boost won't have any effect. Today I was down
to just a skeleton crew. (Ha!)
We ran around shooting people on the street, dead bodies, squib shots in
doors, car stunts, tackles, and best of all. . . extreme close ups of words
on a page. The last shot was an insert of Jimmy (doubling for Josh) looking
through some sewing supplies on his lap. (On the drive home I realized that
he forgot to take off his wedding ring.)
When I called out that it was the Martini Shot, I
almost became emotional. Tears would've crept into my eyes, but that would've
taken far to much energy.
But, hey, we wrapped. I have just finished shooting my first feature film.
August 20, 2005 - Murphy's Law
Since this film is more of an action film than anything else, it wouldn't be complete without a chase scene. I, of course, decided to do it at night. Shooting chase scenes at night are particularly time consuming because you can only run a few a few feet before you run out of light. For the shoot tonight I brought a few old HMIs and planned on lighting a bigger area.
It was a nice thought, anyway.
First, I was reduced to two lights because the lens
was broken out of two of them.
Second, it was so humid that the HMIs refused to stay on more than 2-3 minutes.
Obviously, that makes it hard to tweak anything when faced with that kind
of problem. The up side, however, is that because of the humidity only one
of the lights would work, so I didn't really have to tweak that much.
Third, when the light shuts off, you have to wait for it to cool down before
you can turn it on again.
Ben Juhl returned to do all of the stunt running, and Tom Syfreid was doubling for Jeff Wilson. Tom is a very athletic guy and I thought he would be perfect for the agile running scenes. When I first met Tom he was bald, so I thought he would match perfectly, but last winter he decided to grow his hair out. He was very adament that he not shave his head, so I had to buy a bald cap. Did I mention that it was really hot and humid? Poor guy.
As before, both actors had to wear winter clothing, and Tom was the lucky one who got to wear sunglasses. He was fine as long as he stayed in the light, but things got a little more dicey when he'd leap off into the shadows. The way I had to shoot, since the lights wouldn't stay on, was to set up the light and guess what it was going to look like. Then, I would do a camera rehersal with the actors in the pitch blackness. I would roll tape, have someone switch the light on, and run through the shot before the light cut out.
The trickiest part of the night was when we had to hit Tom with a car. When you see people get hit by cars in the movies, it's a very time consuming and expensive process. A stunt man is all padded up, he practices for days at slower speeds, the car is rigged just so, then they do the stunt with several stunt cars. It's about a $20,000 bill when it's all said and done.
Jerry Buxbaum, the genious that he is, devised a
brilliant way to do it cheaply and safely. First, we shot our set ups with
the car in the distance, Tom running towards the street, etc.
Then, we shot the roll up the hood, the collision, and the approach. . .
in reverse.
Next, I jumped in the backseat with the camera, Tom put on an armadillo
back pad, and dove onto the hood while the car was stopped. I made
sure to shoot low and up through the windshield so you couldn't tell that
we weren't moving. On the first take the window smashed into a thousand
pieces and it looked brilliant.
Finally, we shot Tom rolling off the back of the car and onto the street.
We wrapped the night with a complex chase through several back yards. I was running full speed with the camera, and leaping all of the same obstacles that the actors were. At one point, I almost face planted with the camera when I tripped on a root in the dark. Whew!
I've looked at the footage and must say that it looks awesome! I'm very pleased with my non-steadycam running footage. The people who've seen it can't believe it's hand held.
August 19, 2005 - The Home Stretch
Slept all day, then returned gear. My body really hates me.
August 18, 2005 - Hell Night - Part 2
I love shooting underwater.
I specifically wrote this sequence because I knew I could do it, and I thought
it would be fun.
Well, it was fun, but man, I am whipped. We had just about everything go wrong. (You might want to read the previous day's comments.) First, we had a lens fall out of the HMI light and completely fry both of our actors. Josh's face started to swell and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. We thought it was a bug bite. He did his lines out of the pool, then got in the pool for the rest of the scene and had a bad reaction from the chlorene. He itched his eyes so much that he scratched both corneas. So, there he was, face as red as a lobster, and eyes swelling shut. I sent him home. His mom woke him up at 4 a.m. and rushed him to the hospital. (See picture below.)
