// the light at the end…

Posted: May 19th, 2011 ˑ Filled under: Shoots, Short Films, Thoughts ˑ No Comments

robert rodriguez’s rebel without a crew is one of the books in the pile of stuff on my bedside table these days. i would flip through it from time to time to give me that – “hey if this dude can make a feature by himself why can’t i make a freakin short?” thought (plus I had a crew – not a big one, but a crew). so as the first day shoot wrapped up and everything went smoothly for the most part – i had to brace myself for what sunday would bring – 45 shots to do with 5 separate lighting situations in one apartment location with scenes in the living room, bedroom, and kitchen. when i woke up i knew this was going to be the long one… but as they say one step at a time.

the day began already an hour behind schedule. after arriving at the location at 10 am and unloading i was already physically exhausted. (*note #1: get more PAs!) emily, our art department and overall hands on set person, had staged the apartment perfectly. that helped and gave me a sense of place and how the lighting will be set. (*note #2: find time to pre-light if you can… in this case i couldn’t and this was only my second time being in the location) though it seemed like we had a lot of shots to do, i was fairly confident that we would get it done. (*note #3: yeah you’ll get it done but will you get it done on time?!) i had my shot list, my shot breakdowns, my plan b’s and my plan c’s in case all hell broke loose. but such is life, nothing really goes according to plan… but that’s ok, i always think that’s where things work best and new ideas develop and shape up anyways… when things deviate there’s opportunity.

once the actors (biker and hillary) arrived and our make up artist elizabeth began to work on them – i was finally getting real excited. all i could think about is that this crazy story is really coming to life. though the day was 3 to 4 hours longer than i thought, we made it out alive. looking back here are some notes:

- i had a great little crew and cast.
- being dp and director – didn’t allow me to thoroughly cover things and added to production time.
- like i do in my photoshoots – i sometimes forget to slow it down… it’s ok to slow it down!!
- everyone on set plays an instrumental part in pushing the film along… and it’s fun to see everyone’s enthusiasm and involvement.

here are some behind the scenes photos by super talented nick prendergast (also check out more on his blog ponder the muse).

hillary getting ready: