Filming today

We will be shooting two of the six scenes from my new short film this afternoon. These are the two I'm the most nervous about, but this is also the most effort I've ever put into pre-production, so I am hoping for the best!

Solstice weekend

Well, the weekend was as full as predicted. The Solstice festival on Saturday was sort of overshadowed (at least in my mind) by the music video shoots on Friday and Sunday. We did attend the parade, but to be honest, I thought it was a little dull. Last year's parade, being that it took place two days after we moved into town, seemed more eye-opening and odd. It was quite a first impression; this year felt more like a rerun. I'm glad we didn't invest too much time into waiting on the curb for it to start. We were actually a little late because we were busy "getting our wine on" with some Newcomer friends. I enjoyed socializing with them and continuing to make use of our porch. It sure beat facing the crowds at the beer garden in the park.

After the events in town we attended two BBQs. One was with R's coworkers, which made for a good opportunity to put some faces with names, not to mention eat some excellent food. The other party was at our friend Paul's house. We were worn out by this time and didn't stay long, but it was worth the stop. Paul and company are hip people and it's always a pleasure to hang out with them.

Back to the video shoots... It felt great to be on a set again, to witness somebody's artistic vision materialize, to help where I could... mainly in the form of crowd wrangling, set design, grip work... anything I could to make the director's job easier and allow him to focus on the creative stuff. It was a role I will gladly accept, especially when I stand behind the project as much as this one. Friday night -- with its fog machine'd trees and extra large crescent moon -- was the perfect setting for a party, and I'm pretty sure that translated onto the footage. I can't wait to see the results.

I was busy during the filming and didn't take too many of my own shots, but check out what I have in this gallery. Note: the people playing instruments in the photos are NOT the band. They were just some extras goofing around during a break. You'll have to wait a few weeks to see the real stars.

Wrapped

Our last day of shooting was bittersweet. We could have filmed the scenes we needed in half the time, but nobody rushed. It was a rare day when a lack of time was not the driving force, when we had the opportunity to shoot some extras for the DVD and revel in the lingering sense of accomplishment. As good as it felt to be done with all of the hard work involved in making this movie, maybe nobody wanted it to end. Or maybe it was just me.

If I'm sounding particularly sentimental, it's probably because of the wrap party on Friday night. We met at the Crimson Moon in Little Italy for drinks, and I had a great time. Everybody seemed to have such a positive experience with this project. The way we gushed about each other and the results we achieved, you'd think we were being taped for one of those self-promoting, behind the scenes documentaries where everybody says "this is the best movie ever." It's easy to think that before you see the finished product (and when you have a few drinks in you). I can soberly say, however, that I am proud to have been a part of it. The cinematography, for one thing, should be outstanding for a low-budget, independent film.

I was a bit disappointed that a few of the crew members were not able to attend the party. They were already moving on to their next projects and didn't have time to take a break and look back at this one. Most everybody involved is freelance and going their separate ways. I guess the same could be said about me, at least the separate ways part. My new job with AdminServer starts tomorrow; I'm going to give it a fair chance.

Now that I'm going to be employed again, R and I felt justified to go out and spend some money on Saturday. We bought some things for the house, including a Dyson vacuum cleaner, which I will say has been most impressive so far. Our carpet sighed in relief after a much needed cleaning.

We also went out for a seafood dinner and a movie yesterday. We saw Lady in the Water, and for the first time, M. Night Shyamalan disappointed me. The movie was imaginative and had the potential to be a clever critique on story-telling, but the pieces just did not come together. It was dull and unemotional. I was left underwhelmed.

Behind a scene

A member of the cast, Joe Clipper, made this short video on the set of Jack of Clubs. Check it out for a quick look at what goes on behind the scenes. Oh, and you won't see me in it -- I was in Minnesota that day.

Foreshadow

I just got back from a radio station where we were shooting a couple of scenes from the movie. It was a fun night. Those of us involved with the project are developing strong sense of camaraderie for the simple reason that we are spending a lot of time together if not also because we all share a common bond -- the aspiration to make a movie. I've struggled to find people with that interest in common with me in the past, but now I'm surrounded by them. That's so awesome.

