Day Eight

Today started off well as we began the shooting of the last scene of the film. Weather seemed well since the rain should not fall until tomorrow. However, halfway through the afternoon it just all of a sudden began to pour! We all had to run out and begin covering equipment, electrical boxes, and the lighting instruments. It was quite an adventure. I'm excited to see the film and see how well we made it appear like a transition from day to night when we were actually filming day scenes at night, night scenes during the day, and even had thunderstorms and construction work making sounds in the background. Always an adventure. . .

It was a beautiful last scene! I am excited to see how the director finally decides to end to film and to see it edited together. We did several different possible endings and while I have a favorite, any decision the director makes will be so powerful! I am amazed at this script with the wonderful story that Barta Heiner wrote, the adaptation Tom Russell made for film, the design of of the director of photography, and the editing that will be done during post-production. This is one of the most amazing projects I have been able to work on. It will be sad to end, but also a relief to rest. I worked twelve hours today, from noon to midnight. I'm constantly learning new things, but I still wish I knew how to help with the lighting design. It's not really spoken as design, but to know where each light should be placed and how it needs to look on the actor. I'm still trying to transition over from theatre to film, it's difficult to see the slight changes the light has on skin tones and it is based mostly off the f-stop and other photography based information. It's been a few years since I've worked with a camera. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to learn enough to truly be confident in taking control when the key grip has to leave on another errand. There is so much to know when working with lighting for the theatre and film. I just prefer to work as a technician, but it is a wonderful feeling to know that I helped to assist in design.

Blessings Galore . . .

At times, it is hard to truly believe that I am really significant enough to have so many wonderful opportunities given to me. I just do what I am use to and what I've learned from my parents. I put my best in the work that is in front of me, I can never stand still if something needs to be done, and I will help anyone who asks. It doesn't seem like my actions should really be blessing me with such amazing opportunities. What makes me any different then others? But I know that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the talents I have and have given me the passion for technology - especially pertaining to the theatre and film industry - for a reason. I have seen a glimpse here and there of how I have been a part of spreading His gospel to the world. Every performance I do with a dance team is bringing the spirit to the audience. This film that I am working on is going to an amazing presentation of the early testimony of church members. With the Stadium of Fire, my example of living causes my friends to ask me questions about my beliefs so they better understand why I live the way I do. I am so glad for the many opportunities I am given and I thank Him every day. Today, I not only think of my upcoming trip to China, but I learned that though the film, I am getting credit and a scholarship for spring term. It touches me so much to know that the work I do - that seems so minimal - is seen as very important and having such a great impact on the people I work with. At times, I wish I could put so much dedication in academic studies as I do as a technician, but I am so proud of who I am. I cannot ask for everything so I will stick with my passion with theatre and film. My world evolves around it and I put all my love into the work I do. It will be difficult to pull away from it, but it will be a lucky man who can capture and hold my heart from the grasps of theatre and film.

China Roommate Assignments

Today, I got an email about roommate assignments for China. I'm quite excited about it. I'll have eight different rooming assignments and I know two of the dancers really well, while I get to learn more of the others while we room together. It's always fun to have roommates on tour. What I'm really surprised about is that because we are an odd number of girls, at least one girl has no roommate for each assignment and I happen to have no roommates while we spend six days in Beijing - at least according to the schedule now, which does change a lot while we are on tour. I thought that was exciting. It's sad being alone, but we're all room neighbors so I'll make sure to join the random "gatherings" - aka. parties - that go on in the other rooms until it's time to go to sleep.

AHHHH . . . CHINA . . . I can't believe I will be leaving for China in 30 days, 8 hours, 22 minutes, and 16 seconds. (Yes, I have a countdown on my computer that I look at every day. It's unrealistic. It was amazing to have gone to seven different countries in Europe last year, but China always seemed like an impossible dream - which is now coming true!! Not only that, I'll be a part of the opening ceremonies of the Cultural Olympiad in Beijing! It's truly AMAZING!!! I am so blessed! I am constantly thankful for the talents I have been given and the blessing of being able to work with the BYU Dance Department . . . and especially to be with the BYU Ballroom Dancers. They are so amazing!! I love them all!

Day Seven

Wow . . . am I already on day seven? Time flies way too fast. Well, we were ahead of schedule for the whole afternoon and we had two more scenes to do after dinner. We were hoping to be finished by 8:30pm, but one of the scenes ran into some camera issues - because we were using a dolly so a lot of different factors had to go into it. That took about an hour and a half to finally finish. Matt - the key gaff - fell asleep on the bed and I had to finally wake him up when his heavy breathing was in risk of being captured on the boom mic. I couldn't help but laugh. I was just waiting for him to start snoring. But I was so worn out, I wanted to catch some sleep too. Well, we finally finished at 10pm, so that is another 10 hours of work. Tomorrow, it will be longer because it is the filming of the last scene and it is the last of the long scenes in the script. When we finish tomorrow, there are just small scenes to shoot and it'll be time to start traveling away from the cabin and even go off-site. I'm excited!

