Production Day 17

Easy day today. Only 5 and 7/8 pages.

I was told by Chris, our script supervisor, that we're averaging 30 set ups a day. No wonder I feel like someone beat me with a mental baseball bat at the end of each night.

Tonight we shot some of the campfire stuff...the gang hanging out, drinking of course, doing what young people do. It's also the time when Nick and Megan have a little heart to heart about the freaky things this poor girl has been seeing since her arrival. That blasted key chain!

Another little addition I put in from the original story was the mud barf. Pretty little Megan, Garden District born and bread, yaks up a pound of mud after being freaked out by Mark's little prank. Looked great on camera when Lizzy throws looke right into the lens with that black ooze coming out of her mouth.

I know, I'm sick.

d

Production Day 16

Poor Man's Process.

(Spoiler Alert!)

We had to shoot a little day for night driving stuff inside Mark's SUV as the gang makes their way to the "crime scene." Shawn has a .22 in his hand which goes off in his hand after seeing an image of Malin in the road. Unfortunately for Mark, the bullet goes right into him. The actors then had to fake veering off the road and crashing into a ditch. It was hilarious, especially watching Amanda's performance when screaming into camera. There's just no way to shoot this stuff without feeling a little silly. The car is stationery and covered in a black tent to fake night while some guy is sprinkling water on the windshield to mimic a rainstorm. Hard to imagine that your about to smash into a tree at 30 miles and hour. Somehow these kids always managed to pull it off.

This was also a big moment for Shawn's character. We move in on him tight, when poor Christian realizes the gig is up and starts to lose his marbles. Shawn nailed it in just a few takes. He's super smooth.

d

Production Day 15

Toys, toys and more toys.

Today was one of our biggest days. We shot the seance scene in the lake. And I mean IN the lake. After a brief rain shower, which could have nixed the entire day, we planted the Super techno crane so it could swing over, in and around our actors as they stood in a circle just off shore. There's nothing better than a few sweeping crane shots to spice up your film. Lou (1st AD), Johnny Martin (Key Grip), and big Joe spent the entire night in the water. Same goes for our camera crew. There's nothing more nerve wracking than seeing a couple of Panavisions sitting on sticks about eight inches above the water line.

I felt bad for the actors, especially Elisabeth. Poor girl had to dunk herself repeatedly during most every take. She was shivering up a storm. Even though we had a safety net up for the actors, it didn't stop a gator or two from poking around out of curiosity. I can only imagine what they must have been thinking about these weird, pink, noisy things doing all this wacky business in their backyard.

We managed to get everything in the can...chasing the darkness, of course. We were shooting out Matt and Hilarie's coverage just as the sun was coming up.

It's always a race.

d

Random Pictures

Production Day 14

More nights.

The nights are starting to get to me. My body just can't seem to adjust, so I feel like a walking zombie most of the time.

The big shot for today was having Megan wake up from the couch, having "dreamed" about where Malin is, then bouncing up, and following a steadi-cam move from one end of the house to the other. Very tricky. Not only that, the rest of the cast was in tow behind her. From what I saw on the video assist, it looked pretty sweet.

This is the perfect house for this kind of move. It's three main rooms, separated by two center fireplaces. This gives us the ability to flow from one room to the next very easily. The down side is that we have to dress the whole side of the house when the camera points "longways" down these rooms...something we have to keep in mind when we want to turn around to grab someone's coverage.

We also shot the broken nail gag. Another new addition to the American version of the film. Nasty. Nothing worse than a broken nail. It's a recurring theme in the film that relates back to when (spoiler) Sofie was digging with Christian the day of the accident.

Back to sleep.

d

Production Day 13

Voodoo boy strikes.

This is our first "moment" between Nick and Megan where he suggests the ritual idea to her as the others are partying in the other room. We shot the dinner scene yesterday, but today is the debauchery that ensues afterwards. Of course, I didn't get as many of the montage shots as I wanted to fill this all out, so we'll just have to try and pick a couple up in the next couple of days. We're out of this location next Tuesday, so I'm running out of time to grab this stuff.

The hardest part of the day was shooting Elisabeth's scene where she buries the key chain in the back yard. The Line Producer came up to me earlier in the day and asked if we could shoot it in the front yard to save on a new lighting set up for the back of the house. I said if we have to, then we have to, but I'd rather not since I don't see why Megan would do something as private as burying this sacred memento in the front yard. Doesn't feel right. As the end of the night came around, I made the decision to shoot it in the back yard. One, because it works for the story. Two, because this is the only shot where we see the back of the house. All the others are the front and I was worried that we were overusing the front. There was a little grumbling going on when the sun was coming up and the crew had to make a mad dash to move the lighting balloon, and all the gear around back to knock off the shot. To their credit they did it in less than 30 minutes and we were ready to roll. I'm so glad we did this, because it's a completely different feel having Megan out back rather than out front.

