The Final Shoot Days (August 4th and 5th, 2010)

The final two days of shooting went exceptionally well.  In fact, I can honestly say that we haven't had a single disappointing shooting day since we began –  my my expectations continuously exceeded, far above and beyond!

This past Wednesday and Thursday was no exception.  We had originally hoped to shoot everything in one day, but we couldn’t get our actors’ schedules to vibe, so we divided up the days.  Which ended up being a blessing in disguise.  I spent a good 8 hours each day shooting what I needed.  I’m glad I wasn’t rushed with either actor.

I was very nervous about the first day.  With the exception of a few shots, EVERYTHING we had to shoot was PIVOTAL in terms of the story, so the performances, the photography, the directing… EVERYTING needed to be as good as it could be.

Also, the nature of what we were shooting was thematically intense, so that added to the nervousness I was feeling about the day.  But, as always, my team rose to the occasion.  TJ Maxwell tackled the scene like a true champ, and Tom McCarty’s lighting was just as prominent of a character in the scene as TJ – some beautiful work.

It was all shot in slow motion, so I’m interested to see how it all looks once we run the footage through a few filters and play it back the way we intended.

We then packed up our gear and made our way out into the woods.  We had to reshoot a couple of Uncle Rusty’s scenes plus a new, rewritten scene to correspond with the new ending.  TJ Maxwell hit a homerun with his performance.  In fact, we were all floored.  We (the crew) noted to each other that it seemed like duing the past year (since we shot TJ’s first round of scenes), he’d gone to acting school and become a pro.  Not to discredit what he'd done before; I was so pleased with his performances from last year, but his scenes this time around went from good to cinematic!  TJ brought a level of honesty to the character that I hadn’t seen before; I’m really excited for you all to finally meet Uncle Rusty on the big screen.

We wrapped up the evening with burgers and fries from Island’s.  What a great day.

So that night, after shooting all day, I stayed up for hours trying to map out my shot list for the next day.  I was having trouble figuring it all out because I needed my actor, Jason Zahodnik to perform some stunts.  But I didn’t want to impose any sort of precarious scenario on set without having discussed it with Jason first.  So, to play it safe, I came up with a list of shots that sort of “did the stunts” for Jason.  With a few quick shots and some fancy editing, I figured I could get what I needed in order to make it APPEAR like Jason was doing the stunts.

So, the next day we all trekked back out into the woods, only this time further than the day before.  I carried a 40lb bag of props around my neck (which included a rotting corpse), so needless to say, I got my cardio in for the day (and threw out my back)!

Once we got to the location, I started to explain my shooting plan to my DP and to Jason.  And, that’s when my producer, Walker Haynes stepped up and reminded me that he does professional stunt work and could coordinate some pretty cool looking (and safe) stunt scenarios if Jason was up to performing them.  I can't believe I'd forgotten that Walker did stunts!  So, Walker went to work!

I’m so glad Jason is 24-years-old (and apparently has bigger balls than me)!  He JUMPED at the chance to LITERALLY throw himself into the scene, and before I knew it, he was lobbing himself (safely – just in case MOM Zahodnik is reading this) down rocky embankments, falling off of ledges, and performing some fantastic looking feats!

I tried to pull some stills to post here, but none of the pictures do the stunt work justice.  You just have to see it in motion!  Good work, Jason and Walker!

The rest of the day was MUCH easier in comparison, and it was great to finally get to see Jason act.  He’s got a great look, and he’s a very honest actor.  He’s only onscreen for a few minutes in Vacant House, but there’s a good chance you’ll get to see a lot more of Jason in my next project (unless he makes it big before then, which is a distinct possibility)!

The day ended with a trip to The Yardhouse for good food, imported beer, and some much needed chill time after our exhausting day.

The big test, however is always reviewing the footage after everybody else goes home.  I’ve been on shoots in the past that SEEMED like they went well until I reviewed the shots at the end of the day – I've experienced some very DARK DARK days!  But once again, Tom McCarty’s footage looked phenomenal, and I have to hand it to Tom.  He must have pretty big balls too for being able to stand completely still, with camera in hand, while Jason tumbled down a mountainside heading directly for him.  The stuff looks great.

Some of the new footage will be added to the new trailer that will be completed by the end of August, so keep checking back here, our Facebook page, and our Twitter page for updates.

So, picture-lock in two weeks!  Can’t wait to write more about that!  Okay all; more to come soon enough!

