Long ass day.

So today we had a marathon run of filming. Lusk, Jim Frank, the Eppley Brothers, and I started around 12:30. Micki got there around 4:10, and Steve and Todd arrived around 6:00 pm. We all left around 10:30 pm. We got, in the can the following:
2 angles of Scene 3f
3 angles of Scene 3m
3 angles of Scene 3a-3d

We still need to get all of the scenes with the Mexican (Sean O'Donnell) in them and a few more scattered shots.
I'm just hoping beyond hope that what we've got thus far edits well. That would be the biggest disaster possible. I don't know why I'm worrying about it, probably because it's my first real film and so there's all sorts of pressure on, and if there was one way I could screw up (beyond shooting everything in hazy focus, or accidently erasing a tape) it'd be that.

The shoot did not feel like 10 hours. It just went by. I didn't really feel my back acting up until about an hour after we finished, when everything sort of settled down. Now it hurts like 8 bitches on a bitch boat. I need to get a good nights sleep because tomorrow will be another long day, most likely.

Micki and Jim were great today. John, as always, was too. Steve didn't have much to do, and he kind of got overshadowed during the actual filming but watching back some of the stuff, he was doing some great reaction work. I need to pay more attention to that kind of stuff while shooting.

Instead of giving the actors all sorts of directions on how I want them to deliver each line, I decided to give them a basic idea of where I saw the character going, let them work it out a little bit, and by the end, hopefully they'd have the character pretty well developed. I just think that its never going to be exactly like I saw it in my mind, so I might as well let the actor fill in some of the blanks and become something fresh, even to me. So far it's seemed to work really. I could've gone to everyone with very specific choices, but I guess I chose each cast member based on the characters' personality anyway and what I kind of hoped they'd bring to the table. I've been so happy with all of that thus far.

One thing that makes this high pressure for me is that, in a way, I feel like this film will live or die by my direction and editing. The screenplay is based on a classic by one of the greatest 20th century writers, the actors are all great, as well as the set and lighting. It's all on me then. If it sucks, it sucks because of me. If it's passable, it's passable because of the cast, script, etc. The only way it's going to be great is if what I bring to the table doesn't fuck up everything everyone else is bringing. So we'll see. It's been a blast and a long journey. Not too much longer to go. It'll be nice to finally get this goddamn story out of my head and see it with my own eyes. Here's hoping, we'll see.