BACKROADS production report: Day 1

I just finished watching over most of the footage we shot today (the one upside of shooting on video rather than film is immediate playback).  We got a lot of great stuff.  I'm exhausted after a very long and stressful day in the hot Texan sun, but it was worth it.  We got off to a bit of a slow start, as always seems to happen on the first day of production.  Our first two shots were close-ups during a critical scene (both came out looking beautiful).  Add that to a dolly shot, a high-angle wide shot master, and live gunfire and you have a tough first scene for your first day of production.  And that was only the first third.

 Looking back on it, we were a little over ambitious with our scheduling of the first day.  Though I don't think we scheduled too much for a single day, it might have been too much for a FIRST day, where the camera crew is still getting used to the somewhat eccentric camera package, the grip and gaffer department hasn't entirely gelled yet, and everyone in general is working out the communication kinks.  But when it's all said and done, we came away with almost every shot we had planned "in the can," and those that didn't will be able to be made up over the next two days.

I think the medal for the day goes to Michael Bricker, who is a one-man art department tour-de-force.  He had the help of his very talented assistant Jonathan, but Michael even stepped in and did make-up for the actors when our make-up artist dropped out less than 24 hours before shooting.  And the actors looked fantastic.  Also big kudos to our relief gaffer (I have to get his name again), whose humor helped keep the stress level down and who was a joy to work.  Film sets are all about atmosphere, and having someone who knows how to keep it light but still gets the job done is incredibly important.  Thanks to EVERYONE on the crew who helped out today... you are all amazing.

Hopefully I'll have a couple stills to post tomorrow.  For now, I have another early call time to be ready for.