Now, off to the editing suite!

-Jeremy Casper

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Prepping for Shoot #5:

I had lunch today with Jason Zahodnik, a good friend of mine and a bit player in Vacant House. Jason's scene was shot last summer, but (as has been the case with a lot of scenes in my film) I've rethought it just a bit, and so we're going to reshoot it... just to beef it up a little. It should be fun.

I had a great discussion with Jason about characters and different mediums, and after reading several recent articles about television surpassing recent films in terms of compelling storylines and developed characters, I now want to produce a TV series...

But, maybe I should finish THIS film first!

Discussions like the one I had with Jason, the "psychological" input TJ Maxwell gave to the story, and Cris Cunningham's countless notes on character and dialogue have made this whole process such a team effort. This film has had a "family" feel since the very beginning. All of the cast and so many members of the crew to some degree have influenced the story, provided immeasurable encouragement, and unflinchingly devoted their time to getting this thing done.

In a couple of weeks we're shooting Jason's scene, reshooting two of Uncle Rusty's scenes, and adding two new Uncle Rusty's scenes. Then... (drum roll)... we should be done with production.

The end is near!

AND PLEASE SHARE THIS BLOG WITH ANYONE YOU THINK MIGHT FIND OUR LITTLE INDEPENDENT FILM INTERESTING!

Uncle Rusty:

Of all the lessons I've learned in this process, continuing to learn more about the "nuts and bolts" of storytelling has been one of the greatest!

The most interesting "discoveries" in the VACANT HOUSE writing process was the development of the character, Uncle Rusty.

When I talk about Rusty, I usually describe the experience of discovering him to the way in which astronomers discover new planets and black holes. An astronomer can look to the sky, and JUST by observing HOW other planets and celestial entities interact with each other, they can deduce that SOMETHING ELSE is out there. They can discover a planet before they even SEE IT just by how everything in neighboring space is reacting.

That is how I discovered Uncle Rusty.

From the very beginning I think I (and my characters) were aware that Uncle Rusty was in our story; I just hadn't discovered him yet. There was a force in the script... something that was compelling my characters to react the way they were reacting, and slowly, over time, Uncle Rusty was DISCOVERED just like a distant planet in our solar system.

In an early version of the treatment, dated 2007, the character of Uncle Rusty was a nameless individual only mentioned once in a line of dialogue.

At that point, I had no idea that this "off-hand" character was going to grow into one of the most important characters in the whole story! In fact, I can go as far as to say that Uncle Rusty is the WHOLE REASON the story of Vacant House even happens.

After Cris took an initial read of the treatment, he too gravitated to this nameless character. He wanted to know more. And from his own experience as a writer and an actor, he knew this character was important. Just for the purpose of discussing the character, we quickly gave him the name "Rusty" and the name stuck.

Without divulging too much of the story here, Uncle Rusty became the catalyst that the whole story was lacking. He became the REASON Cameron does all of the things he does. In fact, in retrospect, I'm not even sure how the story worked without him.

So the character of Uncle Rusty was born.

But, Rusty's development into a full-blown character wasn't over.

He now had a name, and his roll in the story was made more prominent, but Uncle Rusty was still just a character mentioned in dialogue. We never saw Rusty; we just new he existed.

And so we started shooting the film. (The entire process of writing this script and shooting the film, I will save for future posts - it was unconventional to say the least!)

We shot the first summer and knocked out about 60% of the film. We returned the next summer and shot (what I thought at the time was) the remaining 40% of the film. We were fluid in our storytelling, and the script developed as we shot.

After that second shoot I cut all of my footage together and realized...

...we still don't have a film.

Over the course of these two summers, Rusty had grown into such a prominent character, motivating and influencing Cameron, our main character, that the next step in the script writing/filmmaking process seemed obvious.

We need to SEE Uncle Rusty. And so, with the vast majority of the film already shot, I added an entire new character to the story/film, I wrote new lines, cast a good friend of mine (TJ Maxwell) in the role, and we set out for shoot #3.

Uncle Rusty's scenes added a new life to the film. In fact, some of the initial feedback we received suggested that Uncle Rusty's journey in the film is the most concise and clear storyline. I was excited about the encouragement, but something STILL wasn't working.

