yesterday we had a call time of 830. this was strategic because of the amount of traffic we would encounter outside being a saturday morning. our actress was running a little bit late and we were roughly an hour behind schedule. but i'm ahead of myself. i had an awful sleep because i had been fearing that i was going to sleep in. i woke up every 40 minutes from 11pm to 5:30 until i said fuck it, and woke up. i woke up, and did a couple of cleaning items and then ran to tim hortons to pick up juice and muffins for the crew. everyone arrived and we chit chatted while we waited to shoot.

we got outside and it had just started to rain a touch. that's alright because it was drizzle, but then the wind started to affect us. i had my mind all over the place that i forgot the slate inside. i had put out a request for volunteers to be the ghosts in the scene, but we only had two volunteers when i needed three. because of this i had to don the sheets and be the ghost. it was difficult to view the scene through a white sheet but i think we did okay. the wind was a pain in the ass and we ended up using two rolls of film outside. when we were done julia niendorf and jesse holloway - my two volunteers - took off and we moved the production to the bedroom.

the next scene we shot was in the bedroom and probably went the smoothest - in terms of filming. the only drag with 8mm film is the fact that the camera is so loud, it probably ruined the sound and i really felt for ron lacheur who was recording the sound because i know he probably wasn't happy with it. we moved onto the last scene at my apartment and had 1 scene left for one roll of film. so a week ago i had boughten 5 rolls of film thinking the 5th was 'just incase' and here we were running out. it was stressful until we decided to call our supply store and get more stock.

we had to move production to byron's apartment - which if you're counting makes two of my films using byron's place - to shoot in the lobby because my landlords overkilled our lobby with christmas shit. we picked up film, drove across the bridge to byrons place and shot the last scene. it was a long long day, but the first portion of work is over. we didn't get the still photographs on polaroid like we had wanted, that bummed me out a bit but i'll live. now we have to get the film transferred and then i can begin editing. i'm shooting for a january release.

special thank you to neal breton for providing the art work featured in this film. byron fudge for dop'ing and shooting this bad boy. ron lacheur for coming down from delta to record sound for me. jesse holloway and julia niendorf for being the ghosts. rena anakwe for braving the canadian elements and doing splendid job acting in this film. more thanks to come i'm sure when the film is cut.

this week has been easily one of the toughest weeks i have ever had. on my previous film, i had the work of many talented people to handle a lot of the loads that come with making a film. on this film, it's just the three of us.

this week i had to go and buy fabric which are being turned into ghosts. jesse and i cut them last night and sized them up. today i had to go buy printer ink, pens, markers, paper, and stamps. there was a lot of running around to do. byron has been busting his rear this week also getting a lighting kit and a dv camera so that we can record sound. last week byron had the excellent idea of shooting our stills on polaroid's to keep with the 'old school' (since we are shooting on 8mm film). i went to go buy a slate today after work, something to have, and to use on future projects - and it was $75 and yellow. no thanks.

i need three 'extras' for the shoot but i am sofar only able to get two. this saddens me but a shoot will always have its problems and this is one i have to work around.

today is the calm before the storm. we shoot tomorrow morning at 9am. i cannot be more excited than i am to work again with byron, and ron, and to work for the first time with rena. after the shoot i'll get back to this. wish us luck.

let me catch you up on this project without giving away too much detail. while we were doing production on of heart and limbs i had the pleasure of having some talented people audition for me. it came down to two ladies and i really wanted to work with both.

when filming completed and we were in the late stages of pre-production, i had an itching to get back at it. going full throttle into another $3000 film wasn't in the books for me, so i wanted to do something new. i wrote a short film which we know know as portrait. it was originally meant to feature me as the lead, and i would need a supporting lady to fill the role of 'her'. i reached out, to rena anakwe about the project and she was excited to be apart of it. as we got to talking, it came to my realization that this wasn't meant to have me in it in any major capacity, and i offered the leading role to rena. she accepted.

this project was a secret because i wanted to do things differently from a big budget movie that i have previously done. i wanted a small crew, with a one day shoot, to try and see what i could do. naturally byron was by my side throughout, and will d.o.p/op this short film, which will be shot on 8mm black and white film which we bought on saturday past.

i reached out to a couple of bands regarding music which will close out the film, and i got a song i didn't think i would get. the vivian girls have been so kind in lending me their track 'before i start to cry' which is the perfect addition to this film. an acoustic song is always a good choice when it comes to closing music, but i really felt this short could benefit from something with a little grit.

we are 5 days away from shooting and i still have to get a couple of things completed before shooting, but i look forward to completing another project and having it streamed (for free) online here on forestlawnfilm.com. stay tuned.