The House Scene
Everything was going great and we were ready to start filming expect for the fact that Jack -who we had casted to play Z- was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, Jack couldn’t make it that early, but as they say in theater, the show must go on! So Jake picked up his phone and called Zack, a talented singer/actor that’s been in lots of local theater productions from Inside Out Theater (Which Jake is president of). Zack agreed to take the role, got in his car and started a 30m drive to Jake’s house to help us.
While we waited for Zack to arrive finished blocking all the scenes and started to film, beginning with the sequence of Garrett begin eliminated. Jake’s bathroom has a large mirror, a glass wall to the shower, and a mirror on one side, so many reflective surfaces made it tricky to film; we had to get creative. We couldn’t just rip the mirror out of the wall (believe me, I was tempted), so I had to try a lot of different angles and positions to make sure Jakoob (who was doing audio) and myself weren’t seen on the glass.
Once Zack (Z) arrived, we start duo film the ending scene in the house because Taylor (Courtney) had to leave for a Legally Blonde rehearsal. Taylor and Zack made for an amazing duo, not only were they totally believable as their characters but they had great chemistry on screen! The first time we had most of the cast in one single shot, we had an unexpected surprise. As we’re recording, a dark figure emerges from the slightly overexposed door; to everyone’s delightful surprise it was Jake’s dad with donuts! I would love to say that we kept working with laser focus, but I would be lying. We shot the scene and then went into an impromptu donut break! What type of donut did I have? Well, great question! I had a DELICIOUS donut glazed with white frosting and green stripes!
After indulging in my green zebra donut, came the big moment to shoot the elimination of two characters at once (Courtney and Riley). Thanks to our day filming at the beach, Jake and I already knew how we wanted to compose the shots of people getting eliminated; now we had to replicate it. To get the timing just right, Taylor had to take off her heels and dive to the floor out of the frame within a second so get the effect that she disappeared in one continuous shot. It looked awesome!! When we finished, Taylor (Courtney) left and Ameerah (Riley) sated to help us out for the rest of the day. And just like that, after filming some more, we were done with the first scene!
The Park Scene
We packed up our equipment and made out way to the park nearby where we would shoot the second scene; actually, “we” is too many people, I packed the equipment and carried it (though Jake did help me on the way back 😁).
When we got to the park, the sugar of the donuts kicked in! That same “crackhead” energy I described yesterday (which included the random noises, running, and dancing) came back. Thankfully, by the time Jake and finished setting up the equipment and the finish line for the competition, the cast had settled down.
We filmed most scenes and took some character pictures and media for the website afterward, leaving the shot of the race starting for the end. I really wanted to get a drone shot of the competition, but Jake and I didn’t think ahead enough like to plan for someone to bring a drone to film with. Instead, I tried to put the camera in a very high tripod, give it to Jakoob, put him on my shoulders and walk. Needless to say, this was a terrible idea. Jakoob almost fell, the camera almost smacked me on the face, and the footage was terrible. I gave up on the drone shot idea and just went for some traditional pans, tilts, and handheld tracking. I’m thinking that this scene will be very VERY faced-paced, with editing quickly showing the passage of the competition along with some adventurous running music.
The last shot of the day was the race starting. I wanted it to be very spontaneous and for the characters to even look startled at the fact that the race was starting so soon. So I pressed record and didn't tell anyone, not even Jake was ready. Once I saw that Jake had the audio hooked up, I yelled ”LOOK UP” and then “go! Go! GO!” And the cast began to race. It came out PERFECT! We packed up and left the park. Of course, later tonight I notice that for a fraction of a second, Jake’s boom mic is in the upright right corner of the frame, but we’ll figure how to fix that later.
Letting Loose
What is a good filming day without a fun and relaxing hang out afterward? You know, most people would be sick and tired of being with each other if you hang out as much as Jake and I do, but that’s not the case! After we were done, we all headed back to Jake’s house were we contemplated were to take the cast for lunch. Our friend Jhonathan, who is also an AICE Media student, is a waiter at a local restaurant, so I called him to check if he was working:
“Hey Luis”
“Hey, are you at work?”
“Ummm yeah I’m at work right now”
“Perfect”
Then I hung up.
We all got in two cars and headed over to the restaurant were Jhonathan (knowing me well already hahaha) had already reserved a booth for all of us. And so we ate and laughed and had a good time after a great day of filming!
Today was amazing, it was super cool to see everything come to life right before my eyes; the story, the characters, the setting, the lines, it was all there! We got permission to film really early at school so tomorrow is our last day of filming! I can’t wait to finish and start to piece together this awesome film!
Signing off!
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