On the morning of the 9th, Aaron and I went over to Cindy’s house to record the script on tape (voice.) Then we went to the shooting location at the B-Space in Atwater Village where we were going to spend two weekends shooting.
We started with a couple easier set ups and I was script supervising and using the clapper for the takes. I was really intimidated with the script supervising element at first because I have never done this before but it was quite interesting and I slowly relaxed into the role. (I prefer acting in front of the camera though.) I had to watch for continuity, I had to write down camera details, and I also had to pay attention and write down what the director was saying. It was a short day and we finished it with some great shots.
On Sunday, February 10th, I was in some of scenes so Corey took over the script supervising role during my takes. We also had a fantastic Make-Up artist, Bill Myer, who helped with anything in between his make-up work. Everybody pitched in. Everybody lent a hand with something other then their assigned job. And during takes we made up a couple Chernobyl songs that I wish we could have recorded. “Chernobyl the Musical!” Ha! Our fantastic actors know how to make light of the situation. In between the depressing, sad, and heartbreaking scenes we sing songs. I love working on this play!
On Saturday, February 16th I had to go to a production meeting in the morning for a short film I’m shooting, so I could not get to set until 3 pm. Shawn jumped into the script supervisor role and he ended up doing it all day long. To make myself still useful for the day I took my reliable Canon D10 with me to the B-Space and I took pictures of the crew, cast and the set.
When I was in front of the camera acting, Bill took some photos of me, which I’m quite thankful for. Usually when I take pictures, there are never pictures of me.
We finished shooting the last scene at around 9 pm. The entire shoot went very fast. This was an incredibly well organized set. We had scripts, story board, and scene schedules all over the place. We had snacks and lunch break. We had a fantastic director, who was one of the most laid back directors I’ve ever worked with (Christine Louise Berry is another one.) And the crew was very professional.
I think these two weekends on the set were the most relaxing weekends for me in a long time. I love being on set! That is where I can relax from all the hustle and all the daily stress. I miss it already. But thankfully I’ll be working on another project this coming weekend. Woohoo!
The finished short film of “Voices From Chornobyl“will be presented in UK on March 9th, at the Remember Chernobyl Conference.