The Last Supper: Day 4 hits the books

Today was GetItDoneDay. We moved fast and furious through all the coverage shots we needed.

I had fallen asleep at the end of Day 3 so there was no Call Sheet and no Shooting Schedule. So from 10:30 pm to 11:30 pm I reviewed the daily schedules, eliminated what we had done, reviewed the script, and listed all the people and shots we needed for the day. This was it. If we didn't get it, it wasn't going to be in the film. By 12:15 am on Thursday I was on the set going over the final shots with AD Wyatt Norton, Gaffer Art Phelps and DP Mike Epple.

I walked in and had my own little issue: Why didn't I have the actors look at the camera during the hallucination scene? It wasn't going to work! People tried to reassure me, but it took me an hour or two to get over it. Day 3 was done. There was nothing I could do anyway.

We set up in the middle of the room to shoot all the coverage we needed first. Vikki was late so we pulled in Jennifer to shoot her key final scene. She looked beautiful. I told her it was HER scene and she was perfect. Editor Scott Daigle showed up. Glad he could see the back end of the hallucination scene. Vikki was just stunning. So perfect for the part and the best hallucination reactions. Wow.

In the middle of this I kept going. Energy was flowing. I was in it. All those years of observing, production, looking at details on the screen, made me eminently qualified to do take after take. Every flair, detail. I saw it. Get it right or why bother.

I focused. Didn't take a damn picture all day. Before I knew it the clock said 5 am. We set up for the other POV and broke for breakfast. Morning waffles. Biscuits and gravy. Mushroom sauce. Very tasty. By 7:15 am we were shooting the coverage of Holly Nugent (bride #1, Helen) in THE gown. Then we moved to the corner to shoot the other coverage we needed.

Time started to slow down. We wanted to get outside by 10 am, but then we weren't done getting coverage. I started to get wound up. We had two big scenes to shoot outside, THE KEY SCENES around which the whole movie revolves, and we hadn't set them up yet.

The Angel scene -- the money shot -- took 45 minutes to set up. It was gorgeous. A full frontal, so to speak. The chorus of angels was singing. Loved it.

By noon we were outside. Two hours later than planned. Overtime. Shooting the scene wasn't ideal. Light was changing. Shadows and light played over their faces in different places each time we pulled the camera down the dolly tracks. A big red alarm sticker was driving me nuts. I told Sam and she said she had nothing left to give. So I got a Starlet Bridal sticker and taped it over the alarm logo. We kept changing the lighting set-up. No one could remember when she picked up the cigarette. The actors flubbed their key lines. Both of them. Sirens blared during every other shot, almost every time I said, "Action." Airplanes flew over. People kept walking by yakking loud on their cell phones or gawking in the background of the shot. One guy revved his motor in the parking lot. Another guy was blaring his Texano Spanish tunes while cruising for a parking spot. Key moments blurred in and out of focus. It could have been funny, but we were all toasted. 4 straight night shoots. All on-set brains were fried. We had hit the wall.

So finally the shot was set up. Sunlight was still and mellow. We're ready to call it, and suddenly Vikki disappears to go to the bathroom. It was the only moment that Mike nearly lost it. I saw him put his hands on his head, then he suddenly sat down and meditated in the sunlight. Bless him. I screamed, "Who told her she could go to the bathroom?!" but no one copped to it.

So we ran it. The combined scenes 13/15 are long. But we got something to use. Not ideal. I have no idea what we can cut away to. But hopefully enough is there, and in focus. We got close-ups. By 2pm, we were wrapped. It was done.

It took over an hour to clean out the green room and load up the van. When I got home, my uncle showed up from Long Beach and we went to watch O's volleyball game. We had dinner with O at Don Pancho's (the best Mexican food in Petaluma) and I came home to get a phone call from my mother that my grandmother, the lovely Elizabeth Sundeen, was dying. That night I said goodbye to my grandmother on the phone. I cried. Then I slept for 12 hours. She passed away on Friday morning, January 15, the day after production wrapped. She was the best grandmother you could ask for, with the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met. The world has lost a beautiful soul.

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.

Production: Day 1 Down

It was long and cold, but also fun and engaging. Doing an all-night shoot is dreadfully painful on the feet, at least that's the first thing I have to say.

The crew is top-notch, and I'm ever so grateful for my core team -- Sam Murphy, Michael Epple, and AD Wyatt Norton. And my sound and light crew is simply superb. The PA's are hard workers, and my continuity supervisor is my other brain. Lisa works hard and she's very detail-oriented.

We shot 5 scenes out of 17. The actors did a great job. So happy for good casting and a happy team. Food always helps. Catering is worth it. Saying "Action" is more fun than saying "cut"... I hate saying "cut" and hardly ever do. Drives the crew crazy. They all started yelling "cut" for me. I have no idea why. Do director's always feel left out of "tech talk?" Maybe it's part of their secret language. I'm always looking at the transitions and bigger story, and sometimes I can't think that fast when I'm trying to visualize it all. Sometimes I just need a moment of meditation time. The crew didn't like it when I tried to think. Maybe it made me look indecisive but I was running through the movie, you know, in my brain like a little projector.

What I learned first: what you envision as the writer happens in a 3D real world, but what you shoot doesn't. I wanted one specific shot that I had to fight for... and in the end it wasn't what I really wanted, but needed. Totally different worlds.

Hopefully Day 2 won't be as fuzzy. I have a better idea how to run it now, and prepared a shot list. Wish I really had the time to work with the DP on a real shot list and understand what we can and can't do ahead of time. The better scenario is to never have a "can't do." I like that idea.

Going to bed now.