Shooting Begins

Day one of principal photography of "Dreamworld" was one of my most exciting days. It's a very different process directing a film with a full crew (okay, a small crew, but big enough and talented enough to make all the difference) and top quality equipment.

I'm nuts about the anamorphic HD camera, and I can't express how much I love the small, handheld monitor we're using. It allows camera operator Andy Baker to move around as much as he needs to, but allows me, as director, to keep full visual control. The storyboards Patrick and I drew were also incredibly useful. Mounting them on a wall in the studio, I was able to view them every so often when I needed to clear my head and keep the flow of the scene in my head.

The scene we chose to begin shooting the film was the scene where we first meet Merlin and the Knights in the Comic Book store. It's a dialogue heavy, character-driven scene, and that's where I like to start: a place that give the actors a solid base to jump off og in developing the characters. Shooting out of sequence in a film can cost you the continuity of performance you get in play. I try to minimize that.

There was no doubt after the first day that the actors had been cast correctly. Patrick did some of the best work I've ever seen him do. The pressure of producing and acting at the same time has, at times, made it difficult for him to be as prepared and memorized as wants to be. This time, he was pitch-perfect, trusting his instincts and acting very natural. It was easy to see where his film trating with Frank Gerrish and Reb Fleming has paid off. I'm almost tempted to do it myself.

Brandyn Cross is nailing the role of Merlin. The role was orignally envisioned as being played by Jack Black, but, well, that's beyond our budget. Brandie, who has been instrumental in developing the script, gives exactly what the character needs.

The kids are amazingly bright and talented. Chase McKnight, as Lance, throws himself into the role of the cocky jackass with such ease you'd never suspect what a nice kid he is. Porter Bagley, as Arthur, has a natural, innocent charm which gives the film it's heart. He's also very bright and inquisitive. He and fellow child actor Coby Rose kept offering suggestions, which I admit sometimes got on my nerves, but showed remarkable understanding of film. Porter's observation's about lighting leave me suspecting he may very well end up as a fillmmaker.

One of the few moments where the acting wasn't working lead to a memory that will likely make me smile for years to come: Brandie and I had been experimenting with Merlin doing a John huston type, booming voice when telling the story of Arthur. It wasn't working, and I think it was just a faulty idea, not any fauly of Brandie's. But during one shot, 2nd A.D. Fernanda alves (who I'm starting to think of us as Pink Wombat's Kathleen Kennedy: everyone on the Pink Wombat team is compared to someone on Spielberg's team) quietly typed the words "Brandie is not eblievable" on her Blackberry and discreetly showed them to me. She was right, and it was easily corrected.

Three of the biggest influences on the I direct are Spielberg (of course), John Ford, and Ron Howard. Ford had a tendency to shoot his films in a style that left little option to studios to re-edit them. Spielberg and Howard have both expressed a preference for "money shots over MTV coverage." I have to know in my head how it's going to cut together. I will not rely on coverage to save my bacon in post -production. I don't trust it. This sometimes leads people to think I'm not shooting enough coverage, which I admit is occasionally true. I shot some extra close-ups at the urging of Brandie and Line Producer Brandon Arnold, and I'm sure I'll use some of them.

But, a point was reached where we were falling behind schedule, and I had to move us forward. We had 30 shots to accomplish in one day, and got off to a late start. There were times when I chose to keep moving after one sucessfull take. This is usually frowned on, but it saved us this day. We got 30 GOOD shots in one day, and I've never felt more like a real film director than I did on that day. I hope the rest goes as smoothly.