Wrapped!

We finished the shoot yesterday with a half hour to spare. I met my stepmom, brother and kids down at Alki and took them to dinner at Pegasus.

Despite some logistic challenges and a certain amount of sleep deprivation, I think we made it through remarkably well. The weather cooperated perfectly. Thursday & Friday: clear. Saturday: clear. Sunday: pouring down rain, which, although it was miserable to stand around in, lent an ominous look to the final scene, where Micah realizes his mission has failed. The rain broke just in time for us to finish the fallen approaching the house. Lucifer folds up his umbrella, cuing the other fallen to do likewise, and as they clear out, he puts his shades back on, bookending his appearances.

And as the actor turned and walked away down the street - no kidding - the church bells from three blocks away started chiming. Everyone looked at me when the take was over like, "What favors did YOU pull?" It rocked. I've praised my leads many times, but I really have to point out how crucial the background players are. In the case of the final scene, the addict's family: Trina, Wayne and Oliver. Spectacular pathos.

I owe my neighbors gift baskets. And my kids are getting the dedication.

Monday we did the death of fallen angel Ornias, the bad counterpart to Afriel. The sun came out and allowed us to do all we needed while the residue from the previous rain left everything damp and slimy looking. Then we moved inside, and it began to rain. We shot a scene which is probably going to be difficult for many of my family and friends to watch. The death of the cancer patient in the arms of her grieving husband. I stayed pretty well in control until the camera picked up the framed picture of Sam in Bye Bye Birdie on the desk in the background. That was a bit much for me, and tears started flowing. The actors playing the cancer patient and husband - bless them - were incredibly understanding and respectful, and talented as heck. There was absolute awed silence during the few takes we did. Ben and Trish are my heroes. They're fantastic. I can't say enough about my talented cast and crew, my DP and his gaffer, an excellent sound recordist, a small army of dedicated PAs, my assistant director Samantha... and of course the two women without whom the film would not have been made: Sally & Darlene.

The screenshots have now been arranged in script order, some with captions.

Very soon I will take the external drive with the footage on it to Dan Humphrey (of The Addict fame), who will see what kind of editing magic he can work on this monster. In the meantime, perhaps a MySpace page for the film is in order...