Saturday, November 19, 2005
Today we shot the scenes
where Jack and Star are in the alley having relations up against the wall, the death scene, and the next day, when the beat
cop and the detective are examining the body and collecting evidence. The location for this shoot was in the parking garage
of the Old Assembly building where April works. After many searches for a suitable alley and not finding anything we liked;
we decided to fake it. The garage has concrete walls and looked more like a seedy city alley than anything we could find.
It was also good because we could make it night or day just by turning on or off the lights and we didn’t have to worry
about the rain. Not to mention the privacy it afforded our actors who had some reservations about doing these scenes in public.
I can’t blame them. The night before the shoot Kendall and I worked on some interesting lighting ideas and the props
we would need to make it look like an alley. Kendall had an idea that he wanted something that looked like a burn barrel,
the kind you always see the bums standing around in movies. To achieve this we cut the bottom out of a bucket suspended a
red heat lamp in it, set the bucket on a blower and tied crepe paper to the top of the bucket to simulate flame. By itself
it didn’t look too good but when we got it up next to a wall and the fake flames bounced off of the wall it looked very
real. We brought all kind of garbage: bottles, cans, newspaper, cigarette butts, condoms and even an apple core we found outside.
We used a couple of garbage cans and some bagged garbage to hide the fake burn barrel, our power cords, and to partially obscure
our actors. The first scene we shot was the sex scene (clothes on) - aside from being physically demanding there wasn’t
anything sexy about it. In fact, we could hardly keep the actors and crew from laughing. Our goal is always to have the shoes
the center of any scene to achieve this Ali had to jump up on John’s waist so she could stick her legs out where we
could see the shoes. After ten takes I know that they were both ready to throw something at the mean old director whose new
nick name is “just one more time”. Both John and Ali are troopers: they did an awesome job and made it look real.
The next scene is the actual death scene which happens at the end of the sex. Jack strangles Star. To pull this off without
showing faces we did it in silhouette using the red heat lamp and one low stage light. In the script Jack stands over Stars
lifeless body and smokes a cigar, drops the butt between her splayed legs, crushes it out and casually walks away. We used
a cutaway shot to show Jack lighting the cigar. Kendall brought the camera in real tight and we turned out the lights. John,
using wooden matches, slowly strikes the match, holds it to the cigar and puffs away until it gets going. The next scene is
the following morning, Star’s body half hidden behind a garbage can has a sheet over it and a beat cop is standing over
her as a detective walks up. The two policemen talk for a moment then the detective bends down and puts the cigar in an evidence
bag. (As well as playing Jack in this shoot John is also our beat cop). Liam plays the detective. I just want to take a minute
to say both John as Jack and Liam as the detective look pretty good in nice clothes Jack’s costume is slacks, nice shoes,
leather jacket, and turtle neck. The detective has slacks, matching shoes and belt, white shirt and a tie. Both actors looked
pretty spiffy. This shoot was biggest production so far. We used the crane again; we had three lights set up: one with a reflection
umbrella, the sound boom, and a second camera for viewing, the fake flame machine, oodles of props, costume changes and Gloria
with the digital camera for stills. Clark was with us on this one, he took over the lighting duties from me while I did sound
for John, and Mariah was back on the clapboard so Liam could play the detective. April was everywhere on this shoot - she
handled all of the costume coordination, the shot log the timing and continuity control as well as obtaining permission to
use the garage and her office for costume changing. Kendall and I would like to say again thanks to the cast and crew very
much for your hard work and excellent performances, you guys are great. Were making a damn good movie and we owe mucho gratitude
to all of you, thanks again and please, take a bow.
On September Third
Saturday night we shot two scenes. The first scene is of Star walking down the street after the thrift store. We did get some
of this footage a couple of weeks earlier but felt that we needed more. We wanted more going on in the scene i.e.: people
walking cars going by etc. We chose Franklin Street because of all of the tourist activity and the stores. To pull off this
scene we had Ali walk down the side walk while Kendall hung out the side of Liam and Mariah’s V.W. Vanigan. The result
was a great tracking shot with out having to interrupt the ebb and flow of the tourist and all of the other foot traffic.
