The Tragedy at Emmitt Whistle's: Production Part 3

What a whirlwind! We had our first two day shoot!  Long hours, lots of fun, lots of stress.

Things I learned:

•It's colder outside of the city where the trees and buildings are gone from blocking the wind. 

•Planning in advance is important, but flexibility in the moment is golden.

•Mistakes happen and being able to move forward with grace and a clear head helps smooth the bumps. 

•Beds break, but teamwork and quick thinking/problem solving let us get back on track. 

•The actors always surprise me. Ali designed a strap so pulling Dan across the floor would be more comfortable/ help keep his pants up, but turns out it was just hindering the process! So he insisted on just getting pulled by his ankle.  

• Communication on every side is imperative, being organized and transparent would solve most issues.

• Filming sex scenes is like designing with typography. People get freaked out and panic because it's typography and they've never worked with something like this before! It has a stigma attached. When really, let's say you're making a poster, the typography is just one element in the poster that works with the other elements to create the poster. You have to look at it just like the other elements, it's just a shape, just another piece to the puzzle. It's no different with a sex scene. 

• Snapping back to reality after a great weekend of filming is like entering the Twilight Zone. 

The Tragedy at Emmitt Whistle's: Production Part 2

We have actors! But not costumes! Ali and I have been shopping all weekend for costumes and she's going out tomorrow to get the last pieces. She'll also be making Emily's dress which I'm really excited about.

We had a read through with the talent Tuesday night and got to see the Stranger outfit on, but it just isn't working. I chose a dark green color for the shirt because Emmitt and Emily both have very light colored shirts and so that each character had a different color palette. However, I didn't take into account being able to see the blood on the shirt, I was only thinking about the pants, since he gets dragged by the legs. I have to fix my mistake so that means more shopping/time spent on this. I should have gone over the stranger's outfit with Drew before I went out shopping, because I thought I had a clear idea of who the stranger was supposed to be, but I didn't. So here is the new inspiration for the stranger:

Stranger Inspiration

Drew, Heather, and Phil went to Westerville Antiques to get the last of the props and start dressing the set. I was unable to go, but I'll be headed out tomorrow to get it ready for Saturday. 

I've been trying to gather some production assistants for the art department too and I think we've got a few. I'm really excited to work with some underclassmen who are eager to work on film productions. Everyone has to start somewhere and this is such a low risk environment for them to start out in. They'll get to start building their network earlier, which I wish I could have done. 

Lots to do tonight to get ready for our weekend shoot!