Understandably, you can’t really shut down city streets when you are making a low budget short film.

Obviously, we didn’t have much money to do so while filming The Climb.

For the most part, we used to steady traffic flow to our advantage but it backfired on two occasions.

Picture this…

It’s a cold Saturday afternoon and you’re 30 years old.  Clearly you’re on your way to buy dish soap because you have nothing better to do with your weekend.  After all, it’s on sale so why not pick up a bottle.  Maybe two bottles? Nah only one, you don’t need two…

While you ponder the future of dish soap in your dwelling, you come across a film shoot.

Two thoughts go through your head.

1. “Oh look, a film shoot!  I’m going to be courteous and drive by without disturbing those nice people.”
2. “I should really honk and screw up that film shoot.”

There were two idiots who chose Option 2 during production of The Climb.

They literally HONKED repeatedly while yelling out of their windows.

Who does that?

Here is what I think happened after the honking stopped…

They rolled up their windows and cranked Celine Dion while laughing to themselves.  However, something happened next that they did not expect.  They glanced at themselves in the rear view mirror and the smile disappeared.

They thought to themselves…

“I don’t have any friends to share this joke with…  Perhaps it’s because I’m an idiot who finds it funny to honk while people are filming.”

It’s okay idiot…  At least you’ll have clean dishes…

Borrowing equipment to make a short film is stressful for me.  It fills me with anxiety.

I don’t want to break anything.

That was a major concern of mine while we were shooting The Climb.

It was bad enough we had to deal with weather concerns all weekend.  I know I can’t control the weather but there is something I can control…

I never touch the camera.

What’s the point?  I’m not a camera man.  Ask me to jump in an edit session and put some clips together and I’m all for it.

The crew continually laughed at me because I wouldn’t go near any equipment.  Dominika eventually stopped asking me to hold the camera between takes.  I made it perfectly clear that I was uncomfortable holding it.

Here’s why…

I may or may not drop things from time to time.  I’m a normal human being after all.  I figure the less I hold the camera, the better chance it has to survive the shoot.  It makes sense to me.

It was still funny to the crew. I’m happy to entertain.

At the end of the day, we shot everything we needed and I didn’t break anything.

The system works!

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We’re making a movie this week!

As you can imagine, there is still a lot left to do and time is beginning to run out.  Luckily, I’m now confident enough to say that I’ll be ready to go when we fire up the camera.  I finished the final, FINAL shooting draft of the script last night and it’s now a matter of shot listing and assorted pondering of what this movie will be.

Everything is ready to go except…

My neighbours upstairs…

“It’s okay, I wasn’t stressed out enough yet”

This image above is the result of a colossal amount of stupidity.

Picture this…  It’s Friday and you’re going out of town for the weekend.  It’s going to be amazing.  It’s just you and your mom and your going on a road trip. (Or wherever they went)  So you tell your mom you have to brush your teeth.  You’re very proud of yourself for remembering today.  While you brush you notice a strange sound coming from the toilet.  Is it running?

“Nah, I’m just going to leave it because there is no way this will turn out badly.”

So you put your toothbrush away and head out with mom.

A few hours later…

You’re taking turns singing background vocals to the Glee soundtrack when it hits you.

“I didn’t turn the tap off after I brushed my teeth!  I’m sure it’s nothing.  Leaving the tap on full blast helps to ensure the pipes don’t rust doesn’t it?  I wonder if leaving the tap on will drown out the sound of the running toilet.  We better call the landlord just in case because the only thing I’m really sure of in life is my high level of intelligence.  F**k me I’m smart.”

And so they continue down the road towards their destination with the knowledge that the landlord will shut off the water.  Little do they know that the landlord would enter their apartment and immediately get a soaker because the place is flooded…  Want to guess what happened to my apartment?

Flooded…

The water had soaked through the ceiling in my bathroom, into the hallway and finally made it’s way into my office and my bedroom.  Luckily nothing was damaged…

Until the entire ceiling collapsed!

So I now have to live with a giant whole in my ceiling for the next week because my apartment happens to be home base for the movie and we can’t have workers coming in and out.  It’s nothing I can’t handle but there is one thing that is dominating my imagination…

I’m terrified of spiders!!!

Inside that giant hole there has to be at least 7 mutant spiders waiting for me to go to bed so they can crawl into my room and build up their civilization again.  They will then invade and the entire world could be at risk!

All because of the moron upstairs who couldn’t be bothered to shut the damn tap off!

At the end of the day, it’s inconvenient but there isn’t much I can do about it this week.

Luckily, I have a movie to make and that’s a great way to distract yourself from mutant spiders and idiot neighbours.

PS: I don’t consider myself ‘handy’ by any means but do coat hangars add support to ceilings?  If they do this one failed because mine collapsed…

I think there is a point in every short film production when you have to make a list of all the little things you don’t want to forget.

I think it’s a crucial part of the process especially with a small budget and little time.

You have to stay on top of the little details.

For example, my new short film has a couple key props that can’t be thrown together at the last minute. Without proper planning, I wouldn’t be in possession of a photograph of our lead as a younger man. It may seem small but without a photo that works, the story suffers.

I have an old bag that’s perfect for the movie. However, I take good care of my belongings and it still looks like new. Not ideal for a man living on the streets is it? Over the next week we will be beating the hell out of it.

Little details applies to more than just props. It applies to shot listing as well. For instance, in the script, Cameron needs to pick up a dime. I won’t spoil much but it’s a looney now.  It’s subtle change but I still have to make sure we have a looney on set that day.

Even equipment plays a part. Making sure you have tape stock and designing a work flow so the camera’s batteries never run out of juice is extremely important and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

How will we deal with light outside? How will we shoot the pivotal scenes that take place at night?  These are all questions that need answers during the all important home stretch.

With the shoot so close I’ve stopped asking myself the big questions like:

• What’s the story about?
• Who will be in our cast?
• Where will we shoot?
• When will we shoot?
• Who will be in our crew?

I’ve moved on to more detail oriented questions like:

• How will my shots be framed?
• How will the film be paced?
• What facial expressions am I looking for in the actor’s performances?
• What subtle details can I plan in advance to enhance the film?

Most importantly…

Am I paying enough attention to the little details?

Working out every tiny aspect of a short film is what it’s all about. It’s the point where you feel like you are truly making a movie instead of planning on making one.

Making movies is fun and I’m definitely having a blast.

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Once the make-up tests were done we ventured out into the world to locate our actor’s wardrobe and a few props we had yet to pick up.

The is a Value Village located very close to my apartment and that was the first place we went to look.  The short film is about two homeless people living on the street so new clothes were out of the question. So we decided on certain colors we were after and hunted until we found everything we needed.

After about an hour, both of our leads in the film had their costumes as well as a few other touches like bags and sweaters to carry around.

Add to that the collection of props I started a few weeks ago and we are pretty much all set to go.

I’m actually very encouraged by the look of our film. One of the biggest scenes takes place in the park pictured below:

The outfits we picked up provide a really amazing contrast that’s sure to look great on camera.  I’m planning a pretty ambitious post process for this film specifically when it comes to color and the decisions we made regarding wardrobe and props definitely reflects that.

Finishing all the shopping we needed to do is a relief.  It’s a major item I can now scratch off my list.