Day 12: Interior School: Visitors, 2 Glorious Actors, Art

Visitors!! It takes hundreds of people to make a movie happen. Some of them are actually on set, on the ground with us, actively filming; some are praying for us or sending good thoughts; but there are some without whom no film EVER would get produced or filmed or edited or released. Today we were honored with a visit from some very important people who helped us get this film made. Amy Lillard of Washington Filmworks, Kate Becker from the Office of Film and Music, and Senator David Frockt (with his charming and warm-hearted wife Rebecca). Senator Frockt (who is up for election, hint hint...) is one of the legislators who voted to keep film in Washington by helping pass our Washington Filmworks Production Incentive Program. The Incentive gives back to a production company some of what it spends, as long as those dollars are spent in Washington. It’s a win for the film industry and small indie filmmakers like Kairos. The incentive makes it possible for me to make movies about families triumphing over everyday challenges and sorrows, rather than superhero films with explosions. For every dollar invested in the arts, many, many more dollars come back to the local economy in the form of retail sales, restaurant sales, rentals, and jobs. I am so proud to be a Washington filmmaker, born here, raised here, and privileged to be making art here. I love telling the stories of my city, and trying my best to give back to the community that helped to raise me. And I’m so grateful for our civic leaders who understand the multi-faceted benefit that the arts bring to my home town and home state. And... Have I mentioned how incredible our art department is? Rachel Thomson and her team have done superb work all throughout the shoot. Today, in the classroom, was even more impressive. They have taken a 2018 elementary school math classroom and transformed it to a 1993 high school English Lit classroom. The bookcases are filled with Chaucer, Hemingway, Angelou, and of course L’Engle (grin). Literary quotes grace the walls, and pages from classic novels are mounted like butterflies in mid-flight, taking wing above the chalkboards, lifting us up and up. This is movie magic, and so beautiful. And the actors today...lovely and talented human beings. I am very blessed, and very grateful.

Day 11. We all got through it. With Grace.

It was a very beautiful and very intense day, and grace abounded in every crew and cast member. I am so very relieved that on this hot muggy day everyone not only got the work done, but got it done beautifully. I am utterly grateful to everyone. Ahhh. Or should I say, "Gaaah..."

Day 10, Kids, Kids, Kids!

We were at our school location, on a very hot day, to film kids on the playground! And much fun was had. A very good, but rather exhausting, day. We got to work for the first time with the wonderful young actors playing Charlie, Dana, Mitchell, Bradley, and Astrida, as well as many adorable background extras. Ron Leamon and Gerard Parr have really brought the early 1960s to live with their incredible wardrobe work. And everyone on this amazing crew, as usual, brought their "A" game (although Carlos forgot his hat...he borrowed one from wardrobe and avoided Cranium Burn, thank God). Sun block was liberally shared. Matt Rush and his team were kept busy building soaring sun protection/diffusion for the kids for much of the day. I have no idea how they do it so rapidly and so well. Any of it. I am just thankful. Everyone had fun, nobody skinned a knee at recess, and we got some amazing footage. I am privileged to be able to edit on Saturdays with our excellent editor Sana Gomes, backed up by assistant editor Kazuo Mayeda. It is the first time that I have been able to assembly-edit as I shoot, which is SUCH a luxury and joy. And occasionally there is a minor "oops" that I can go fix, if we are in the same location. Having an assembly of a scene cut together helps me see the bigger picture much more than dailies alone. To Larry's and my utter joy, Josh Henning is back from his excellent Kenyan filmmaking adventure! There was no time to hear his stories, as he had to go right to work. But I look forward to seeing his footage and hearing all about it. I am so...very..tired. With my achy bod, this pace is difficult sometimes, so my weekends, despite kind offers for fellowship, are usually all about recovery, and pretty bare of contact. I exile the cats from my bedroom and try to get good sleep. Sometimes it works. Today I was way too tired to even go to church, which makes me sad. But I need to be up at 5:30 tomorrow. I think a morning nap is called for. God understands. ZZZZZ......

