Thursday, April 17, 2008

First Day of Shooting Manual of a Weedkiller

So today was my first day shooting "Manual of a Weed Killer." I woke up at 5am, a good 5 hours earlier than I'm typically inclined. I then found my way to starbucks where I discovered that the gals that serve me coffee at 2pm start work at 4am, eee gads! They pretty much set up my mindset for the day - no matter how hard I feel I'm working there is no room for bitching or complaining because there are so many other folks working harder and longer hours.

Case in point: the first scene we shot takes place in a small home-made greenhouse; diffuse plastic was laid over PVC pipe and arched into something that resembled a Native American sweat lodge. It was piping hot and I had to towel off and reapply matte powder between every take. But I did get to step outside while the shots were being reframed so that my pit stains could dry. The sound ops and camera crew just sat inside the sweltering tent for hours; no real breaks. The crew are the real heroes of a film production.

It was a good first day of shooting, the crew was great, my costar is fun to be around and I felt good about my work in a way that I haven't felt in a while. Oh, and the footage is absolutely gorgeous.

My shooting day ended at 8:45pm, meaning I worked about a 14 hour day. As tired and asymmetrically sunburned as I am, it sure beats working at home alone.

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