Day One Complete

We did it. We pushed through hot sun, semi-trucks and smoke and ash to complete day one of our shoot. We had a beautiful morning of sun and clear skies. By about 3 o'clock, a huge smoke plume poured into Pendroy the tail of a dragon. At first the smoke hung together in the plume, then it dissipated as if a blanket drifted over the small town. Ash rained down on us as we moved as fast as we could to get the last shots we had planned out. The quality of the light was highly affected and yielded this unworldly amber glow to everything. It actually could work really well with in the story.We always thought that Pendroy would be ideal for shooting with no noise or traffic. Well, it was quiet, but when a truck or car was coming, you'd know for miles before they showed up. Its so quiet, the smallest unnatural sound like a vehicle stands out on the sound landscape. In addition to the sound of vehicles, we also had to just deal with cars and trucks coming and going. At least everyone was very nice out there.James and Nathan really out did themselves today. Between a long-ish day, hot temps and just the fact that it was the first day, it was a hard day. They proved their skills as talented actors. They bonded well and had a great energy on screen. It was a pleasure to work with them. Most importantly, we got some great stuff today. I love the look we've made and the performances were great. We're on the right track so far in telling this story right.Our crew really hit the ground running today. Every department is running smoothly. The only thing not really running smoothly is Dusty. He's going to get a new starter tomorrow. The old one finally up and quit. That is going to be a problem if we don't get him running properly. Tomorrow, we shoot in the cafe. Its a big day with about 6 pages of script to cover. It'll be a long day, but at least Dusty has the day off to get that starter fixed.

The smoke will hopefully dissipate for us in the coming days. Our last two days are the days of most concern where I really want no smoke and big beautiful landscapes. I glued to the weather reports at night. I'm trying to make a prediction about the smoke which will impact where we shoot. We have a back up location where the smoke might be less of an issue, but the location is just not as cool as my first pick in Helmville. I'm keeping my fingers crossed about the smoke.
If you haven't already checked out Mike Prevette's Flickr site, than go see it. He's got a great collection of images going from the shoot including these two up above and below. Thanks Mike!