Day 9: Hot Day Outside, MoVi Fun, and farewell to "Charles' House"

Today was brilliant. Not only did we get to work with two of Seattle theatre's finest folk, Suzanne Bouchard and Victor Pappas, but we also got to add our "Cody at Age Three" actor, the delightful Henri DiStephano. Our two leads were delighted to work with them. We all were! Over the last week we have shot many scenes in “Charles’ House”. The camera, the talent, and the crew have squeezed and swarmed through the kitchen and hallway and sitting room, creating shot after shot. Today, we moved outside again, as we did with the garage-sale day. The scene, several pages long, follows Charles and Alison as Alison’s parents attempt to dispense advice. So we used a MoVi, as we did last week, with Ryan, indoors. It’s a very cool rig that has 3 axles; which allows for stabilization - meaning that we can be move with the actors as they walk. The round rig that circles the camera keeps the camera from shaking as it moves. Technically, it’s called a "3X stabilizing rig", but we call it a MoVi for the same reason that we call tissues "Kleenex". The name "MoVi" is so well known that it has become shorthand for the camera rig itself. It’s an ingenious piece of technology. It allows the camera to swing and move in almost every direction. And it’s incredibly versatile. You can wear it, like a Steadicam, or you can put it on a jib, or a crane - or a drone. The tech was developed, in fact, for drones. We are so so lucky that we had Sam on set today to be our MoVi operator. He was working with FreeFly (the folks who created the tech) when it was being developed, so he’s been using this set-up for as long as it existed. He’s got his own company now, Motion State. Today, he wore the MoVi in a special harness that distributes the weight of the rig over the front and back of his body. As you can see in the picture, carrying something that big all day can really get uncomfortable. But, Sam says, it’s like backpacking; you learn the right way to carry it by doing it. Because of the MoVi, and Sam, we were able to add some really cool dynamics, like dropping from an adult eye-line to a child’s eye-line in one smooth continuous shot. Most excellent. Tonight there is a "Company Move", meaning that we broom everything out of the house we have been shooting in, and carry it to our new location tomorrow. My profound thanks to all the good-hearted, excellent folk who are lifting many, many heavy objects while middle-aged me comes home to write to all of you who are thinking of us and praying for the success of this story that is so dear to me. Every one of these crew members and actors shines like the sun. I am the happiest director ever born. It just doesn't get much better than this. Suzanne, speaking of my friend Lynn Redgrave, and showing a bit of her glorious classical chops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5o-SP_4B44

Day 8: A Delicate, Introspective, Beautiful Day

Could I be any more blessed?! It was such an honor to have Elizabeth Griffin and Zachary Griffin on set today. It was a joyful experience to have two of the people who inspire me, make my life possible, and inspired the making of this movie, join us on set, and meet our stars. And Alex Terzieff did more amazing work today. Alex is the best of fight choreographers for film and television. We met years and years (I don’t want to even tell you how many) and years ago. We’ve crewed together on many films, and he was a fighter and fight choreographer for me on "West of Redemption", among many other shows. If I had to describe the man, I would quote Madeleine L'Engle, and say that "he is like resilient pewter". Gentle, sweet, open-hearted human, plus absolute badass fighter and teacher of other fighters. All the film world hopes to hire him, and we have him right here in Washington State! You’d think on a day I gush about my fight guy, that I would discuss some intense action sequence. But, I’m not - instead, I want to tell you about the quiet, heartfelt intensity of our film set. Some days are full of sound and fury, but other days are about silent, focused concentration; bringing to light so much truth and beauty that I have to keep a box of tissues handy. Then, the whole place gets absolutely silent. When you see a quiet scene in a movie, you might imagine that it would be simple to film, with very little talking, and probably simple blocking. But, the truth is, those quiet scenes reveal not just the power of the talent and glory of the actors on screen; they also reveal the intense focus of many, many other individuals; the watching crew, feeding their supportive energy into that quiet. Crouched behind cameras, or tucked into corners, stacked three deep in a tiny space behind a light or monitor, or holding an eight-foot long boom mic overhead - silently, without shaking, without moving, without a rustle - for the length of the scene. All their energies silently focused on the work of the 2 actors in front of the camera. Which can be undone by, say, the loud rattle of frozen peas (remember Jean Harlowe’s string of pearls in Singing in the Rain?) or the creak of a wooden table. Normal, everyday sounds that you would never notice in real life, in film, can tear an audience’s attention away from the story and straight to the prop or set piece. Not what we want! So, the crew jumps into action. Today, the Props, Set Dec, and Sound departments leapt to the rescue, muffling the egregious groans of our wooden kitchen table. Now, in the final cut, the audience won’t be distracted by the cracking of old wood. The audience is free to focus on the cracking open of the human heart. Pictures: Larry and Carol, Lisa B. Hammond, (who was at that moment engaged in muffling the loud table with Bob Martz), Alex and Randy, Camera Friends, P.A. friends, the inevitable Carlos and Ryan stand-in shot, and lastly, Annabel Clark and the wondrous Suzanne Bouchard, in a funny scene with our leads (most welcome, after a day in which our female lead sobbed for most of the day; and most of us with her) - God bless her!).

