A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Saint Patrick's Day was not a lucky one for me. A lot of terrible things happened. I don't know if I've had a day that could even come close to matching. You know that saying, when it rains, it pours? Yeah... this was one of those days.



The night before I was working on editing some scenes for El Maldito to see what we needed to get pick-ups for. We just needed to make sure that what we got would cut together. I had a mid-term the next day and so I came home after 1am and began to study. I went to bed and got up 4 hours later to study more. The mid-term went well.

After the mid-term however, I was supposed to pick up some people and head back up to Heber City to shoot more for El Maldito. It was already going to be a crazy insane shoot. We had to build the set on location and film there before it got dark. But when I called to confirm plans, i learned that the truck that was heading up with all the equipment and set pieces had broken down.



So, I was supposed to go and load my car with what I could and head up. But then I got call that I needed to load food into my car from another person's car because he wasn't able to make it to the shoot. So I do that and am on my way to the broken-down truck when I get a call from my aunt. She was trying to get a hold of my mother at work because my grandma was in the hospital and was given 24 hours to live. By this time I was at the truck and I am trying to move stuff into my car when I get a text message from a certain girl of interest saying that she's not interested even though she led me to believe she was. By this point I didn't really have any emotion left and I just pushed everything to the back of my mind and carried on.

I got to Heber, helped build the jail house set and then was asked to pick op dinner that was supposed to be ready for all the actors and crew. Well, I get to KFC and they hand me a huge thing of coleslaw and say have a nice day. So after finding out that there was obvious mis-communication I ordered $100 worth of KFC and had to wait 20 minutes for it to be ready. We were already in a huge rush.

We shot into the night and I got the word that my grandma died just an hour before my family made it to the hospital in St. George. I didn't know if I was going to have to drive down that night or what plans were and I hadn't touched my homework due the next morning. So, at 9:45pm I apologized and left the shoot. They kept shooting until 3am.

Since then I have been no less busy. Yesterday I was on set shooting from 6:00pm-6:00am, did my cleaning check, and went to bed just as the sun was coming through the window and my roommate's alarm was going off. I got up at 11:00am to come to work. And here I am until 9.

I will be driving down to St. George tomorrow and attending my grandma's funeral Saturday. Sometime during all that I will study for another midterm which I need to take first thing Monday morning. The title of this post is a story/movie my grandma had and that I watched a lot growing up. It is quite fitting. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Hell Breaks Loose on the Set of The Damned

Okay,

So we had an early film shoot at Solder's Hollow in Heber which is basically on the side of a railroad track in the middle of an icy desert. (Not really a desert, but it seemed barren enough). It was supposed to begin at 6:30am. After 2 and a half hours of sleep I climbed out of bed and got ready to head out to our meeting location for carpooling up to Heber City. We are behind, of course, and don't make it there until 7:00am.

The reason we had planned to go so early was because our actress could only film before noon. Well, when we arrived- she was nowhere to be found. We got out of our cars at just before sunrise. That didn't last long because we were all convulsing in the extreme cold. We sat in our cars with the heat on while we waited for the actress.

Then we get a call that she has been pulled over by a cop- wonderful. We watch what really was a beautiful sunrise over the mountains and icy lake, except our angry thoughts about why we were up so early and in this freezing wasteland were clouding any good feelings about the situation.

When she finally arrives we hike out to a location up a hill and down the train tracks like a quarter mile. It takes everyone FOREVER to join us (the camera crew and the director) and to get going. We manage to shoot two shots. Then we moved the camera to get our action shot of the day. In this shot, our two actors we supposed to be tumbling down a hill after jumping from the train.

This was where the ultimate bad thing happened. Due to lack of sleep, apparently nobody was thinking straight. The actor's hands were supposed to be tied around his back, so we did. The snow was not soft, it was pretty dang hard. So hard that you could put all your weight on it and most the time it wouldn't give to make a footprint. Well, when you tumble down terrain like that with your hands behind your back, you have nothing to break your fall.

Our actor leaped off the hill (not what we were expecting) and when they were both at the bottom, it was obvious that he was in pain. We don't know what it is. He thought it was his shoulder so we speculated that it was dislocated. We try to sit him up, but the pain is just too much for him. We said a prayer and gave a blessing and he was able to sit up and stand... but this was after 20 minutes of everyone trying to find out what we should do. We were 1/4 mile off any roads next to train tracks. Well we walk with him slowly back to the cars and get him to the local hospital.

He broke his collar bone. Wonderful. Not only did we all feel so horrible for him (he was in tears it was so painful), but he is the main character in the movie. So we got 3 shots. He had been "shot" in the film, so he was wearing a vest with a bullet hole and blood which gave the hospital staff a jolt. Luckily the doctor managed to get his costume off without having to cut it off.

