First day of re-shoots

I woke up at the crack of 1P.M. today and was immediately amped for shooting. I went to make copies of the script and shot sheet before going to the location. the call time for all crew was 3P.M., however I was a bit late. Thinking my crew would be pissed because they'd just be sitting around, I sped to get to get there. Once i arrived, I found that I was the only one there.

I started to unload my truck when Ryan (assistant DOP) pulled up. I called Sal (the AD) and she let us in. We reviewed the footage that we needed to re-shoot and developed a game plan when Peter (lead actor:Sam Marks) showed up. short handed, but not wanting to waste any time, I had Sal and Ryan set up for the scene as I worked with peter, getting him into character and giving him an overview of what was going to happen today. Next thing I know, we're shooting and everything is going great. We're making killer time, the lighting was excellent and peter's performance was dead on.

at about 4:30, three members of my crew finally showed. after a quick debate in my head, I sent them home. I didn't really need their help. the scenes were simple and didn't require a lot of crew. Tony (boom op.) showed up a half hour later and I sent him home as well. the camera mic was good enough seeing as we weren't recording any dialogue.

the entire day was scheduled to run from 4-10. we were done filming, and all packed up, by 7:30. I took everyone out to dinner and planned to come home and capture what was shot. I ended up not capturing any of it, rather I spend the last 4 hours working on my packaging. I must say it is looking really good. being a graphic designer comes in handy sometimes.

Tomorrow is going to be a long one though. I'm re-shooting quite a bit as well as the added scene. I'm sure I'll write again tomorrow night. lets hope i don't forget any shots and everything goes well.

Where is Everybody?

it's now two days before re-shoots and I can't seem to collect myself or anyone else for that matter. Wed. night set me back in a very personal way and my mind is working overtime. However, I've decided to keep on schedule with the production. I've made several calls this evening to get all the cast and crew on the same page and found myself set back even more. Not the cast nor the crew, outside of myself and the AD, have been confirmed at this time.

I've given myself a deadline of noon tomorrow to get enough crew and the cast to do the re-shoots. Lets hope all goes well and I can pull this off. KEEP THE FAITH MAN!

Killing babies

I forget who said it, but someone once said that a screenwriter creates babies, not scripts, then ultimately must kill their children for the greater good of the story. I could have possibly butchered that quote by paraphrasing it, but the theme is still the same. I am no exception to this unwritten rule. As mentioned in my previous entry, I spent a great deal of time revising the script to better convey the story, and much of it was time wasted..

I had meetings all morning and afternoon on Friday to review the rough edit and script revisions. as the day went on my final meeting was with the AD. we had a quick brainstorming session and after just a few minutes, we came up with a whole new alternative. Rather than adding the extra (excessive) dialogue, we decided to keep the current edit the same and to shoot a very short flashback scene (despite my distaste for "flashbacks"). This will not only drastically cut down the time needed for re-shoots, but it will serve as a better conduit for the turning point of the piece. So I'm all for making the film better, even if I have to kill a few babies in the process.

A Blog, why not

it's kind of ironic that I create a blog to illustrate the progression of a film that is almost half-way completed. Nonetheless, here i am typing away. I've never created a blog before, in fact I had absolutely no interest in "blogs" prior to creating this one, so bare with me.

I suppose I should let you know where I stand with the film thus far. to be totally honest I'm at a "refresh" point. Although i have a tremendously talented team of actors and crew, as well as a great amount of time to finish pre-production, I feel it has been rushed. Don't get me wrong, the majority of the work looks great, it's just the little things that you don't catch while trying to check off as many shots as possible in a short amount of time.

The last day of principal photography was almost a week ago and I've spent the entire time analysing the footage and storyline, seeing what doesn't work and researching how to fix it. I've also beefed up the dialogue a great deal, blocked out what needs to be re-shot and what needs to be added. There still needs to be more work done before re-shoots on the 27th, but with my whole new "plan of attack" and time left to get my "ducks in a row" I'm actually really very excited for the 27th to come around.

once I figure out this whole "blog" thing, I'll be sure to post production stills and screen shots when I have free time.