The guys had to whip around the block a few times because of vehicle traffic but other than that it was an easy shoot. On
the same day an hour or so after the walking shoot we set up for the scene where Star solicits cars that pull up to the curb
where she is standing. We decided to shoot this scene down in the rock dump area for a couple of reasons. First it’s
quiet at night the sidewalks are perfect for the look we wanted and there was a street light right where we needed it. The
scene consists of Star walking up to one car as it stops and being rejected by the driver then walking up to the next car
that pulls in, she leans in the window for a minute then opens the door gets in and the car pulls away. This is the car that
she latter has her legs sticking out off. To set the scene to look like a busy street corner we strategically placed a couple
of our own cars and had April and Mariah walk through the scene. I once again borrowed our landlord’s old Ford four
door boat. We had Liam drive his V.W. bug up to the corner and drive away then I pulled up and Star got in. Technically this
was an easy shoot. One camera position and John had the mike on the boom pole. For added ambiance we had car radios going
in the two moving vehicles and also in Kendall’s Bus, which was parked at the edge of the scene. The street light was
bright enough so we didn’t have to set lights. We had our full crew of regulars minus Clark who is frantically trying
to finish a remodel, anyway good work on everyone’s part.
Last Sunday night we shot
the scene where Star is in the johns car with her feet hanging out the window. Our location was the boat launch in front of
Douglas. I borrowed a seventies something Ford LTD from my land lord. The car is one of those old boats, four doors and with
the appropriate amount of rust and damage to give it a timeless quality. We set up one light and we parked where we had the
harbor lights and the cruise ships in the background. Once again we tortured Ali. The back window would only go half way down
so it was very difficult for her to get her legs out the window with out bumping her shins on the glass. At one point John,
Kendall and I were pulling on her legs trying to get them farther out the window. Thanks Ali for not walking off after that
one. Bruised shins and all Ali stuck it out and we got some of the best footage so far. With only one light and the camera
it was an abbreviated shoot, it took about a half an hour. April did shot log, continuity control and this time she did the
slate board as well. Kendall was directing and camera, Gloria assisted on camera as well as shooting still photos for the
web site. John and I were the grips and gaffers. I had the auspicious task of being the car rocker. I had to crouch down in
front of the car and rock it back and forth to simulate two people having a lot of fun in the back seat. Good times, good
times.
Our latest shoot is the walking around Star does after the thrift store and before the first bar scene.
Part of this scene includes the bum jumping out at her which we have already shot. So last Saturday, Kendall, Gloria and Ali
went down town and got footage of Star walking across streets, up some stairs, along sidewalks and through mud puddles. I
have limited knowledge about this shoot because I was not there. Liam, John and I put a new alternator in John and Ali’s
van. Well I should say Liam and John put a new alternator in the van. I was the cheering section. I did hear that Kendall
really enjoyed having Gloria pull him around on our tracking cart
PRODUCTION BLOG 5
By Brad Smith
Sept. 7 , 2005
On our latest shoot we shot the scene where the three hookers Star, Blaze and Roxy, respectively,
Ali, Gloria and Mariah are being lead handcuffed together up to the police station. For about a month before the shoot we
thought we would do the scene behind K-Mart. We don’t think we need to show our characters actually enter the building,
just to be led up to a door by our police man, once again being played by Jon Bower. Behind K-Mart there’s a metal door
at the top of a few stairs, the whole place gave us our gritty industrial feeling. As the shoot day neared we started to have
some misgivings about our chosen location. For this time we would truly be guerrilla shooting, what with the “no trespassing”
signs and the patrolled by so and so security company warnings posted here and there, not to mention that the police station
is only three blocks away. Given the fact that we would need to light the place up like a Las Vegas casino and parade three
ladies around dressed like prostitutes, we chickened out. One of the things we are learning as we plow our way through this
movie is, when we are relaxed on the set, cast and crew, we do better work and we have more fun and above all we want this
to be fun and wildly successful of course. Since we didn’t start chickening out until the afternoon of our shoot and
with three hours before the rest of the cast and crew arrive, April and I started to frantcly look for another site. We drove
down to the industrial area around Costco. After finding some mediocre places we noticed the State of Alaska Bureau of Vital
Statistics building. It’s a low level, mostly metal and glass structure. It had the right feel for an after- hours receiving
door. The area we wanted to shoot consists of a couple of blacked out windows and a door with a light over it. After showing
Kendall some digital pictures of the place he also thought it would work. With less than an hour to go we decided on our location.
