filming 101

so, last night i filmed my butt off. it was the first filming day of this process. my dear sister, beth, was also acting alongside me. it was a great experience for her. it's her first acting experience in an independent film. she's used to filming school movies, or just fun little movies with friends. this was definitely different for her, in a great way.

however, her part is already wrapped (meaning, she's done filming for this movie)- she played a minor character alongside my character. and she did great. the crew filmed from 6pm til midnight. a long evening, but so worth it. we filmed in the cold the whole time. filmed one scene which took a few hours (brr!), went back to the director's (Nick Friesen) house to warm up (hot chocolate!) and prepare for the next scene, then went back out into the cold to film the next scene which took another couple hours.

do you want to know how the filming process works? well, first of all the director and producer have to organize the shoot. this includes working around actor's schedules, organizing which scenes to do and when, figuring out wardrobe and what days certain wardrobe is needed, and so so much more... i have no idea just how much more work is put into that. so, once everything is organized and it's time to film it, this is the next process: wide shots (shows all primary characters in a scene- not a close-up)- do a few runs of the wide shot til the director is satisfied with what he's getting. next is medium shot (from waist up on primary characters- a little closer than a wide shot)- do a few runs of the medium shot til the director is content. next is close-ups, run those a few times. then there is extreme close-ups (not always) and run those again a few times. so, if you do all these shots for each scene it takes quite a while! and if you have a few parts in each scene (or a few characters) it takes even longer. but the more times you do it, the more into the character you get. so, usually the best shots are the middle-last shots. it takes a while to get into it. but once you do, LOOK OUT! it's such a rush.

so, last night we shot two scenes. the first one (which is the second last scene in the film) was with my character and the director's character (he played a minor role- but had a major impact on my character). we have good on-screen chemistry. we've done scenes together before- and i love acting with him. i love being directed by him! he's amazing. so, we had a scene together and he had to beat me up by the end of it. of course, it's all fake, but it worked really really well! my legs are a little sore today from the cold and from the fake fighting. but other than that, it's great! and the next scene i did (which is with bethany- it's the last scene in the film) was on a swingset. beth did great, she was a bubbly teenager who was kinda lonely. and my character had just gotten mugged- didn't really care to hear about her story. my character was near tears by the end of the scene- which i was happy with because i was worried that i wouldn't be convincing. but i was very satisfied with how i did. of course, it took a while to get into the groove of the character, but once i was in, i was in! the crew is just so encouraging too. they affirm me every shot, which makes me feel better about how i'm doing. and they crew is amazing at what they do. they were quite amazed with the fact that beth hadn't taken any acting lessons. i think they really like the mcmahon girls!

anways, this post is quite long enough! i'll keep everyone posted on how filming continues to go. and maybe eventually when i've got more time, i'll fill you in on what the film is about! over and out!