Who Gave the Trees Permission to Bud?

Weather. The nemesis of Location Shooting.

Rain. Wind. Sun. Clouds. Hot Temperatures. Cold Temperatures. You name it. It can, and does, affect a movie shoot. Any movie shoot.

Like another movie that was set in Ukraine -- Fiddler on the Roof (1971). In their case, they wanted snow. (As you can probably guess, they didn't get snow. Instead they had to settle for a light dusting of fake snow and have the characters dress like it was really cold!)

And when we were filming Under Jakob's Ladder? In our case, we didn't so much as expect snow, but we did want the trees to look barren... Winter-like. The scene was a funeral and funerals should be cold and lifeless, right?

The first week on set was very promising. The cold weather was perfect to keep the trees in line. But then came the weekend prior to filming this scene. All hopes were dashed. The weather just wasn't going to cooperate with us.

That weekend was very warm... And the bare trees started to look less bare. The grass began to look a little greener.

On the actual day of shooting the funeral, the temperature was 93 degrees Fahrenheit!

We had to pick angles wisely. Fortunately the actual trees that made it in the shots... well, at a distance the trees didn't look too bad. (Good thing is was windy that day. It would come in handy when we put in some cold wind sound effects.)

Maybe this whole thing could have been avoided if the trees had been given a shooting schedule!

Juggling Costumes and Such

Film: Under Jakob's Ladder
Name: Susanna Klumpenhouwer
Role: Key Costume Supervisor

Q: What was your favorite part of your job?
A: This was my first experience working on a film set, let alone working as a costume supervisor. I loved the challenge of it, the variety of what the job entailed and learning new things (like scene continuity). I especially enjoyed moments spent with the cast and crew.

Q: Describe a typical day on the set for you.
A: First order of the day -- check the call sheet and ensure that there were enough costumes ready for everyone who was on set that day, especially when it came to the guards and extras, as many of those costumes were shared outfits. Was a fun juggling process some days!

Secondly, check the scenes being shot that day and double check the scene continuity sheets for anything special that we had to watch out for (i.e. was Jakob supposed to be wearing his coat or not!) Learned this one the hard way!

Once the day started, and the actors were outfitted and miked up, the rest of the day could entail many different challenges and jobs, including uploading film clips to the computer, helping with props, costume fixing and troubleshooting, ensuring actors were on set when needed, helping with the camera cords, assisting with craft services, and the list goes on!

After shooting was complete, the final task of the night was making sure all the costumes were back together, fixed, dried out and on their proper hangers, and ready to go for the next day!!

Q: What were some of the challenges of working with the costumes?
A: Definitely troubleshooting the costuming of 25+ extras, who had come in costume for the most part, but many needed tweaking, adding onto and, in some cases, completely changing. Being creative in this capacity isn't my strong suit but luckily we had Lee helping with costumes. She was amazing in this area and saved me many, many times!!! Also, aging the prisoners' costumes and trying to make them as authentic looking as possible was a fun challenge, and was not as easy as it first sounded like it might be!

Q: What costume gave you the most trouble on the set?
A: Yasha'a costume after the rat peed on him three times! Trying to clean it while maintaining the same "dirty look" was a challenge! Also, there was the situation of Nikolai's collar on his uniform shirt. The collar was too big and didn't fit the look for a military professional. So we had to look deeply at his character's background and find a way to troubleshoot other options!

Q: Do you have any other anecdotes about working with the costumes?
A: The first time I had to use duct tape on the crotch of pair of pants that had split and had to be fixed quickly before the next scene was shot. For someone not used to working on clothing while they are still on the person wearing them, this was an interesting experience. Although by the end of filming, this had happened so often (in different capacities) that it no longer threw me for a loop!

Q: What did you enjoy the most about working on this film?
A: There were so many aspects of it that I enjoyed! At the end of the day, I think seeing the actors make their characters come alive -- and seeing the different scenes that portrayed such raw emotions in beautiful ways -- made me proud and excited to be a part of this production.

Q: How would you describe what it is like to make an independent film?
A: It's amazing what a few people, doing many things, working as a team, can get accomplished!!!

April Anniversary

A is for April. A is for Anniversary.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the beginning of principal photography for Under Jakob's Ladder. And so, we decided it was time for an update on what's happening with the movie. Time for our April Newsletter...

If you've signed up for our email updates, you should have received it in your email inbox today. (If you didn't get it, please do check your junk folder. If you haven't signed up yet, click on this link: http://bit.ly/cubecity_updates)

You can also go directly to the newsletter and read about the film updates here.

Happy Anniversary!

P.S. Can't seem to get the link above to work? Try the link below, or copy and paste it into your URL bar at the top of your web browser...
http://underjakobsladder.blogspot.com/2010/04/bring-on-inserts.html

Prepping the Barbed Wire

A year ago, we were in the last phase of pre-production for our feature film Under Jakob's Ladder.

By this time, the week leading up to principal photography, the crew was on the main set daily, prepping our prison. Both inside and out.

How do you create the atmosphere of a prison?


A little barbed wire... Or rather, a lot of barbed wire. After all, what says "prison" more than barbed wire?

