Our short film is no longer a "short" film. After all is said and done, it looks like we're clocking in at an hour and fifteen minutes. Originally, we did set out to do a "short" but imagination and creativity got the best of us and we are now a "feature" film. We're happy about that! Over the weekend of Aug 29 - 30, we managed to shoot 3 scenes, one on Saturday and two on Sunday. We had a very productive day on Saturday. Call time for the crew was 7:30am, 8:30am for the actors and administration. However, we didn't start shooting until 11am, things happen, oh well. Next. I always enjoy the shoots at the Newark location, courtesy of Kesha and Alex. This amazing three story building was once a very active department store back in the 1950's & 60's. Kesha and Alex purchased it about five years ago and singlehandedly renovated each floor into three beautiful, ultra hip apartments. We shoot the scenes that take place in the main character's (Mike Andrews) apartment on the first floor, it's the biggest space out of three apartments in the building. The decor is very modern but minimalistic fitting neatly with that character's persona.
We had to make a few "on-the-spot" script adjustments that worked out fine, but as we were inserting new dialogue, I noticed that this script on our hosts Macbook was an older version of the script (I wonder who printed that out? Hmm?) so Amanee Rice, our new production assistant and I had to make a mad dash to my place to do the rewrites on the latest script and get back on set in 20 minutes! Fortunately, I live nearby and we made it back on set in 10 minutes. Phew! Once we arrived with the script changes, we quickly handed them to the director and actors. In about 15 minutes, they were ready to shoot the scene, "Quiet on set", Jerry J Cunningham, our illustrious director yelled out. "Action", he commanded as the actors began the scene. Watching Jerry direct is fasincating. He is masterful at taking the script to the next level, zeroing in on the smallest detail whether changing an actor's gesture or the way he would quickly reworking a line in sync with that gesture or movement. CJ Maldonado (Mike Andrews) and Amanda Yachechak (Jenny Rivers) are just great. It's a blessing when you find humble actors to work with. Jerry leaves the floor open for them to give their input and we all exchange ideas to make whatever scene we're shooting work. Juan Silva, our PA and budding screenwriter extraordinaire was on set for a bit to help out where he could. He's a wonderful and very talented writer, someone to watch for in 2010. After several takes, we broke for lunch (how'd you guess, Chinese!) and by faith everyone received their correct order. A few more takes, some different angles, sound bites and stills taken, the shoot finally came to an end. Everyone felt confident that we all did our best and it was another great day of filming.
For Sunday's shoot, we had to trek to Montclair, New Jersey to film two of the office scenes. It was a sleepless night for the crew but we had a job to do and managed to somehow walk into Sunday's dawn bright-eyed to say the least. But before we filmed at the Montclair location, we (Jerry and I) were on another project he was working on in New Brunswick, NJ. It's a short documentary that featured a section on the 60's R&B vocal outfit, The Four Kents. I had a great time interviewing this awesome group and they still had the pipes after 40 years of not singing together! Once that filming was over, we made our way to Montclair to set up. I hung in there unloading the equipment and taking it up three flights of stairs to the office we were going to shoot in. I was happy to see Amanee when she arrived and we began the arduous task of transforming the set into Mike's office. These two scenes staged and shot singlehandly by Cunningham is independent "guerilla" filmmaking at its best. It's a beast of a position to be in, solitary yet totally in control, never exactly following protocol but getting the job done. He's adept at conceptualizing a scene and with his quick fire dissassembling and reassembling of the script whereby the actors taking his direction perform in a more logical, streamlined manner.
Juan even stepped in the actor's role and filled in for the part of Alex Martin, cast originally for Joey Mintz. Joey called and said he was stuck in traffic and would be arriving around 5pm. We had a late call time anyhow and not to waste the moment, we shot the scene with the Juan portraying the character of Alex. He did a good job for his very first time at acting on film. This is "guerilla" filmmaking at its best! Soon, the other actors began to arrive, our resident comedian (we love this guy!), CJ Maldonado (Mike Andrews), the lovely Renada Romain (Debbie Alford), Steven Van Attema (Oscar) and last but not least, Joey Mintz. As I got them all settled, checking wardrobe and makeup, they started to prepare for shooting rehearsing their lines. Once they were ready, I brought them upstairs on set. By 7pm, it was all over and I was exhasted but we had to restore the office to its original state, clean up, breakdown the equipment and pack it in the truck. With all of that, we still maintained a high energy level. Where did it come from, God only knows! The important thing is that we got through it and we were happy with what was captured on film. We want to take this time to thank Mr. Eddie Nicholas and Mrs. Beek for use of their Montclair facility. The Wood Pit restaurant on corner of Bloomfield & Maple Ave, also in Montclair, for their great barbeque and hospitality. Our production assistants, Amanee Rice and Juan Silva, you guys are the best! Thank you so much for your time and support. Gary Powell, you know you are da man! Kesha and Alex, thanks for the use of your Newark location, we love you guys to death! And, lastly all the actors for believing in this project and bringing it to life. We, at JJCMedia.net applaude you all.
CB Flowers
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