So now, with 3 more days of production left, our main guy is in a sling (he's the one on the right of the last picture I posted in my last post). The snow is melting fast and it is needed for the film. Not only that, but when we loaded everything back up we found that the tripod had broke. We should have all stayed in bed.

El Maldito (THE DAMNED)

So lately I've been putting a lot of hours into helping with a film called El Maldito or, in English, the Damned. It is a Vampire Western. Now, before you judge, you have to take a look at some of these photos. It is awesome! It's been a great experience and it isn't over yet. There are probably three more days of production (up from the one day we originally planned for). We are shooting on the Heber Valley Railroad in train cars. Some of the time we are stationary... but we also shoot while riding the train. There are other locations as well- a snowy embankment, a jailhouse... but mostly on the train.



I have been doing lots of things on set... but mostly assisting Tennille who is the DP (Director of photography or cinematographer. So I have worked as 2nd AC and will work as 1st AC. I like being on the camera crew because I get to be right there in front of the action and can see what it looks like on camera. We are in a small space, so not everyone gets to do this.



What I really love about being on set is watching how everything comes together. The best way to describe the experience is a bit of waiting around with periods of insanity and moments of intensity. The waiting time is usually for one department to finish their set up. This could be the communication with the actors, costume, make-up, lighting, set design, special effects, camera, the list goes on. All these departments have to work together to get the job done. Periods of insanity include the times when we are under time constraints and everyone is running around doing their jobs to get a scene ready. There is yelling, people on walkies, orders being shouted- it's wonderful. haha. Moments of intensity are during the actual shots or at the climax of those periods of insanity. One thing that I learned long ago is to not take things personal. If you are on set, chances are you will be yelled at. Not because people hate you, but because everyone is under pressure to get things done fast. Time is money.



One thing I don't like is when people either do your job whether you want them to or not or let their title get to them. I may not have a ton of experience on sets, but I can be just as valuable. Every once and awhile you get someone who treats you like a nobody. They think they are more important than other people. You also get people who complain about being asked to do something because they feel is is "below them" since they have a higher title. I know that I should expect this in the industry, but not as a student. If everyone just pitches in and has a good attitude it is a ton of fun and things get accomplished.

Anyway, I've been kind of out of touch with people because I've spent so much of my time on this so I thought you all might want a little more info on what it is I am doing. That's all.

FILM

So I had this assignment in my cinematography class to take pictures of "interesting" lighting. We were supposed to shoot on 35mm slide film.



If you don't know what that is, it is what our grandparents would sometimes project. You load the film just like any other 35mm film. But instead of it becoming a negative... it is opposite. Positive? I guess. Anyway, when you get it processed it is put into these slides. I was kind of sad because this is much more expensive to do than your normal film. However, it helped me remember the magic in film.



With digital cameras you see exactly what you got. With a 35mm camera you guess what exposure would make for the best shot. You can preview the depth of field and stuff, but you really don't know what you got until you make prints. Well, with slide film, you don't make prints (you can if you want... it just costs more $$$). So, you can scan the slides in digitally (which I did), but even this makes you doubt if it is the real image. You don't really know until it is projected directly off the slide. I still haven't seen my slides projected, but I am excited to see them after being able to preview them digitally.

The picture above it my favorite. I was walking down the stairs from the parking lot of the Bean Museum towards campus when I noticed how the sunlight was hitting this bench. None of my photos were staged, no special lighting used. I just really like this picture. I wish there was a dark red rose or something on the bench in that spot.



The other thing I was re-awakened to was the texture of film. I love it! I like the graininess of it. It feels more earthy and alive to me. Don't get me wrong... I'm not a digi-hater. There is definitely something to be said about digital. For one, it is so much cheaper!

But with film you come across more "happy accidents" I think. For example, you may notice something strange about the picture above. "EXIT" is kind of messed up. Well, it wasn't really like that, but I accidentally loaded the slide wrong when I scanned it and I really liked it so I didn't bother changing it. The "T" is the only letter that looks wrong when flipped over.

The assignment helped me appreciate my 35mm SLR camera more though. I haven't used it a whole lot, and I really should. I always wished I had a digital SLR and would have happily traded away my camera. Not anymore!



My camera :)

Are you serious?

Okay, so BYU is issuing new id cards to everyone. Obviously, this is a large undertaking. So, they have assigned dates for people to re-take pictures and get new cards. So I go in today and the first thing they ask is "did you shave this morning?" I answer truthfully- "No." Then she goes on to explain how they have a disposable razor and shaving cream I can use, or I can come back another time. I felt kind of like a jerk, but I was so astonished I said "No" and started walking away shaking my head before she even finished explaining. I could not believe it! I don't shave every day because I don't need to. I don't grow facial hair very fast. If you saw me today, you wouldn't have noticed facial hair at all! I was sort of angry, but mostly just blown away. Besides, I rarely ever shave in the morning. I shave at night after a shower. BAH!