Day 2 - Most heard on set: "Where's My Phone?"

Today, we shot the climax of the film. Yeah, climax. So I had to stock up on white chocolate mocha coffee - because working on sugar highs is the best thing EVER. You jump up and down and talk really loud. God I love sugar highs. 

venti sugar high

You know? When you reach that peak and you just can’t get enough of it and just want – NO – need more? (I can't tell if I'm talking about sugar or climaxes). 

We had to do it over and over again, and every time it felt a little real-er, a little stronger, and a whole lot better (I'm pretty sure I'm talking about the scene). 

I can’t exactly divulge what the scene is about, but seeing the emotions fly across the kitchen was definitely a first experience.

There have been many firsts during this shoot – on my part anyway.

Directing actors may not come easily or naturally to me, but I definitely enjoy it. You give a little, and they give back so much.

Our two main protagonists couldn’t have been better, creating great chemistry, showing real emotions, and building real tension in the air around them. 

That tension~

And as for our secondary character, he gave us the most seductive eyes we could ever envision while his hands continuously made love to a guitar.  So, we basically had visual orgasms during so many of the takes. Blushing here, blushing everywhere.

It was supposed to be our most difficult day, but we overestimated the difficulty of this scene. We ended up finishing extremely early –

That being said, I do believe we captured the essence of what our film was trying to convey. Relationships aren’t as simple as Hollywood films make them to be. Friends with benefits – my ass. Prince charming – bite me. So, we’re trying to keep things real.

...right... effort from cast AND crew

Let’s hope that all our efforts (from both cast and crew) come together well in our final product.

Sex & Breakfast Day 1 - Wednesday 19th - LET'S DO THIS!

-Post should have been posted last Wednesday but these last days have been crazy. Sorry- 

Scenes and shooting schedule were organized. Equipment and food were in place. I had moved (literally brought a suitcase for four days) to the location. The sun just had to shine so real job could start.

Best location ever.

At 6:50am, I receive a call; Frankie was downstairs. There I freak out, my alarm didn’t sound, I was lucky she showed up earlier. I take a quick shower while she sleeps half an hour more. We start setting up, washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen, putting the black out in the windows, setting lights, everything was in place. Then the call:

“We are here.”

“Here, where?”

“Here at 5874”

…

We gave the wrong address to the crew and actors, twice.

The set clean and tidy wating for our lost actors.

They arrive 30 minutes later while we hate ourselves. However, the set was almost done; we could start in good time. While Frankie was directing the actors, Eva and I made sure that camera and set were ready. I look for a marker in a bag and I see a film stock box…

Oh… oh…

Oh-oh

Fak…

FUCK!

“I LEFT THE FILM STOCK AT HOME”

Seven film rolls, seven. Six of them 40 minutes away by car, only two minutes of film left in the camera, three whole scenes ahead to shoot. If you ever had a heart attack, I think I know how you felt.

First the address and now this, WE HAD OUR SHIT TOGETHER, I SWEAR.

"Now what?!"

I guess sometimes one really needs to follow that famous advice “don’t plan things too much because they won’t happen”.

"Hihi fuck my life."

Anyway, we would finish what was left and then go for the rest. Amazingly, we started to shoot only 15 minutes later than expected, and even more amazing, we ended half an hour before and there was still film in the camera. TAKE THAT “NO PLANNING” ADVICE.

Bolex bebé behaving as it should.

Frankie runs to my house. Meanwhile, the actors and our sound boy Andrew record some isolated sounds for sound design. Lunch break follows (today’s menu: Dagwood’s sandwich). At 1pm, Frankie comes in and the second part of the day starts.

Andrew in action.

Again, we overcame our expectations, half an hour ahead of time. Although we faced some lighting problems, everything went out well; even some tears were thrown out while rehearsing our saddest scene.

The day was over for our actors; we stayed for the last scene of the movie and of the day. Smooth beautiful shots, the day ended up as a success. We celebrated with a jar of sangria while re-checking our schedule for Thursday, hoping it was not just “first day luck”.

...AND, ACTION!

All about the Sex

What would you want to get from your special someone on Valentine’s Day?

Honestly, I’d love me some bacon and some sex. There’s no better combination.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any bacon, but it definitely got hot and steamy in my room. The sex was only suggestive, but the lights were really what made the temperature rise. I had to strip to my tank and our actors had to strip to their skivvies.

The first day of shoot is such a nerve-racking thing. I barely slept the night before, but I was full of energy this morning. Maybe I was nervous about the naked people who were about to get under the sheets the next morning, or maybe I was nervous because I’m a virgin at directing, or maybe it was because I didn’t know what in the hell I was going to feed our vegetarian/gluten-free actors.

Turns out, when you have a great partner like Ana, everything falls into place. We coordinate things really well together, we agree and disagree peacefully, and we get things done because we have the ability to get to our goal.

In addition to this, our lovely actors did a great job at performing their seductive roles which is what kept things classy.

Pepper: "What's that smell?!"

Once we finished making love to the Bolex for a rough hour and a half session, we shut the lights, and realized how famished we were. I didn’t get to eat my bacon - no one got bacon - but we definitely made ‘Breakfast’.

We spent the next hour in the kitchen and dining room enjoying a great meal that was collectively prepared by a cast and crew of four and our official sous-chef, a beastly dog.

Tip: Smoked Salmon is good with everything

My nerves are still racking but I think it’s because I just realized that I wasn't the first to have sex in my own bed...

Let’s hope next week’s 4-day shoot goes as well as this one did!