It's been months since this all happened, since we underwent the taxing process of making a film. We succeeded, against all the odds.
I'm very proud of what we did, and the final film shows a great deal of effort on all our parts, as well as being the best film to ever come out of the film production class. Be proud of your work.
Congratulations.
PS I miss all of you.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Someone call 9-1-1
Today is the last day, yes, you read it right-the LAST day of filming! We're on set at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabeth town! Everything has been coming together quickly and smooth. We've had a long day! Bare bones crewed filmed last night in the hospital while the rest of us woke up bright and early today to meet up with everyone. Its been such a long day, but we all look good dressed in black t-shirts, army pants, different colore
d eyes, barcode tattoos & boots! The end is near and the road has been full of ups and downs, but i have faith that we're gonna pull off a successful movie! I'm so excited for April & highbridge :)Wednesday, November 17, 2010
crisis management mode (from wednesday)
is something that doesn't mix well with our crew, I've seen.
From Wednesday night, looking back at Tuesday night:
Last night was, well, interesting. We got what we needed shot wise, but along the way, there were more than just a few bumps it the road. To be honest, it was more like large sections of road were missing and we were still driving on hoping that somehow there would be road again.
Lessons learned? Oh where to begin!
One, you may feel that there's been enough preproduction. But you are wrong. Until you can achieve the place in preproduction where everyone is on the same page as the director (me... scary thought) then the job isn't done. We weren't on the same page.
Two, you may feel that you are communicating adequately. You are not, until someone looks at you and says "I got it the last three times you told me." No joke--communication between the department heads literally needs to be this repetitive. That way, no miscommunication can occur. We had plenty of that going on.
Three, you may feel that bothering the director every five seconds about a logistical thing is a good thing to do. Do I need to know? Usually, but not always. Think about the question beforehand--ask yourself who handles this normally. Will the director know a logistic about time? Unlikely. We're more concerned with the creative aspect than with time. 1st AD handles those kind of logistics. Lighting? Talk to the Gaffer or DP. Director has final say, but we don't handle it most of the time.
Four, you may think that if something isn't going right that you should step up and try to offer advice. DO NOT DO THIS!!!! JUST STOP. You don't need to offer advice. The people who should be controlling things are the 1st AD, the Director, and the DP. With everyone else jumping in and trying to control things, the three of us were torn apart and it was a mess.
Five, you may feel that having a good time on set is a priority. Actually, it's not. Getting the job done is the priority. And if things are going right, you will have a good time, but constantly joking around and enjoying things wastes precious time. And in Hollywood, time is money. When we're not filming, you should remain relatively quiet and focused so that the DHs can have what's called working quiet. Our brains sometimes need you to shut up so we can think at full strength.
Six, you may feel that yelling STOP! and telling everyone to take five while you powwow with the other department heads to get on the same page is wasting time, but it's actually going to save you time. We should have done that last night.
Seven, you may think you have a good idea for my actors and obviously it's a good idea to pipe up and talk. As a director, you have no idea how frustrating and angering it is to have people talking to my actors. What would you do if someone stepped in and started trying to do your job when you are perfectly capable of doing it yourself? And when they have no idea what's really going on. Also, when I pause before giving feedback, it's not because I don't know, it's because I'm replaying things in my head and working out what worked, what didn't, and how I want to fix things. A major thing to remember is that on a normal Hollywood set, talking to actors if you're not the director can get you kicked off set instantly.
As a young director, I'm learning in leaps and bounds on this project. Sometimes that's a frustrating place to be, and other times it feels like the best possible place. Last night I learned far more than I would have liked to, and in the worst way possible. I'm still rather upset about it, and to be honest I don't want to look at the footage from last night because I'm so angry about it.
From Wednesday night, looking back at Tuesday night:
Last night was, well, interesting. We got what we needed shot wise, but along the way, there were more than just a few bumps it the road. To be honest, it was more like large sections of road were missing and we were still driving on hoping that somehow there would be road again.
Lessons learned? Oh where to begin!
One, you may feel that there's been enough preproduction. But you are wrong. Until you can achieve the place in preproduction where everyone is on the same page as the director (me... scary thought) then the job isn't done. We weren't on the same page.
Two, you may feel that you are communicating adequately. You are not, until someone looks at you and says "I got it the last three times you told me." No joke--communication between the department heads literally needs to be this repetitive. That way, no miscommunication can occur. We had plenty of that going on.
Three, you may feel that bothering the director every five seconds about a logistical thing is a good thing to do. Do I need to know? Usually, but not always. Think about the question beforehand--ask yourself who handles this normally. Will the director know a logistic about time? Unlikely. We're more concerned with the creative aspect than with time. 1st AD handles those kind of logistics. Lighting? Talk to the Gaffer or DP. Director has final say, but we don't handle it most of the time.
Four, you may think that if something isn't going right that you should step up and try to offer advice. DO NOT DO THIS!!!! JUST STOP. You don't need to offer advice. The people who should be controlling things are the 1st AD, the Director, and the DP. With everyone else jumping in and trying to control things, the three of us were torn apart and it was a mess.
