Production Update #54: Helicopter scene in the can... finally...

Well, I've never had the opportunity to actually direct a helicopter before. But last weekend I did just that. Sapora, Masters, Campbell, and I (the Core Four) all squeezed into one car with the film gear, and drove for almost 2 hours to Schafferstown, PA to shoot at a small rural airport there.

I couldn't help but imagine myself as Francie Ford Coppola on the set of "Apocalypse Now" -- although he was re-staging the Vietnam War, and we were... uh... well, just shooting footage of a helicopter taking off... But I DID get to duck and run under the spinning rotor, M*A*S*H-like... Very cool!

Novia was the toughest member of the crew: Temperatures were supposed to reach the low 40's. But it never made it out of the 30s... and she had to run around in that wedding dress under the copter's prop wash. She was freezing! And I still feel pretty guilty about it.

The instant we were finished, she jumped back into the Jetta (yes, it is both a picture car and a mode of transporting the crew) and sat with the heater on full-blast. I was genuinely worried she'd gotten hyperthermic... But we got the half dozen shots, and by the time we got home -- another 2 hours later -- she finally seemed to be warming up...

I also want to thank Terry Inch, the helicopter pilot from Dutch Country Helicopters in Lancaster, PA. He did a terrific job piloting -- AND acting in this brief scene...

This afternoon I screened the helicopter launch dailies at Colorlab in Rockville, MD, and they look and sound very good!

It's supposed to snow sometime next week. I guess I'll be spending a lot of time back in the edit suite... until the weather clears and we can get out and shoot again...

Production Update #53: Shoot Re-scheduled for SAT JAN 23

The weather on Sunday just keeps getting worse and worse. So we’re going to have to try to shoot this a day earlier. Thanks for being so flexible here at the last minute.

Brief summary:

12:30pm Pick Up Masters @ his house

1pm Pick up Sapora @ Off-track Art Gallery in Westminster, MD

3pm Arrive @ Keller Brothers Airport in Schafferstown, PA

3:15 pm Terry Inch arrives with helicopter/ put on medical decal

3:30 shoot

4pm wrap

6 pm home/ Off-track Art in Westminster, MD

Let's just keep our fingers crossed that everything works like clockwork... No bad surprises...

I'll call if there are any changes. Thanks again for helping us pull this off...

Production Update #52: Shoot on Sunday January 24 afternoon with helicopter

OK, all the details are not locked in -- and the weather is playing musical chairs -- but here's what I know so far:

* Dutch Country Helicopters has repaired their R 44 Raven.

* Masters, Sapora, Slade, Campbell are all available on Jan 24.

* The helicopter and pilot (Terry Inch) are available on Sunday afternoon between 2pm-4pm. (we only need an hour)

Stuff I need to work out:

* The Columbia, PA airport we were going to use in October is no longer suitable -- bare trees 360 degrees.  Terry Inch has given me the names of 2 other local Lancaster, rural airports to scout (Keller Brothers in Schafferstown, PA, and Deck in Meyerstown, PA). My goal is to scout them today (Thurs) or tomorrow.

* Weather: Dutch Country Helicopters can't really do what we need them to do in the rain -- and the weather forecast keeps changing.  As of 1pm today (Thurs) the official Weather.com forecast for Lancaster, PA on Sunday is:

High 50°F

Low 46°F

Few Showers            

Chance of Precip: 30%

I'll keep an eye on the weather, and stay in touch.  I'll also let you know how the scouts work out.

Thanks to everyone for trying to make this happen. If you have any questions, the best place to catch me is probably on my cell.

Production Update #51: Burn Barrel Shoot Saturday 1/16 @ 11am‏

I'm guessing we won't be getting too many 44 degree days in January, so let's take advantage of Saturday to shoot this one daylight exterior scene --  burning mail at the trash barrel.

