The story I'm about to tell is about a filming experience that was simultaneously the most positive (exhilarating) and negative (hectic) I've experienced thus far.
The little script that I wrote, The Beach House, was shot in September of last year. And now it's a finished film! With sounds and credits and everything!
Allie as Charlotte
Everyone who was involved was stellar, and I couldn't have done it without them. Quite literally because if we had one less person, none of it would have been possible to execute. Due to a miscommunication on dates and times (which happens) we were short one actor the night before we were going to be heading out to Whidbey Island. A little stressful, but I just had to figure it out. My boom operator/P.A. was a trained actor so I chose to solve the problem by taking on the sound responsibilities, and figured I'd just have to do a little more running around than I was planning.
And run around I did! I am never filming anything with so few hands ever again. Ah, the lessons we learn.
My Director of Photography was talented and enthusiastic and always eager to help. Everyone meshed really well, and it made me really happy to see it. They could entertain themselves while I was running around and flailing my arms for something I had put down and lost. One less thing for me to stress about. The dynamic was positive, and at the end of the first day of shooting I slept terribly on a mattress of death, but I slept terribly with a grin on my face.
The second day of shooting, I was sleep deprived and anxious about finishing on time. I juggled the clapper, boom, and notebook in my hands, with a marker in my mouth and headphones on my ears. I got tired of taking them on and off, which lead to a lot of yelling on my part. My fancy noise canceling headphones were just too good at canceling all that noise. It wasn't ideal and things moved really slowly at times when I found myself sat on the floor trying to figure out what to do next. But, yet again, everyone was in high spirits and making each other laugh. Even if I wasn't a part of the laughing and good times, I was relieved that it was happening around me.
Frank as Paul
That's the one thing I didn't expect to happen while directing. The isolation. The first day of shooting I felt like I was a part of the group, and excited and involved in this thing I had put together. The second day, I felt a bit like an outsider; a child with good intentions pressing their face up against the window of a pet shop, looking at all the puppies tumbling around inside. That's a weird metaphor, I realize, but it is kind of true. There's a strange sense of loneliness I was struck by on the final day of shooting. Why was nobody listening to me? I love nutter butters too! Don't you want to know what I thought about the season finale of True Detective? Stress can do funny things to a person.
If I were to do it all again, I would do things very differently. But I am really proud of my little film, and would work with everyone again in a heartbeat.