Five, you may feel that having a good time on set is a priority. Actually, it's not. Getting the job done is the priority. And if things are going right, you will have a good time, but constantly joking around and enjoying things wastes precious time. And in Hollywood, time is money. When we're not filming, you should remain relatively quiet and focused so that the DHs can have what's called working quiet. Our brains sometimes need you to shut up so we can think at full strength.
Six, you may feel that yelling STOP! and telling everyone to take five while you powwow with the other department heads to get on the same page is wasting time, but it's actually going to save you time. We should have done that last night.
Seven, you may think you have a good idea for my actors and obviously it's a good idea to pipe up and talk. As a director, you have no idea how frustrating and angering it is to have people talking to my actors. What would you do if someone stepped in and started trying to do your job when you are perfectly capable of doing it yourself? And when they have no idea what's really going on. Also, when I pause before giving feedback, it's not because I don't know, it's because I'm replaying things in my head and working out what worked, what didn't, and how I want to fix things. A major thing to remember is that on a normal Hollywood set, talking to actors if you're not the director can get you kicked off set instantly.
As a young director, I'm learning in leaps and bounds on this project. Sometimes that's a frustrating place to be, and other times it feels like the best possible place. Last night I learned far more than I would have liked to, and in the worst way possible. I'm still rather upset about it, and to be honest I don't want to look at the footage from last night because I'm so angry about it.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Plans Come Together
We shoot tonight. We have recast Dr. Giles and I am confident he will perform well despite my not having interacted with him at all. But hey, that's what a producer's intuition is good for, right?
The hospital where we are filming tonight is actually an Asbury Alum's personal doctor's office. We were given free rein of the place all evening and into the night, so it will be my job to make sure no one takes advantage of this incredible amount of trust given to us.
We've changed the production schedule around (yet again) so we are no longer shooting at the Luce Physical Activities Center here on campus. That's good because it's one fewer location where we have to load and unload equipment, plus now we're at locations that are completely unfamiliar to our Asbury audience. The bad news is, that means we have more to cram into our hospital location in E-town.
In other news, transportation is arranged for the weekend and I will be driving a 12-passenger van full of extras to the set Saturday morning! Should be a blast.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
We Knew it Couldn't Be Perfect Forever, Right?
It's two days before our next big shoot and we've just gotten word that our Dr. Giles is sick with a bad case of the flu! Thankfully, we haven't filmed any of his scenes yet, so we have decided to recast.
Am I worried? Not a bit. We've got a great crew, facing real challenges. This is going to be a great film - against all odds. :)
Am I worried? Not a bit. We've got a great crew, facing real challenges. This is going to be a great film - against all odds. :)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Mrs. Darcy
Today started out great, with Tessa giving me gummy bears and a note to "Mrs. Darcy". There's an inside joke with that, but short version of the story, that was the perfect beginning.
We arrived on set and immediately work began. I basically run around looking at everything, answering questions, working with actors, approving whatever else, and so forth. It gets a bit hectic, really. Filming began and things ran smoothly, and let me tell you, I timed out something so perfectly it's amazing: a phone call where the phone needs to start ringing right as the camera locks off. And it was great. Things ran relatively smoothly at the beginning, and then because it started raining, that changed. But we managed, and finished out the first few scenes we filmed today with good results. And a lot of takes. Olivia was way on her game today too with all the timing she was doing. I have no clue how she does it, but she does. And she's good.
Then came the kitchen. Oh man. STRESS. This scene was really important and long and a lot of important things happen in it, so it took a lot to really get it right on all levels. But we did! And, we even wrapped a little ahead of schedule. That's pretty impressive. Yay! Probably my favorite part of the kitchen scene was this cute little interaction between Shannon and Phil (Lycia and Dad) where she jokes about burning the bunnies and he throws a chocolate chip at her. That was his idea, and it worked out so well--made the relationship between them feel more real and less forced or staged. The acting in that scene was super impressive to me; at times I felt that I wasn't watching a movie but standing on the edge of a real family's interaction and that at any second I could say something and enter into the action. Before this film, I'd never experienced that, never felt like I was watching real life rather than a scene someone had written and people were now acting. I ended up trusting Lee entirely on what the kitchen shots looked like and not letting myself watching anything but the acting. That might be why I was able to feel so much about the acting.
This film has been challenging me in a lot of ways, but one of the reasons why today was so stressful for me is because I forced myself to trust in my crew a lot more than I would have liked to. Generally I don't like trusting people with how I feel (if I'm not in a good mood) or with creative things. This film has become my life, and it's hard for me to relinquish control and trust someone else for how the shot looks, how the sound is, and so forth. I pretty much handed full control over to Lee today as to what the shots look like, aside from watching a few things for timing purposes (like when to motion to Olivia to call Lycia's phone or when to have Nathaniel open his eyes at the end.) But time and time again this crew has proven that they are worthy of every bit of my trust--I just need to allow myself to rely on them because they'll make sure that everything is good.
