Production Request: RU still available 11/13/04?

It looks like we've got the "Core Four" available for tomorrow's half-day interior shoot at Bob Sapora's barn -- that includes Sapora (cinematographer), Gordon Masters (sound), Novia Campbell (actor), and me. At this point, I have no production assistants, but since we are only shooting in one location with just a few lights and a bounce card, we should be fine. (I think many of my students have already lost interest: "Hey, wait a minute. Why does this moviemaking stuff take so LONG?")

Sapora and I have engineered a harness from rope, padding, and metal clasps purchased at Home Depot, and we've tested the homemade rig several times. Everything seems to be safe and in working order.

I always tell my undergraduates never to attempt stunts for their films -- even very simple, low-tech stunts like this one can get someone seriously injured. Or killed. Bottomline: It's a movie. Not manslaughter. In fact, 90 percent of the time, micro-budget filmmakers don't need stunts to make a compelling film. They can find story solutions that eliminate the need for them. Or they can use different camera angles and montage to imply danger without actually putting an actor in harm's way.

But, of course, this film (still, as yet, untitled) centers around this one dangerous act. It is the inciting incident near page 30 of the script that actually drives the rest of narrative. So, after much consideration, I've decided to push ahead with it.

But I think we've done all the prep possible with the harness: I've spoken to a theater consultant who has done this many times, and we've sufficiently cushioned the drop zone to break my fall.

And yes, I'm going to perform the stunt on camera myself. Although I’m hardly an ideal physical specimen – a few too many trips through the late-night, fast-food drive-thru for that -- I just don't want to see someone else get hurt in the unlikely event that something goes wrong...

See everyone tomorrow...

[PS: Of course, I broke my own rule about stunts, and got what I deserved -- a broken left arm. When I landed on my elbow, I knew right away I had fractured something. After a burst of obscenities, I asked Sapora: "Did we get it?"" He says yes... Then I ask Masters: "Any chance you could erase that last part off the DAT tape where I say 'F**K! I just broke my arm!'... The guys at the lab are never going to let me live this down when the hear it during the mag film transfer."

So to my students I say: Do as I say, not as I do. Even middle aged wannabe filmmakers can think they are indestructible.

PPS: After I broke my arm, we still shot for 4 hours in that barn. It's so difficult getting the cast and crew in one place, I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to move ahead with the project. By the time I got to the emergency room at midnight, my arm looked like a huge, purple grapefruit.  Nice.

I felt like such a moron, I lied and told everyone that I fell off a ladder. My apologies. I wanted people to associate the project with all the good things the cast and crew have done, not my own lapse in judgment...]