Not so Desolate with Rain and Snow!

After the weekend that we lost a Sunday of shooting because of rain, the next weekend wasn't looking great in terms of weather. It actually snowed on the Monday after that, which was really out of the ordinary for our area.

After discussing the options with my UPM, I decided to make a change to the schedule. Originally, the plan was to shoot some of the last scenes we needed in the desert of red rocks outside of town. But the forecast this weekend is calling for more rain all weekend, maybe even more snow.

So I am taking all of the scenes we have shot, collecting the parts where CERA is in the frame, and making a list of printed screen shots to guide us in making the green screen inserts for the scenes we need that for. 

Saturday will be all inside, making it possible to keep moving forward, even though the weather isn't cooperating. If things go well, we may try to get a few more scenes that we don't have footage for mapped out in this way so that we don't have to come back to the studio after the fact.

Sunday will be the same plan as the original schedule. If this all works out, we will have to plan a weekend in April for the final shots I will need to finish the film. In the mean time, I plan to start getting as much of the edit done and effects shots done while I'm waiting for the month to pass.

First 3 Days of Shooting

Friday, Feb. 20th (Night Shots)

We met at the Jennings Building around 5pm, gathered gear and had pizza to make sure the crew was happy. By the time we got out to the location, it was starting to get dark and didn't get our first shots until 7pm.

Luckily I had a good number of people show up to help out with the night shots. Aaron Crane and Ben Braten took on the generators and lights for me, which was a HUGE help. I would not have been able to shoot those shots without them.

Greg Frisbie, Janet Wright and Dave Nelson came along to help out that night as well. Both actors, Jesse Nepivoda and Nicole Weisbrich came out, because without them, there would be no Deoslate.

I took a picture of the implant after I applied it, and continued to use this as a guide when I had to apply it if it ever fell off, and on future shoots.

I had Ben Zufelt there to keep us moving forward, Kreight Carter running sound for us, and of course Dustin Merrill there was my DP.  

We spent the most time on the first scene, which was actually 2 parts. Setting up camp, in montage, and then waking up from the dream.

After that we moved on to the last scene, which has Brax attempting to repair the implant. We wrapped up with that around 9:45pm or so and took the gear back to the school.

Saturday, Feb. 21st (All Day Shot)

We met at the Jennings Building around 8am, which was hard considering once we got all the gear back to the school, I didn't get to bed until around midnight. Then I didn't sleep well.

Ben Zufelt was not able to come on Saturday, but I still had Ben Braten, Dustin Merrill, Kreigh Carter, Greg Frisbie, Lacey Hillyard, Ashley Millet and Lindsey Benson.

We got out to the location around 9am, but forgot the lens case, and had to send someone back to the school to get it. We didn't get the lenses and camera going for another hour, but we were able to use that time to block out the shots for a complex scene and make it work out really well.

After that, we steamrolled through 2 scenes, and then took a break for lunch around 1pm. Ashley had to leave then, and she was doing a great job at slating (continued from the previous night). Greg picked up the slack there and after lunch we rolled through 3 more scenes.

A great shot taken by Dustin.

We wrapped around 5pm, but because Dustin and I helped clean up the gear for Ben Braten, I wasn't home until around 6:45pm.

Sunday, Feb. 22nd (Rained Out)

Unfortunately, the rain started early in the morning. I really didn't think it would rain all day, but it did. So we had to delay the shoot, and since it never stopped raining, we didn't shoot at all.

I tried the night before to see if I could get Laci, the actress playing Rachel to come down and shoot the scenes for the dream and flashbacks, but she was unable to free up her schedule.

I believe I have worked out a plan to make up the shots we need at the cliffs. Jesse says he can give me a half day on March 8th, and I think that can work out well for the plans.

We head out again next Saturday & Sunday to shoot scenes, so lets hope for no rain next weekend.

Overall, I'm happy we had a great bunch of shots for the amount we were able to get this weekend. We only missed out on 4 scenes overall, and if the reschedule works out, it won't be a problem.

Thanks to Judea and Ben for the great pictures while on location.

Revised Uniform

Ben Braten suggested that I add some wear and tear to the Brax uniform. So I tried to rough up some of the edges and washed it as well. But it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

I balled it up in the sleeves and legs. I hung it outside for a few days. But it seems like I need to leave it out for a while and I just don't have the time on my hands before the shoot begins.

I also made a clean shirt and a stained shirt for Brax to wear as he gets worn down going through the desert.

I used some tea bags, warm water, and just dabbed around the arm pits and collar. Then I squeezed around the front of the shirt to make random stains on the front.

We start at the end of this week with shooting, so I will see what I can get done with the suit before then.

Revised Props

Since I had a little more time to put the props together, I decided to make the changes I wanted to when I wasn't sure about how the props would work in real life.

This is science fiction after all, and anything I dream up can be a reality; Right?

I started with the "Implant" which I felt was too large and bulky to wear in reality. I also felt it didn't look as clean as I wanted it to.

So I found some small wooden disks, painted them white, added the red stripe, and I had the makings of a new implant design.

Next I wanted to address the backpack. The opening in the top wasn't something I felt was solid enough and Ben Zufelt made a similar observation.

So I made a lid out of thicker foam and turned it around. I also added some lines into it to match the rest of the pack and added some wear and tear to it.

Finally, we needed something to use on set to track where CERA was standing, because we plan to shoot her entirely on Green Screen after the location shoots. This is the stand in I came up with.

Casting Changes

Since I found everyone I wanted back in October for the roles I had, I thought everything would come together well. But asking someone to come back in a few months to shoot the actual scenes after some test shots was maybe a little to ask.

So the actress who I wanted to be Rachel had too much going on in February to meet the schedule I set. Luckily, Brax and Cera didn't have the same issues.

I started asking around to see if there was someone else I could find to play Rachel and I was reminded of Laci Fey.

I contacted Laci and sent her the script and schedule. She read it and said she was interested to play the part, but was worried about the kiss. I explained that we could shoot it so it was like she moved towards the kiss, say 90%, and then we cut. So there was no actual contact.

She said that worked for her and in a few more days I got confirmation from her that she was on-board to play the part of Rachel.

Technology

In the end of the film, there is a scene where Brax uses some equipment he finds to transmit the rescue signal.

I've borrowed some old oscilloscopes which look the part, but I want to make the screens light up and work when he gets them working.

So I plan on using some green screen type paper to cover the screens and cut them out, the place whatever I want into the equipment readouts.

Going Full Green Screen

In a meeting with my professor a few weeks back, we discussed the plans I had to make CERA work on location. My original plan was to take a small green screen out to the location when I shot her scenes and put that up behind her for the FX I wanted to do and shoot a clean plate to go behind her.

He suggested that it would be hard because of light, depending on where the screen was and such. As I understood that, we came up with a new plan for CERA.

The plan evolved into something of a mixture of the original and new plan. First I will shoot everything on location, trimming the CERA scenes down a little, just making sure we have a reference for her spot in a frame and a clean plate to go behind her. Then, re-shoot all of here dialogue and scenes in a sound stage with green screen from all of the different angles we need for her shots.

This will obviously add a little more time on the end of the shoot, but I believe that will make the FX for her more solid and easier to cut together in the end.