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Last weekend we shot a long night of sequences loaded with special effects gags. For the night being so FX-heavy, we really moved fast and efficiently – so I was very proud of the whole crew and all the actors. Absolute pros, the whole damn lot of ‘em.
First, we shot some very interesting dusk-for-dawn stuff that turned out looking very nice. Because everything had to be done in the magic hour, we had to move quickly.
Then, after the sun set, we shot kid-actor Jordan Callahan’s final sequence. Half of the night’s shots involved fire gags, including the shots with Jordan. Every safety precaution was taken. The set was very safe. Still, all actors had to be fairly close to some intimidating flames. Jordan did not seem alarmed by the fire effects at all and he did his job beautifully. The ten-year-old did endure some smoke in his eyes, but he just kept right on acting and didn’t duck out of the shot until I called “cut” ...what a trooper.
Actors Bill Clifton and Jason Allen Wolfe also had to act in close proximity to the fire gags. In fact, nearly every shot we did with Bill put him just a few feet away from a gasoline fire source. All the cast did a great job, nobody got hurt, and all the footage looks great.
At the end of the night, we re-lit for a forced-perspective shot that incorporated live actors with a miniature set. We were still outside and it had become pretty damn cold. And all the fire effects were done, so we didn’t even have that to keep us warm! Patrick Voss and Zac Mauer were the head-honchos in charge of all the effects we shot that night. Both of these fellows did a fantastic job in making the effects look good, making the fire effects function safely, and making everything move efficiently.
Jason Christ barbecued hamburgers and brats for the cast and crew. Jason’s mom baked everyone cupcakes.
After the shoot, back at the office on Monday, Scott Muck and I worked on the sequence coming up next on the shooting schedule. It is a very simple scene... but it takes place in a 1940’s small town mortuary. This is a very difficult set to fake when you have such a low budget. Through a number of cast and crew members, we have connections to a half dozen real, operating mortuaries... but, as we discovered, we cannot enter these facilities to shoot because only biohazard-certified persons are allowed to be on these premises.
Then, one of the PA’s did some research and discovered a mortuary museum – complete with historically accurate early-20th century mortuary mock-ups. The museum is only a couple of hours from St. Louis. Brandi took the initiative to contact the museum owner and ask him about us shooting there. Muck and I then scheduled a meeting with the museum owner to discuss the specifics of the shoot. Unless something unforeseen keeps us from shooting there (like the museum demanding a huge gob of money from us) we will probably shoot our mortuary scene at this museum.
In my last journal entry, I vented about the pressures associated with making filmmaking your business (and not just your hobby). One good thing and one bad thing have happened since then...
The good thing: We finished authoring the ICE FROM THE SUN 2-Disc DVD re-release for Image. This was a colossal undertaking and the completion of this project has lifted a ton of weight from my shoulders. We immediately launched into the authoring of SCRAPBOOK. That’s when the bad thing happened...
A number of new SCRAPBOOK bonus features need to be edited for inclusion on the new Image DVD release. I started editing these features six days ago. Then, one of the Avid drives went belly-up. I’ve lost all my media. And I need to make arrangements for Avid to ship me a replacement drive. And then I need to stay awake for about four days straight, catching up on all the time I’ve lost due to this little problem.
I know computers break down. I know there will always be technical glitches threatening to bog down your progress. But I wish that damn clock on the wall would stop ticking when it happened. I can’t stand looking at a temporarily dead Avid and thinking about how much work I could be getting done if that fucking drive had not failed.
It just fits into the category of “If It Ain’t One Fuckin’ Thing, It’s Another.”
Or, sometimes I phrase it “Ain’t Nuthin’ Fuckin’ Easy.”
Or, when I can manage it, I simply focus on the fact that we are making a movie that we are proud of. And then DEADWOOD PARK makes all these big problems seem not so big.
Thanks for reading.
-Eric Stanze
March 14, 2005
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