Thursday, February 23, 2012

Setting Tourist Traps

Saturday:

Pop quiz: It takes an hour and a half to get to the top of the Empire State Building. It takes another hour to work around the crowds of tourists to get the shot. It takes another half-hour to get out of the building.

Total time spent: 3 hours. Total screen time: 10 seconds.

Now multiply this by Madison Square Park, the BX9 bus, Central Park East and yet another trip to Port Authority.

Your answer should be: total time spent: 6 hours. Total screen time: 30 seconds.

Ain't math fun?

Sunday:

One hour. One shot. One broken heart. M continues to amaze me with his ability to expose his rawest of nerves. I think we're both gonna need a good cry if we ever get out of this.

Next: We're going to church. No, seriously.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Smoking In the Boy's Room

The good news: you're filming near the film department of a major east coast art school. All the camera, lighting and electronic tools you could possibly want are at your finger tips.

The bad news: your location doesn't have a working power outlet.

Tip # 643: Don't assume that because a room has electricity, it has a power outlet. And if it does have a power outlet, plug something into that outlet to make sure it actually works.

Filming in a public restroom is always fun because you know eventually someone is going to walk in to use the toilet. In the case of Wednesday night, the magic moment of innocent bystander intrusion happened to be when M is sitting on the toilet and I'm on my knees in front of him. Having a camera in my hand probably didn't make things look any better.

This was only the second most awkward moment of the evening. First prize goes to M watching me record the sound of my urine for the soundtrack. Probably the most disgusting director's cameo ever.

Coming Up Next: Port Authority III: The Final Chapter