The first week
shooting on any film set has its own challenges: it's often the first time the
entire crew is actually working as a team and getting individuals to synch and
realize their best efficiency level takes some time. Fortunately, my
co-producer and I had assembled a gang of seasoned professionals that came
together to work as if they'd been a team all along.
The real challenge
came from shooting on location. On a sound stage, you can control everything:
the light, the acoustics, the climate; everything can be exactly as you need it
at every moment. But in the real world, you are at the mercy of the sun which is
always on the move and messing with your light and--in our case--turning our
cozy cabin into a pressure cooker.
But that was all
bearable: we had air conditioning to help keep the heat from being unhealthy
and we had a lighting crew that could bathe our room in whatever light needed
at any time of the day. The factor that foiled us throughout the shoot came in
the form of man-made noise machines.
Day one of the shoot
happened to take place on gardener day. One by one, each neighboring house was
visited by various men bearing lawn-mowers, leaf-blowers and other loud
machines that would inescapably be heard in our cabin, ruining take after take.
It sounded like a special Doo-Dah Parade of gardeners--all afternoon. I found myself wishing our executioner's axe was not a prop.
Day two only had one
straggling gardener. But it became a heavy plane day. Planes also ruin the
sound of a take, because--like mowers and blowers--they never sound the same throughout
the scene: they're in one shot, but not the following; then they're back for a
shot--only to disappear again. Planes plagued us throughout day two. But we had heard
nothing, yet.
Day three, a big rig
accident on the neighboring freeway exchange prompted hours and hours of
low-flying, hovering helicopters. Our remote cabin in the woods now sounded
like a tent in a war zone. What could we do? We kept filming. We only had the
location so many days and the other locations were booked on the days
following. So we forged ahead. The show must go on--even in Armageddon.
Sound issues aside,
the week was a terrific success: we got some beautiful footage with gripping performances; I've no doubt we've
got the makings of an excellent movie. I'll leave you with this photo of me taken near the end of
day three. It kind of looks like I'm looking ahead.
Perhaps I am.
Gregory Blair
as seen through the lens of Joshua Patterson
as seen through the lens of Joshua Patterson