Day 7, Intense and Powerful

Today we filmed some very, very intense scenes, that have me so emotionally stirred-up, because of their raw beauty, that it is difficult to sleep right now. And I need to sleep. When a story hits so close to one's own personal life, it is inevitable. Still. No matter how stirred-up I get by the process of making the art we are privileged to make, I am still hugely grateful for the opportunity to make it. Pictured: earth-mothers embracing earth-energy, Alex and his sweet daughter, Blake and Randy, Carlos and Haley, Ryan Rosenburg and me, The Glorious Cowans, and some wonderful Jeffrey-Trista-LeDawn-Nancy-Blake-Ashley energy. Alleluia for artists so gifted, and who have so honed their craft, that they can literally open up your heart to pain and grace and the power of human connection. There were very few dry eyes in the house today.

Kevin Article:)

http://www.latinheat.com/spotlight-news/kevin-alejandro-on-his-role-in-lucifer-and-directing/

Day 6, Hot on the Mat and a Jib Shot!

We were in the crawlspace again this morning - this time for an actual scene, not only voice-over recording. The crawlspace in our 1993-era house is a well-insulated 4’ by 10’ room, beautifully dressed by the Art Department to contain the detritus of our lead character, Charles’, entire lifetime. We dive deep into the Jungian mysteries of Charles' subconcious with this visual metaphor of the memories and feelings that he has squirreled away in the closet of his mind. In the scene, the utterly astonishing Ashley Zukerman, our Charles, does a deep soulful dive into the character’s past. AND, he manages to do it crammed into a small hot box with a big camera, a boom mic, our D.P., and our boom operator, Taylor Delph. Talk about talent! The glorious Kevin Alejandro arrived on set today for his ONE scene. I always love working with Kevin, whom discerning Geeks and Neil Gaiman fans know as Detective Dan Espinoza on "Lucifer". Kevin stars in our movie, "West of Redemption", which, to Larry's and my joy, will be coming out very soon! Kevin is a wonderful actor, which I why I was over the moon that he was willing to come up from LA for just ONE DAY to be in this movie. In "West of Redemption" he plays a tortured, soulful, returning veteran. But, today, he played a hunky Aikido master who delivers one of the key messages our lead characters need to hear. And we all had much fun! A Sound Moment: at 5pm today, the sound gremlins attacked. In the space of one two-minute shot, the intense summer heat fried a crew member's cell phone, and it called one of her contacts, on speaker, during a take. How often does that happen? As soon as she managed to turn it off, a neighborhood dog began howling. (A very large neighborhood dog, by the sound of it.) Not to be out-done, ALL the other neighborhood dogs began howling in response. There was a plane, a helicopter, and briefly, a garbage truck, as well, adding to the symphony. Thankfully, the shot was an insert of hands. No lines, just hands writing. Someone was watching out for us today for sure. And...we shot the end of the movie today. We still have four weeks of filming, but, today, we got to the end. It’s unusual to shoot the end first, but it’s really great for us. We are editing as we go on this one, and having shot the end, we know where we are headed. It will help guide all our choices. Today we also got to do our one, glorious, jib shot. If you ever watch the movie, you will know which one it is *grin* Hotness!! Our brilliant, stunning, and huge-hearted female lead Sarah Shahi rehearsing a stunt on the mat with Alex Terzieff, our Stunt Coordinator. (Everyone loves Alex, he is the best of the best, and we feel very very grateful to have him with us:) And a shot of me directing Kieran Walton, our "Cody" and Ashley Zukerman, our astonishing male lead, and Randy Suhr, our First A.D. Alex Terzieff, and Yours Truly, and Kevin Alejandro, in a gi, learning his stunt on the mat. And Shawn Shelton, Special Effects Makeup Supervisor, and Carol Roscoe, the star of our movie "The Dark Horse", and, unbelievably, my assistant on this one. I am so very lucky. And Carlos...what can I say, it was hot...

