& then there was 1: roscoe day 6

 photo by Alex Morgan

Even though the work had proceeded fairly steadily and without any major difficulties, I was still ready for it to be over and done with. But there was one more scene to finish off - the major revelation of the story. We had been rained out the day previous when attempting this scene. Cast and crew assembled one final time, on a Thursday morning.

Once again I decided that there was no reason to drive ten minutes away and subject ourselves to the unknowns of an open field location. It's not substantially different than what was planned, and the edit will expand the field of view to include the original concept. But I still feel as if I took the easy way out, and probably should have pushed myself a little harder. Second guessing now has me wondering if this was the right decision to make. OTOH, the "finished product" will not feel significantly different than if we had taken the trouble to troop into the field and get a location with "views".

The image maker in me was at a loss as to how to simply conclude our experimental "trip." I told myself that the editor was going to have to rely upon the power of the performances to make the piece work. With that directorial abdication of responsibility, I was able to push onward and continue in the vein that already had been worked steadily: the master shot/medium close up/close up progression.

I must have been anxious enough to get done with this portion of the enterprise that I called a wrap before we had completed the final shot - which is numbered differently, and encompasses a slightly different set of actions. Fortunately my collaborator C. MacDonald returned within minutes to remind me that we lacked the final scene. This is why I need someone watching over what I do, to remind me to finish all the parts in a timely fashion, so that bits aren't left out with the need to gather everyone again at a later date.

As with anything, practice. It's disappointing that these kinds of short gatherings can't be done on a more regular basis. It's only through frequency that techniques can improve. Time to get moving on plans for the next one.

A huge thanks to cast & crew. This stuff definitely can't be done alone. Upward and onward with editing.

roscoe day 5

 

By this point we had completed everything in the script except for three scenes. It looked to be a long, complicated day of exteriors, followed by four or five hours in a studio where I'd never worked before. Realizing that there was a good chance of not being able to finish on what was scheduled to be our final day before the camera, the producer in me decided to change locations to somewhere eminently more manageable: our back yard.

The scene in which the Professor balks at going any farther went from getting his coat snagged on a branch to jumping through some tall grass across a hidden trickle of water. A better solution, and much simpler to execute, was to use the small channel on our side yard. It's one of my favorite locations anyway, and have been photographing it off and on for the past four months.

This compromise was an improvement I feel good about. The scene was completed with no wasted time or undue effort, no need to drive to another location, and set up multiple times in an inaccessible field. The equipment then got transfered to a new location a minute away and 100 feet from the back door of the house. As I was considering where to set the camera again, the precipitation that had held off so far began. We moved everything to the breezeway and waited. Ralph and I have been through this waiting game many times before, so this was nothing unusual. After 30 or 40 minutes of steady rain, and checking with everyone present that they could return the following morning, I cancelled our afternoon schedule. It's still a wrenching call to make, especially since I knew the rain would probably cease within an hour.

Which of course it did. But by then everyone was long gone. It would have been too long a wait to ask everyone to sit through. Instead it gave Craig and me some time to search for props and pick up the wheel chair for our evening interior.

roscoe day 3

 

It's all over now, baby blue. But I'm going to rehash it for those of you who weren't here anyway.

Despite his hesitancy to participate in a local event, and even be photographed doing so, our trained professional gamely agreed to march in the Earlysville Fourth of July Parade. Maybe the scene is not in the script. Maybe no one would have consented approval. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

I strapped on my vest, and used the Pilot to follow our Professor as he weaved his way across the street, through the parade, to try to find access to a locked office on the far side. On the first take of this cross parade move, as I was walking backwards in front of Craig, I nearly backed into a news camera set up on a tripod. That would have been a sight to see a camera and tripod go down with the operator of a fully rigged Steadicam. I got a last moment warning that directed me away.

At the far end of our progress into the parade, after passing numerous pedestrians and vehicles of various ages, one driver opined loudly, "Is he a Republican or a Democrat? Do I need to take him out?" At that point it became clear to me that the Professor, in his jacket and bow tie, looked much like an undeclared candidate.

All in all, some wonderful material that will fit nicely at the head of the piece. It would have been an entirely different thing if both characters had been in the parade, as I originally planned. This works better in fact.

roscoe day 2

Another great day shooting "Walking With Roscoe" yesterday. As always, lighting interiors goes on and on and on. Even I ran out of patience. Eventually we had to get moving. I'm very proud to report that I had told people we'd be done by 4 pm, and we got in the van and pulled away from the location - Barratt Woodworking - at 4:02 pm.

The initial nervousness has calmed somewhat, but it seems as if every day it starts over again. I'm running on only four or five hours of sleep every night (last night I awoke and the power was still off from the previous evening, so what have I got to worry about but not being able to get in touch with the crew and Gary about the oversight of calling all to the wrong location for Tuesday), and am still not familiar enough with this kind of work that each day's challenges don't throw me into a state of anxiety. Many variables that are mostly new. Despite that, once we get going, it's much like running a construction job where there are people coming at you all day long. Which lends a certain degree of familiarity, enough so that I eventually am able to get moderately comfortable in the environment.

What I am truly thankful for is the assistance. There really is no way of doing this sort of thing by yourself. My three previous artists videos were done completely as solo efforts - other than the artist subjects - but anything scripted really benefits from having others contribute their unique knowledge. It's wonderful to be able to ask people to work on a task and have them go to it while I go check on something else.

in pre production

Looks like we've got a script and at least one of two actors. Here are some possible locations not too far from home, not close enough. I'm sorely tempted to make it so that we could shoot the entire project in the back yard.

Sorry to be so typically vague, but at least I know what I mean. At least, I think I do.

More as we progress towards the first fictional piece I've worked on in...24 years. Too long, that's for certain. No details other than a tentative schedule of early July.

CHOOSE

CHOOSE from Man Made Wilderness on Vimeo.

This is one that came to me from good friend Craig MacDonald in upstate New York. He's been recording music with friends from his high school days, the band now christened Old Scots. They get together maybe once a year, but Craig has managed to produce an entire album of music with the three of them playing together, by passing digital files back and forth. The same was done with this video. As can be seen, the images come from four different sources, and I managed through the wonders of software to stuff them into a single format that is viewable.