Day eight! Rick checks the angle on the shot as the girls do their drive into frame. This was really the first time Shelbi had driven a stick shift and that little MG wasn't exactly made for the beginner, so we had some fun. The house belongs to the family of some friends. They cleared out for the whole day just to let us shoot there. It was just up the hill from my house so it was an easy commute.
	The weather cooperated for us that day, for the most part, and everyone was still in a great mood. Though by the end of the day, and we had no idea how long this day would go, some of the crew was a little disgruntled. It was my first real experience with this on a set.
	Once the driveup shot was finished we parked the car and setup the track dolly for the following shot.
	This is a continuation shot from the cheerleading scene. Continuity is important, but since there is a scene in between (e.g., "Jason" telling "Phil" of the pregnancy), it is not critical. One continuity problem that came up earlier in the movie was the ribbon color and pattern that Stephanie wore in her hair. It was a minor detail I really didn't catch it. The girls sit and move around instead of being cooped up in the car as the shot gets set up.
	As see in this shot, the sun did vary sometimes throughout the day. Thankfully the two shots maintained continuity. Danny here breaking the rules already, sitting in the directors chair, but the crew wasn't as big so it didn't matter as much. We also found that we needed to shade the camera, since it was black and conducted a lot of heat in the summer sun.
	My monitor came with a shade that I used often. When I had my headphones on and buried my head in there I was in my own little world. I could also see true colors and what the image was really going to look like. I thought it was interesting that Rick set up a gold reflector instead of white. It gave the subject a little more warmth as far as color temperature went.
	Dana sits on the dolly. Unlike most 'movie' quality dollies this one broke down into neat little pieces, often called a 'doorway dolly' since it can fit nicely through a doorway. Of course by the time you strap on the 'wings' this was not a possibility. The timing in this scene was important since the argument between the mother and father was supposed to just be starting just when she turns off the engine and the camera lands on its spot.
	Stan adjusts the audio level on his sidepack between takes. Just to the right of him Danny Toman sits on the ground next to Jenny McKee who plays "Kate's" mother "Susan." In actuality Jenny is Danny's mom. She is naturally a very mild mannered person, easy going and cheerful. She called me before shooting, concerned that she could pull off the role of an angry mom. I had seen her perform before and assured her she was the right person.
	Behind the scenes. The property was perfect for our needs. There was plenty of room to park our entourage. Rick and I look on as Dana smiles for the camera. He always his his trusty blue mug (lower right hand corner) full of water most of the time. Water was essential on set, you could get dehydrated quickly running around. We had pop, but most everyone guzzled down the water. This is also the first day Stephanie had her new car on set, that cute little VW Bug in the background.
	It suprised me how much Rick used his light meter. Since he was mainly a film guy I guess it was second nature for him. Being a video guy I relied on checking what the camera wanted with the auto iris, though we stayed with the manual setting most of the movie. As a sidenote for those technical buffs, we constantly used an ND9 filter, which took the f-stop down three steps, narrowing our depth of field. This means the area that is in focus narrows, creating the illusion of film which has a narrow depth of field (as the iris opens more the depth of field narrows).
	Jenny McKee gets lit with a 2K light for her only on-camera segment as we shoot through the window. This was another thing we changed on the spot. The script called for shooting the entire argument inside. Rick suggested that we stay on the girls outside in the car, reacting to what was going on inside. I liked the idea and we stayed with it. As mentioned, Jenny always looked so cheerful. Great smile.
	Stephanie relaxes on the couch behind Jenny. Good for her. She's going to need it for the ling night ahead.
	Rick adjusts outside light sources. Just out the window Stan is hanging black felt pieces so we don't have any reflection on the window as we shoot through it. I noticed this when we started framing. Thinking on the spot Rick figured it out.
	This was the closest location to where I lived, just down the hill, less than a mile. So it made it easy for Sara to bring the boys up to be on set for a while. They take over Stephanie's directors chair, with my permission of course. Joshua on the left, Caleb on the right.
