13 June 07

Shooting day ten:

Tonight went well. We had some great talent on set, the scenes flowed well, Patrick did a great job composing and I was able to light what he needed pretty easily. We killed Del Corey and Charlie, poisoned Thelma, depressed Freddy and educated Shane. We even got in a dolly shot tonight; tracked Nathan along the pool as he approached Thelma’s place.

I apologized  to Patrick after we wrapped. Sometimes  I hough and sigh when he ask for things. I don’t know why I do it. I’m here to work for him… to do what he ask. I don’t know why I react like that. So I apologized. He thinks it’s his fault. I’m totally in the wrong. Sorry Patrick.

Angus Scrimm is on set tomorrow. I’m interested to see who gets star struck.

12 June 07

Today we finished up at the Western Motel, which is where Shane and Jack Kenny live. We shot all of the scenes where Shane is alone in his room, the bit with the food delivery lady, the kissing couple, and when Shane talks with Jack Kenny. When I was lighting Jack Kenny’s place, we noticed there were a dozen cop cars at the motel across the street. Don’t know if it was a raid or what, but there were a ton of officers with guns drawn and all the exits were covered. It was awesome.

After we wrapped at the motel, we drove to the joint we’re using for the exterior of the McLean woman’s place. Nathan really has a hard time driving the Caddy, but we got what Patrick needed.

I’ve started thinking about leaving Tucson Saturday after we wrap principal photography. I’m pretty torn up about it. I miss Christy like mad. I love making movies. I like being out West. It’s so foreign. I’m not suggesting a change, I’m just not ready to leave. Three more days.

11 June 07

One the way to Tucson from Lake Charles, Ken and I did a lot of talking. One of the things we talked about was about aventures. Shooting today’s scenes in Keeylocko Cowtown was an adventure. Keeylocko is a town built by the hands of Ed Keeylocko at the base of two moutains; the only thing between Keeylocko and Mexico is an American Indian reservation. I’m going to keep this post about production, because the making of the film is the purpose of this journal, but Keeylocko Cowtown is something I won’t forget for a long, long time. To find out more about what Keeylocko is and what we saw there, read Ken Henderson’s entry for today at this link.

We began the shoot by covering Del Corey (played by Justin Krienbrink) drinking and passing out at Jack Kenny’s Roadhouse. This involved Justin falling backwards off a 40 inch barstool onto a sand a peat gravel floor. He performed the stunt a half dozen times. It was impressive. The scenes went well and we’re still on schedule.

10 June 07

Shooting day seven:

I met Patrick around 4:30PM. I followed him in the Caddy out to Saguaro National Park. We shot some landscapes to use as cutaways during the driving scenes. I freaking love it out there; it’s so foreign. On the way down the mountain, I ran out of gas. I coasted as far as I could and parked it. There was a Circle K about a mile up the road so Patrick and I picked up a gas can and got the car back to the service station. After filling it up, we went to the next location.

Tonight, we shoot the exterior of the police station and the interrogation between Shane and Freddy in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, there are a lot of cars that drive by in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know if they buying/selling drugs, having sex, or hiding bodies but they ruined a lot of our takes. I’ve already said it once, but Josh Marcantel is an amazing actor. It wouldn’t be shocking at all if he was cast as the lead in our next film. I keep telling Patrick he’s only that good because he’s living with me.

I also got to do a little stunt driving tonight. No one was run over and I didn’t wreck any cars, so I consider it a success. I looked at the footage when we unloaded at Patrick’s house and it was a little soft focused, but Patrick was happy with it. He said it is a really shot and it sells what he was going for.

09 June 07

Tonight, we wrapped Michelle Belegrin. We shot a dialog heavy scene inside Shane’s motel room and a couple exteriors with Michelle outside his room. The room was small and hot, and if that wasn’t enough, I had to do the work of many, since there wasn’t room for the proper personel. Just the same, we managed and Michelle is on her way back to Los Angeles. Today marks our half-way point. It’s hard to believe that I’ll be back in Louisiana a week from now. I’m really happy to be working here and helping Patrick. I was worried during pre-production about working with new people, but this experience has affirmed my abilities and the reasons for Patrick’s trust in my work.

08 June 07

Shooting day five:

Today we wrapped up at the FOX Theater. We picked up the remaining shots in the club office including this sick scene where Charlie and Peter will appear in the same scene at the same time. Remember, it’s the same actor playing both roles. We finished early and two of the producers thought it was a good idea for us to relieve some stress after a weeks work. So the entire cast and crew went to a place called Cushing Street. They have an outdoor patio and we occupied it for several hours. After leaving there, Hilary came over and the three of us watched Closer. I had never seen it before. Maybe it wasn’t the best film to watch in mixed company. Tomorrow morning, I’m going with Ken to pick up his friend Chuck Turner from the airport.

