SBIFF: The Line-Up

Heading up to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this weekend and I'm super stoked.



Here's our line-up:






(Please note the tagline!)




(With a Q & A with Bridges afterward)




(The Closing Night Film, complete with after party)



Aside from these there will be some much needed sleeping, eating, drinking, & socializing. Maybe even a hike or two.

Complete report upon my return. Happy Festivaling!

Chicken Soup

Being sick sucks. Being sick 3 times in 2 months sucks more.

But alas, where would I be without the familiar cherry scent of Robitussin or the chalky taste of Sudafed. What would my diet be without chicken soup, hot tea, and smoothies? The soundtrack of my life seems inexplicably empty without the deep throaty coughs that come from my toes.

But there are some things that, no matter how much having a cold sucks, can make it better:

1) Homemade soup. Bonus points if someone comes over and makes it for you.

2) 12+ hours of sleep. Bonus points if it's without waking once.

3) A warm blanket. To help facilitate that 12+ coma.

4) A personal pharmacy. Check my medicine cabinet, if you need it - I have it.

5) Friends. Subject them to your cold! Have them drag you out and force you to have a good

time. The cold will go away, bonus points if the friends don't.

6) Old movies and new movies. Watch a favorite, or rent a new one. Pull yourself out of your world and enter another world for 2ish hours. Its why movies are made.

7) A hot shower or bath. Bonus points if it's a jacuzzi [I need a friend with a jacuzzi.] Hot water does a body great.

8) Getting dressed. Sitting around in pajamas will NOT make you get better any quicker.

Put all 8 in a blender, add vitamin C, and poof! The cure for the common cold.

Tell Tale Heart- Part 2

This set was full of all sorts of new experiences and challenges. It's up there on my 'sets I learned the most on' list.

First of all it was a night shoot. That was an entirely new challenge for me. Sleeping all day and working all night was fun, but it definitely took it's toll. There was no way I could sleep all day, which meant I was working on less sleep than if I would have been doing a day shoot. Coffee came to my rescue, but in case you were wondering what a crew's breaking point is on a night shoot: 2:30a.m. They start to go down like flies.

This was also my second set with fake blood, but the first one with fake blood in a) this quantity, and b) that I'd be making and dealing with, exclusively. Laundry Detergent and Food Dye- recipe of champions. It looks real, and dries great.

There was also a lot of pre production planning and building for this set. This was more than simply a 'set dress'' job. There was literal design, which was fun. We (since we couldn't pull up the floorboards in the house we were shooting) needed to devise a way to do the scene where he buries the body under the floorboards. I came up with the idea of shooting it from under the floorboards and building a fake, raised flooring and we ran from there. (It's the giant wooden box in the pictures, Dobbs [our cinematographer] is underneath it). I had no idea it would end up having to be so large. 5 x 5 x 2. It was a heavy beast, but I'm crossing my fingers that the shot is worth it.

I also learned something important about myself. I have a post show cleansing ritual. undoubtedly when I work on a shoot my car, and room become a disaster. It's just low on my concerns when I have so many other things to worry about. When a show is over, it takes me a couple days to come off it, but once I clean out my room and car - I find that I rid myself of the shoot and can get back to normal. It's nice.

This shoot was a lot of fun (a lot of stress, but a lot of fun) and I can't wait to see the footage.

Tell Tale Heart- Part 1

I'll post pictures now. Thoughts and ramblings about the shoot to follow eventually. Too tired for that right now.