Hat's off to the crew and to Elisabeth for pouring out the emotion right on cue despite the insanity going on around her.

d

Production Day 12

Nick comes for a visit.

Our first scene was where Nick comes over for dinner, much to the consternation of Christian. Jealously unleashed!!!! The tough part about this is shooting six actors around a dinner table and making sure all the screen direction works. It can be challenge, especially as fast as we're moving. The last thing you want is for one actor to be looking one way, when they're supposed to be talking to someone else in the opposite direction. Real easy to confuse an audience if you're not careful. Also, continuity can be a total nightmare. "How much wine was in his glass in the last set up?" etc., etc. It can drive you nuts.

We also had to trim the group photo scene on the spot, since we were running out of time. It went from an 1/8 page of dialog to a single shot of Alicia setting up the camera and then running to join the group to get their photo snapped off. I think it works, but making the call as you're shooting is always stressful.

Everyone seems to be catching this damn head cold. Dave Mullen is getting brutalized along with the rest of us. The schedule is bad enough, but to be blasting so hard in such heat, with a head full of phlegm is nasty. The good news is that we had a doctor on set today to prescribe anti-biotics for those of us afflicted along with a healthy dosage of cold drugs. I may be a zombie tomorrow, but at least I won't be coughing up a lung in front of the actors.

d

Production Day 11

Rain, rain and more rain.

The good news is, that it's our rain, not mother nature's. We shot a bunch of the running sequences through the woods out back of our Lake House location. Megan, Nick and Christian all are blasting their way up, around and over the swampy terrain in a torrential downpour provided by several rain towers strategically placed behind pine trees. Shooting rain at night is tricky, but from what I saw, Mr. Mullen did a great job giving us incredible production values.

Elisabeth is a trooper. I love this girl. A great actress with a great attitude. She has no problem getting doused in mud and running full tilt through the swamp, same goes for Shawn and Tyler. Shawn was blasting off rounds as he was running after Tyler (plays Nick), because this scene is where our (spoiler) starts to lose his marbles.

We still have to pick up the shot where Nick gets caught in the trap. Just ran out of nighttime. Add it to the list. Arrggh.

My head cold is raging.

d

Production Day 10

Whole lotta smooching going on.

The big scene today was when Christian and Megan meet in the kitchen after she gets spooked by the "headlight" incident. Both Shawn and Elisabeth pulled this off without a hitch...giving me a ton of takes, no less. It's tricky striking a balance with their characters in this one. I don't want people feeling that Megan is too forward by jumping in the sack with Christian so soon and at the same time, we need people to sympathize with why should would need him to comfort her at this point. I think both walked the line very well, but editing those fine moments between them that tread lightly here will be Mathilde's job.

Did I mention the mosquitoes? Holy Mother of God. We literally have a "bug truck" driving through the set to douse us with insecticide every night just to keep the little bastards at bay. Reminds me of running behind the bug truck in my neighborhood when I was a kid, which probably explains why I have a third arm.

Now, for some sleep.


d

Me, Lee and the watermelon

Production Day 9

Today was mostly interiors. Nice to be in a little AC for a while. Although, the feeling didn't last long once they cranked the lights up.

We shot the breakfast scene the morning after Christian and Megan "do the deed." Lots of smirks going around the table, especially from our friend, Mr. O'Leary, who plays Mark. I was a little concerned about getting all the coverage for this scene siince we had to move so fast, but these kids nailed it in just a couple of takes, so we could hustle along.

(Spoiler alert!)

After this we fast forward to the scene when Zoe and Christian come back from discovering the body. The tough part with shooting out of sequence, especially on a show like this, is that you not only have to make sure you keep performance consistent when cut together for the final product, but things like mud on their clothes, wet hair, etc. all have to match as well. This sort of thing can drive a script supervisor nuts. That's one of the biggest drawbacks when shooting on a lower budget, is that you don't have the luxury of shooting in story sequence simply because that usually doesn't work best for the shooting schedule, wich equals money. I was explaining this to my dad, who paid us a visit on set last week when he was watching us shoot an exterior scene. I could see it click in when he became aware that the current shot we were working on would have to match something we'll be shooting days later.

Movie magic.

d

Tucker on location

Big Tuck in his "Director's Chair" overseeing the next shot at the lake house.

d

Production Day 8

Target practice.

The last thing you want to do is hand a gun over to Matt O’Leary. Thank God it only fires blanks. He gets that gleam in his eye whenever he holds the rifle…the kind of gleam that makes AD’s very nervous. However, it’s nothing more than an innate sense of humor that comes out in his character at the most unexpected times. That’s what I love about Matt. He’s funny without having to try. It’s not what he says most of the time, it’s the way he says it. He’s giving us some great moments that are impossible to script…which is what I always look for. Trying to paint these kids into a box is not only naive, but would come off contrived, which I’m trying desperately to avoid.