I was so tired of my film, and the idea of shooting anything more wasn't an option at the end of the second summer. But after discussing the film's problems with TJ, it became obvious... once again... that there was STILL more to Uncle Rusty that needed to be uncovered. And so, after a few pep talks from friends, I decided ONCE AGAIN to pick up the cameras and schedule TWO MORE shoots to finish up my film.

These final two shoots will round out the character of Uncle Rusty even more. One of the main problems with that initial cut of the film was the ending. I had a specific ending in mind for the character of Uncle Rusty, but I didn't shoot it. I chickened out. I shied away from the direction Uncle Rusty's character was heading. The ending didn't resonate. The film didn't end where it needed to end. And the result was a flat, two-dimmensional ending.

So with these final two shoots, I'm delving even deeper into the character of Uncle Rusty... and hopefully giving the film the end it deserves.

Is it all going to work??? I guess that's still left to be seen.

But the process of discovering, developing, and writing the character of Uncle Rusty has been one of the greatest writing lessons I've ever experienced. LISTEN to your other characters. What are they telling you about the world they live in? Are your stories just sitting there, not moving forward? Chances are your story lacks conflict or your main character doesn't have a clearly defined goal... and in the world of storytelling, the most interesting goals and conflict come from other people. And the closer your characters are to those people, the more intense the drama will be.

Uncle Rusty is the blood line of Vacant House. He's the "thing" that keeps the story moving.

Thanks Uncle Rusty!

Vacant House Update:

Well, I haven't done a very good job of blogging during the production of this movie, but let me make another attempt at doing so.

Well, here we are, three summers later, and the film still isn't complete.

HOWEVER...

It will be, and I am very excited about the recent progress.

I have to laugh a little as I sit back and read previous posts... The one entitled 95% done makes me chuckle the most. Since that post, there have been two more shoots (the most recent was completed just this week), and one more shoot scheduled for the end of the month (June 2010).

I'm not very good at "blogging as I go," and my hand-written journal is another reflection of that fact. But, I am good at reflecting.

So, here goes... where do we stand now with the film, what were the little hitches that caused some bumps and bruises along the way, etc.

At the end of last summer, I screened an assembly cut of the film for some friends of mine... Let me stop right here and explain to you the valuable lesson I learned during THAT process. The artist in me never wants to show my work to anyone until I think it's "perfect." But the film student/professor in me has been trained otherwise. It's almost a knee-jerk reaction for me to just "put it all out there" for people to criticize. As a result, I have a tendency now to invite people into the creative process a little too early.

And, let me just say... when all you have of a film is JUST an assembly cut with absolutely NO temp music or sound effects you are NOT ready to start soliciting feedback. It's actually OKAY to guard your "baby" for a little bit.

As a result, the initial feedback I received was pretty heart wrenching. I just assumed that my friends would have the same vision as me and be able to see the potential of the film... but they were not.

I walked away from the film for months; I couldn't bring myself to even THINK about the film, let alone finish it. I was starting to believe that my film was going to go down in my personal history book as an EPIC failure.

Nearly five months passed after that screening before I was able to even open up the editing files and look at the film again. I started forcing my way through the film, and as sickening as it was to be reminded of my friends' feedback, I just couldn't help but BELIEVE in my little film.

Yah, it's no masterpiece, and it's barely good enough for me to even wanna put my name on it. But as I screened it again after separating myself from it for those many months, a little voice inside of me kept saying... "you've got something here. It might not be GREAT, but it's something..."

As I scoured over the film again, I realized, much to my dismay that we were NOT 95% of the way done shooting the film. There were still bits and pieces, transitions, and even entire scenes that were needed to make this a complete film.

So, once again... as I have every summer since I started this project... I continued WRITING my film.

Yah, you read that correctly. The story just wasn't DONE. The ending wasn't working, and we still needed more.

So I called up Cris and asked him if he'd be willing to fly out to Southern California just ONE MORE TIME to make the film better. He agreed without hesitation.

So, last week the cast and crew reconvened for yet another shoot. We recorded about 5 pages of voice over, and shot about 3-4 pages of new scenes, including a completely rewritten ending.

We have one more day shoot scheduled for the end of this month, and then after that... we TRULY are done. The film still might not be that great, but it's time to finish this film and take what we've learned and apply it to new projects.

But, for the first time in over a year, I am once again excited about this film.

There's more to report, but I'll save that for future blogs.

Hope all is well with everyone, and be sure to keep an eye out for announcements regarding the film.

Jeremy