The show must go on...

One chapter ends and another begins; we had our group feedback meeting with our teachers today. Didn't do much good, but at least it went down civilly, and I'd feared some kind of nasty row, but it was fine. It started getting ugly towards the end, but I put my foot down and asked that we just ended the meeting, because nothing good would come out of rehashing these issues. Kalle and I are on the same page, and Azigza is reading a whole other book. I'm not going to work with him ever again, and the feeling is mutual, so what's the point in arguing over this? At least we could all agree on that.

So now Kalle and I are editing the film. Azigza is making his own, just for himself, to learn more about the editing process. It was his idea to step back from it and leave the project, and we were more than happy about that. It sucks that it should be that way, but that's the way it is, and you're not always going to get along with people you meet and work with, apparantly. It's been a really great and educational experience and my overall experience with the whole project has been really positive. I've had great fun. I've discovered that Kalle and I work extremely well together and I want to work with him again. I managed to get through the shoot and do my job as well as keep on a straight face in front of the actors even after that nasty occurance on the second morning between Azigza and me, and everything that happened, one thing after another that just added to the pile of tension and frustration. On the one hand I'm really glad that it's all over now. On the other I just want to keep going, I want to keep filming, I miss it already and I can't wait to get started on my next project!

Being social.

I went for lunch with Min and Anja yesterday. And afterwards we went to a bath house and swam for a little bit, then went to the fun area with the slides and the opening in the wall to go outside (which was really nice, because the water was warm and the air was cold) then we tried out the big slides a few times (I was the fastest down!) it's the first time I've been in one of those places for a really long time, it was fun once we got into the water, but the changing room and showers still gets my walls up.

Afterwards we went to Anja's place and had dinner and got ready to go out. We met up with a couple of guys from school and danced for a bit in this rather posh place before they closed, and then Ayedin wanted people to come home with him for an after party, but we were really tired and decided to go home instead. But I had fun.

Min called me this "morning" and wondered if I wanted to come by her place tonight and play board games. I think I'm going and I'm bringing my Swedish design playing card deck with old movie stars on them. I've actually never used it (don't trust it not to get ruined or scattered if I were to use it with my family...)

We did it!

We finished the shoot! We got everything and it all looked fantastic, I'm giddy as hell right now! The film is going to be great!

The team ended on even worse terms than we began, unfortunately, and I'm not going to be a gossip and bitch about it here, but the photographer and us other two just didn't work together, and from that perspective I'm really glad it's over, and I am never working with him again, not a chance, for several reasons that will be left un-divulged here, and I'm fine with that and I'm sure the feeling is very mutual. I'm just annoyed because I thought I could communicate and collaborate with anyone, because I consider myself quite adaptable and empathetic, but it turns out I can't. I''ve met him and I've put on a semi-happy and professional facade and got through these past three days and got the result I wanted from the shoot, but never again.

Kalle, on the other hand, my co-director, has been amazing. He's the reason I got through the negative bullshit and was able to eventually shake off what happened yesterday morning and still direct, he's basically an angel and I loved every moment of us working together and I really hope we'll work together again.

The rest of the team, who assisted ours was great too, all in all we've had a really good experience and a really great time!

Martin, the actor who played the male character in the short, texted me after they'd left today and said to tell everyone thanks, that we'd all worked great and developed a lot just during these three days and that he'd got to do a lot of really difficult stuff and we should be proud of ourselves (now, that's the best mark one could get on a school project, wouldn't you say?)

I'll give you more details on the actual film and shots and stuff later, but now I'm beat. Good night!

First day of shooting "I was here"

First of all, you are not going to believe it, but I was on set at six in the morning today. Others were not. Our lead actress had to drop off her daughter at daycare and then catch a train and she got to the house at half past eight, so by the time we got around to shooting our first take of the day we were already two hours behind schedule. And we still finished an hour earlier than we'd originally planned! So yes, we were off to a slow, slightly chaotic start, but around noon we found a rhythm and we worked really well. We just had a few minor hiccups with the photography due to our photographer, but all in all the team worked well.