Day 5...A VERY Long, Good Day

Day 5: We had a beautiful, very long day, culminating in the Burning of Papers...I shall not tell you which papers for fear of SPOILERS :) Our male lead worked...and worked ...and worked in every scene. It must have been quite exhausting, but he never ever showed it, or complained. He is not only absolutely brilliant, a thinker, and a very hard and uncomplaining worker, he is also a mensch. Our lovely, smart, warm-hearted, and funny female lead absolutely shone in her scenes. I may need to just write that every day, because she is such a godsend to this movie... Some of the pictured crew are Camera Department folk. The grinning woman is Alisa Tyrrill, our D.P. The guy with the lens cap in his mouth is Ryan Brown, 1st A.C. - he who designed our monitor Mints Display. The Bearded Wonder is Mike Astle, our Gaffer. And in the back is Niall James, the Tall and Mighty Key Grip. The MoVi operator had to chase after our male lead up and down stairs at the end of the day...and did it brilliantly. The pretty lady with the lovely Astle child in her lap is Nancy Leonardi, our Lead Hair of Awesomeness. Our little indie feature, like every indie feature, lives and dies on the creative abilities of the entire cast and crew. Every day, we have hundreds of small questions, problems, and processes to be answered, solved and created. We put in months (and in Larry's and my case, 5 years or so...) of planning. But, sometimes, when humans plan, the angels laugh. A day you are supposed to shoot a garden party, the sky opens up with rain. Or, weather strands an actor in Boston due to flooding and flight delays and you must recast on the night before the scene will be filmed (thank God we got a great actor due to quick thinking by our incredible casting directors!)! We all have to stay on our toes. We have to be opportunistic problem-solvers, always on the look-out for solutions. Additionally, we all have to look out for ways to be efficient, economical, and elegant with our resources - cause we’re a little indie film. This morning, our excellent sound guy, Bob Marts, came to me with a great suggestion. Let me give you some context: we have some voice-overs that we need to record while our fabulous stars are in Seattle filming. But, every day we are on set filming, so of course there’s no time to go into a recording studio. A problem in need of a solution. Well, Bob solved it. Turns out, the crawlspace of the house that we are using for a scene also has marvelous acoustics. (Thank you insulation!) So, four of us, Carli Plute, our Boom Operator, Script Supervisor Andy Spletzer, our female lead, and I, trooped down to the crawlspace and jammed into our impromptu recording studio, and knocking out several crucial different voice-overs in a very few minutes. Efficient, economical, and elegant. Go Bob! And then there is Vicky Berglund-Davenport, our utterly brilliant Locations Manager. A genius at this incredibly-hard job. When you don’t have a big studio budget to build a sound stage to order, production relies on Locations to discover and secure just the right space to place the story. It was a special challenge to find all of our locations within a few miles of each other. The location that proved the toughest nut to crack was the home that would be the setting for the Marlow family in 1962. After many many....mannnnyyy weeks of scouting, and after trying out over ten different houses, Vicky found just the right spot. How does she do it? “I look at the outsides of houses and try to imagine the inside based on the outside. Then, I get some help from the Office of Film and Music, contact the resident, and ask.” Finding one house that fulfilled all the needs of our story was an epic search. But, our 1962 house has been found! I love the floors, the colors, the little bedroom that will house our young lead. The kitchen retains exactly the period look we need. The garden, ragged and overgrown, helps to tell the story of this family beset with larger concerns that pruning and weeding. We had been sweating bullets on this one, so today we are all filled with relief! And when we feel joy on set, we do have a 30-second Dance Party. 1962 has been saved, people! Get your groove on!

Day 4; Verrrrry loooong wonderful day!

Nuns! Bread! Corrie tears flowing joyously! SO many tears, because I was so very moved by the beauty of what our leads did, that I was kind of a mush-puddle at wrap (also, we JUST made the day:) and so I forgot to do the usual "Picture Wrap" ceremony for a very favorite human being that I have been privileged to work with for four precious days...serious DOH!!! God bless her, she said she forgave me, but it was very not cool of me. My only excuse is that I was quite emotional from the beauty of what she had majorly helped create. A very good day. Here are Alisa Tyrrill; my DP, and Mike Astle; my Gaffer, being amazing.