The pictures above are from yesterday's shoot. I guess if I liked pictures, I could get in more, but I never did like how I look in them. There were 239 images posted and I was in 2. There was a possibility of a third, but I was not standing on stable ground and I don't like to stop what I'm doing for a picture. It would've been good though. Oh well . . . moving on.

Day Six

Well, I learned a very interesting fact today. Apparently, it takes at least 45 minutes to walk from my apartment to the Motion Picture Studio. I really wanted to take a walk, and it was a nice day today. So, I started from my apartment, dropped off some books at the Provo Library, then walked to MPS. I was still early for call, too. It's an adventure to go to work at the film shoot. It's always full of surprises to hear what different conversations come up. I was so tired today because it was a noon call and we worked until 10pm. I prefer starting at 8am because I am up with the sun. There are two more days inside the cabin until we have to begin traveling to other areas in Little Kirtland and even going over to Missouri Town to shoot some town square scenes. I am getting tired, but work hours are less since we need to leave MPS before midnight and we don't start 'til noon. No more 17hr days for the rest of the week. It may change when we shoot our still frames beginning next Monday, but I don't find it likely. Things are starting to come together. I can't wait to use this experience for another film shoot. Hopefully I can use the contacts and networking I've gained from this production for future films.

Some images of Friday's work day. There are over 280 images taken during that day, and I made it into four - of course I tried to avoid the camera and video camera. Never did care about how I appear on camera, which is why I work behind the camera.

So, half the script is during the night so we've blacked out all the windows and door to make the cabin appear like it is dark outside. We set a few lights outside to make it appear as moonlight, then we are constantly working inside to position the lighting to present candlelight, yet give enough light for film. It is quite an adventure. There are small shifts inside the cabin, but it keeps me busy when I'm in there awaiting for instruction from the DP (Director of Photography).

This next week, we don't have call time until noon, so I can rest more, however that would mean that work hours will go later into the night. Hopefully it doesn't go past midnight. We'll see how it is tomorrow. We should be halfway through the filming, although I can't see how. I think the rest are just shorter scenes and still images. Eight more days left of shooting! Wow does time fly. I am so glad for this opportunity and can't wait to see what else awaits me. I really hope I can work with Tom Russell again. He is a great director!

Day Four & Five

Well, on Thursday, the work load was only for ten hours as we were able to get off before seven. That was a nice change! I was able to spend time afterwards with my mom and sister before heading home for some much needed rest. However, on Friday, we began work at 6am so we could avoid working on Saturday. We worked so long, we were given lunch and dinner - meaning we worked at least six hours before each. We didn't finish working until 11pm, so I put in almost 17 hours today. It was exhausting! Every once in a while I tried to get a short nap in, but it was more like resting the eyes for five minutes while they shot a scene. It was fun! The director is a great guy who can always make us laugh and we are all friends. One thing I have been noticing is how everyone likes to break out in song. Not like a musical, of course, but a person will sing a few lines of a popular song and it gets such in everyone's head. One day, I am going to count how many songs are sung in a day. We just go through so many. Some go with something a person said, while others are from popular films, yet some are so random. We sang a song from The Grinch today! Two days ago, I thought I heard someone hum the lullaby from Pan's Labyrinth. There is never a dull moment inside the cabin when the director, 1st assistant director, and director of photography are together. They are so fun to be around.

An interesting event that occurred today was after strike when we were returning the equipment to store in a building. Due to poor weight distribution, uneven ground, a sharp turn, and speed, we had two out of the four carts fall over. To imagine this, we have an equipment train that begins with an ATV that pulls a short trailer, lighting cart, cart with crates that hold different equipment, cart of sandbags, and a cart of odds and ends. So, every night the Key Gaff and I drive it to the building to store and I keep track of everything staying on the carts. I have always feared that the lighting cart will fall because we over weigh one side with cables. Today, it proved true as we took a turn and it toppled, taking another cart with it. I saw it go down so I called out a "WHOA" to get him to stop to avoid any extensive damage. Thankfully, we noticed nothing wrong with the equipment, just the trailers itself need to be re-welded. We'll find out Monday if anything else occurred. When the carts fell, two cars of crew members came over because apparently my shout was heard quite clearly across MPS and the fact that it was followed by crashing sounds, it couldn't have been a good thing. I didn't realize I shouted it so loud. I just wanted to get the ATV stopped before anything else occurred. Oh well, we did get four extra people to help put everything to rights.

So, I am loving the film shoots but I am so glad it is Friday and I can rest for the next two days before we begin the next week. We did finish a long scene today and five out of the thirteen days are completed. The film material looks amazing and I can't wait to see how it will look after post-production. I am so excited for this film! And I can watch it and remember every scene - don't worry, I don't think it will be that easy to tell because things look a lot different on camera then it does in the actual cabin. I'm surprised at the possibilities of technology. It's amazing!! I love being a tech!!