Where to begin, where to begin.
First of all, thus far, everyone has shown up on time for every shoot. It's remarkable. I have been blessed with a fantastic cast; responsible and talented. The lead actor, a young man in his mid-twenties, has nailed this role thus far. He is a dynamic actor who brings tremendous energy and authenticity to the character and to the screen. I have little doubt that if this film gets into the right hands, he could go some place in the industry if that is his desire. So - be watching for this up and coming actor.
His counterpart, a young woman from the area, does extreme justice for her role as his girlfriend. She delivers her lines ingeniously, in the right tone, and context. I feel like I've found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I love these guys.
Friday, we shot many of the lead characters scenes. In the evening, we had run behind our schedule due to those expected unexpected obstacles that keep independent film-making interesting. Many times, we've put our heads together, brainstormed, and resolved issues like a great team should.
And I could ask for no better cinematographer at my side than Thomas Berrios. He gets the shots I want and then adds his own flare to the mix and we end up with kick-ass material for me to play around with in post production. It's awesome working with a great friend, who just happens to be talented as hell.
Thomas and I were up until 3:30 am Friday morning, talking about the days shoot, discussing Friday afternoons shoot, and each completing a painting that was needed on the set the following day. We filmed Friday from 2:30 pm to 12 am and of course remained awake until around 2:15 am Saturday morning, actually ending up at a 24-hour grocery store shopping for something easy and quick to devour when we returned home. Before relaxing with the munchies, however, we had to install the window of a set that we had used on Friday as a blank wall. That was fun at 1 am. Thomas pounded on the window frame, attempting to set the window frame into the wall. I was like, "Dude, one of the neighbor's are going to call the police!" We laughed, banged a little more, and secured the window. Good times.
Saturday morning came fast. Not so good times. I guess I don't know how it would feel to be flattened by a freight train, but on this morning I think I might have gotten a glimpse. We groggily began filming at around 10:30 am and filmed to 11:30 pm. We had numerous crucial scenes to film but after discussing Fridays shoot, Thomas and I declared that Saturdays mantra would be, "We are staying on time today." And we did. Everything went smoother. We captured some damn strong, emotional footage on this day. We had an intense scene between the lead and his girlfriend that ended in murder. It turned out fantastic. We had a cool scene that required a fog machine and a strobe light. I couldn't find the strobe light so I sat in the corner unplugging and plug in the overhead light to insinuate a strobe light. It worked well, despite the occasional spark from the socket. I said, "If anyone hears something that sounds like flesh sizzling, please come quickly."
Thomas and I stayed up until after 2 am discussing the production. At this point, if I wasn't doing something I loved so entirely, I would say, "Screw this, I'm outta here!" But I'd walk through hot coals to make a film and, incidentally, sometimes it feels like I'm doing just that. And the best part of it is---Thomas feels the same way.
Sunday, I awoke realizing that I had neglected to construct an item I needed for the days shoot. I've been so consumed with making props, planning the shoot, meeting actors, choosing actors, planning the times and days of the shoot, that from time to time, I overlooked a prop here and there. For the most part Sundays shoot cruised smoothly with little abrasion. We had planned to catch up with a few scenes that we didn't get to on Friday, but alas, Sunday evening threw us a curve ball followed by a wicked screwball. We ended the nights shoot at around midnight due to lighting issues, and difficult framing decisions.
Anyway.
Last night was another 2-o'clocker and I got up just after 6 am to open the freaking coffee house. I feel beat but elated, even euphoric. We have a 2:30 pm shoot today. Hopefully, we can stay on schedule and catch up with some the Friday scenes that still remain only in my imagination.
It's 11 am now but my mind is at 2:3o.
More to come.