Back in October, a colleague of mine -- Ed Holthause -- approached me to ask if there were any acting roles left in the film.  I told him just one small part: A postman who burns the "unimportant" mail so he doesn't have to lug it around. I told him, "Hey, you want the role? Come up with a believable postal outfit for a small town delivery guy, and the job is yours."

Well, Holthause has come through -- with a pith helmet and a homemade uniform.  And so, tomorrow we'll try to finally shoot this short scene.

Crew call:
Saturday, January 16, 2010 from 11 am - 1pm in Lineboro

We'll actually shoot the scene in the backyard of my house, against the old white shed and the evergreen, in an attempt to mask out as many winter-bare trees as possible. I have a wire cage to burn the mail in...

I also want to thank Holthause and his friend Chris Hart -- who will appear alongside him as Junior, the septic guy -- for their contribution to the scene's dialog.

Confirmed for the shoot: Masters, Sapora, Campbell, Slade, Holthause, Hart, and for the first time production assistant Tom Wach, another student of mine at McDaniel College.

Bob & Gordon: I want to shoot this in one long take wide shot, with Talia (Campbell) moving through the space right to left.

Let's hope the weather stays unseasonably warm. And I'll see you all in Lineboro tomorrow...

Production Update #50: If it’s January, it better be an interior shoot…

And so the circle begins to complete itself. Symmetry. We’re going back once again to shoot in Doc Flynt’s bedroom (the Lemieux home) for the first time since 2005. One of the challenges, of course, has been how to finish this project without the presence of Ray Phillips (Doc Flynt). Well, I hope this shoot will help us do just that:

SHOOT:

This Monday Jan 11, 2010 from 10am - 2pm

LOCATION:

Robert & Deb Lemieux's home in Westminster, MD.

We'll be shooting all interior day and interior night stuff, so Bob can you load up some 500 speed tungsten?  I have some in my office if you need me to drop some by your house.

Ten Shots:

1) Talia in wedding dress with ring uses porcelain bucket to dump water into smelly toilet in order to flush it. (Interior DAY).

2) Talia on her knees, no ring, uses a brush to scrub her wedding dress in the tub.  She hears a trumpet (off screen) playing taps. She turns to listen, then returns to scrubbing. (Interior NIGHT) -- we'll use foamcore to block off bathroom window.

3) Talia, no ring, white shirt, overalls, carries sliver tray of food into Flynt's bedroom.  She is not happy, because she has just spent the entire night up burning the ropes and wedding dress. Bedroom door is so that we can see part of the bed, but not all of it. The camera holds outside of the bedroom. We hear Talia call out "Flynt? Flynt? Where are you?" She rushes out of the bedroom with the tray and calls again... He is gone.  (Interior DAY)

4) Talia drops pours vinegar into a mason jar, then drops her (manure covered) wedding ring into it.  She looks at it float around a little, then hears Flynt crying off camera, and rushes to him.  (Interior NIGHT)

5) Talia in coveralls, takes her ring out of the mason jar full of vinegar, studies it, and puts it back on her finger (Interior DAY)

6) Talia in coveralls, no ring, knocks on bathroom door, "Flynt?" No answer. She pushes open the door. Flynt is not there. (Interior DAY)

7) Talia in coveralls, no ring, shouts up stairs: "Flynt? Are you up there?" (Interior DAY)

8) Talia, in coveralls, no ring, sits on stairs, stunned, after Flynt's delirium -- what will she do? (Interior NIGHT)

9) Talia discovers a box of matches on a shelf (CU on match box) (Interior, NIGHT)

10) Anonymous trumpet player, backlit, plays taps... (after Jim gets crushed by tractor) (Exterior NIGHT) -- maybe I can stop by Gordon's house later on Monday night to shoot this on his back deck...

I'll load up the lights and props on Sunday night, and charge the battery belt... I also have the slate.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to give me a call...

Thanks so much, everyone!  We are SOOOO close. I promise... Let's hope the cosmos is with us on Monday and we'll have an awesome shoot... See you all soon...