There are three acts, shot out of order, in this scene. The first act is when the cop leads the hookers down the sidewalk
and up to the door. The second act is the cop facing the door, banging on it with his flashlight and, and holding up his badge
to the imaginary camera. The final act is the hookers getting out of the police car. Being as we do not have a cop car at
our disposal this took a little imagination. What we came up with is this: we brought a chair from home, Kendall got down
under it with the camera and the actresses lined up behind the chair. One after the other they sat on the chair, swung their
legs out and stood up right in front of the camera, thus giving the impression that the camera is under the car. We got the
effect we were looking for. Thanks to our actresses who made climbing out of a fake cop car handcuffed to two other people
look natural and easy. This was a quick easy shoot; we were in and out in an hour. We used the ambient light from the building
and the street lights, so there wasn’t much to set up or tear down. John once again was a great policeman, although
he seemed to like the Billy club a little too much and was disappointed when I wouldn’t let him take it home- just kidding
John, good work. Liam, just off his big acting debut as our lunging bum in the last shoot was not top big-headed to take his
position behind the camera as our clapboard expert. Thanks Liam and Happy Birthday. To sum up - we got some good footage and
we didn’t get arrested.
Fourth Shoot
Our fourth shoot is the scene where Star has left the thrift store and is walking through town. At one point she is
approached by a drunken bum. She fends him off with a kick to the crotch and then proceeds on her way. The site we chose for
this scene is the small alley, walkway and stairs behind the Emporium, just outside the Jump Society office. This site has
the best and only concentrated graffiti in all of Juneau, as well as being very grungy and run down, a perfect place for a
bum to hang out, in fact that is exactly what happens there. When Kendall and I first scouted the site we surprised a couple
of Juneau’s finest citizens having their afternoon refreshments. One of the fellows had quite the sense of humor. Upon
seeing us he said, “Pardon me would you have any Gray Poupon,” to which Kendall quickly replied, “But of
course.” On our second scouting visit we were commenting that one particular corner was really seedy and gross and how
that would look good on camera. At that time one of the Jump society guys walked by and told us that someone had taken a crap
in that corner. Not hearing him correctly Kendall replied that he liked it because it was so crappy. There was a brief pause
and then the guy repeated, “No someone actually crapped there.” “Oh real crap; great, we won’t tell
our actors,” I replied. There’s realism and then there’s just too real. We did not tell the actors or crew,
but we didn’t set up any scenes in that corner and we managed to keep everyone away from it. On the same trip we took
meticulous notes for our shot log. Happy with our work, we were cruising back to the valley down Egan; windows open enjoying
the great weather, all of a sudden something flashed in front of me and flew out the window. “What was that!”
I exclaimed. After turning to look in the back seat, Kendall replied, “I think it was our newly written location notes..”
Sure enough it was. Back to winging it I guess. We remembered what we could and wrote it down as soon as we got back. Sorry
about the litter. We set our shoot for six o’clock on Saturday evening. As well as being the right time of day in the
story, we figured there would be less people around to hassle us. With that in mind and after a quick pre-shoot meeting and
pizza feed (thanks Kendall and Gloria) we arrived at six and started to unload our gear. When I came around the corner I was
surprised to see a small crowd of people on our set. Apparently it’s not only a refuge for our socially challenged imbibers,
but also a nifty place for our under twenty crowd to partake in the smoking of medicinal substances. At first there was quite
the scramble of bodies, slowing down a little when they took in my scruffy look and tie-died shirt, but all the same the set
cleared in a matter of seconds leaving only one poor sod, too drunk to move fast and not caring anyway- and who should it
be but our old friend the Gray Poupon guy. After assuring me we could ask him to leave whenever we wanted he slouched against
the wall and proceeded to keep us entertained with slurred but witty banter, such as, “keep it down over there I’m
trying to enjoy my hangover” and “what’s everyone doing in my bedroom?” For some reason our friend
had a red bell on one shoe and a green bell on the other. I’m not sure if this is so he can say I’ll be there
with bells on or maybe to scare away the birds, possibly a port and starboard thing, I don’t know. Our friend stayed
for most of the shoot and at one point yelled out to Ali, “Hey red shoes”, we thought this to be encouraging if
a drunken bum got the title just from seeing the shoes other people would also make the connection. After one rather licentious
comment about Ali’s legs and upon receiving a scathing look from John he was mostly quiet.
