16 Jun A Texas Short Film – Two Roads: A Complete Blur(aka day 2 and 3)

Honestly, after Day 1 of filming on Two Roads, everything became a blur. Despite the days feeling like a whirlwind of chaotic events, looking back, we actually stuck with a fairly consistent schedule.

1.5 hour Breakfast

The day would start off with breakfast catered by co-director Adam Duncan’s mom Penny. Thank goodness for her amazing cooking because at times it was all we had to look forward to before, after, or during, a super hectic and tiring day. Never underestimate the power of a home cooked meal for solving and mitigating all sorts of tempers and problems.

A long breakfast gave people time to get up early for much needed showers or for some, to roll out of bed at the latest minute possible in order to just grab breakfast and go. During breakfast, Adam and I would tiredly go over a game plan for the day. We made it a habit to at least make a team decision on the first few setups of the day.

For me, breakfast was the one meal I had the luxury of not skipping because after Day 1, I pretty much skipped all meals except breakfast. I often joke that production days for a director is the best diet plan. Film production is like cross fit on steroids, mixed in with Tough Mudder, and zero time for food and snacks. I literally turn into a machine/monster that does not need to eat or sleep.

After our breakfast and team pow-wow, the crew would split off around 7:45 AM. The main crew with the camera (in Kellie’s car), which we took back to base camp every day would set off for the set first. Adam and I would leave second in the other car in order to buy last minute supplies (usually ice and food), hash out our creative differences, discuss contingency plans, and/or brainstorm. The trip from base camp to the set was a good 45 minutes and we put every bit of that time to good use.

On-Location

My first order of business every day when I arrived on set was to make sure nobody had questions or stood idle. In between answering questions, I would try to get the craft service table ready, talk to all of the actors, approve wardrobe, get makeup and sound started and just be an overall slave driver. Because I have run so many sets with skeleton crew and minimal budget in the past out of necessity, I have consequently developed a knack for moving a set forward. This should ideally be the job of a 1st AD, however with minimal crew, the role of 1st AD usually became mine.

After getting on set, it was all go, go, go… camera set up after camera set up, mixed in with bad weather, good weather, rain scares, bugs, a hodgepodge of activity. During “breaks” would be my opportunity to sit in a corner by myself and stare into space or analyze call sheets. Though I may have looked like a zombie, in my head I was actually going over the shots we had gotten so far and trying to recall what we had not gotten and making mental schedule adjustments. Lunchtime was also the time to run around and fix problems, make supply errands, or bother one of Adam’s relatives for help with the location or animals.

Specific Set Moments

Because everything was such a blur, I can only recount very specific memories. Here are a few:

1. In order to make the fishing scene close ups seem believable (because they were shot close to shore), I had to physically move the boat to give the illusion that the boat was in the middle of the water floating with the current. Towards the last shot, I got stuck in the mud trying to help the actress out of the boat. Instead of sacrificing her wardrobe, I used my body to shield her away from the mud as I fell butt first into the pond. I directed the rest of the day in Adam’s shorts and tank top.

2. While filming the fishing scene wide shot, the DP and I joked that it would be amazing if Adam our lead actually caught a fish on queue in the shot. I think someone up there thought it would be amusing to see our reactions and actually made it happen. So what you will see on screen is not a camera trick. It happened for real.

3. Our bull co-star, Lobo, did not like to stand still. This proved extremely difficult to work with when it came to close up shots of him. With a red camera on a super heavy O’Conner tripod, it was difficult for Alex to adjust the camera every time the bull decided to move. Yet, it was even more difficult for Nancy, our bull wrangler to move a bull a few inches here and there. We did discover quickly that Lobo liked to look at himself in reflections. Luckily this meant once he saw his reflection, he would stand just still enough for us to get the shots we needed.

4. In my haste to grab equipment from our set house, I forgot to lock the gate to one of the bullpens. I figured that I would be back in a jiffy, so what could possibly happen? Of course, my worst fear actually did happen and we had a bull escape for freedom. He started plowing down small trees and refused to get back into his pen. Luckily, Nancy was home and helped us wrangle the poor animal back into his home. This was a REALLY stressful moment for all of us because we were certain we would make the morning news “Bull on the Loose in Shreveport from Indie Film Set.” In hindsight, it would have been amazing if someone had caught this whole event on camera. It would have made for some epic behind the scenes footage.

After Hours

After all the craziness of the day, Adam and I usually liked to relieve the crew to go home and get much needed sleep. Unfortunately, after a whole crew has rearranged, moved around equipment from set up to set up, the film set always looked like a tornado had passed through it. Adam and I would spend the next 2-3 hours cleaning and putting the set back into order. While we organized, we would rehash the events of the day, yell at each other (sometimes cry), in order to get rid of any festering emotions, apologize, and reconcile differences so that we could start the next day with a clean slate. By 4 or 5 AM, we’d roll into bed for a nap and wake up to do it all over again the next day. To be continued…