The Beginning of The End of Production

Today was BG's last day on set, thereby marking the beginning of the end, as there is now just a little over a week left in production. But even with one less ego in the room (and I mean that in the almost nicest way), the forthcoming schedule is no less stressful.

As of last night, we are all out of OT hours (meaning money) - and we tend to go into OT every day - which really is no one's fault.  There are only so many hours in a day, and the script is ambitious, the schedule is tight, and the crew is working as fast as they can. So we're gonna have to cut scenes where we can to meet out deadlines. Stressful stuff!

However, I will say that it is pretty amazing the stuff we've managed to pull off given our time and budget constraints. (And when I say "we", I actually mean everyone else who is doing all the heavy-lifting, decorating, coordinating, lighting, etc. Not those of us who sit in damp tents all day, hogging the heater. :) For instance, several crew members have said that the stunt we did yesterday, which took only a few hours, would've taken a larger budget movie a couple days to do, just because they can.

As for us, we gotta set it up and get it right the first time. And if and when things go awry, because we don't have money to throw at our problems, we have to be creative on our toes. I believe this ability will bode well when our movie finally comes out, and other industry-folk see what we managed to pull off with only $2.8M (which again, is microscopic in movie-terms, when $30M is classified as low budget.)  Not to toot our own horn, but our super low budget movie doesn't look nearly as low budget as it is.  We actually just got word today that our distributer is very impressed with the dailies. And so are we. DE looks like a real movie. Then again, I guess maybe that's because it is!

I'm sure once production has wrapped and we have a chance to absorb everything we've just been through, there'll be many moments from this process that we'll miss. Well, maybe more so me than Jim, who works his buns off 15 hours a day (including homework), and deals with more than his share of stressful shit -- which he manages to take in stride, for the most part. While Jim has a million people demanding his attention, my experience has been very much like summer camp. Chillin' in a tent for 13+ hours, and chatting with cool people all day long. But instead of swapping ghost stories around a bonfire, everyone shares interesting behind-the-scenes movie and celebrity tales around a propane heater.  I almost wish that I did wardrobe or make-up, just so I could jump into another production right away, and hear more stories. Ha. Instead, I guess I'll have to write something, which will take considerably longer before I'm ever invited back to set again.

On the same note, I don't know how eager I am to return to set for another production (at least not every day). I think I'd be quite content to just write another screenplay, hand it off to whomever, collect a handsome pay cheque and move on to writing something else. Which I suppose is a weird thing to say since I have enjoyed my time on set for the most part...

I guess the part I don't enjoy about being on set is all the stress. Because I love Jim so much, I can't help but feel the tension in the environment that always surrounds him. I always want to wrap myself around him and protect him from other people's crankiness. (For the record, no matter how intense things have gotten, Jim has not had a single foul-mouthed freak out, like most others have from time-to-time. He has kept totally calm, cool and collected throughout this whole process, and has demonstrated nothing but respect for our actors, producers, and crew. I think a lotta people could (and should!) learn a thing or two from him. I'm just sayin'....) Then on the other hand, if I had written a screenplay that Jim wasn't directing, I obviously wouldn't be absorbing the director's stress - but I also probably wouldn't have the opportunity to hang out on set every day. Sort of a catch 22. I guess I like being on set, but I won't miss it either.

Most of our guests who have stopped by have admitted that it wasn't quite what they expected. Not that they thought it would be glamourous, but comments have ranged from:

* "It looks like chaos!" I call it organized chaos. It might seem like fifty people are racing around like chickens with their heads cut off. But everyone knows their job, and each person does their job very well.)

* "I didn't expect it to be so business-like." It is very business-like. Actually, it's probably more military-like than anything. There is a defined hierarchy, everyone is always calling each other 'sir', and people are constantly giving orders over CB radios. Then there's the precision with which things are done. Blocking, set up, rehearsal, shoot. Blocking, set up, rehearsal, shoot. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat X 12 hours + OT.)

* And my personal favourite, "I couldn't do this for a living. Filmmaking is boring." Ha. Honesty is so refreshing. Because while a few of our visitors didn't come right out n' say it as well - their tired expressions said it for them. It's A LOT of sitting around. Thirty seconds on screen can take two hours to film. Or, if it's a stunt, then less than ten seconds can take four or five hours, as you get coverage from all different angles.

However, very soon our boring, militant-like, organized chaos will come to an end. And as exhausting as it is right now, I'm sure we'll both miss the faces we have gotten to know so well over these last couple of weeks. This has definitely been the experience of a lifetime, although certainly not as easy as some might think. But it'll be so, so, so worth it when we're done. Not that we want to rush anything... 'cause after all, it's all about the journey... we just expect the next part of the journey to be a little more fun.

BTW, I hope this post doesn't come across as frustrated or a downer or anything. I just thought it might be good to blog about a few of the less pretty realities of film-making, in order to add a greater depth of perspective to the process. I think some folks might view production as the reward for all our hard work writing.... which I guess it is. And yet, at the same time, production has been (and still is) another huge dip to push through -- not to say that there haven't been many aspects of it that we enjoy -- but the real reward will be watching the final product!