Day 2 Production... in the heat of it

Today we fell behind in a huge way. We shot only half of what we had scheduled, but managed to fit in the outdoor shot of the gals coming in. At least we have a minimum entry shot locked in.

After the first 12-hour session, the midnight to noon schedule was still okay. I tried to organize each shot according to section of the room so we didn't have to move too much furniture or lights. It made for some weird segmenting of the script. As in.. oh no, we're shooting the middle of this scene, start on page 13. Actors are cool with it though. Good thing. You do what you do.

Today was the first big day of two huge days. Full cast and full crew = 40+ people. We shot all the Salinas family shots and asked the most of the actors. Improvise. They were great and it was here the casting process worked. Gracias a dios.

Sam Murphy, our amazing and wise Associate Producer/Art Director/Set Designer (see, she's so amazing she even has 3 hats!), had to track each gown for each scene and where it was supposed to be -- on the rack, on the bride, or in the dressing room. I realized then that there was no way I could do that, or anyone else could have done that. She is like a magical elf.

Paul G came in to take pictures. Lunch was Mexican food with homemade tortilla chips. Things felt all chopped up, but the story, the structure, the plan is all there in my head. Good to have AD Wyatt Norton as my Assistant Director. He works great with the actors and keeps it all flowing.

Our 2nd hair person Amber decided the project wasn't for her so it put a lot of pressure on Heather. Delays in hair & makeup are never good but she handled it all with a smile.

Fatigue was a part of the day. Saw lots of yawns. Shelly, our key PA, kept her cool at all times, had control of the restroom keys, and never once slept on the job. Turns out our other PA Troy has lots of lighting experience, so he pitched in with this handy gloves with gusto. He became the off-camera stand-in for the actors. They loved Helen of Troy.

Whitney Giraud, a local Petaluma high school student, popped in for her first official day as a PA and immediately began moving racks of gowns and assisting the actresses/brides into dresses. She was great and was happy to pitch in and learn.



Tired. Came home, Lisa made dinner, and we sat down to see how far production was behind and how many more scenes we needed to shoot. Then planned a new shooting schedule for Day 3, sent out emails. Passed out.