Production: Day Two.

Guys...I think we've created a monster.

Today was an even better day than Saturday for filming. I can't reveal much without spoiling the plot for you, but let's just say that, in the words of the protagonist: "Man...there's not a dry eye in the house right now."

I'm keeping this entry reasonably short. I'm going to try avoid rambling over my incredible actors, talented crew, or the script that I'm so proud I can say that I wrote. I'm going to avoid long-winded technical discussions. I'm going to avoid talking about how I might have almost teared up behind the camera while our actors teared up for real, or how Lily and Nathan are so insufferably cute that seeing them get angry at each other on screen breaks my heart.

Instead I'm going to sum it all up with a single line: we're making something truly beautiful.

I will, however, offer a few amusing anecdotes about production.

Something that separated today from Saturday was how streamlined everything was. There were almost no technical challenges, and those that were there were overcome with ease. We shot FOUR scenes with the helmet cam today, and even got one of them in a single shot! It's obvious Lily and Nathan were much more aware of the special considerations you have to make when shooting with the device, and our tech assistants (namely Greyson and Timothy) are also learning better how to "spot" the device. "Spotting" the cam is a great trick we discovered today where one person hovers behind Nathan while he's wearing the device, holding and helping Lily guide the camera.

We also got to use the Steadycam a lot today, which I was really excited about. Poor Nathan ran so much I thought he was going to die. Nearly every member of the crew got to make a cameo today too!

There aren't really any words that can express how happy I am right now. This film is coming together perfectly. In fact, if a particular tear-jerking scene today is any indication, I think it may actually be going beyond anything I had planned for.

What does the future hold for "Our Story?" I don't know, but no matter what, I think it proves something: we friggin' love making movies. And we might be pretty good at it.

New greatest day of my life,
-JD

Principal Photography: ~80%
Video Editing: ~10%
Audio Mastering: 0%

P.S.: Here, have some pictures!

Production: Day One.

Today at 8:15am, the movie I have wanted to make for five years officially started filming. And for once, nearly everything went exactly the way it should have.

Well, almost. We didn't get everything done we wanted to today, but damn, did we get some beautiful work done.

It was pretty obvious as soon as we left campus for filming that we were probably going to run late. And we did; we were roughly an hour behind schedule the entire day. Thankfully our first scene was not that difficult; it is footage for a montage later in the film, intercutting between two locations during a monologue. We whipped out the Steadycam for it and the footage looks absolutely amazing; too bad I can't show you guys...

In case you missed the Facebook updates, our camera did not come back on time as Sony had promised. However, Nathan knew a guy named Grayson Murphy who just happened to own exactly the same camera we normally use. I met with him yesterday and he's an awesome guy: funny, creative, laid-back, and enthusiastic. He was glad to let us use his camera for the shooting this weekend while Sony takes their sweet time, despite having never read the script before or even knowing anything about the project. He and his girlfriend were on set all day, holding out through long rehearsals, acting exercises, and technical setups. Grayson really helped out with our equipment and technical issues too...I can see him being a great working partner in the future.

Speaking of rough times on set, there was a particularly difficult shot today that we NAILED. It is a first-person sequence done entirely with the helmet cam that runs for around a minute. It took us fourteen takes and three hours just to get this one shot. We were all frustrated, hungry, and dehydrated, but then that last take came...and it was money. Pure money.

I must also speak of Daniel and Zaque. These guys communicate to actors in a way I cannot understand. I don't want to spoil too many details, but let's just say they work as translators for what I can't express in words. There were some incredibly intense moments on set, to say the least.

Our grip roles today were primarily filled by associate producer Melissa Raver and film clubber Timothy Snyder, who was happy to lend his hands and his pickup truck for transportation. Grayson's girlfriend Sophia was also pretty boss.

I unfortunately don't have any access to the production photos we took today, but I can instead offer some snapshots of the most beautiful footage we got today. Note that these are all spoiler free.






















































The second day of production is this Monday, September 6th. The schedule says we're going to start at 9:15am, but we'll see how it goes once we actually get on set.

Greatest day of my life,
-JD.

Principal Photography: ~15%
Video Editing: ~2%
Audio Mastering: 0%