NOTES FROM HOLLYWOOD: PART 2

Reflections on the Journey to Make a Feature Film

We ended Week 3 of production prep with some exciting drama. One of our lead actors, who all but signed on the dotted line, and whose agent had been dragging their heels for weeks on closing the deal, took a job on a bigger film, leaving us scrambling to re-cast the part. Rehearsal is scheduled to start Monday. Meg and Sunny, our casting team, reassured us immediately that we will fill the role with someone great. Not to worry. Welcome to Hollywood, Aaron.
 
We had our first production meeting with department heads on Tuesday. I baked them cookies. They’re working long hours on this low budget project, it’s the least I could do. Four tables in a large square with 16 creative minds seated around, focused on the details of production. I got a quick lesson in staffing terminology when I made the mistake of calling our Set Decorator a Set Dresser. No Mr. Davidman, the Set Decorator is a department head. The Set Dresser works for the Set Decorator. Copy that.

Smash, our First AD, read through all the actions of the screenplay over the course of 4 hours. (Ashley was given the nickname Smash on one of her first jobs in film as a PA when she rolled an electric cart into another one, not realizing the gear was in reverse. The name stuck). The team addressed questions on props, make-up, design, location, continuity, sound, lighting, camera. A classic tug-of-war emerged quickly between certain departments to determine who is in charge of what. Like props and costume. If the actor wears it, it’s a costume; if they handle it, it’s a prop. But wait, if it’s blood, that’s make-up! Stay in your lane people.
 
Our production designer, Niko Vilaivongs, who was trained in theatre design at the Mark Taper Forum and then began working in film under old-school production designers, tells me the system used to be more cohesive when production design was at the very top of the decision-making chain, alongside the director. When they first started making movies, cinematography wasn’t even a thing. There was a camera operator to film the actors on the sets, trying to capture the essence of live theatre performance from which movies emerged. And it was the production designer who reigned over the look of the film. Over time, the technology and the art of camera moved up the ladder to the position beside the director and the art of production design moved over to the side. I’ve always worked closely with my design team when I’ve directed stage-plays and it’s no different here. I love how color, light and texture play into the environment in which a story lives. Niko has an incredible eye and an inspired visual sensibility and I’m excited to be working with her.

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Okay, since we’re making a film about guns, let’s talk about gun safety.
 
Safety has been our primary concern ever since Dylan and I began to work with Liam (our Line Producer) on the specifics of production. Liam brought in armorer Mike Tristano, who’s worked in the business for over 40 years, training actors, providing weapons and creating on-set safety protocols for more movies than I can count. He’s the guy they called in to help sort things out after the tragedy on the set of Rust. He has a jaw-dropping collection of weapons. Not just firearms, but swords and knives and anything a human being could use in battle against another human being. He’s quite a character. We gathered at his place as he trained Josh (Josh Close, playing our lead) to field-strip an M16, which features in the film. The on-set protocols of handling weapons are significant, and a combination of replicas, rubber guns and functional weapons that have been plugged, combined with safety talk and severe limitations on who handles the weapons, will create the sense of safety we want when cameras are rolling. There will be absolutely no live ammunition or even blanks on our set. Mike has also counseled me on makes and models of weapons, the dates they were used, who manufactured them, where they were used in combat, and so on, all to be sure we’re accurate in our storytelling.

While we were strategizing how to find the right new actor last-minute, we went out to a gun range to scout it as a location. (Yes, I’m watching actor's reels on my phone in the car while Dylan drives us to to the gun range so we can have casting get the script out to actors before the weekend). Six of us walking around the range, looking for camera positions, direction of the sun, blocking potential, peppered by the power of percussive blasts of rifle fire from the half dozen guys target shooting. I’ve been shooting on a few ranges before, but somehow, even with ear-protection, the gunfire was a bit startling and unnerving. No matter, it’s a terrific location for us. What a way to end the week.

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Finally, on the topic of cinematography, Hana did a camera test at Keslow Camera, where we’re renting equipment, to explore an infrared look we’re interested in for a specific segment of the film. We looked at a few different filters and different settings with different LUTS (in-camera color grading). Infrared is a portion of the light spectrum that cannot be seen by the naked eye—-but it’s there. And an IR camera can allows us to see it. It’s a bit like what we’re trying to do with this project as a whole: film something that we cannot see. We can’t see trauma. We can't see feeling. But we can capture these characters on camera, and through the art of cinema, allow for their hearts and minds to emerge and be seen. I have to believe that when we really see the unseeable of another human being, change is possible.   
 
Oh, and it looks it might rain the first week of filming. We’re in it now!

Last word: Very end of day Friday, we finalized our deal with actor Joanne Kelly to play opposite Josh. She's dynamite and I'm thrilled to have her in the mix.