The actors were great once they were there and we all got into our rhythm and got better organized. Especially our little child actor, Anja's niece Hanna, even though she technically had a really boring day because all she had to do was lie in bed and pretend to sleep every time she was in frame, and then a few times roll over in her sleep, but she did great. She kept her energy and spirit up. She seemed to have a genuinely good time. She even drew the birthday card that we needed for the breakfast tray that the dad brings the mum in the scene (and she drew it the way she would have drawn it when she was six even though she's seven, because he character is six! She even misspelled "Congratulations" to make it authentic!)

I was really worried that we wouldn't have time to get all the shots we needed for the day, especially this morning when we still hadn't heard from our actress and she didn't answer her phone, but we did get all the shots and we finished ahead of time!

After the actors had all left I sat down and cut and pasted the storyboard for tomorrow and planned the shots around Hanna so she wouldn't have to wait around all day when she wasn't needed and around the hours we'll have of daylights (the shots with the window showing have to be shot before it gets dark, and the ones facing away from the window we can recreate the light in, it's probably our biggest issue time-wise, since we have good daylight between half past eight and three this time of year -- and it only gets darker! -- and the entire film takes place during morning and noon basically, besides one tiny scene...) and while I did that and Kalle and Anja started cleaning up in the kitchen, the rest of the crew fell asleep on the set upstairs! It was rather funny actually, they'd spread out on the few comfy surfaces that were available and just passed out, the sound girl and photographer shared the couch and the 2nd photographer sprawled out on the bed we used for the scenes!

I'm really happy about today. We got some great shots. Especially the ones of her in a coma in the hospital, the lighting was excellent and it looks beautiful!

I'm really excited about tomorrow, I don't even mind the early call, I can't wait to get started and keep going with, hopefully, the same energy and rhythm we found today, and also, hopefully, the same result! It's so much fun! I'm exhausted and my whole body aches or some reason (probably the tension) but I feel awesome!

Angels and cocktail parties

I never told you about my dad's guardian angel's latest adventure, did I?

Well, my mum was in town, she was supposed to babysit my brother's kids and then come and see me and stay over at my place and take me to lunch the next day before going back home... this was the weekend I was recuperating. And I was quite looking forward to the lunch and the pity I was expecting being dying and all (I get very immature and pathetic when I'm sick) but I get a text message on my mobile saying "I'm on a train heading home, not feeling very well" so the whole thing was cancelled.

Well, I was on the phone with her later in the week and it turns out she'd called my dad on his mobile, he was on the island, working on the new cottage I suppose, and my little brother was at home by himself, and mum just called to check in... well, my dad answers the phone, completely out of it, disorientated and sounding completely wasted... and my mum started panicking and thinking he'd "relapsed" and got drunk for some reason and started painting these horror scenrios in her head, what if something happens with Simon at home, what if something happens with Thomas out there, stranded on the island and completely incapacitated, etc (I take after her, I think) and she worried to the point where she was in a right panic and she had to go home, to be there for Simon so he wouldn't be alone if nothing else...

Turns out, dad had been taking a nap in the cottage and been slowly but steadily carbon poisoned (I think that's what it's called) from the old gas stove (I think) and what happens with that is that you don't notice anything's wrong, and you get sleepy and you fall asleep and then you never wake up... so if my mum hadn't phoned my dad and woke him up, well he'd be dead now! luckily though, she did phone and wake him up, and he was all dizzy and out of it and realized something was wrong, and got out of the cottage and opened the door and windows to get all the gas out. And once again, he made it out alive.

On my side of the world, our sister team has just finished their shoot, and next week ours is up. I'm really excited. I was more nervous and anxious before, but now we've tidied up the storyboard, we've started preparing stuff ahead of time, we got all the equipment to the house yesterday and started trying out shots and lighting, which we'll be doing all day tomorrow as well; we're going to plan every shot in detail before the shoot so that we don't waste any actual filming time on setting up and adjusting lights or angles, because we're literally not going to have time. We're going to have time to do a maximum of two-three takes of each frame/scene and maybe one rehearsal and blocking, but that's it. I'm really stoked though! I think we're actually going to be able to pull it off!