We had to create fence posts and string the barbed wire around the location of our prison yard. We even created a portable barbed wire "fence" -- something we could easily hold in front of the camera when we needed some barbed wire in the foreground of a shot. (Also helpful when we were at a different location filming prison exteriors.)

Now all we needed to add to the barbed wire were... some prison guards!

Boots Before and After

As you can see, the boots the prisoners wore on the set of our feature film Under Jakob's Ladder took quite a beating during the filming last year...

BEFORE
AFTER

A Phonograph That Actually Works

Since we're on the topic of props this week...

This is the story of one particular prop needed for our feature film, Under Jakob's Ladder... A phonograph.

Our team searched everywhere to find the right phonograph for the movie. Ebay. Craig's List. We asked around. A friend of a friend had a photograph, but she didn't want to lend it to us. Another friend had one, but it wasn't the kind we were looking for.

We toyed with the idea of buying one without a horn. But we wanted -- needed -- a phonograph with a horn. So, we looked into buying a phonograph horn separately. One that we could attach. (When it all came down to it, this was going to be one of those expensive props.)

But then we found a phonograph that had been put up for auction on ebay... It looked right. We bid. We got it!

But then...

We found it was a dummy. Basically a cover for a modern radio, CD player, etc. But that wasn't the worst of it. The turntable didn't turn! We definitely needed the phonograph to turn. While it didn't matter if the phonograph could play any music -- all music would be added in post-production -- we did need the thing to turn.)

We looked back at the ebay seller's description of this "phonograph". There was definitely no mention of any of this information. So luckily, because of this, we were able to send the "phonograph" back and get our money refunded.

But that left us phonograph-less. Until we got word that a friend of a friend had an old phonograph sitting in a basement somewhere. This phonograph was dug up, and guess what? It turns out that this one was even better looking than the dummy-phonograph.

Did it the turntable turn? Yes.

Did it give us any trouble? Well... That's another story!

Props, Props, Everywhere

Film: Under Jakob's Ladder
Name: Diane Hupcey
Role: Props Mistress

Q: Explain your job on the set.
A: Basically I organized the props. Everyday I would check which scenes were being filmed, get the props for each scene and make sure they were ready to be on set. I would also make sure the actors had their personal props and collect them at the end of the day. Sometimes easier said then done.

Q: Since the film takes place in the late 1930s, you had to find "historical" props. Where did you get a lot of them?
A: For the props which needed to be authentic and seen up close, we searched on ebay (i.e. eyeglasses, matchboxes and flashlights). We also spread the word to friends and family about the types of props we needed and many people came through for us. It's amazing what people have in their houses. Some props had to be handmade, such as the embroidered handkerchiefs, the Bible scraps (which Maria had to research), and the infamous letters to Jakob. There were also the fun trips to junk shops, antique stores, the Salvation Army, and Goodwill.

Q: Do you have any anecdotes about working with the props?
A: I think the funniest part of props was trying to collect and reset the chess board in the prison. The chess pieces would continually be scattered across the floor which was covered in dirt and hay. I would be searching for acorn tops and rocks (which were used as homemade chess pieces); and before I knew it, cast and crew members were crawling around on the floor with me yelling - "Found one!"

Q: What was the hardest prop to find?
A: The hardest prop to find, hmmmm. I know, Karl's spoon! It is so hard to find spoons with ridges on the handle. One ridge, no problem. Covered in ridges no problem. Two ridges, very hard. I think I collected around three spoons which could be interpreted as having 2 ridges. I then let the powers-that-be decide.

Q: What prop gave you the most trouble on set?
A: The firearms were the most trouble. They needed to be locked up and kept safe. A couple of the cast members are involved in law enforcement and very kindly taught me the correct way to pass a weapon to someone, showing the clips and chambers were empty, etc. The keys to the gun case and car trunks were also held by others so I would track down the right person with the keys before I could get the weapons. It made for a lot of running around. It was also a matter of keeping my eyes on the weapons and making sure they were taken care of and stored properly.

Q: What did you enjoy the most about working on this film?
A: Easy question -- the people. All my crew buddies and I were strangers when we began and after four weeks they became dear friends. And those crazy actors, gotta love 'em. We all keep in touch on Facebook.

Q: What gives you inspiration?
A: My first inspiration is wanting to do a good job and do justice to the quality of the production. My second inspiration came when I saw how hard EVERYONE was working to do their very best also.

Q: What was your favorite prop for the film shoot?
A: My favorite props were the hand-embroidered handkerchiefs! It was a creative and hands-on project for me. I researched monogrammed embroidery styles and had to teach myself how to do this type of embroidery. I then tea-dyed the completed handkerchiefs which changed the color of the material and embroidery floss amazingly. It was a very satisfying project.

Q: If you were to give advice to someone who wanted to work on a film in the props department, what advice would you give them?
A: BE ORGANIZED!!! And get the word out to as many people as possible about needed props. Also you need to start several months before production because searching for and building props is very time intensive. Also, remember, you will need several copies of props that will be ripped, burned or (LOL) eaten, 'cause guess what, you don't always get a shot on the first try!