Trailer -- day three
Topic: Trailer
Today was a very good day.

The big highlight happened in the morning. Rob and Mark got to use a Jimmy Jib for the first time. A jib is a long metal arm with weights on one end, a place for the camera at the other, and a motor to move the camera around. It's used for crane shots, among other things. As you move the camera back, you can simultaneously move the camera off the ground and rotate it downward toward whatever you want it to see.

It was used to show the seven kids arriving at the cabin. Although the lodge and office, which are both in the shot, are rather close together, the jib allowed it to look like a wide open, desolate area. The effect is amazing. It was a two hour set up, but it was worth it.

This is when I realized that I can talk to Rob at any time concerning the shots that he's doing. Obviously, I would never second guess him, but when it comes to story and continuity, that's when I need to step up and voice any concerns I have. In this shot, Robin was carrying her bags when they got to the cabin. But in the script, Kevin takes one of them from her. I just wanted to make sure that something wouldn't be filmed later that would match, so I took Rob aside. He agreed that it was a concern, but since there would not be a continuity problem for the trailer, it would be fine that way. Which I completely agreed with.

I also got to meet Neil, who plays Ronnie in the trailer. He's a huge Joss Whedon fan, so I instantly got along with him. He asked me about Ronnie's background, which I thought was cool for such a small part.

When he filmed Ronnie's scene, we used the Steadicam which, once again, was an amazing feat. Cedric was surely in pain after a while, but he just smiled through it to get the shot. And Neil added his own little take to the ending of the scene which was better than what I had written. Damn it.

We filmed a quick scene at a phone booth, which provided some comic relief. Not the scene itself ... but the convoy of cars that kept driving down the road as we tried to shoot. It never failed ... every time we would be ready to roll, a car would approach (no blocking of the streets today). At one point, I think about fifteen cars went by at once.

The last shots were at the cabin. David, having been stabbed, stumbles out of the cabin and tells Casey to run. It differs from what will be in the feature, but the effect works. David takes a tumble and Casey runs. More Steadicam, and as the camera was pulled away to follow Casey, the cabin seemed to move backwards at the same time. It was a great effect, one that Mark attributed to HD and the scope we were using. At least, I think those were the reasons. I was taking in so much information throughout the weekend that it's hard to remember all of it.

Being on location is cool because it really gets you thinking. For example, based on what I saw of the lodge this time around, I plan on rewriting part of the script to have Casey accidentally fall through a railing on the porch.

AFTERMATH

Half over. Boy, it sure has been fun.

I talked to Rob for about an hour and a half as everyone else busted their butts to gather up everything. We talked about what he was happy with and what he wasn't so happy with. We talked about the various happenings throughout the weekend ... how much we loved doing this ... future projects ... and how comfortable we are doing this.

We didn't have to take the big equipment home, but I helped them pack their SUV, so Rob, Barb, and I were the last to leave. Although we had wrapped at around 9pm, I got home at 2:30am and talked to Jasmine about the weekend until after 4am.

Then I slept. Hard.