Australia 2017 - Shooting Week

Right before things got crazy in preparation for shooting week, I was lucky enough to be invited to a party. Lindsey turned another year older (she likes to keep her age a secret even though I tell her secret to anyone who asks). A friend of hers works at a building in the center of Brisbane, so he got us tickets to an event his office was hosting to watch the fireworks for Riverfire 2017. There’s something called the Brisbane Festival and it goes for 2 weeks, and it’s in honor of the Queen or something like that. Nobody seemed to be certain. Not important. What’s important is that I got free food, a hat, glow sticks, a balloon animal jetpack, saw fireworks and a crazy chicken.

I also met some cool people. My favorite of which was a 12 year old girl named Lucia, who did a lot of cheeky winking. She taught me a new Australian word.

Lucia: Do you know if there’s a bubbler here?

Me: Like for blowing bubbles?

Lucia: (laughing and touching my shoulder like I was the child and she was the adult) Oh. Haha. No. It’s a drinking fountain!

This week I get to be a vampire, a policewoman, a stepmom, a sister, a coffee lover, a party guest, and a photography contest contestant. After holding auditions, the students in the School of Digital Filmmaking cast us actors in roles for their first short film project. The thing is that we only have a week to shoot these, so the hours on set will be a bit insane. The good news is that I get to do several lead roles, the bad news is that those particular films may be shot over the course of a 36-48 hour period. Holy cow.

Film #1: Just Fix It by Annette Lange. A girl with epilepsy has a birthday party, at which she has a seizure. Her relationship with her father is strained. He pushes her too far and embarrasses her, but in the end, they reconcile.

I was a party guest in this one, chatting at the dinner table, being shocked at the seizure, etc. We had a lot of fun, and I managed to get through the 10 hour overnight shoot without coffee. Unfortunately, there was an injury on set. I say injury, though most of the cast and crew were not concerned, particularly Jay and Rachel. While waiting for my close-up (just kidding, I didn’t get a close-up in this one), an ant attacked me! It bit my stomach through the outside of my shirt and when I tried to flick it away, it clung on for dear life. I had to resort to scraping him off with a bread thingy. A bread closer. A bread…cincher? Do those things have names? Anyway, it stung so much! And the redness kept spreading for minutes! Hopefully this will be my first and last animal attack.

On set in Australia, it's necessary to have every kind of insect repellent.

I learned that Sophie is the best 1st AD around and would hire her as such any day. She knows how to command a set, and she is also a genius snack presenter. After every set-up change, there would be more and better snacks! Like in the Bible when Jesus turned the water into wine and the guests said they had saved the best for last. Ok, maybe that’s blasphemy. She’s just good at her job.

Film #2: Apple Blossom Learns a Lesson by Lindsey Hendricks. Just kidding. It’s called Greenscreen. A millennial girl is too concerned with her social media presence that she neglects the important things, like love for family. In the end, she learns that it’s meaningless, and she should worry less about her image and more about what’s real.

Originally I was supposed to be a background jogger in one scene where Apple Blossom is taking photos of herself. But the actor playing her mother dropped out last minute and I was asked to fill in. I had only just rolled out of bed and gone to a meeting when I found out I would need to leave as soon as the meeting ended. Lindsey gathered up my clothes and makeup and ushered me into a van, pronto. I ate some grapefruit, and Hannah (who played my step-daughter) daringly ate a bowl of cereal as we bounced along to set. There was wildlife at this set as well, but thankfully not as unwelcome as the ant who bit me. This time it was a possum and her baby! Normally, when I hear the word possum, I also cringe, but these ones were super cute. I was mad that I didn’t have a fancy camera to shoot some photos, NatGeo style.

I spent the majority of the time watching these creatures, chilling on the couch, and memorizing lines for other films. Nate, who was Grip and Craft Services, excelled at his job and regularly filled my water and offered me apples and an array of other snacks.

Since I ended up playing Stepmom, I thought I wouldn’t be needed on Day 2 of shooting as a jogger anymore. But I was wrong about that. Lindsey needed bodies as extras, so we thought we might just make sure my face was hidden, but once on set (a trail in the woods where there is most definitely a pterodactyl – trust me I heard it) we decided it might be funny if Stepmom jogged past Apple Blossom to further annoy her on an already annoying day. That was a lot of fun for me because I got to improvise a bit. But it was quick and easy. I wipe the dirt off my hands! What’s that hand motion people do to signify they are finished with something? You know what I’m talking about. Finito.

Film #3: Windicity by Robin Remhof. One guy gets caught up in a life of crime and only turns from his ways when he unknowingly robs and almost kills his best friend.

My job was to apprehend the “perp” (as we say in the line of duty) alongside Ria, my partner. I got to hold the gun, and say “Police! Hands up!” Ria was in charge of the handcuffs. Upon first arriving on set, it was one million degrees Celsius, which was a great time to change into costume. Tight black jeans that felt like hot lava, brown boots to keep all my foot sweat from escaping, and a light blue, button down, long sleeved shirt (which I did roll up for style).

