Production Day 1

Now that I have had a day or so to recuperate, I'm ready to talk a bit about the shoot.

Day 1:

I wake up at 5:00 in the morning. Strange, but I slept like a baby last night. I was exhausted so I'm sure that helped. I start packing the car up with my equipment and drive over to the meeting spot a few blocks away where the rental place is located. I get there are 5:45, 15 minutes before we were supposed to meet and there are already 6 people waiting. Awesome!

when the bus arrives so we can start getting loaded up, another group was there first and it took longer to get all the stuff out. By the time we hit the road we were an hour late. We played catch-up for the rest of the day.

We arrive at the location and get our bearings. The two dogs meet for the first time and they are instantly friends. Perfect!

I look around and everybody is doing something and I think to myself "What do I do?" Very strange feeling to go from Camera crew or PA to Director. I went to move some stands and the Grips told me to put it down. I went to help with some Art Dec and they told me they have it covered. I went to check the camera settings and the DP said it was done. So I stood there, a little lost.

A few hours later we are getting ready to get our first shot. I call ACTION and I'm grinning like an idiot. I can't help it. After the first few hours I start to fall into a stride and by the end of the first day I'm working hard and completely comfortable at the helm.

The actors are doing great and we are getting some really good stuff. The dogs are stealing the show but the lead is doing so well it's making the crew pumped. The sun is shining outside and everyone is in good spirits. The owners of the house we were shooting in were so generous. They basically gave us free reign of the entire house and then left for the day.

We did have a small accident where somebody leaned against the oven and turned one of the top elements on and it burned a cloth to the oven. Woops. But we cleaned it the best we could and we'll let the owners decided how we can make it all better.

By the time we wrap for the day people are tired of course. We pack what we need (most equipment was staying behind in the location for the next day) and head back to Montreal. After driving some people home, I get in at about 1:00-ish. I'm out like a light!

That night I have dreams of shot lists and story boards and I wake up from time to time thinking about how to set up the next shot. My dreams are technical yet nonsensical. How can I get a more shallow depth of field if I use some diffusion over a Kino? HUH?? Is the dog looking at the proper eye line or do I need to use an HMI? WHAT?? Nothing makes sense and I wake up the next morning on edge.