There's been something going on in my career situation that I've been keeping on the down low for the last week. I'm going to continue to avoid discussing it tonight because it requires more explanation than I care to get into now. Later on this morning R and I will be traveling up to Piscataway, New Jersery for a family reunion and spending the day there. On Sunday I'll be helping shoot the climactic BBQ scenes for the movie. Let's make a date for early next week to discuss why and how my hiatus from work is ending. Okay, it won't be much of a discussion. Rather, I will write and you can read, as usual.

Latest from the life of a grip

For those readers of mine living in the Baltimore area (yeah, right), keep a look out for me on your television. I'm being prominently featured in two commercials to be aired on Baltimore cable. They needed somebody to play the clerk at a pharmacy while a customer places some products on the counter. I didn't have any speaking lines, but I did have to give a good smile and look friendly. We were advertising for a company called Caregivers Marketplace. Part of the process involved aging one of the actresses by 40 years with make-up and unflattering lighting. That was pretty cool to witness. The producer of the commercials was a big-time perfectionist, and it meant for a really long day. We had a 7:00am call time and worked until 10:00pm, followed by a 3-hour drive home. That was my Sunday.

We had another 7:00am call time this morning in Claymont, DE where we shot a couple of scenes in a moving city bus. It was a really fun shoot. We strapped a generator to the bike rack on the front of the bus to power our lights. I felt like I was on the set of the movie Speed. We also had to take some exteriors of the bus and the actors inside through the windows. Of course the bus had to be moving in these shots, so we had to close down a street and have the D.P. stand through a sunroof in a vehicle driving next to the bus. I can't wait to see these results. I keep hearing that the DVD will be available in Blockbuster, so you'll have the chance to see them too... in Spring 2007.

Commercial

And we're back from our trip. I'll give you a longer write-up about it soon. Things are still a little crazy around here; I haven't even had the chance to unpack yet. For now, I just wanted to share the news that I received my first paying gig in the filmmaking business. I'll be helping shoot a television commercial down in Chesapeake, Viriginia this weekend. Our main movie shoot continues in Wilmington for another two and a half weeks; the commercial is just a side project. The pay still isn't great, but it should be another good experience and, hey, getting paid anything at all is nice. If you're curious as to what we'll be advertising... I don't even know yet. I guess we find out when we get there.

Photos from the beach shoot

Our D.P. shooting handheld, strapped to the back of a go-kart:

The crew sets up for a scene at the mini-golf course with the director and D.P. discussing the shot in the background:

Me playing around with the Canon XL2 (I want one):

The director discusses the crab dinner scene with the cast while the steadicam looks on:

Background artist

I made my acting debut on Friday night as an extra in the movie. You'll be able to see me in two shots standing at the counter of a tuxedo rental shop with my onscreen fiancée (who I later found out is only 15 years old!). It was a fun night. I'm really enjoying working with people who have a broad knowledge of movies and feel the same satisfaction as me when making them. These people have a lot of great stories: our D.P. was telling us about the times he met director John Waters (a Baltimore native), our key grip worked behind the scenes at last year's Academy Awards, and the actor standing across the tuxedo counter from me was an extra in Sex and the City. Software developers don't have experiences like that.

This weekend turned out to not be as much work as I expected. It's been raining off and on since Friday night, so the big BBQ/picnic shoot we had planned was rescheduled for a weekend in July. I ended up with a couple days off.

R. and I drove up to Philly yesterday for the Manayunk Art Festival, which was surprisingly smaller than the Minneapolis Uptown Art Fair and the Fairhope Art Fair in Alabama. However, they handed out free samples of food/beverages at this one, which ranks it ahead of the other two, at least in my book. Otherwise it was a pretty typical art fair. R. found some jewelry to purchase.

On Saturday night we went to see the movie version of A Prairie Home Companion in the theater. I recommend it if you are a fan of the radio show or if you are from Minnesota. It was a cute movie with some dark touches, and it contained a lot of clever observations about Minnesotans. Seeing some St. Paul landmarks and hearing the accents made us a bit nostalgic for home. Good thing we'll be heading out there next weekend.