This is the first time
we have used a crane on a shoot and we wanted it so we could follow Star down the stairs. After a couple practice sessions
at home Kendall had the hang of it and I think we shot some of our best footage yet. Our crew once again was Kendall directing
and shooting, Gloria assistant director and this time still photographer. John was ready to do sound again but after we set
up we experienced problems with the connections for the boom mike, so he took over the stopwatch duties from Mariah who did
the clapboard work (filling in for Liam, who in this scene is acting as our bum. April was once again continuity control,
and shot logger. As I mentioned Liam was acting in this scene, as well as Ali as Star. I was again grip, gaffer, and set dude.
Speaking of set stuff we were shooting mostly on metal grating and we were worried about the shoes going through the grate
and Ali breaking her leg, so Kendall and I painted a couple pieces of plywood to look like pavement. I think it really worked
well. Kendall’s neighbors must think were crazy. We set the plywood down on his driveway, painted it, then promptly
dumped dirt on it and rubbed it in. If they didn’t think that was crazy enough we did the second coat at eleven o’clock
at night in the dark.
I would just like to say Ali and Liam did great work in their roles as Star and the bum, both threw
themselves into their roles, literally. This was a physically demanding shoot for the actors, especially Ali who had to run
up and down the stairs innumerable times all the while trying not to twist her ankle or fall down. We were able to provide
a stable floor at the bottom of the stairs with the plywood but the stairs themselves were grating and trying to maneuver
up and down in four inch stiletto heels was a feat of agility and braveness. Thanks tons to Ali who pulled it off seamlessly
even though at the production meeting she mentioned that she had a phobia about stairs. Thanks again Ali, awesome work. Liam
was outstanding in his big debut as the bum. He provided his own costume and it worked well. In the scene Liam as the bum
lunges out at Ali as Star and she repels him with a kick to the groin. There was worry that we might cause some damage, at
least Liam and Mariah were worried about it. It didn’t bother me at all, but anyway Liam borrowed Mariah’s sweater
and shoved it down his pants, thus providing the protection he desired and inadvertently giving the impression that he was
a hugely endowed bum. The shoot went off with out serious injury to Liam although Ali was poked by a protruding nail, just
a scratch I hope. I do think Liam has missed his calling - he should be a stunt man, as he threw himself around with reckless
abandon, repeatedly falling down on the grate.
Kendall and I are very excited with the footage, as I said earlier, it’s
the best yet. Our location was excellent, the crane worked amazingly well, and some of Kendall’s camera angle ideas
were unique and provocative. For example, shooting between Liam’s legs as Ali kicks him, getting a bird’s eye
view of the kick. During this particular shot I stood behind Liam to catch him so he wouldn’t fall on Kendall. Right
before the all quiet on the set I asked Liam to spread his legs a little more for the camera so it could see the kick better.
Right before the action command I hear Liam mutter, “I never thought I would hear Brad say that to me.” Needless
to say I had a hard time observing the all quiet on the set order as I was laughing so hard. Thanks again to Liam for putting
himself in harms way and doing a completely convincible job as our bum.
Again our cast and crew performed admirably pulling
of a complicated shoot in a difficult setting in record time with a minimum of problems.
Oh I almost forgot - I can add
my name to the actor’s roster, I got to be a hand double for Liam’s character - apparently Kendall thought the
fact that the end of one finger missing and all the scar tissue from half a life in construction was interesting. That was
what, for all these years of damage I was going for. Interesting, eh?
Taylor and Clark had other engagements but we look
forward to having them on our next shoot.
THIRD SHOOT
Our third shoot location was in downtown
(old town) Douglas. Gloria and Kendall found this old run down store front with a great sidewalk in front. In this scene Star
is standing on the corner smoking a cigarette, waiting for her next trick. Roxy and Blaze walk down the sidewalk towards Star.
