shoot, day 1

these are random, uncollected thoughts so bear w/ me:

day 1 of shoot is done. day 2 is next saturday. this was big though b/c a) 1st day of shoot b) shooting at location that took me months to finally nail down the particulars of. i had been worried about crew size, ie next to nil, since a problem on 'good food' was not enough crew, but it all worked out. given the tiny exam room (where we shot probably over half the day) and further given the facility contact who was hyper-concerned w/ the machinations and movement of every crew and cast member lest they accidently touch, move, brush against, or otherwise come in contact with any file, sign, item and alter it - it worked out to have such a small group. It was the DP and his assistant (for lack of better, she was also at various times, boom operator, script supervisor, footage logger) and that's it. Plus margaret who fetched coffee and lunch and tried to calm/reassure facility contact throughout day. Plus me, plus 5 cast members. We wrapped 2 cast members in short order and then moved into exam room.

for this one, versus 'good food', i found that i have more long shots, wides and/or masters that i'm going to hold in the edit. ie, less master then covered w/ singles on each person. it just kind of happened this way but it feels appropriate to the characters/scenario of this. had a on-set idea to pull away from man/wife as they're walking down hall - post doc exam - and since walking w/ camera was too shaky we put dp and camera in an office chair and i pulled back after action, running, as dp was zooming out. looks great.

couple self-criticisms: i'm learning that my focus ebbs as the day goes on. after the meal on this film and last, my mind gets more diluted w/ what we've shot already and it's harder to remember what i need versus, what we've rehearsed, versus, what we get. in keeping w/ that, i find myself settling for things that work versus things that soar. also, i felt like maybe i'm too vocal in giving notes to cast in front of everyone. maybe that should be reined in a bit.

all in all, a great day. cast all worked, location worked, shots look great. can't wait to shoot next saturday and
begin putting it together