Film Day 2 -- Cold, Wet, and Windy

Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Location: Exterior -- Prison Yard -- Night
Film: Under Jakob's Ladder

Did we happen to mention that the first day of shooting was cold? Well, that was nothing compared to this, our second day of filming! (At least on Tuesday we could be indoors.)

But Wednesday. Wednesday's weather forecast not only told us it would be cold, but it was also calling for rain. Remember, we were going to be shooting exteriors on this day...

So, that morning and early afternoon, in preparation for the coming rain, we rigged up tents and tarps. We kept large black garbage bags handy to cover the equipment.

Well, did it rain? The answer is, yes. But, looking on the bright side of things, it could have been far worse. The rain really didn't last long. It only helped to make our prison yard a little muddier. And slightly more miserable.

Actually, the wind was probably more of a trouble-maker.

The scene we were filming called for the prisoners to stand in line, waiting for someone to be executed. That night, the actors didn't have go very far to get the inspiration they needed to act cold and miserable... (Although, we did try to alleviate their misery a bit. Some of the crew stood by with blankets and coats in hand so that, between takes, the actors could be... a little less cold.)

Everyone was probably a little relieved when wrapped for the night.

Film Day 1 -- A Cold Beginning

Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Location: Interior -- Nikolai's Office
Film: Under Jakob's Ladder

Our first day of filming...

And it was very cold and damp. Not only outside, but also inside. In fact, you could see our breath as we were filming.

Hot coffee, hot tea, and hot chocolate held new meaning for us that day. (Actually, it kinda reminded us of the auditions we held for the extras back in March!)

We didn't have a whole lot of actors for filming on this date. Basically, it was just Jakob (played by Jeff Stewart) and Nikolai (Christopher Elliott).

And, as you can see, not too many photos were taken that day. (The top photo was taken for continuity purposes!) We don't seem to have any photos of Jeff Stewart from this day. Oh well, our priority on that Tuesday really was to capture the movie images with the Red camera. (That way we'd have a movie, rather than just a bunch of production stills...)

Compiling Photos and Such

We're beginning to compile some blog entries that deal with each of the days we filmed UNDER JAKOB'S LADDER this past month.

Right now, though, we're busy with tying up all the loose ends that inevitably happen after you wrap a movie (like trying to get a start on the editing process, for one thing). We'll probably spread the blog entries out over the next few weeks or so.

Stay tuned. We should have Film Day 1 ready by Monday.

Or Tuesday...

(Or maybe we'll just stick in another guest blogger.)

Memories of a Film Shoot

Guest Blogger: Maria Antonia -- aka Maria-Bernadette
(Production Coordinator, Script Supervisor -- Under Jakob's Ladder)

After four intense weeks of filming, the shoot is finally over. And while much of it seems like a blur, here are five things that I will forever associate with the making of this movie.

1. My ever disappearing pencils. I had some very nice pencils at the outset of the film shoot. But for some reason my pencil always seemed to disappear on me, usually right before a take, just when I needed it to line the script. So out came a new pencil. (Or I'd have to borrow a pencil from Beth or Susanna). Where did all those pencils go?! (My ruler was another one for disappearing on me. Do you know how hard it is to line a script without a ruler?)

2. My computer corner. It was way up on the third floor of the big, beautiful, Victorian home the crew stayed in. I spent many an early morning and late night in that cozy nook, working on all those daily call sheets.

3. My "aunty" hat. It was pretty cold throughout most of the film shoot, so I wore this brown knit baret. When our Art Director, Ruth, first saw me in it, she said the hat made me look like somebody's aunt. To which I replied, "Ruth, I am somebody's aunt."

4. My brown pants and sneakers. I wore the sneakers every day of the film shoot; the pants, well, I wore practically everyday we were filming, since they had the right kind of pockets that I needed on set. And although the pants did take an occasional visit to the washing machine on weekends, the sneakers had no such luck. Remember, we spent a good majority of the shoot in our very dusty prison. But if the actors could wear their same, dirty prison clothes day after day, so could I, right? (Note: after we wrapped, the pants were washed. The sneakers ended up in the garbage. Poor sneakers.)

5. My new name. On our second week of filming, we had two people named Maria on set: Chef Maria, and me: Maria-Bernadette. Where did the "Bernadette" come from? I blame Beth. (And maybe Boris.)

Random Top Ten from the First Two Weeks

This Novice Costume Mistress’s Random Top Ten from the First Two Weeks...
Guest Blogger: Susanna Klumpenhouwer
(Key Costume Supervisor -- Under Jakob's Ladder)

1. In my role as "Costume Mistress", I have had the challenge of finding costumes for background actors when you have a couple dozen people show up in outfits that don’t quite fit the era we are working in. Thank goodness I have "Lifesaver Lee", a local woman with a lot of theatre and costuming experience -– she has been an amazing asset to the costuming area!

2. Sharing one bathroom/shower with 15 other crew/cast in close-living quarters, sleeping on mattresses on the floor/squeaky cots. Enough said.

3. We had to rake up and level our outside prison yard area. I’m pretty sure that at one point and time, this used to be someone’s garbage dump as we came across many interesting "treasures" and lots of broken glass, garbage and everything else you could imagine. The one worry we had was possibly coming across a dead body and how we were going to be able to cover it up, so the film schedule wouldn’t be interrupted... Fortunately, this wasn’t an issue we had to worry about!

4. I’ve had some fun repairing costumes on actors as they are still wearing them. So far I haven’t "safety"-pin pricked anyone -– but there are still two weeks to go!

5. I got to release some of my pyro tendencies one day. I had to burn paper to make ash for the prisoners to wipe on their face and hands for their makeup. At one point the flames in my bucket got a little high and I almost sacrificed my hair as well...

6. Working 13-15 hours days with a 15-minute supper break –- definitely a hard working, grueling schedule. But we have an amazing crew who give 157%. We have also had to work on some unseasonal hot days!

7. See #2.

8. To get the prisoner costumes ready for their roles, we had to do lots of distressing of the fabrics. This included rolling around the dirt in the backyard, while wearing the costumes, and playing in the mud for hours with the prisoner boots. I’m sure there were moments that, if I had somehow started foaming at the mouth and someone saw me, they would have summoned the CDC.

9. The second day of shooting we were outside in the freezing rain/snow and our poor prisoner actors had to stand for hours in a line. At this point I put on my "blanket girl" hat and every time "CUT" was yelled, a couple of us ran around putting blankets around almost all the guys trying to keep them semi-warm.

10. Working with the actors –- they have been an amazing group to work with, lots of laughs, great acting, and they always bring their costumes back to me on the hangers.

A happy Costume Mistress is a happy film set.

Fine… Not really. There are many more aspects to it, but in my world it works!