Hard Bargain Production: Week One

Last night marked a momentous occasion for myself and for Guilty Witness Productions: we wrapped week one of our first film. As I celebrated with my Co-Producer and Director, Skylar Landsee, and two of our actors, Josean and Lora, we watched some of the footage from this week and talked about how cool it was to be really doing this. We're making a movie. I thought it would be fun to go through the week and talk about what we managed to accomplish and what stumbling blocks we encountered.

Monday was the first day of shooting, a night shoot in my livingroom and backyard. There were a million things to do before we could start: last minute costume issues, arranging make-up for the cast, and setting up the location. For many people involved in the production, it was the first day of actual responsibility, the first time some of our technical staff had even met some of our actors. The shoot went late into the night. As scenes in the movie go, it was the most chaotic, lending itself to the learning process of "first day of filming." Since it was a party scene, actors invited friends to be extras.

It was to our tremendous luck that a certain TJ Mendenhall showed up to be an extra and impressed us with his lighting knowledge. Since we're a lower budget film, we planned on relying on source lighting and basic lamps, but after an hour TJ was turning our basic lamps into a much more functional display. For day 2, he even showed up with his own lighting system, LED and stage lights that will enhance our production value significantly. Monday was also our first day with our sound guy, Justin, who is a wonderful contributor not only in terms of sound, but also the ideas and suggestions he has for our actors. Our director of photography, Tim Stafford, is new to the camera, but caught on quickly, getting some great shots. All in all it was a profoundly successful first day.

Tuesday was our second day, also a party sequence, although this sequence had much more dialouge and is much more central to the emotional weight of the film. If Monday was our first chance to see what our tech could really do, Tuesday was the day we tested our actors, who rose to the occasion profoundly. Tuesday’s sequence (referred in pre-production as “Betrayal”) focuses on the disolving relationships of the two main characters of the film. For one character there is a fight, and for the other there is only silence. I was impressed with all four of our young actors: Lora Blackwell, Ben Sands, Mitch Harris, and Josean Rodriguez. TJ impressed us once more with his lighting equipment and proficiency. As we shot the end of the sequence, we were all reminded once more why casting Ben and Lora as our leads was the right decision; at 17 and 18, they both have maturity and emotional depth as actors that forshadows bright futures.

Wednesday morning was an early shoot; we only had sound until noon and had several hours’ worth of shooting to get in the can. We were on the St. Edward's campus which was beautiful and easy to work with. We'd like to thank the University Police Department for allowing us to shoot and for having such a great attitude about us being there. We were lucky to have the location; the St. Edward's campus is one of the most beautiful gems of Austin. We shot a scene with Mitch Harris and Ben Sands that after a few issues finding electrical outlets and getting sound working produced some truly wonderful footage. We then set out for our second location and our first major roadbump: we were not allowed to use that location. We lost some time and some footage, but within two hours we had found a different location, worked out a re-schedule, and moved on to filming the final scene of the film. While discouraging, we’re certain that the new location will actually be better.

That evening we set off to film “the picnic scene” with Josean and Lora and ended up getting so much good footage we’re not sure how it can be edited down to how short the scene is in the film. The two have such great chemistry and the location was so beautiful that we could not have been more encouraged by the magic of what we shot. Not only that, but we were provided with an excellent surprize dinner from our location owner, Brandi Willis. Despite the roadbumps we encountered Wednesday, it was a highly productive day with a wonderfully uplifting end.

Friday evening finished out our first week. We shot at Genuine Joe Coffeehouse on Anderson Ln in Austin. If you havn’t been, I suggest it. They have a fabulous cinnamon walnut bread I suggest, wonderfully “Austin-weird” décor, and a great attitude; the staff was quite helpful and despite the fact that it was very warm in our reserved room (we needed the AC unit off so the mic didn’t pick up the sound) we managed to get the most stressful scene in the film done in only about three hours. At this point I need to thank Safaa, Linda and Daniel who played the “friends” in the coffee shop and party scenes. They were real sports about the heat and the time commitment, and I feel lucky to have had them involved.

All in all this week has served to remind me what great company I am in. Special thanks to Angelina Adams, Tessa Morrison, Marina Neil, Ashlee Willis, as well as Elaine Blackwell, Paulette Rodriguez, Priscilla Landsee, and Brandi Willis, without whom we would not have been able to accomplish what we have this week. We are blessed by the people who have dedicated themselves to us, who have believed in us, supported us, and made our dream their dream. Two more weeks to go in the production stage, and I am more enthusiastic than ever.

To receive a copy of the script, volunteer to be involved with the production, or make a donation of any size to help this script become a movie, please e-mail us at hardbargain (dot) thefilm (at) gmail (dot) com

Thank You.