	My family. I have no idea where they got it. The boys love the camera. And my wife is pretty photogenic too. Out behind, not too far, was a pretty busy thoroughfare. We had to be careful of passerby noise as when it got later we had a few yodelers, and a few people gather to see what was going on in their neighborhood.
	A fun staged shot. We are all on our cell phones, working hard. Here you can see the placement of the camera for the shot when we center on "Susan," Kate's mom. We will use the same house for the sequel.
	After the parents argument we have some free time waiting for it to get dark. Stephanie had changed and was ready for the "seduction" scene that gets intercut with the locker room scene. Stephanie loves kids and she especially became one of Joshua's favorites. Here she and Joshua have some fun in front of the camera.
	Hey dad, where's the keys? Jacob and Joshua relax in the MG.
	It's getting darker, but still not dark enough. The threesome smile for a shot. In some sense this was going to be a tricky scene. It was the first "sex" scene that we had to shoot. It called for Jacob and Stephanie to seriously make out and then head into the house, up into the bedroom. There was this certain tension in the air, with everyone knowing what was coming.
	One of my favorite shots of the day. Yes, you get to see the set and how the shot was done, but it was a cool sunset as we look eastward. You can barely make out Mt. Hood, Oregon's tallest mountain. Our parking lot of cars is in the background. Rick set one of his HMI's on the edge of the pavement to act as moonlight as the other HMI sits a few feet in front of the car to front light the actors. He used different colored gels differentiate the light.
	A very cool shot. By the looks of it we appear to be on a big budget movie set. This is what caused a lot of the neighbors to come and tape a look. I even had an actor hand me a headshot and resume. It was kind of bizarre to have so many on-lookers.
	Stepahnie gets read to move in for the next take. The variated shots show a progression of kissing. It starts out as a simple talk and then moves into her moving over and almost sitting on his lap before inviting him in. Whenever I said "Cut" they moved away quickly back to their neutral positions. Afterward talking with them they both said it was a hard scene to do. By this point they were good friends, but it just seemed real weird. I thought they pulled it off rather well and it appeared believable to me. In a scene like this it's a great idea to talk in out afterward to help decompress.
	Rick helps Dana move the jib for the setup when "Jason" drops "Kate" off that first night after the band performance at Culver High. At this point Rick had filled in as "Kate's" dad and he did it again to get her into the house. It was late and after this scene was shot that we had our first major conflict, and in some ways it was justified. It was a long day already and we still had the "bedroom" scene to shoot. Dana was spent and Stan was ready to go home. It was then that I said that I would stay by myself with the actors to shoot the last scene we needed at the house, if that's what it was going to take.
	Rick said he would stay, which in turn made Stan stay. I told Dana to go home and that I wouldn't hold it against him if he went home. I took over the camerawork for this last scene and did it completely hand-held. It was my camera so I knew how it reacted etc. I think it was also the first time in shooting that I took over the actual camera work, and it wouldn't be the last (I enjoy camera work and call me a power freak, but when I directed and operated camera I felt totally in control of my shots and such - you are one with the scene). Here Rick smiles and he passes by, setting up the HMI outside the second story bedroom window.
	We threw the bedroom together as quickly as we could. Danny and Ericka work as part of the set decorating crew. All of the younger group was completely willing to stay, even excited to stay and complete the scene. It was neat for me to see and completely beyond the call of duty, especially since they were all volunteers. It was just reinforced to me again how dedicated everyone was to this project.
	The room comes together. The ideas was to create a dimly lit room. We tried to have her light some candles in the corner, as scripted, but it just took too long. We wanted to them to get over to the bed right away. Rick hoisted an HMI light with a blue gel just outside the window to create moonlight.
	Although it was something like 12:30 here Stephanie maintains, along with everyone else, a great attitude. I must comment here that Sara came through with the set decorations for the bedroom which made it look convincing, Teddy bear and all.