Every day is a new learning experience for me, whether it's on or off the set.
We arrived on set and immediately work began. I basically run around looking at everything, answering questions, working with actors, approving whatever else, and so forth. It gets a bit hectic, really. Filming began and things ran smoothly, and let me tell you, I timed out something so perfectly it's amazing: a phone call where the phone needs to start ringing right as the camera locks off. And it was great. Things ran relatively smoothly at the beginning, and then because it started raining, that changed. But we managed, and finished out the first few scenes we filmed today with good results. And a lot of takes. Olivia was way on her game today too with all the timing she was doing. I have no clue how she does it, but she does. And she's good.
Then came the kitchen. Oh man. STRESS. This scene was really important and long and a lot of important things happen in it, so it took a lot to really get it right on all levels. But we did! And, we even wrapped a little ahead of schedule. That's pretty impressive. Yay! Probably my favorite part of the kitchen scene was this cute little interaction between Shannon and Phil (Lycia and Dad) where she jokes about burning the bunnies and he throws a chocolate chip at her. That was his idea, and it worked out so well--made the relationship between them feel more real and less forced or staged. The acting in that scene was super impressive to me; at times I felt that I wasn't watching a movie but standing on the edge of a real family's interaction and that at any second I could say something and enter into the action. Before this film, I'd never experienced that, never felt like I was watching real life rather than a scene someone had written and people were now acting. I ended up trusting Lee entirely on what the kitchen shots looked like and not letting myself watching anything but the acting. That might be why I was able to feel so much about the acting.
This film has been challenging me in a lot of ways, but one of the reasons why today was so stressful for me is because I forced myself to trust in my crew a lot more than I would have liked to. Generally I don't like trusting people with how I feel (if I'm not in a good mood) or with creative things. This film has become my life, and it's hard for me to relinquish control and trust someone else for how the shot looks, how the sound is, and so forth. I pretty much handed full control over to Lee today as to what the shots look like, aside from watching a few things for timing purposes (like when to motion to Olivia to call Lycia's phone or when to have Nathaniel open his eyes at the end.) But time and time again this crew has proven that they are worthy of every bit of my trust--I just need to allow myself to rely on them because they'll make sure that everything is good.
Every day is a new learning experience for me, whether it's on or off the set.
Props to us. . . literally.
The job of an art department is very vague. Therefore, we've done pretty much anything you can imagine.
This week has been fun. I had to create a fire escape route sign for the hospital sequence. They told me to pretty much do whatever. So I did. This may or may not have included adding the word "poop" to the men's restroom. It's really little and you can't see it unless you zoom in really close, but it's there.
Now the major issue at hand is creating Lycia's genetic file. Again, they are giving me absolute freedom here (besides a few specifics). Therefore, my sister is a genetic donor and bears the name of my high school Spanish teacher. Oh, it's a possibility that Jason Bourne is a genetic donor as well. This is getting fun.
Now for today. Because you guys all care.
I crawled out of bed this morning (as well as one can crawl out of a bunk bed), changed clothes, ate pudding, brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag, and left for Corbitt. We definitely rocked out on the road trip to our location, cranking up both techno and classic Disney music. We arrived on set, and we went to town.
Set-up girl's room, Lycia's make-up, set-up bathroom, Greek the toilet, cram food in our mouths, set-up boy's room, boy's make-up, Mom's make-up, Dad's make-up, set-up kitchen, little bit of down time, tear down girl's room, tear down bathroom, cram more food in our mouths, and now some more down time because they are filming the kitchen scene and it is taking. . . a long time.
Soon (I hope) we'll be tearing down the boy's room, then the kitchen, then we will eat cake, take a picture, and go home. But probably not for a couple hours.
I love filming.
This week has been fun. I had to create a fire escape route sign for the hospital sequence. They told me to pretty much do whatever. So I did. This may or may not have included adding the word "poop" to the men's restroom. It's really little and you can't see it unless you zoom in really close, but it's there.
Now the major issue at hand is creating Lycia's genetic file. Again, they are giving me absolute freedom here (besides a few specifics). Therefore, my sister is a genetic donor and bears the name of my high school Spanish teacher. Oh, it's a possibility that Jason Bourne is a genetic donor as well. This is getting fun.
Now for today. Because you guys all care.
I crawled out of bed this morning (as well as one can crawl out of a bunk bed), changed clothes, ate pudding, brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag, and left for Corbitt. We definitely rocked out on the road trip to our location, cranking up both techno and classic Disney music. We arrived on set, and we went to town.
Set-up girl's room, Lycia's make-up, set-up bathroom, Greek the toilet, cram food in our mouths, set-up boy's room, boy's make-up, Mom's make-up, Dad's make-up, set-up kitchen, little bit of down time, tear down girl's room, tear down bathroom, cram more food in our mouths, and now some more down time because they are filming the kitchen scene and it is taking. . . a long time.
Soon (I hope) we'll be tearing down the boy's room, then the kitchen, then we will eat cake, take a picture, and go home. But probably not for a couple hours.
I love filming.
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