Shoot Day 3: Ups and downs and ending high

A year from now, a month from now, maybe even a week from now I won't remember the chaos of today, I will only remember the fun and the good footage. If I were a person prone to freaking out today probably would have been a bad day. It started with getting a flat tire on my way to pick up our out of town actress. Then as I was on the phone with the producer confirming that we were finally on our way I got the news that the building we were shooting in is under construction and the classroom we were assigned apparently doesn't exist any more. At one point we had too many lights plugged in and because it's a holiday it took quite a bit of time to find someone who could unlock the fuse box.

The thing is all of these problems are surmountable. Fortunately, I am well versed in how to put on a spare tire, so we only lost about 20 minutes getting to set. We simply moved the walk and talk to a hallway that wasn't under construction, and the classroom to one further down the hall that was open. And eventually we did find a maintenance guy to fix our fuse problem. Our lighting crew is unlikely to ever make that mistake again. And at the end of the day we still wrapped early. So really, none of it matters.

What matters is the moment I expect I will remember most about today: watching my actors perform and feeling really giddy about how well they were all clicking. Then one of them caught me with my "I'm so excited" smile and just laughed. It really was a good day.

Shoot Day 2: hit the ground running

Today was the first day with the full crew, and for many of them it was the first day they had met. We also started the day with a location that we had very limited access to in terms of time. So it was a pretty big challenge. I'll admit it was a little rough at the start. But once we found our speed the day went very well. We ended up finishing early.

All things being equal I would have preferred to have more time at that first location, or else do the location with the time crunch later in the shoot so that the crew was more used to working with each other. By the end of the 8 days of shooting we'll be a well oiled machine and probably could have eked out a few more takes in that amount of time. The thing is though, I liked the footage we got. I didn't leave feeling like "If only..." I would have shot more, but I don't feel like I needed to shoot more. Ask me about it again once I start editing, I suppose.

Shoot Day 1: a mix of rain and sun

It's always best, when possible, to have your first day be an easy one. It gives the team a chance to get to know each other, discover people's personalities, work out the kinks. So for today we were doing all the Sarah walking around stuff. Only one actor, a skeleton crew, and a fine day for walking around the city. That was the theory anyway. We had a fine morning. We got three of our five shots done, and then the rains came. That's ok. We have time in the schedule to do pickups on Sunday, which is forecasted to be a better weather day. And the crew was all, "Yeah, sure, okay." I love my crew. Very hard working while also being very easy going.

Welcome to the team

In a bit of last minute excitement we had to recast Sarah today. Sometimes unexpected challenges lead to wonderful opportunities. Our new Sarah is Paige Friedman. I met Paige when I was a reader during auditions for another project back in February. She was fantastic and I thought, "Someday I'm going to work with her." Today is that day. Well, the day after tomorrow.

Paige Friedman is a recent Acting BFA graduate of Boston University's College of Fine Arts. Some theatre credits include Neoptolemus in Philoctetes, Catherine of Aragon in Women of Henry VIII, and Cassandra in new play Pygmalia. Film credits include Something About Her, Les Miserables College Parody, and Francis and Sally Mae are Missing. Thanks to Aaron, Kris, friends, family, and Boston University.

Creating Costumes

We are two weeks out from the start of shooting and everyone is busy as a bee. Charlotte Dore, who is playing Esther, has taken charge of building her own costume. We got a sneak peek the other day at how it is going.

Hit the ground running

Preproduction is in full swing. Props are being purchased. Costumes are being built. Locations are being secured. Rehearsals are being scheduled. Shot lists and storyboards are being drawn up. Gear is being tested. We are three weeks out from the start of shooting. My to do list is a mile long, but it is full of things I really enjoy doing.

If you would like a little entertainment in the meantime, Killer got accepted into the American Online Film Awards. You can watch and vote for it here.

https://americanonlinefilmawards.org/film/14S85rgdns

In the meantime some exciting news

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to our fundraising campaign. The current total stands at $4,350 and I have taken in all the checks for the charitable donations so they should clear your banks soon. It is hard for me to describe how honored I am that you all believe in the project enough to actually share your hard earned money with us.

Most of our attention these days has been going to locations. There is a lot of bureaucracy that I won't bore you with. Suffice it to say, it's a process and we're working our way through it.

In the meantime, I've had some very exciting news about a past project. Killer, made in my first semester at BU, has just been picked up by a regional PBS station to air as part of a shorts showcase. The show TVFilm will have its sixth season starting in June. I don't have the broadcast dates yet, I will be shouting them from the rooftops as soon as I know.