It wasn't easy to get started, but it's 1:37 AM right now, and about 7-8 hours ago me and 3 others finished Day 2 of filming Obscure and Obscure overall.
Since it was a Saturday and we're all in COLLEGE ... getting up was not easy. Nope, not at all.
And -
1. it looked like it was going to rain
2. finding food at the beginning was a bit unnerving and confusing
3. there was an open house/sneak peek on our campus that morning so the campus was swarming with high school seniors ... which was nice to have the campus seem not-deserted and made us feel like we're not the only ones awake, but it was also a bit annoying because they were all over the place and they were clogging the places we needed to eat/buy food from
4. at the forest setting, there was a wedding ... so we had to watch out not to freak them out with our unconventional appearance and attire
5. it started lightly drizzling when we arrived at the forest
So I packed, wrote a rushed Shot List (AGAIN) despite having the whole week, made sure to pack water bottles, tissue, and extra jackets for people, brought a huge duffle bag to fit EVERYTHING in (including the tripod that I never actually used).
Err it's late so im not typing too logically so bear with me
I did makeup and hair and fed people at my dorm then we headed out by 1 ... which was a lot later than I had wanted. We were supposed to FINISH at 1. Oh well.
We had to walk to the train station and ride public transportation and walk in public so we put on minimal makeup and sweats over the dresses. Didn't feel like looking too crazy that day.
I wish we had some private transport bus ... hahaha the "Audivila Films" transport. So we don't have to lug around stuff, pay for public transport or walk in public with our costumes. And some people had to walk out of the forest with fake blood all over them and get on the train ... wonder if it startled any civilians :P
The forest was different, but a bit nicer since it wasn't too isolated and a little easier to move around and store things on. There were some picnic tables, which I am SO thankful for. Last time, we could only put all our stuff on top of a tree stump. That was damp. Yeuck.
I had a hard time focusing because I was out of it and honestly this entire process has been a bit doubtful, stressful and confusing. I wouldn't have made it through had it not been for my encouraging friends and crew people and their optimism. Seriously. If it were some group of people I had just hired, I don't think I'd had been able to do it.
We had lots of fun footage of random dancing and laughing - and yes, we didn't forget to do the famous group hug at the end.
We were out of there by at least 5:30 PM.
Afterwards we went back to school, freshened up, ate dinner, showered then relaxed. I just finished uploading the footage to iMovie.
It's weird, how long it takes to film stuff for a 5-7 minute film. Then again I had given myself so many tasks and little energy so we were moving slow.
Obscure was filmed on two separate days, once in March and once in April. And neither of the days were physically or mentally easy. But I haven't been this exicted to finish editing a film, ever. It's, to me, my first real narrative, as short, minimal and simple as it may turn out.
I have a strong feeling I won't be able to make any new films in awhile after this, being the end of school soon and how exhausting this process was. Especially cleaning up and dragging ourselves out there to random locations.
Lessons learned
- Hm next time have your luggage (equipment) and shot list ready BEFORE the morning of
- Feed them before you start. If they say they're not hungry, feed them anyway! Especially if there will be no time for break
- Check on your actors
- Defend them from mosquitoes (this time I brought bug spray though, ha! Though I was too late to save one person from a bug bite ... I saw the bugger too.)
- Take filler shots, they may come in handy
- Take the more complicated shots first
- Stay warm
- Stay hydrated
- Be aware of surroundings
- Watch out for prickly plants
- Watch out for "bitch squirrels"
PS - I kinda didn't put as much attention to detail in terms of costume detail, intricate makeup an hair. I suppose I didn't have much time or energy to, this time. And most of the closeups were done last time. We didn't have our weapons this time either, since I didn't want to be carrying those to school AND on public transportation. We didn't really need them though, I'm thankful to say.
Well! Submissions are due April 23 at noon. Hopefully I'll get it in at least 2 days before then. Because if anything, I spend oodles of time (often more than is healthy) on editing, and so I hope that's what will help make this film good! I hope I get into the festival, even if it's just for a school club :)
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