Several weeks ago I answered a casting call on Craigslist. CRAIGSLIST, people! And was lucky to get an audition with Gabe and he was nice enough to give me the lead actress role of "Ophelia" opposite the lead of the story, Bjorn Whitney, who plays "Rafe" a soldier wounded in the war. You never know what you're going to get when you answer a Craigslist gig ad - and to be honest - it's against my better judgement. Not only for safety reasons, but for quality control as well. But after our first rehearsal when I got to know Gabe a little better, I left thinking, "this is going to be good."
But then the weirdest thing happened. The day before shooting, the AD sent out call sheets. CALL SHEETS, people! This is a highly organized form, sent via email, including ALL the info you need to know for shooting day. What, where, when, who, how etc. I thought to myself, "Call sheets? Only 'real' movies have the organizational wherewithal to send out call sheets! Who are these people? "
Then I show up on set last Saturday and it's the real deal. They have lights. Real ones. A real set. Real equipment! So we start shooting our scenes and it's going really well. We, the actors, have no idea what it looks like. What kind of camera were they using anyway? The DP's (director(s) of photography - i.e. the ones handling the camera and the shots) are these two 22 year old fresh-out-of-film-school boys who kept saying, "YES! THAT LOOKS AWESOME!" every five minutes. So finally they had us look at ourselves in the monitor and holy crap they were right! It looked awesome!
After day two of shooting, they posted these pics on Facebook and I absolutely flipped out.
For those of you who only watch big budget Hollywood movies or Independent features, you may not understand how many levels of crap there are in between. Especially on the short film end. Okay. Here's where I go ape s%it. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TALENTED THESE KIDS ARE? The Director and the two DP's are like the golden trifecta, the holy tripod grail of raw, God-given talent! Short films aren't supposed to look this good! And these pictures aren't even moving! Credit is definitely due to the fantastic lighting crew, the gaffers, makeup, the sound guys and everyone in between! It takes a village and I am blown away by not only their talent, but their professionalism, their conduct on set, their energy and their constant good attitudes and willingness to be there despite the heat and the long days. YOU GUYS ROCK. They all are my new heroes.
They made my job as an actor so easy. Coming from Hollywood it's easy to get high and mighty about projects you do if you've run with the big dogs a few times. But I have to say, I would be honored to work with this group ANY day.
Stay tuned for more as the project nears completion!
4 comments:
Everything you mention would all be for nought if we didn’t have talented actors to point the lights and camera at. It is a pleasure to have worked with you, Rachel.
That first photo looks like you and Darren Ward. he, he. BUT awesome, really.
So....when can we see it?!!!
p.s. I can't wait to show the primary kids your Shizam photo. Ha, ha...just couldn't resist Rachel, you know I LOVE you.
Wow! This is fantastic! You look gorgeous! When can we see the finished product?
i come by your blog now and then because i love it, and i just wanted to say a major congratulations! this seems so huge to me, a non-acting/non-hollywood person. i can't wait to hear more, good work. (this is lynn's old roommate and fan of your blog:)
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