The scene with Matt and Hilarie went off without a hitch. I’m really liking their chemistry. You never know until you get these guys together to see how things play out, but I have to say, they’ve bonded quite well.

We also shot the arrival scene where all the kids make their approach to the lake house. We knocked off a very picturesque shot of Mark’s SUV rolling up the long, dirt drive way to wipe through frame, thus revealing the house in all its Southern charm.

Last up on the day was shooting the maggot/watermelon scene where Leonard’s welcome wagon gift was a bit…over ripe, as one might say. Poor Billy McLane, our propmaster, he’s had to do up no less than 5 or 6 different meal worm versions of this piece of watermelon for me. Gotta get those maggots just right!

d

Production Day 7

Quick Stop love.

You would think finding a lonely quick stop in rural Louisiana would be a no-brainer, but let me tell you, this was one of the last places we secured. Most of what is available today are the modern, Exxon/Mobile/7-11 variety. The mom and pop stops are few and far between anymore, which is why we had to go slightly out of the zone to find this one.

This is the first scene where we see Nick, played by Tyler Hoechlin, serving as eye candy for the girls as they enter the local store. Come to find out, he’s the most spiritual one of the bunch, which is why Megan enlists his help to get to the bottom of what’s been happening to her. This scene kept me up at night since we’ve had very little time to rehearse with Tyler, not to mention, having to master a touch of a Cajun accent. On top of that, we had over seven pages of dialog to shoot and Tyler himself had to be wrapped at 4pm to make a flight back to LA for another show.

This is what drives a man to drink…a lot.

We managed to get it all done just in the Nick of time (no pun intended), but I vented a bit with poor Adam, our producer, about how this kind of scheduling is a recipe for disaster. We dodged this bullet for now, but as I look over the schedule ahead, I can hear the chamber reloading over and over. All you can do in these types of situations is to just focus on the moment. Make sure you get the performance/shot and don’t let what’s ahead undermine the here and now. There are no awards for “Best Picture brought in on a tight schedule” that I’m aware of, so I’ll have to deal with how to make up for lost time later down the road.

d

Production Day 6

Our first day at the Lake House!

This location is beautiful.

The toughest part here is to keep everyone from wanting to kick back and relax. Fishing dock, beautiful lake, rope swing, a constant breeze all enemies of productivity!! We’re managing 30 to 40 set-ups a day, which is crazy to begin with, but with the schedule we have ahead, the days we spend at Megan’s vacation house will be anything but a vacation.

One of our first set ups was when Leonard confronts Christian at the shed. I love this shed. Bruton Jones, Production Designer, built the perfect shed for us. I know it’s nothing compared to the huge productions he’s worked on in the past, “The Rock”, “Armageddon”, but it’s in the details, baby. Everything down to the water stains in the wood that you never see is right on the money. Can’t wait to see the bathroom/mud gag he has in store for Megan’s big “trip out” scene. More mud!

Out of light. Shit.

We were running and gunning towards the end of the day. We had the Gazebo stuff to shoot with Shawn and Amanda and getting their coverage took us right up to sunset. I’m sure we’ll have to re-shoot some of that stuff. No way the lighting will match.

Add another shot to the pick up list.


d

Production Day 5

Production Day 5

In the Garden District…

One of the few places in New Orleans that remained intact post-Katrina. It’s beautiful area where our characters are based. Today we shot the “Mark’s House” scene where Megan reunites with her friends after a long absence. We had an annoying sound glitch about halfway through the shots that sounded like a stomach growl. Come to find out, every time Amanda would take a sip of her water in the scene, we’d get a little “gurgle” as it went down. You should have seen us. We were asking if she was hungry, tummy upset, etc. and she kept saying she was fine. It wasn’t until later that it dawned on us that it must have been then bottled water we had her drinking as a prop. Live and learn.

The cemetery scene was at the end of the day. It’s the first appearance of the “Shadow Figure,” which is a new addition from the original film. At first I thought we may have to do it as a CG effect, but it turns out that doing it practically actually worked fine…at least it did on location. It looked creepy, but you never know until it actually plays on screen. It may end up looking like a Muppet.

But then again, muppets can be scary.

d

Production Day 4

Our biggest shot...the Aftermath scene.

It's one of the final shots in the movie closing out the third act. Crane move - floats high above the bridge, with several cop cars, ambulance, police mingling, EMTs rolling a stretcher, all actors in mud makeup, etc., etc., all needing to get done at magic hour. We rehearsed several times leading up to that crucial time when the light is just right. All is ready, we line up the shot and...

...the camera goes down.

My DP looks at me and says, "I haven't had a Panavision go down on me in ten years."

Interesting.

