We got a ton done over the weekend and I'm so proud of what we accomplished. It was our first time shooting outside, since it is officially Spring. Thankfully, the rain during last week washed away the remaining snow. And although we had to contend with a bit of drizzling and temperatures in the low 40s, the overcast weather resulted in some beautiful footage.
On Friday, we shot a scene in a car (courtesy of our AD Matt's brother), scenes outside and inside the news station where Burgh works (aka my apartment building), and a scene outside a prom venue (also my apartment building). It was the first (and only) day we had Gwen Albers on set, playing local TV personality Lisette. We managed to knock out 15 pages in 12 hours. Aside from the usual annoyance of constant NYC noises to contend with, it was a surprisingly smooth day! (Shout-out to friend & filmmaker Michael Day for posing in our fictional Morning Program poster with Lisette and appearing in the background of a scene!)
See behind the scenes of the day:
And check out these exclusive Stills from our raw footage.
Saturday was a fun one. We got to throw a senior citizen prom. It was a 12 page scene with 8 characters, multiple extras, and a huge venue to dress and manage. It's a funny & sweet scene that I was excited to dive into and am happy with how it turned out. That said, this is the day I most felt our budget constraints and the (too) many hats I wear. We originally planned to shoot this scene over two days; giving us one day to fully dress and block the scene and get wider shots including the extras, and then spend day two with the core cast and chunk of dialogue. But an actor conflict came up for next weekend, forcing us to move something planned for this Friday to last Sunday. This meant having to get everything done for prom in one 10 hour day (which included two meal breaks). I had to throw a bit of our shotlist out the window and make some creative sacrifices. The producer in me took precedence over the director more often than I wanted. That said, we made our day, the performances are excellent, the location looks beautiful on camera, and we got everything we need to give the scene life. I'm really grateful to the crew that made this day possible! (Shout-out to my cousin Lauri and her friend Kenny who secured us the Lynbrook Fire Department event space.) Also, on the plus side, since we moved what was meant to be this Friday to last Sunday, we now have more time to devote to our donkey next weekend! (More on that later.)
See behind the scenes of the day:
And check out these exclusive Stills.
Sunday was a busy but super productive day, as well. We had less coverage to worry about even though we shot 3 scenes with 6 actors in 3 locations. In total, 9 pages over 10 hours. (Shout-out to actors Sarah Haruko and Ricardo Manigat, and one of our 1st AC's Diana Molina, who we wrapped this day. And extra shout-out to Ricardo whose baby girl Colette was born over the weekend!) We first shot a really funny scene between Annie & Cassie outside Annie's picture house (shout-out to my cousin Lauri, again), then 2/3 of a scene that involves the donkey (the rest to be shot next weekend) in the woods outside my extended family's house (shout-out to Joan & Larry Berger), and then a really sweet scene that I can't say anything about right now in my mom's backyard around the shed (shout-out to my mom and stepdad Jay, plus Jay's friend Jim who helped him build said shed). That shed will be in full use all of next weekend when our donkey, Cinnamon, is on set (with her mom Susie in tow).
See behind the scenes below:
And check out these exclusive Stills.
This weekend is our last of principal photography! Friday's not looking too great for us in terms of rain, but fingers crossed the weather holds up and gives us warm, overcast (but not wet) days all weekend for our exterior donkey days! Be sure to follow on social media if you're not already because we'll be live streaming lots of Cinnamon & Susie on set!
-Christina