Next, Jeff Wilson started complaning about his sore face and neck. I looked, and sure enough, he was turning red too. He got burnt on the opposite side of the face as Josh and ended up peeling. In fact, all of the crew got burned to some degree. Jeff finished and couldn't get his contacts out. His pupils dialated again and he couldn't see to drive home. Fortunately he is done with the contacts. I just hope his eyesight returns.
After dodging the lightning storms and rain, we were able to get JUST ENOUGH footage of our principal actors to get what we needed. Just enough. Night two, was all of the stunt footage underwater. Ben Juhl returned to do his stupendous breath holding shots. (The footage is quite gripping.)
For the underwater shots I was using the Panasonic
100a. I have never shot with that camera, and trying to figure it out while
underwater was a challenge. Wendy O'Barr was there for the first few hours
to help me muddle through, but also hadn't used that camera before. We ended
up shooting the first half of the night in the 30fps mode instead of 24p.
Because of this, I had to start over. It was 2 a.m.
I also realized that when the camera is in 24p mode, the auto focus feature
is disabled. Of course, it's impossible to tell where focus is when you're
underwater, wearing a dive mask, and peering through a postage stamp sized
view finder.
I ended up developing a routine for shooting underwater. It went something like this:
Dive in, reset the underwater props.
Surface, grab the camera, submerge.
Roll tape, action, swim at full speed to keep up with Ben while framing
out the safety diver.
Cut, surface, and catch my breath.
Wheeze, take off tank, exit pool.
Adjust the lights.
Dry off, pull the camera out of the housing, check playback.
replace camera in housing and check all seals.
Jump back in, put on dive gear, grab camera.
Direct Ben, and start all over.
Jeff Wilson said that it was staggering to watch
me go. He didn't know how I was keeping up that pace. Later, Jerry got on
me for pushing it to hard.
He said, "Just because you're a working director, doesn't mean you
have to do all the work."
He's right, of course, but there wasn't really anyone
else around, and only two dive tanks.
I'd say that a little hard work never killed anyone, but I'm not sure if
that's true.
We wrapped at about 5:30 a.m. and dragged ourselves home. We got everything we needed just before the sun came up and I think that the footage will look incredible.
August 17, 2005 - Hell Night - Part 1
If you're one of those brave souls who have decided that they want to make an independent film, do yourself a favor and try to raise enough money to pay everyone. If you weren't able to do that, then at least write a script that is easy to shoot. A nice love story, an intriguing drama, a moving-character driven piece about two people in a room working out their relationship. Yeah, that would be lovely.
If you didn't get any money, have truly lost your mind, and have written an ACTION piece, thriller, or even a horror film, then take some advice and don't put in an underwater sequence.
If you really are a moron who has no money, has written an action/thriller/horror film with an elaborate underwater sequence, and still refuse to let go of your idea, then at least make sure you have a D.P., assistant, underwater tech, AC, or some sort of general film P.A. to help you in the water.
If you don't have an assistant to help you in the
water. . . Oh, c'mon, no one is that stupid.
But, let's just say that such an idiot acually exists. For the sake of our
object lesson we'll call this person. . . Jason.
If you are Jason, and somehow find yourself in this
impossible situation, then here are a few more tidbits of advice that will
really help you:
#1. Don't make it a night shoot.
#2. Don't shoot during a lightning storm. If you
do, don't shoot with a jib.
#3. Don't let your severely entomophobic (fear of
bugs) director
shave your actor in front of the big bright light.
A june bug just might fly into his ear. (There has been at least one documented
case in August 2005.)
#4. If the lens falls out of your HMI light, then
Jason, don't use the light. That little lens is called a UV filter.
