Day 29/365

There is absolutely no way to describe in words the degree to which chaos overruns the set in the mind of a director, but the words “tic, toc, tic, toc” are a good approximation of the sinking feeling that you’re going to fall short of your goals no matter how hard you try, at least based on your own impossibly high standards.

So given my recent jump back into directing short films and the short explanation in the preceding paragraph, I think this image is in order.

Behind the Scenes on NURF Wars, Part 1:

On Thursday the 5th, we were set to start at 6pm. I made it out to the shooting location at 5:30. By the time we setup camera, lights, audio, ran through lines and blocked out the action for the scene, not having recorded a single shot yet, it was 6:35. And we had to head out by 7:00.

Remember, I don’t have a crew. I’m in charge of everything except the acting.

So we finished half the scene that I thought we’d finish in a heartbeat to head down and work on the really big scenes. We get down there in time at 7:30. Cool. But that’s where we found a blistering cold, humidity in the air and surprisingly hard wind.

Now, I don’t mind a little cold. I do live in Utah. It wasn’t pleasant, but that’s ok. It’s just that hard winds mean crappier audio. So we focused on the scenes where the audio could be more easily added in post-production. I had four actors that had very short parts with no lines, so I needed to get them outta there ASAP.

By the time they were gone, it was already 8:20.

By the time we finished a scene with audio (inside my car – no bad winds to deal with), it was 9:30, and I was mentally spent. I couldn’t think straight anymore, the cold wasn’t helping, I couldn’t make sense of my shot lists, the parking lot was far too empty for the scenes we needed, and on and on and on.

My 2-year break from shooting short films was taking its toll, as was everything else I had no control over.

Tic, toc, tic, toc.

To be continued…