Filming Day 3 (production process)

 I’m not trying to be negative, but this day had a series of unfortunate events and challenges. Again, we had bad weather; there was so much rain. Even after it stopped raining, my actresses had to sit down in the wet dirt. Not so fun for them. Although there were some uncomfortable conditions, it was okay because they were good sports, and the filming went by pretty quickly because we had already gotten the dialogue out of the way on the previous day. 

In addition to the environmental challenges, we also experienced a couple of technical difficulties. Our SD card ran out of storage and was preventing us from continuing to film using the primary camera. Instinctively, I made the decision to stop all filming with the camera and switch to filming certain shots on my phone. We had to keep going and keep filming because the sun would be going down soon.  

Another challenge was the professional atmosphere on set. Of course, these people are my friends. Because we are close, it felt like another casual hangout instead of a structured and organized shoot for a while. Eventually

, we all found our focus and “locked in” until we had all of the shots that we needed. Some other minor issues involved costume inconsistencies. Kat forgot her cowboy boots, and she had to wear Crocs for some of the shots. In the end, it did not matter because you could not see them anyway. 

Even after all of that, I still loved this entire process. A major highlight of the whole day was that we had more resources in terms of the SFX department. Kat was able to get her hands on some fake blood that you spray on. This significantly enhanced the realism and emotional impact of the final moments of the film; moreover, it made Maya’s death scene one of the strongest. Overall, the blood was really useful and valuable to developing my problem-solving skills and technical skills.