07 June 07

Today was amazing. We shot the most complex scene of the film (in my opinion). The conclusion is so complex it’s scheduled over two shooting days. We got nearly everything in the can except for Shane’s (Nathan) close-ups. He’s coming in early tomorrow to shoot it so that we can keep on schedule. Others who were on set include Ted Parks (Peter/Charlie), Johnathan (Geno), Bryan (Nick), Michelle Belegrin (Loraine) and Josh Marcantel (Freddy). It was a well planned and productive night. I’m proud of Patrick and the crew. Everyone is doing an amazing job. This is going to be a wonderful movie. The setup was simple enough that I was able to shoot a lot more behnd the scenes footage than I have been, two tapes worth in fact.

06 June 07

Shooting day three:

Patrick, Carol Anne, Hillary, Michelle, Nathan and I drove up Speedway Ave. to Saguaro National Park, in the mountainous desert of Tucson. To show you how impressed I was, I’m posting the first image in this journal.

Why does filmmaking have to be so hard? We shot three scenes out here where Nathan and Michelle are driving this Cadilliac Coupe de Ville. The camera mount held up just fine on the hood of the Caddy. I got some nice landscape footage myself. When I was showing the footage to Ken afterwards, he pointed out that I should have put my camera on the camera mount while they were shooting the close-ups inside the car. I blew it. But Ken and I are going back up there one morning when we wrap early one night.

Tonight we also shot an exterior scene at Club 71 and a few others outside the McLain woman’s house. Josh Marcantel is a professional actor in every sense of the word. He’s simply amazing. Michelle had to drive this late 60’s Buick convertible that isn’t as road worthy as it may appear on screen. So I was assigned to be her car wrangler. Basically, that means I meet her at the end of the take are reposition the car for the next take. I can’t say for sure, but today was the most time I’ve spent with her. I’m surprised by her character; not the prim Dona I was expecting. She’s just a 28 year old girl trying to make a career for herself.

After we wrapped, Ken and I met Mike at the Grill again. They weren’t as busy, but the food was just as good. I suspect well be there a lot over the next week.

05 June 07

Shooting day two:

it was an interesting day. We had Michelle Belligrin (Loraine) on set for the first time. We had to make a casting change. And we shot another complicated scene with lots of extras.

Gary Shannon apparently fell sometime over the weekend and hurt himself. He’s unable to travel or perform, so Peter had to be recast. The solution came from our writer, Ken Henderson. His idea is that Peter is Charlie’s twin brother and would then be played by Ted Parks. Patrick instantly fell in love with the idea and brought it up to Ted. They’re working out the details, but I expect this is the solution. Before we left the location today, I heard Patrick say, “There’s no other solution. Either it’s Gary, or it’s Ted.”

Michelle is a wonderful actress. The first few scenes we ran with her only involved walking, but her talents showed immediately. After dinner we shot a couple scenes involving her dialog; she has a great delivery.

I met Patricks father today, Richard. He was one of the poker players tonight in the card room. He was extremely nice and so very proud of Patrick. We were mutually glad to meet one another.

After we wrapped tonight, Ken, Josh and myself went to get a bite to eat; Carol Anne and Hillary met us there. This diner downtown called The Grill. Mike was also there. What a wonderful place. Lots of beautiful people, great food and great booze. We were there until 2:00AM, which is 5AM for Josh who just flew in from NY. I’m impressed. Josh will be staying with me while he’s here. I have to call about getting him  a key tomorrow. All in all, today went a lot smoother than yesterday. We were even able to wrap shooting early. Tomorrow is our first exterior… that’s right, the desert. Sigh. Where’s my sunblock?

04 June 07

Today was the first day of principal photography. The set for the club interior looks amazing. Patrick kept saying how the focus of the room looks like an O’Keife painting. The scenes we shot weren’t the best to start a movie on. They were long and complicated and required a ton of extras. We were running behind schedule and things were getting chaotic. Patrick’s phone kept ringing and they were all calls he had to take. One phone call was from Lance Willer, director of The Last Broadcast and Head Trauma. Patrick said he was taking the phone call as an omen of good things to come.

It took Patrick a while to get into a groove. He had been thinking so much about pre-production and producing the film, that he haden’t gotten his mind right about directing the picture. Things were speeding up when we had to break for dinner. He and I spoke briefly about how to approach the rest of the night. The goal was to finish up with the extras and then concentrate on the principals and the closeups. He and I thought doing it this way would speed up the process and  would lend a better performance when it mattered. Brian did a great job of lining up the extras and Carol Anne’s wardrobes were exceptional. We finished day one fifteen minutes late, but we’re still on schedule. We shot seven pages. Tomorrow will be in the card room of the club. Both locations are inside the Fox Theater.