We are Pirates,most certainly. We sail into a location hoisting sails, swinging from ropes, our own specific language echoing within a controlled ball of chaos and passion. Imagine Pigpin and the Tasmanian Devil on a date. A Tornado within a dust cloud. That's us, a film crew in the first hour of every day and then multiplied by 12. The view from the deck of our Pirate ship is topsy turvy at best, imagine being on the high seas and your viewpoint of the horizon line is through the confines of a telescope. All the while, the clock is ticking and every minute that goes by or is wasted in one less minute that you can commit to film. The trick is to stay calm and find the viewpoint within the confusion and create a harmonious environment, a sandbox where the camera and actors can dance,explore and hopefully not dig their way to China.
The first week we were all figuring each other out and finding our way. But, in front of the lens we found magic. The performances by Brian Presley and Melanie Lynskei were spot on. Good actors inhabit the lens and great actors inhabit the space beyond. I wish I could post stills from our dailies or shots of the actors but it would ruffle some feathers. What I can post are some of the moments that happen outside of our lens, the other worldly nature of movie lights and natural beauty.
Next week we start Football, most of our scenes are outside and it's supposed to rain all week.
Kurt Russell, our coach is here and by all accounts he's a great guy, his sleeves are rolled up and he's ready to go. I'll meet him tomorrow at 9am, I can't wait, he's worked with the best, Conrad Hall on Tequila Sunrise.
More later, I have a "Time Tunnel" camera rig that I want to show you.
Sail on, Mr. Pirate!
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