Fortunately, we had a B camera standing by. In just a few minutes, we loaded it up on the crane and locked it down. The drag is that now we're taking twice as long to get off our setups, because we had to shoot them sequentially rather than concurrently. With two cams you can knock off a close up and a wide at the same time, crucial under these tight lighting situations. It was damn near dark by the time we finished. You've never seen more people running around so frantic as the alligator waited below just hoping some poor grip would make a misstep.

Onward.

d

Production Day 3

The Flashback! Shawn Ashmore's first scene.

(Spoiler Alert!)

The location: the bridge of death! We're out in the middle of nowhere at this small, humpback bridge that spans a very picturesque, but misquito infested river. I've seen no less than three alligators this first day, not to mention a cotton mouth or two.

Both Shawn and Elisabeth (Now playing Sofie) did a wonderful job as our two unsuspecting tools of death for the poor little local girl, Malin. We mangled a perfectly good, Wal-Mart special, kid's bike by way of flat bed tire tread, to give the impression their nifty Land Rover did the deed. We ran A and B camera on the action and let those two rip through several takes. Good stuff.

Tomorrow, we've got more process trailer/driving shots with the whole gang, so that means more dust in my face as we drive up and down the mile or so dirt road that leads us from the main highway to the bridge.

After all was said and done, my nostrils were filled with black dust, not to mention, taking extra "tick check" time once I stripped down back at the apartment.

Glamourous.

d

Production Day 2

Our last day at Leonard's house.

All I can say is that I do not deserve this crew. We blazed through 50 set ups today. That's right, 50. Five Oh. Jesus. A and B cameras were non stop for 12 hours. We had Elisabeth on her hands and knees crawling through a banana patch while simultaneously shooting her stunt double hopping out of Leonard's back window. I'm watching both on two separate video taps and trying not to lose my marbles in the process.

(Beware: Spoiler approaching!)

We're headed out to the bridge today. We're shooting the "Flashback" sequence where our two main characters run over Malin, the little local girl. It's probably one of the most emotional scenes in the film and will be the first day Shawn Ashmore (Christian) will step foot on set. I'm a little nervous getting him ramped up so quickly, but he's a pro. His take on it is that it helps him to do this scene first off the bat. He can live with this "Flashback" in his head, just as the character does, through the rest of the film.

Smart kid.

On top of that, it's a heavy effects shot day. Green screen, etc. I want to see that little girl get run over, right on camera, think, "Meet Joe Black" where Pitt gets nailed.

No mercy.


d

Weekend

No rest for the bleary.

Spent most of my Saturday doing tweaks on the script. Our schedule is absolutely insane (big surprise), so I've got to trim things up to make our days. Hopefully, this sucker won't be gutted just to save a few thousand dollars at the end of production. Happens all the time, which is what keeps me up at night.

I'm running by Elisabeth's hotel room today to check out wigs for the Sofie character (she's playing twins). I have to say, the woman knows hair. The editor, Mathilde Bonnafoy (Run Lola Run), flew in last night. Can't wait to sit down with her to get her take on the edit. Also, meeting with my man Cedric at Method Studios (The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.). These guys sold me on those very cool Toyota Tacoma ads they do, as well as a series of Power Aid commercials that look just like actual footage of sporting events. Amazing stuff. I want the VFX on this picture to blend with reality, not diverge from it and they're the best in the business at doing just that.

Tucker and Julia are here and made a visit to the set Friday. Tuck was a big hit and immediately started demanding his own trailer. He'll fit in just fine.

Okay, that's it for now.

d

Production Day 1

Up at 3:30am to make the set by 5:30am.

I can take just about any other aspect of production, but the early call times are the biggest bitch of all.

We've got two days here at the Leonard's House location, the first scene we're shooting is when Megan runs into Leonard's truck after an eventful jog. My biggest fear with shooting out of sequence is making sure the performances match. Actors always find their rhythm as you move further into the schedule, so keeping the first few scenes you shoot in line with those later on is imperative. From what I could tell, Elisabeth Harnois (Megan) and R. Lee Ermey (Leonard) did a great job.

After getting off to a late start, which is pretty typical for the first day, the crew started humming. We knocked off 35 set ups this first day and had two cameras going. Bruton Jones, (Production Designer), knocked it out of the park on this location. Leonard's house looks fantastic. (See Photo)

Overall, thing went pretty smoothly, outside of our Pit Bull (Bernard). He plays Leonard's dog and at first glance looks like he could devour one of our grips if they aren't on their toes, but come to find out, he's a real sweetheart. Almost too much so. When we needed him to come bolting around the corner to bark and growl at Megan when she comes up to the shed door, we roll camera and the ferocious "Bernard" comes skipping up to Megan, tail wagging, looking to be petted.

We left that one to B-cam to work out.

Day one in the can. All down hill from here.

d