Yeah, that would be Josh Sumner suffering from an HMI sunburn.
August 16, 2005 - I Can't Believe We Ate the Whole Thing
I know I've said this before, but I just want to reiterate how amazing Jerry Buxbaum and Amanda Steen are. It was no secret that I was in absolute terror last night, and even though they were partying with everyone else, they felt my pain. As I arrived on set this morning, they were already present and setting up for the day. That one act alone rejuvinated me and gave me the energy to accomplish what we needed to.
We started out by blacking all the windows and creating night. We nailed all of the critical shots downstairs, all of which required special effects. After lunch we were finally able to shoot our ending scenes upstairs. As we were wrapping up, a large group of extras arrived to be in the final shots of the film. Once again Jerry and Amanda knocked it out of the park by getting an old car, rigging smoke under the hood, and making it look like it was on fire!
We had a bit of a scare just before we were about to move outside, a big thunder storm rolled through and threatened to ruin our shot. Fortunately, it was only a small sprinkle and ended up wetting the ground enough to make it look like winter. As before, the poor actors and extras had to don winter clothing in the jungle-like humidity, but no one complanied. : )
The important thing is. . . we got our day.
Woohoo!!
August 15, 2005 - Pressure
Sunday was my physical test. Today is my mental. We have two days to get everything we need at the BnB location, and there is absolutely no room to fall behind. I have no more money or contingency days and if we don't get all of our shots, we are in a very bad place.
Today, we didn't get all of our shots.
The critical thing we are missing is the entire end
of the movie. Our main character is locked in a room and forced to defend
himself. There are a lot of emotions involved, some effects, and it's a
very intense scene.I had planned on shooting that today and we ran out of
time.
I don't think I need to state how important it is that we get this.
After we finished shooting, the entire cast and crew went out to eat. While they were having a riotus time helmed by the entertaining Jeff Hime, I was bent over my shot schedule with my stomach twisting into a party balloon shape. I sat in an adjacent booth with my wife and sank into a quiet panic. I was a monkey with a rubix cube and I HAD to find the solution. I guess we'll find out tomorrow weather or not it worked.
So, you want to be a director too, eh?
August 14, 2005 - Stick a Fork in Me. I'm Done.
I'm sure that once I have a chance to rest, I'll be thrilled with the footage, but right now I feel rode hard and put away wet. Saturday night went very well. We had a massive turnout for our crowd scene and were able to shoot some chilling shots. Jeff Wilson had to wear his dreaded contacts and it took over an hour to put them in. When he was finally able to yank them out, one of his pupils dialated and wouldn't return to normal. He's okay now, but he has to wear them several more times before we're done.
Today we shot at the prison. The state of Tennessee has an abandoned prison that is free to shoot at, is a wonderful looking location, but is a miserable place to be. The first terrifying thing that happened was when I arrived an hour early to make sure everything was in place, the guards had no idea that there was a shoot happening. Fortunately, the guard assigned to the job arrived a little bit later and everything was saved. That was when I was informed that the building had no power.
This would've been a nice bit of information to have when I booked the location a month ago. Fortunately, we were able to run power from the guard shack, but could only use one light on that circuit. So, hey, we made it look like a documentary! As long as it helps us tell the story, right? Since all of the grip houses were closed today, Jerry made a mad dash to Home Depot to pick up a generator. We quickly learned that generators don't run very smoothly in 100 degree heat.
Did I mention that it was 100 degrees? Did I also
mention that there was no power to the facility?
i.e. There was no A.C.
Did I also mention that the story takes place in the winter? That means
that our poor actors had to wear sweaters, jackets, and wool hats. It was
so hot that the bandaids Jeff's character wore wouldn't stick, they just
slid around on the back of his slimy hands.
Between every take Josh was mopping his forehead, and Jeff was trying to tuck his sweat rings under his arm pits. In the context of the film, I think it will make the characters look really stressed out.
