Yard Work (Part II)

Howdy all

We wrapped the shooting of my scenes in The Yard yesterday afternoon. If you read my hastily composed post from yesterday morning, you know that we were planning on shooting some exteriors. The idea was that we'd shoot my being rescued by the police in the morning, and then I'd be released.

Well, so much for "best laid plans" and all that. When I got on set, I was told that Jerry and the crew had to re-conceive the end of the film, because Sunday morning's light didn't match the light we had on Saturday (Saturday was overcast and misty... Sunday ended up being a lot clearer). They'd decided to move the action inside the warehouse we were shooting at... which meant re-ordering the shots. Consequently, I ended up being there all day instead of just in the morning.

As they say, however, great art overcomes obstacles. As the day progressed, it quickly became apparent that shooting inside the warehouse was going to make for a much more powerful ending to the film than shooting outside would have. Seeing me cower at the other end of the warehouse in front of a locked door as the workers poured in raises the stakes, and when the cops move inside, the sun back-lighting their riot gear and shields... well, it's a whole different scene.

I ended up having a longer day, but the film's finish is going to be a lot stronger than I originally thought. As always, the Screaming Inside crew rolled with it and adapted to the new situation with an admirable ease - I'm constantly amazed at the skill, professionalism, and positive outlook these guys have and engender in those around them.

Everyone kept their humor up and we still ended up wrapping early. Best of all, we all walked away knowing that the ending of the film was going to be 10 times greater than we could have hoped for when we started Saturday morning.

All that being said, I was one tired puppy when I finally got home. Two full days of standing on concrete floors in dress shoes and being under-dressed in a drafty warehouse (you can see my costume in the photo above... not the best clothes to be wearing in 40 degree temperatures) really took it out of me. I crashed hard, and I'm still feeling a little sore today. It's worth it, though, knowing that when the film shows at the Hollywood Theatre in June the audience is going to be blown away. And it feels damn good to have been a part of it.

I'll let you know when I get some production stills... so far all I've got is the shot above of me running from the crowd (for the record, that's a cel phone I'm holding in my hand - I've just called the cops). You can see a larger version of the same shot on my MySpace photo page.

Time for bed... have to go look at a location for From Kilimanjaro With Love tomorrow. Hope you're all doing well!

-Harold