Then I got to relax in the breeze, praise the Lord, before finally being presented with a cop belt. That’s what they’re called, right? We did some takes, then got to eat pancakes, which Robin provided for everyone. A delightful treat. Apparently, I’m into pancakes now.

Film #4: The Thin Light of Day by Johnathan Schultz. A vampire falls in love with a human and has to decide between him and her intense vampire ex-boyfriend. She struggles with what’s right and where she really belongs, and in the end she kills one and not the other.

Guess what! I am that vampire. I’ve always wanted to play one, and here we go. The only problem is that from now until the end of the week, I will be shooting morning and night with only a few hours here and there for the next 4 days. The location we shot in for Scene 2 was a garage belonging to some YWAM staff. Some of the residents were on board and some were not. The first night’s shoot began at about 8pm and went until 3:30am. So we had to be extra quiet, which made getting angry, having a chair thrown and pounding a wall in the scene a little bit difficult. Hosanna, in my opinion, the boss (and winner) of the house, made us cookies! Wowy! Lindsey put a bruise on my face with some makeup, making me look hideous.

There were some technical difficulties, and the crew were even more exhausted than I was. Robin, the cameraman, was so tired he had to be carried to the van taking the actors back home.

Night two of shooting ended much earlier because of better organization. This one was a fight scene which was fun to learn, but a bit tiring to execute. I’m crossing my fingers that it looks somewhat real and not stupid. But seeing as how it’s my first rodeo, I’m not expecting too much from my performance. Hopefully in editing they can make it look coolio. Honestly, the whole night I felt like I was no good, and my stomach/intestines wouldn’t shut up either which also made me feel gross. Apologies to soundman, Nate, who listened faithfully to all my disgusting sounds. Thankfully nobody had to be carried off set this time though. Third night of shooting (on a sidewalk in the middle of town) was much quicker and we finished at a reasonable hour, despite having to wait for passing cars to begin filming. Yay!

Film #5: coffee for babes by Sophie Joy Campbell. Four (or five?) friends are having coffee together, each with their eye on something different. Will they get what they want?

Though I only had 4 hours of sleep the night before, I was surprisingly energetic. I play Tina, who gets coffee spilled on her, ruining her favorite dress.

We ran some rehearsals and then ate lunch which was bathtub tacos. Didn’t know that was a thing? Well, it is.

After going through only a few scenes, Sophie basically passed out from exhaustion. The rest of the crew were about to call it a day and send us all home, but they decided to band together and finish the film while she rested on the floor with ice packs. The lesson here is, don’t schedule so many shoots without considering time for rest. Hopefully they got the footage they needed to make this story come to life.

Film #6: Cheap Beginnings by Nathaniel Hegyes. A man in love enters a photography contest so he can buy a beautiful engagement ring for his girlfriend, but ends up learning that money isn’t important.

This was my easiest role yet. Other than the fact that it was raining, all I had to do was get handed a piece of paper and walk out of frame. Nate got a permit to film at the Botanical Gardens, which was beautiful. And Sophie lured passersby with snacks to keep them out of the shot. Teamwork!

Keaton protects a passerby from the rain with a clipboard while he stops her from walking into the shot.

There was a bucket of licorice on set, which I can’t understand.

But after only a few minutes of shooting, we were free to go back home. While Keaton shielded me from the rain with an umbrella, I saw a fashionable turkey, but he said, “No pictures” and scurried away before I could get a photo. But trust me, Australian turkeys make American ones look like hobos.

Film #7: Grounded by Keaton Evans. A young man is plagued by a fear of falling into the sky, letting his life spiral out of control until an encounter with his sister and an unexpected event helps him to begin his path to recovery.

I was really looking forward to being part of this story and I’m hoping it turns out well. The cast and crew worked in difficult conditions and really exerted a lot of energy despite the fact that it was pouring most of the time. Johnathan built a tent for the cast and equipment, which held up pretty well, until we were just about wrapped, and then it started to cave in a bit.

The story called for my character to wear a yellow dress, which we couldn’t find before filming, so I planned to wear an old yellow sweater, but as we were about to leave to go to set, I saw a new student on campus wearing a yellow raincoat! My heart was pounding as I introduced myself and explained why I needed her to give it to me. That’s not true. I awkwardly asked to borrow it and made sure (or tried to make sure) that she didn’t feel obligated. Just when I thought she was going to run away, she said yes! And thank goodness she did because once on set (the middle of a park) the rain rarely let up and I would have been even more drenched than I already was at the end of it. My feet were in sandals and looked like raisins at the end. Gross. The crew were so tired after a very long week of non-stop filming, but they soldiered on and I think managed to get some good shots.

I can’t wait to watch and see.