They walk a little past her, exchange looks and verbal barbs. Roxy and Blaze come back to where star is standing. Star throws
her cigarette at Blaze’s shoe, Blaze rips Star’s necklace off and shoves Star. Roxy and Blaze proceed to rough
Star up and throw her to the ground, then all three hookers end up on the ground and Blaze and Roxy try to steal Star’s
Red shoes, Star fights back and uses one shoe as a weapon to fend off Roxy, clubbing her hand with the heel and causing her
to let go. At this moment the police car arrives. Our actresses in this scene are of course Ali Bower as the star, Star, Roxy
is played by Mariah Endicott, and Blaze is played by Gloria Merry, Both Gloria and Maria shifted effortlessly from behind
the camera to their roles as fighting hookers. All three ladies performed awesomely and added many of their own ideas and
improvisations to make it a much better scene.
This was our first guerrilla shoot. The scene takes place at night
so this is the first time we’ve had to worry about lighting, and unlike the thrift store scene we wanted to record sound
also. Upon reconnoitering the site earlier in the week we realized we would need a power source for lights. With Kendall’s
VW bus newly outfitted with a giant deep cell battery and a 1500 amp power converter, our power needs were answered completely.
Kendall and I tried some test filming on our first trip with just the street light but got nothing usable. Kendall, Taylor
and I visited the sight again the next night and we set up one light. From this we learned that we needed two lights with
one up real high and the other down low. Without getting up in the air with one of our lights we would get to much shadow
so our light had to work more like a street light to get the right look.
The night of the shoot a Friday night
we all met at Kendall and Gloria’s around nine P.M. With darkness around ten we wanted time to load and get the actresses
into costume. We have an addition to our crew, Clark Branch, who we put on the light crew. Clark will be an all around grip
and gaffer and we may get him on the other side of the camera. We can always use another john or cop. Clark also has a vintage
Mustang car that he is willing to let us use in a scene. Another addition to our crew is Taylor Smith, who is my and April’s
son. Taylor has worked with us behind the scenes when we were first getting ready to shoot this film but this is the first
time he has been on a shoot. We arrived in four different vehicles having to stash all of them but the V.W. bus so as not
to clutter up the shoot area and to keep as low a profile as possible. There are people living quite close to where we are
shooting and we don’t want to disturb them or cause alarm in any way.
We pulled in unloaded our gear and
proceeded to set up. For the overhead light we attached a long pole to a camera tripod and taped a light to the high end.
After a little adjusting and tweaking (thank god for gaffer’s tape and pocket knives not to mention flashlights) we
got the high light set up. We brought another light in low with a blue gel to light up the other end of the sidewalk. Kendall
had a great idea of shining a light through a fan to get interesting shadows on the wall. When we tried this in the shop we
could not get the fan to go slow enough, so after trying a couple of things we came up with idea of blowing another fan at
our primary fan. With this set up we could get the fan to do what we wanted just by moving the second fan back or forward.
The result was excellent; we were able to project shadows of a giant fan slowly turning on the front of our building. For
added effect and to make our store front look open we used three small safety strobe lights placed in the window to reflect
on the glass thus maximizing their effect, this may sound a little cheesy but the end result was good.
Our crew
this time was Kendall Merry director, Taylor Smith camera assistant, John Bower, boom pole and everything sound. Clark Branch
worked with me on lights. We had Liam back on slate board; April Smith was on shot logging, continuity control and bear wrangling
.I was lights, A.D. and all around pain in the ass.
Aside from the occasional local, driving through the set and
a huge lack bear putting in an appearance the shoot was highly successful. It never ceases to amaze me that someone can pull
up right in the middle of a scene, stop, roll down there window and yell out “what are you guys doing?”, and when
I walked up and told them we were shooting a student film, “a what?” and when I repeated “a student film”,
“oh” was all I got as they rolled up their window and drove away. Thanks for your input.
The second
night when Kendall, Taylor and I were shooting some test shots we had a dog come around the corner and bark repeatedly for
a couple minutes. Finally an old man came up behind the dog and quieted him. I said “Hi” and “What a nice
dog” he had. The old man grumbled something and then asked us what we where doing. When I told him he replied “I
thought you were surveying”. When I assured him we were not surveyors and that we were shooting a film he nodded, walked
passed us a few feet, watched his dog take a shit, and then turned around and went home. Apparently there is a lot of night
surveying going on in Douglas.
