I guess I will be apart of some good productions and there will some that are bad. The camping adventure in Joshua Tree definitely fits into the latter. Yea....
Preface:
Before I go into detail about my experience, I want to say that I really did end up enjoying working with everyone in the production. They are all good people and fun to work with and fun to be around. I am glad that I went and was part of the film.
That being said...
The production was pretty much a disaster. Well, I shouldn't say disaster. Let's just go with really bad. REALLY bad. The director/writer/editor, Keith, was grossly under-prepared. He is a very creative guy and an awesome editor (he showed us some of his work, he's been doing it for 20+ years), but he was not ready to make this film. To his credit, this was the first thing he ever wrote or directed and the script had only been finished days before we got there. But that begs the question as to why we went though with the thing? Why not push it back a little? Why not be a little more ready? There might have been some reason for the madness, but I can't even guess. Half way through I thought there was no way a complete product would ever come of what we were doing. He kept on forgetting what was in the "script", what we had shot and he didn't have any plans for what we were going to do next. There was no plan or schedule. We had to re-shoot almost everything we shot, some of it three times. It was always "Let just go with this and see how it turns out". Very frustrating.
The writing was pretty amateur, too. The movie was supposed to be along the lines of "Paranormal Activity". I guess they were trying to cash in on that bandwagon. The story was a young married couple just bought a house on some land and the house is haunted by a little girl. The woman gets possessed and some other scary stuff happens too, but overall it was mediocre. I will say that some of the scenes we shot were pretty cool and will end up looking scary. Like I said, Keith is a creative guy, so there will be some good parts, but overall, I'm just not sure.
And the equipment we were using was dreadful. We were shooting on a consumer level High-Def camera that was specifically bought for this shoot. It just wasn't working for us. We tried to get it to do what we wanted, but a lot of the time the picture simply did not look good. We needed something just a little better. The lighting equipment was atrocious. It was basically three flood lights on stands. What can you do with three flood lights on stands? Not much. I tried hard to make it work, but I am just one man. And not a super experienced man. At lighting, that is.
The crew was really small, but that isn't a big problem. They were all good people and were really nice. It was Keith, a sound guy named Kirk, the two main actors Lisa and Jared, a supporting actress, who came for one night, named Alex, and then me. What about all the other positions needed for a film? Aren't there a lot of jobs that need to be done? Yes. There are. And guess who filled in all of those? Yep, me. I was hired on as a Production Assistant but really I was the Gaffer, Grip, Assistant Camera, Script Supervisor, Craft Services, Art Department, Driver, Rigger and probably other positions I can't think of right now or didn't know I was doing. Over worked and under appreciated. But it ain't no thing. I handled it like a champ. I worked really hard and did the best I could. That's the way I would do it, regardless of who I work for. Its just how I do, baby.
There was another guy there, but I'm not sure I can classify him as a part of the crew. His name is Dennis Woodruff. I think he was technically a producer, and he did a little acting, but really all he did was get in the way. He came across as a crazy person. A legitimately crazy person, I kid you not. He would tell us all these odd-ball stories about how he has made 30 movies in the past, how he knows Steven Spielberg and other famous directors and actors, how his dad was a cinematographer for John Ford and other classic directors, how his grandfather built the Hollywood sign and other wacky stuff. It's just hard to believe someone like him when he tells you things like that. Then I looked him up and was shocked. It turns out majority of the stuff he told us is true. The other stuff I couldn't find (or didn't look hard enough...) but it very well could be true too. Google him. You can see how crazy he is and the bizarre past he has. I kind feel privileged to have worked with him, even though he was such a pain in the ass.
Despite everything, I truly am glad I worked this production. As I have written, a lot of it was awful, but I did get pretty close to the people I worked with and in the end it wasn't so bad. I guess when you go though something like that you have no choice but to come together and make the best of it. Joshua Tree is a very cool place and I am glad that I got to visit it. I think I will come out this a better person. At least I hope so. And I got paid. So that is good. Yea, that definitely helps it not be so bad.
On another good note, I have more work. I got a message from the DP of the music video I worked a week or two ago, saying he was working another one and wanted me to be on it too. He gave me the contact info of the producer and she pretty much told me I have the job. I'll be a PA again. They still have to send me the details, but it's typical to wait till the last minute.
-Things I learned: How not to make a movie. You must be prepared. It is crucial. I did get a chance to figure out how to make it work when there is basically nothing to work with, so I guess when there is the proper equipment I will be able to make it work even better.
-Plans for the future: To work this music video, if they ever let me know whats going on with it...
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