In the end, we got everything we needed, and in the nick of time, too! The sun was setting as we picked off the last shot. We ate a gut bomb dinner at the Waffle House to celebrate, and are gearing up for tomorrow.
Yep. We're living the dream. . .
August 13, 2005 - Welcome Back Kotter
Our first day back went very well. If the rest of the week goes this well we'll be golden. We spent the day zipping around town dabbing various pickup shots. We actually ended up ahead of schedule and were able to shoot an extended sequence at the United Way offices. Josh came up with a brilliant idea (which you'll have to see the film to know what it is) and we had plenty of time to pull it off. We wrapped the day with an exterior shot of a house, and right as we were ready to roll several storm clouds rolled in and made it look like winter! It was perfect.
Tonight we have a crowd shoot. I'm a little on edge, but we've got a bigger crew coming than on any other day on the shoot. Not only will Johnny be there to D.P., he'll actually have TWO camera assistants! What luxury!
August 10, 2005 - Maybe the Kayak Trip was a Bad Idea
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that this is how I'm supposed to look BEFORE we start shooting. My brother and I went kayaking about a week and a half ago and I was really wiped after that. The preproduction on this shoot has also taken a lot out of me. We start shooting tomorrow, Jerry and Amanda are arriving tonight, and I am trying to stay calm. At this point I already feel like we've been shooting for a couple of weeks.
To make things just a little more stressful, our
crew will actually be SMALLER than what it was back in December. The amazing
John Huber will only be around for one night, both Michael and Roy are gone,
and Johnny has decided to take a job - which leaves me, once again, without
a D.P. He'll be around for the first few days, and then will be leaving
just in time for the underwater sequence.
With him leaving, that means I will have shot more than half of the film
myself.
I have decided to credit myself as co-D.P.
The upside is we have a couple of new crew members. Jimmy Self has decided not only to be crew, he actually has helped me produce this segment. He has been a huge help in pulling this week together. Wendy O'Barr will pitch in when she can during nights and weekends, Steve-O is returning as sound, and Sharon Marshall will be catering her awesome food once again!
July 20, 2005 - Back in the Saddle Again
It's official. We have settled on a re-shoot date to finish the film. August 12-21
Jerry and Amanda will be married by then and finished with their honeymoon, Johnny is free that week, Josh is finished with school and fully rested, and Jeff Hime is off work. We are good to go. However, I think that this re-shoot is much more stressful than the original shoot because this is it. No more chances to fix things. If I don't get it this time I can't go back. At the end of the week the film I have is the film I have.
Another challenge is that the film is supposed to take place in the winter, and it'll be August. The pool will be nice, but the poor actors will have to wear jackets and wool hats. I'm hoping that we'll be able to shoot around the fully bloomed trees!
July 7, 2005 - Four Score and Seven Hundred Composers
When I listed this film in the "Hollywood Reporter," I was flooded with resumes from people in every field of production. By far, the largest group of people to contact me were composers. I received reels from so many of them that I became very thankful I wasn't trying to be one. At the time, I had planned on letting Nathan Whitehead do the score along with his sound design. Now that I'm looking at this part of post production, I'm realizing that it will be much more efficient to have someone else handle the score.
Out of the blue I was contacted by Geoff Koch, a local composer with an impressive reel, and he expressed keen interest in the film. Even after I explained that there wasn't much of a budget for score, he was still interested in meeting, so we are getting together this week. I've recently completed a cut of the film with all of the footage shot so far, and we'll go through it to see what we're looking at.
June 12, 2005 - Out of Focus
Today, I had what almost resembled a focus group. Over the last few weeks, Jimmy Self has joined me in my editing quest and has really helped me shave some scenes down. I have now put together a rough cut of the film (at least using everthing I have shot so far.) I invited David and Rene Evans to come over and watch what I've got. It was great!
They both liked the direction of the film, but had some great suggestions to what it needed. I am making a list of things to get when I do the reshoot. Jimmy has also taken the film home to digest what essential things it might need. Things are really starting to come together.
