I’m on the sitting on the floor on the second level of Ackerman right now in a little, secluded area with the MacBook Pro that’s been a good friend this past week. Utterly exhausted, the film that I’ve been working on is finally done… well almost. I say that because it still needs to be turned into the Campus MovieFest folks. They’ll take back all the high-tech gear. Watch it, eventually. What they’ll see is a short story in five minutes. What they won’t though is the complete stress, chaos, and happiness involved in making this film.
Film shoots never go as planned. That’s a given. There will always be chaos; a natural part of the process. However, the chaos, for anyway, has always been more spread out; little things here and there. This time around, things were going smoothly. But not just kind of smooth, it was as smooth as a newborn baby’s skin. The actors were ready and lined up (well 3/4 which is over 50%, so I was okay with it). They looked great in their wardrobe. Permits had a rough start but ended up working out just in the nick of time. Crew was ready and willing as were locations. It was a dream, but of course… it would not last.
Three and a half hours before the shoot, I’m taking the bus back to my place (new tripod in hand). THe anxious/nervous/crazi(ness) of the impending shoot was getting to me. Maybe it would all work out. As the bus comes to a stop, “about a girl” starts blaring. It’s my phone, and this call was definitely “about a girl.” Her voice was a bit crackled, something wasn’t quite right. It’s Valerie, my lead actress. She was running an hour ago, tripped, and fell straight on the concrete, chipping her tooth. She’s freaking out. I’m worried about her health (and completely freaking out on the inside). Valerie’s in utter pain, and unless she can find an emergency dentist at 5:30pm on a Friday, she wouldn’t be able to make the shoot.
Her health, my first priority. Second priority: damage control mixed with hyperventilation.
Can we push the shoot back a day? Negative. Permits locked in as well as the cooperation of the UCPD.
What did this mean? Find a potential new actress so we can get the film shot.
Valerie was on the search for a dentist. I was on the search for a possible new “Kaitlin.” My excutive producer, Michelle, and I were calling everyone we could think of. Unfortunately, this actress couldn’t just be anyone, she needed to have certain characteristics. Many calls and texts later, my phone rings… it’s Valerie.
She’s still in pain, but luckily was able to get a dentist for the next morning, thankfully. But that means for that night, I definitely need to find another actress. And after another 15-20 minutes of freaking out (director-side of me), the producer-side kicked in. One of the most amazing people in the world by name of Danielle Perrot came to the film’s rescue.
From that point on, besides scurrying to find her an outfit and make her the new Kaitlin, the shoot overall went really well. Nicholas Tubbs, another one of the lead actors, just blew all of us away with his performance. I can honestly say he’s the most talented actor I’ve ever had the honor of working with. Danielle gave a stellar performance as well with a couple of hours of notice. The pieces just fell into place (and fit together relatively well). Day 1 ended around 2:40am for the cast/ crew and 6:00am for myself. Yet, until the film is locked, chaos still lingered… waiting for the next day. However, luckily for us Day 2 ran pretty smoothly (minus a minor setback in dealing with some police officers who were quite understanding).
Editing took over my life for 24 hours (give or take a couple for sleep). Cut number 1 had all the pieces, but something felt off. Cut number 2 offered an unexpected twist due to a simplification of temporal space. However, sequence setting was a bit off. Cut 3… that was the money cut. It wasn’t to the tee of what it is now (Cut 4… which is for later use). Cut 3 was the CMF cut. There was no turning back. Number 3 is the one that could change everything.