During a take ten to let the battery recharge, the actresses were enjoying coffee,
a muffin and warm up session at the bus. Gloria noticed something moving in the fog on the next block up. The something turned
out to be one of the biggest black bears any of us have seen. The black bear was on dumpster patrol. After checking one dumpster
he ambled off to the right of us and into the woods. After a few minutes of indecision the mean old director forced us back
to work, (not true, he’s not all that old) anyway we could hear the bear moving around the woods as we shot the last
few scenes. A few people were a little freaked out by the bear but everyone was professional and we completed the shoot.
The new power system was a dream. We got two solid hours out of the battery with two lights and a blower on full time.
We realize that the blower pulled a lot of amps so we’re figuring we will get a lot of time with just two lights and
maybe a monitor in the bus. Just to mention, at the very end of the fight scene a cop car pulls up in front of the hookers.
To simulate this Kendall brought another safety strobe, this one red and blue. In the last shot we had Clark bring it in real
close so we can see the reflection in the shoes and off Ali. It works baby. We will shoot the actual cop car scene later.
A two and a half hour shoot, set up and take down included. We’re getting pretty smooth- what a crew! Extra
kudos go to the ladies for suggesting we get rid of the cardboard we had for them to lay on when it was getting in the way
of the camera angle. The side walk was wet, cold and grungy and I would not have sat on it. Thanks again for that. John Bower
proved to be very well versed on all things sound and his boom work was as he says, AWESOME! Good work John. Our new crew
members Taylor and Clark both did great work. Taylor followed Kendall around and took care of anything he needed and he’s
learning a lot about the camera. Clark was a pleasure to have; he has great mechanical knowledge, likes to work and seemed
to enjoy himself immensely. Welcome aboard Clark.
Speaking of people enjoying their work, everywhere I looked
I saw smiles. I took a series of still shots of the crew and cast, I think I took four of John and in everyone he has a huge
grin on his face. At one point in the middle of the action, the cast is on the ground Kendall was also laying down, John was
in close Liam was kneeling and Clark was bending in with the strobe light. I couldn’t help but think that I was seeing
a really complicated game of twister. At this time Kendall looked up and for a second we caught each others eye and we both
started to laugh. The unspoken message was, can you believe this, we’re making movies baby and its damn fun.
SECOND SHOOT
Our second shoot was the thrift store scene. In this one “Hot Betty”
is pricing and putting up shoes. Then Star comes in and tries them on, likes them, trades her shoes for the red shoes and
walks out. Our actresses are April as Hot Betty the thrift store clerk and Ali Bower as Star. It’s Saturday at nine
in the a.m.
On Friday the week prior to the shoot I called Major F_ of the Thrift Store to go over the arrangements
we had discussed on a previous phone call. The Major informed me that he would be out of town for a couple of weeks and that
he would put everything in the hands of the store manager, Mr. J__ and I should contact Mr. J_ on the preceding Monday to
iron out the details. So, I call Mr. J_ on Monday, but the person who answered the phone informed me that Mr. J_ had not arrived
yet and they did not know when he may show up. I then waited until Tuesday morning and tried again this time the person answering
the phone could not quite hide their distain at the fact Mr. J_ had not shown up for work again and I quote “I don’t
know where the hell he is”. I felt like saying “dude it’s a church thrift store so mellow out with the swearing
man, but instead I said I would call back the next day. So, this is our biggest shot list yet, were shooting in public and
we think we need about three to four hours of set time and everybody will be there and I can’t get a hold of the elusive
Mr. J_. So anyway, by Wednesday morning I was freaking out, but by afternoon I have at last had my conversation with Mr. James
and he informed me that the gentleman who works on Saturday is Mike and he, Mr. J_, would tell Mike that we were coming. He
also mentioned that he thought Saturday would be the quietest time so everything should be rosy.
We arrived about
quarter to nine and the door opened promptly at nine. I wanted to be first in to talk to Mike and tell him what we would be
doing. I walked up to Mike and introduced myself and mentioned that we were the people that were filming there that day. I
got a blank look followed closely by hostility. “You’re not filming here. I’m the only one working today
and I don’t have time to mess around with you”. I quickly told him that we would not take any of his time and
we would stay out of his way as much as possible. He then said, no we could not film that day and we would have to reschedule
for another day. I said that I understood what a shock that it must be and that I was sorry Mr. J.or Mr. F. had not communicated
properly with him but we had gone through all of the channels and we had a lot invested already, time and effort wise. I wanted
to throw the Major’s name in the pot to see if it made any difference and I wanted him to know that this was a well
laid out plan not just some last minute thing. At this point Mike grabbed the phone and walked away from me about ten feet.
