Filming - Day 6 & 7

Yesterday we continued filming on Lakeview Ave. We focused on a couple scenes in front of the Doherty house. One of the residents has graciously allowed us access to her yard and house so we can film. The scenes take place in the first act of the film and feature Brady playing soccer with Tyler and Ben and the first meeting between Maddy and Brady. These scenes have lots of dialogue and take a while to film. We have to take numerous shots of the characters which requires us to move the camera around quite a bit. We also frequently move all our equipment around in order to stay out of the shots, especially those looking out on the street. We keep all our equipment on heavy duty carts though, so it's not too hard to pick up and move everyone. We also had some rain but it didn't last long and we were able to finish the day.

Today we moved over to Lake View Middle School to shoot the soccer game scenes. We had over 200 extras and two youth soccer teams out there so it was quite chaotic. The kids are only 8 years old so they can be a bit difficult to direct and handle. They don't quite understand why we have to stage all the shots. One little girl even asked me at one point if it was the fourth quarter yet.

A big storm came in during lunch so we lost most of the extras and had to move inside. Unfortunately, our cover set (usually an indoor set that we can quickly move to when weather turns bad) was poorly planned and one of the kid actors wasn't even on set. We set the shot up (a short little shot of Tyler, Sam and the other kid sitting outside the Principal's office) and then spent an hour or so waiting for the kid to arrive and go through wardrobe and makeup. After that we had to wrap early, so we'll continue the soccer game tomorrow.

I said earlier that I would be playing the role of the referee, but unfortunately I can't due to SAG rules. However, Amy graciously put me in the role of "Opposing Team Coach" and so I now have a non-speaking role and will be seen in the movie. I was really excited about that. It was funny being the coach after spending all those years as a player.

Anyone who thinks making these movies is simple is beyond wrong. We spend 12 hours each day on set, most of which is spent just setting up the shots. We may work all day and only film a few minutes of the movie. There's just so many little things that need to come together perfectly in order to get a shot off; the camera crew has to set up, the lighting needs to be manipulated, the actors have to be blocked, the set has to be dressed, etc... It's hard to appreciate until you see it in person. Fortunately for all of you we have an excellent group of people filming a bunch of behind-the-scenes material so you'll get to see what all goes into making a film.

Check back this weekend for another update.