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