Taking tonight off for Annelie (my brother's wife) and her friend's cocktail party! I'm more nervous about that I think... but it'll be fun. I haven't had time to go second hand shopping for anything to wear, but mum brought my red dress with her from home, and I don't care if it's not a cocktail dress per se, that's what I'm wearing (even though I'll look like a scarlet woman...) and black "boots" -- yes, you heard me right, Cesar, I'm going in black boots, and not fancy heels, I'm sorry, but that's just the way it's going to be! -- I can't stay too long though, and I can't drink (well, the welcome drink is fine I think, but no more after that) because I have to get up early in the morning and start preparing for the shoot! So exciting!

story boarding.

We had our second major group crisis meeting today. We all got upset. But in the end, we came together and finished the storyboard and parted on good terms. That's a good day's work, wouldn't you say? We also decided on which actors we wanted and did some paperwork (well, I didn't, but Kalle did, so the group did and anyway it was done.)

Tomorrow we're assisting our sister group as crew. They've promised a long and hard day with definite overtime. So that'll be fun. (such luxuries... we need to be working overtime too, but we won't even get full time because our lady star has to leave early every day to go pick up her kid from daycare!) But they will be providing coffee though, so that's a plus. We have to bring our own food on the other hand, which means I have to magically cook a lunch box out of the red tea bags and ketchup and other useless items that I actually own at the moment since I haven't had the energy to make it to the store this past week and today I didn't have time before they closed for the night... I'll have to think of some solution though, I can't go all day on an empty stomach, since I did that today and I'm still recuperating from my flu/cold. (I have some Swedish crispy bread and Cup A Soup if all spells fail... don't worry!)

Red Tea.

Nothing like your reckless dad and his guardian angel to put your chest cold in perspective for you... I'll save that story for another night, though. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive. I did not perish in the swine flu. I have been sick (not with the swine flu, at least I don't think so...) more so than I ever remember being, but I'm feeling much better after a whole weekend of resting and watching British crime shows on DVD (Midsomer Murder and Wire in the blood) and drinking tea would you believe it

//rant follows//--> I found it, the one and only tea that doesn't make me gag! I found it the first time in Vancouver, at Death By Chocolate, and at Starbucks, but neither of those brands are available in stores over here and so I've been trying to find it again, going through all kinds of citric flavours because I remember the tea having a hint of lemon or something, and it was really spicy as well, not bitter but not sweet or fruity either... well, they all tasted awful and I was just about to give up, but then I was sullenly going through all the teas on the shelf in my local store one evening and feeling sorry for myself and there was this new sort of tea bags that were pyramid-shaped and it was red tea, or it's not really tea at all it's rooibos but it's called red tea, and I thought I'd try it and it's the one! Isn't that typical that the one tea I can stand to drink is the red one? Seems to be my theme recently... //...end of rant//

Casting is a nightmare. The girls are great and the guys are catastrophic. And the worst part is that my two class mates who are making the short with me have their heart set on this one guy and I think he's absolutely horrible and completely wrong for the part and I don't know what I'm going to do. I've demanded/begged for a second casting tomorrow and we've contacted three more guys, but I'm not even sure about those. There aren't a lot of guys in their 25-35s with a lot of experience in this town... I thought there would be, but there isn't. And most aren't right for the role. At this rate I'll have to rewrite the script and make it a lesbian couple... (one of the other groups did that actually, for the same reason...)

Busy.

Pre-production work is turning out to be really demanding and time consuming. I feel like I'm threading water and not much gets done despite doing everything at once 24/7... but at least we have a couple of actors to audition tomorrow, so that's something.

I had my big theatre school audition this morning. I was really nervous yesterday, but then by the time I got home I started feeling under the weather and then spent the entire night tossing and turning with fever chills. Not much of an improvement this morning when it was time to get up either, in fact I felt worse because I hadn't slept... but I made it into town and I stayed alive in the gruesome waiting room and then I performed the self-chosen Stepmom monologue without fainting, so that's good I guess... but in terms of performance value, I've done better and I doubt they were very impressed.

In school now. Back to work.