As I think I’ve said a few times in these recent posts, I spent a fair amount of filming stressed out, and rarely enjoying the moments. I was always either very focused on what was happening in front of the cameras or thinking about what we had to do next. I wouldn’t have been opposed to relaxing more on set, but things aligned the way they did and I traveled down the path I felt I had to. There were moments though that broke through and allowed me to revel for a few seconds in getting to do what I have sort of always dreamed of doing.

There were plenty of tiny moments, like an actor nailing a line or my DP calling me over to show me a particularly nice looking frame. For this post though I want to get personal and focus on two moments that sprang on me and brought a great deal of joy at the time.

The first was on the first day of filming. We were way behind schedule, and while some things were clicking, others weren’t. We were rushing to set up a shot, trying to catch up, when my fiance sticks her head onto set. She had been at her job all day and when she got off she hurried to set. I had zoned out and focused on what we were shooting and didn’t have a clue what time of day it was. Looking up and seeing her on set was a very happy moment for me. Her and I had spent months and months with this project consuming our lives, and finally here we were, both of us on set, with a couple dozen other people actually shooting a film. We shared a smile, then I went out and vented about our slow start and such. That initial moment of realizing she was there with me after the rough start was a great moment. I did try and throw fire in her face later that night (by accident), but that’s a different story.

Another such moment happened late in filming. As mentioned a couple times my whole family was involved. We had a shot where an actor has to run through near freezing water. My dad had created a makeshift bridge to span the creek, but the DP felt it would be better to have the camera in the creek. We had our gimbal camera operator, Mark, strap his rig onto my brother, Abe, because he had hip boots on and could get all the way out into the middle of the creek without getting wet. The moment before our actor runs across the creek I’m standing there watching the DP explain the shot from the bridge, Mark instructing Abe from the shore, and my other brother, Jake, in the water also as a sort of camera/balance assist for Abe. Pretty much all of it was born out of necessity and wasn’t planned, but it was an instant I just had to stop and smile. I was making a movie and as a sort of last minute choice by the DP my brothers were manning the camera.