I've got a 15-hour day of movie making scheduled for tomorrow. The other notable schedule irregularity for me is a two-day, midweek shoot down at the Delaware beaches. As a little perk, the producers are taking us out in the party town of Dewey Beach on Wednesday night and setting us up with a place to stay for the night. I look forward to it!

Cleansing the soul

Shooting a movie attracts a lot of attention. When people see us lighting up a neighborhood at night or closing a street downtown, they are interested in what's going on. I'm glad I'm on the other side of the crowd control for the first time.

This job has been very satisfying so far; funny how the work is the polar opposite of that from my previous jobs. I used to sit at a desk, make it look like I'm thinking hard, and earn a nice paycheck; now I'm on my feet continuously, frantically performing physically-demanding work, and not earning a thing, except my name in the credits and maybe a copy of the DVD. As you all know, participating in the production of this movie was not a financially enterprising decision for me, but I feel like my soul is being cleansed. Even if I do go back to some desk job after all this, at least I will always have this experience to look back on and talk about. I'll have a DVD on my shelf that I can watch and remember how much sweat went into each shot of it.

I, along with two other production assistants, have been reporting to the director of photography or the two technicians under him. We have to meet up at the different shooting locations (so far a courthouse, a home, an intersection downtown, a coffee shop, a bar, an apartment) by a certain call time. Then we unload the vehicles, set up lights and/or reflectors, cover windows, lay dolly track, and throw sandbags around. The D.P. takes a look and directs us to do some tweaking, usually adding or subtracting filters or gels from the lights. The D.P. has a really good eye for sizing up shots and recreating natural lighting on camera. I have a new appreciation for color temperature and cinematography in general when I turn on the TV these days. I'm anxious to go back and watch some of my favorite movies with this new knowledge in mind.

Tonight is looking like another late night. After this we are switching to mostly day shoots until my and R's Minnesota vacation starts on July 1. I'm going to need the break by then, after working 13 days in a row. Spending the 4th back home should be fun, and then we head up to Winnipeg for the folk festival. There will only be three weeks of shooting left when we return. I'm going to try to make the most of it because I still don't have anything lined up for when we are done.

Production begins

I worked for 15 hours yesterday as a grip on Jack of Clubs. Some of the time was spent in training where I learned how to roll cable, set up lights, and identify a bunch of clamps and things. Production crews have their own names for everything -- a light bulb is a globe, an extension cord is a stinger, a clothespin is a C47, etc. It's like learning a new language.

We had a meeting over lunch to discuss some the ground rules and administrative issues. I ended up sitting next to our lead actor, who will be appearing later this year with a small speaking role in Rocky VI. Yeah, there's my big celeb story. Anyway, it gives you an idea of what league of independent film we are in. One movie's background actor is another movie's lead. That being said, I was impressed with the acting ability I saw during the courthouse shoot last night.

The results on the technical side were equally impressive. The crew is a tight-knit group that seems to work very well together. They certainly work hard, as did I last night. They have a ton of equipment, enough to fill multiple vans, and it needs to be moved around A LOT. This job is not paying me, but with all this exercise it will be like receiving a free gym membership.

Tonight we're meeting at a private home for another shoot. I believe I will be mainly working as a script supervisor / continuity checker this time, but I'm sure there will be some grip duties as well. That's okay -- I need to get my workout in.

Painting a wall

The duties of a production assistant are quite varied. Today I picked up 4000 feet of streamers from Party City and then went over to Buddy's Bar to paint a wall. The bar wasn't open yet, but some guy who looked and sounded a lot like Cliff Clavin from Cheers came in to drink three Buds anyway. It turns out he was still on sick leave having just recovered from a cousin of the E. Coli virus (only he called it I. Col-ee). And guess what this guy's profession just happened to be; he was a professional painter. That would have been fine had he jumped in and helped me, but instead he sat there and observed my every stroke of the brush. Since there was nobody else in the bar except the owner (who was in and out of the place really), he didn't have anybody else to distract him from critiquing my technique. It was a good thing I was in top form after having so recently helped paint almost the entire interior of my and R's house. The wall turned out well, and the unlimited access to free soda pop was nice. Next week the production phase of the film begins. That is what I have been waiting for.