I could over hear some of what he was saying, “You didn’t tell me anything about filming! This is bull shit and
later in the conversation I heard the f word at least twice. When the phone call is over Mike walks back toward me, and says,”
one hour no more” then turns and walks away. Well I for one am quite relieved that the Christian spirit is alive and
well at the church Thrift Store.
We wanted to do some shooting out in the main part of the store under the racks
and down the isles; we immediately nixed that idea and also decided not to record sound. We thought it would speed up the
shoot and we also couldn’t see where we needed sound anyway, with the floor carpeted. So we decided to concentrate all
efforts on the shoe area. During my stimulating discussion with Mike he let me know that Saturday morning was actually the
busiest time of the week, apparently Mr. J_ doesn’t work weekends much. I’m real impressed with our crew: everyone
was on the mark, we got in, we stayed out of the way, we got our shots, we didn’t have to compromise too much and we
did it all in one hour and ten minutes.
We had people walking through our set, people trying to buy our equipment,
and very cramped quarters but I think we did great! April is a great actress, one-take Betty we should call her. We once again
experienced some technical difficulties (the focus was screwed up on some of our shots) but Kendall thinks we have plenty
of material to get the plot across. We wanted to use this mirror for a shot in the shoe area so we broke it the night before
and got a cool pattern. Anyway, the mirror shards are all hanging precariously from the back of this mirror and I’ve
got it wrapped in a plastic bag on a piece of cardboard. To make a long story short it was very tense carrying it in and out
of the store as it was not very safe and I was waiting for the wrath of Mike to come down on me. I also had mental images
of someone getting cut and spewing blood all over the place. Wait, wait! That’s another movie. Our crew for this one
was Kendall and Gloria Merry director and everything camera, Liam Smith and Mariah Endicott were out of town so we had an
abbreviated crew. Jon Bower filled in for Liam on the slate board and April did continuity, time and shot logging when she
wasn’t in a scene. I was once again all around helper dude and crowd control; anyway, it was a lot of fun and a great
shoot all in all. In a way the compressed shoot time was a good thing - we proved we can operate quickly under difficult circumstances.
FIRST SHOOT
Our first shoot is the scene where Star retrieves her property from the property
clerk at the police station. In the movie it’s around seven a.m. In reality, it’s nine o’clock Saturday
a.m. and we’re at the University media room. We want to use the counter and the roll away gate for our set. Ali and
Jon Bower are the actors in this scene. With coffee and doughnuts to amp us up we’re all ready and excited to start.
It’s really nice that we have this entire space to ourselves, no interference and we don’t have an audience watching
us screw up.
In this scene, Star walks up to the roll up gate and pounds on it. The police man is sitting at his
desk, he gets up, rolls up the gate, and hands Star a form and a pen, she signs her name and hands back the form, the cop
gets a box, empties it on the counter and inventories the contents before giving it back to star. Star grabs her belongings
and walks down a long hall to a door; she then exits through the door. We had our full crew to this point; April was our official
scribe or record keeper as well as continuity control person and shot logger. Kendall and Glo were handling the camera as
well as directing and sound. Glo found cool police decals and images that we’ve placed strategically around the set,
including one we used for an arm patch for our cop, and I might say it looked great on camera. Liam was our slate dude and
did a great job and did it with a certain zeal, I might add. Mariah Endicott was all around grip, props and timer person,
and I wandered around most of the time in a daze wondering what the hell I was doing. Literally, I mean in the grand scheme
of things kind of literally, what the hell was I doing at forty years old doing something I never even thought of doing in
my entire life, being basically unemployed for six months, broker then hell, yada, yada, yada. What’s that? We’re
changing shots? I gotta get busy! Damn this is fun! We’re making movies baby.
John was great at improvising
and came up with a couple of cool ideas. The whole doughnut scene was great! At one time the entire set was laughing at something
to do with the doughnut. The little tracking cart seemed to work well. We did at least a twenty foot side tracking shoot as
Star leaves the property counter in the police station. Aside with some freshman mistakes and a glitch with the audio, the
shoot was a stellar success in my opinion.
