Rough Cut Of Pumpkin Trail Done

A face cast that Mark did of one of the actors. Why he did it...well, you'll just have to watch the flick when it comes out...

Anyway, got a rough cut of the Pumpkin Trail done and tomorrow am going out to try to get some pickups shot done for it. With no actors. Primarily just a shot of the forest at night, still. Because the forest at night is pitch black, we're gonna be rolling just as the sun goes down, and I'll just use the darkest shot that's still visible for the actual movie.

I'll get some noises(foley) that I need. Then some shots with the THING in the pumpkin trail. Can't say much. You know.

Am doing double duty though, as BEFORE that, I'm heading across the Bay Bridge to scout out some country stores for some scenes for The Fountain segment. I really need a desolate store exterior. I'm shooting the interiors elsewhere, but finding a running store that doesn't have any customers, and is in the middle of nowhere...could be tricky.

Still looking for one of the lead actresses. I don't get why it's so fucking hard to find around here nowadays. I mean, I'm paying cash money. It's not gratuitous, and it's not sexual.

Basically, if I get that location nailed down, and I get that actress nailed down for the dates...we'll be a go. And THEN...when that segment's shot...I can breathe again. Because the hardest part is done.

After production, that's where you really make the movie. At the edit chair. But you have all the time you need, you can work in the comfort of your home, with music playing or not, whatever you feel like.

Editing--movies, at least--can be a lot of fun. The other shit I edit, the stuff I get paid to edit...not so much fun.

I guess I can mention that the rough edit of the Pumpkin Trail isn't as terrible as I thought, though it still disappoints me in parts. And yes, the THING in the movie is super campy, so at least I know Rob Dimension's gonna like it. :)

I showed Zig, and he thought I oversold its suckitude on the phone. "It's fine," he assured me.

"Hey, fine is two steps above what I was aiming for," I thought.

Anyway...going to bed. Going to be a long day tomorrow.

Breaking Me Down Part II. The Epic Conclusion.

Sorry, can't really show too many photos from night 2 without spoiling everything.

So day 2--I wake up and find out that the scratchy throat and heavy feeling in my jaw had turned into a full blown cold. Runny nose, VERY sore throat.

No big deal--just gotta go direct a complicated segment all night long.

I get there early to try to set up the main location and shoot a couple of shots that will actually be the last shot of the movie. The location is every bit as challenging to get to as we'd thought, but I sort of slide down the hill with the equipment, so it saves some time.

We get the shots done, but one of the actors still hasn't shown up. We're scheduled to shoot from 8pm-3:30am, but one of the actors has to work in the morning so he's hoping we end early.

Yeah, right.

The late actor doesn't show up until around 8:30--and I forgot to tell you that the actors forgot to take off their lavs when they left. So not only am I worried that when they powered them down, we lost the audio, but I didn't get to dump any of the cards, which I have to do now as they show up.

I'm doing that, but we're running late on the start.

I try to get what I can. We shoot out one actor(not the one who works in the morning), and he leaves, but not before accidentally leaning on of the main pumpkins and splitting it down the side. Super.

We shoot until we get to the troublesome effect, and I set it up. We tried it. It...sort of worked. Parts of it. I can't really describe it until the movie comes out, so you won't know what I'm talking about.

We're running late, but we're done on that location. We have to move a decent distance away, carrying all the equipment, and I'm already tired. (and my scratchy throat is ROUGH)
(It's humid as fuck, and we've all soaked through our shirts with sweat...)

The replacement FX guy, who turns out to be very helpful, goes to get the body parts and FX gags that Mark has prepared.

I make the lazy-man's decision to walk down the hill and just do it there. It's so dark, nobody's going to be able to see anything in the background other than out-of-focus forest and the dark. Everybody seems happy with my decision.

Only issue is that I never planned on the scene being in this location, so it causes some confusion. I also get my first taste of a shot that's in the script, but there is NO way to make it happen. I shoot, and I shoot, and I wing the whole thing, barely checking my shot list.  Just no time, and the area is different than I'd planned for.

But I'm pretty sure I'm missing some shots. My head is pretty stuffy, I'm hot and tired. I do what I can, get what I can, and finally call it around 3:30am. Ironic, because I never finish on time.

Me, Mike and Zig hit Denny's for breakfast. I know I have to go home, do a rough cut of this segment fast so I can see what I'm missing, and whether I can go get pickup shots without the actors...all before the leaves change much more on the trees.