Hooray!..... I met some really nice people on a shoot 2 weeks ago..... So it shows that there are some Cool people out here on the east coast after all!
I got booked as a cameraman to work on this directors short film. The Directors name is Jonathan Millet and he is a very nice guy. He came up with this cool short story idea about a guy going to work & finding these boots that transported him into another dimension & time right into the middle of a war!
The whole short was done without any dialogue or any lighting.... We just shot with available light on my digital camera (Sony HVR-V1U)... & I think it came out great. Jonathan hired a DP named John who helped out on the first location of the day, (an office building) and also hired a really nice girl by the name of Crystal Perry that did, Make-up, Wardrobe & PA work.
The two actors Jonathan picked out were really fun to work with & seemed to really give it there all in their performances & we breezed through the entire shoot with no real snags at all. The actors names are Joe Gaudet & Olivia Hickey (all members of the Beanywood community)... They both played the roles of the Office workers.
Jonathan did a great job scouting the two locations. We arrived at the first location (the office building) at 7 AM on a beautiful & quiet Sunday morning only to find out that we were soon surrounded by hundreds of people going to run in a boston marathon!
It took us a little while to realize that we just had to work around all these people who kept getting in the shot. And poor Crystal had no idea that her day would start out with her having to redirect several hundred people trying to get in our way.
but Jonathan got his momentum up & we shot around the havoc of literally hundreds of Unexpected intruders walking by, driving by, walking up to the front door and asking us for directions on were to sign up for the marathon..... It just goes to show you that you can never tell what's going to happen on any given shoot at any time & you just have to keep on shooting & work with what you have.
Olivia Hickey played the role of another office worker coming to work & she looked the part of a young professional business women. (Only later on did I find out that she was only 15 yrs. old!... So she can certainly play a wide age range for any production). Olivia took direction from Jonathan real well & hit her marks & was very nice to work with. A very nice girl with a great enthusiasm for acting & it showed in her performances.
The second location was in Methuen, Mass. Some nice wooded, secluded area that Jonathan picked out for a good jungle scene. Our actor Joe, got all decked out in army gear (including fake weapons, that looked pretty real), while Multi-tasking Crystal put on some War paint make up to get Joe ready for the Jungle scenes.
Joe was great, take after take, keeping up his energy & acting the part, while running around in all that heavy wardrobe.... He never complained once, he actually said he really enjoyed his role & was looking forward to seeing the finished cut of this Short by Jonathan & didn't mind running around for a couple hours because this was such a cool idea to work on.
We ended the day with no mishaps.... Well, only one: (I fell down once while running in the woods for a POV shot... Thankfully my many years of training made sure that only "I" hit the ground hard... MY camera was perfectly shielded by my body that took the fall hard).
Everyone involved had a good time I believe & it gave me a renewed faith in the New England film community..... It was so great working with just a small cast & crew... No Ego's... NO Attitudes..... Just dedicated, talented & happy people. Jonathan said that we got everything he hoped for & then some...
A day well done. We accomplished what the director set out to do in telling his story... We did it on schedule... On budget... And WE EVEN GOT PAID!!!!!!!!!!
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished short once Jonathan is done editing. Thanks again guys & girls for making me realize that there are some really cool people out here on the east coast that are making films.
I hope to meet & work with many more of you out here.
Thanx's
Craig Amabello.... Cinematographer.... X-Hollywood Reject... and happy guy!
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