IT'S A WRAP
We’ve just wrapped on our film Battlecreek. I say our, because it is truly that, our film; a group effort
that began with a script that I poured my heart into it years ago, and then was
turned over to a team of people – lead by a triumvirate of the most kick ass
women (ahem) - who infused it with an incredible amount of talent, skill and
passion.
And thanks to my decisions as
a writer, sorry all (!), this shoot was not for the faint of heart. The script took
place predominantly at night, which meant night shoots almost the entire month
we shot that ended most days at 5 in the morning. The crew would then have to
break everything down and return to set the following day, mere hours later, to start
the process all over again. Needless to say, by the shoots end, people were
sick (and I’m sure sick of each other) tired, and eagerly begging for a good
night’s sleep.
I flew out recently for the
last week of shooting (as I had to disappear for a bit in the middle of the
shoot to make sure the King remembered who I was). Upon my return to set, I was
able to watch some of my favourite scenes brought to life, the scenes that held
the emotional meat of the script. It’s surreal enough to watch your words play
out in front of you, but to see them brought to life in such a beautiful,
nuanced and expressive way by such incredible actors, well, needless to say, it
made me cry like a baby (and I saw a few crew crying as well, so I’m happy to
say, it took down the strongest of men).
People asked me throughout
the process if it was what I had imagined in my head for so long - the
locations, the actors, the overall feeling. And my response was always an
unequivocal yes, beyond what I imagined actually. It is a surreal thing to walk
around in this created, dimensional world and realize that what is exists in front of you is
even more profound than what was in your head. Not to mention, it confirmed
what I’ve always known, that good acting is an art and it can elevate a script
to an entirely new level (and of course, in a more general sense, conversely,
bad acting can be equally as profound, just not in a good way!). By shoot’s
end, it was so abundantly clear that our casting was pinpoint perfect and these
actors had truly become the characters on the page.
Then there was the crew. The
tireless (f*cking kick ass) crew of some of the most talented people I’ve ever
met; for some, seasoned veterans that taught us all a thing or two, and others
first timers like myself who were aching to prove their worth; each with their
own dreams, talents and aspirations that they brought to set and poured into
this project. Led of course by our female Queen of a director that I have known
since I was a little girl and love to the bottom of my heart –Watching her have
come into her own over the years (she and I have shared many memories and
trajectories, shall we say) and share my vision to such a degree (by the end of
the shoot she knew the script far better than I did) was a profound thing that
I wouldn’t have wanted to share with anyone else.
I walk away from this
experience of course wanting more. I’m inspired like I’ve never been, in awe of
the filmmaking process that I have so loved for most of my life, and have
learned so much from so many talented people. It’s also an incredible thing to
watch passion become a palpable thing. Watching people night after night, hour
after hour tirelessly work to make everything look and run seamlessly, well
that’s an impressive thing. Even down to the (fantastic) woman feeding us on
set and making sure we didn’t all keel over, well the team spirit was never in
finer form…I’m not naïve of course, there were certainly moments where the team
effort fell victim to the normal tensions and tumults (that’s a polite way of
saying there were of course times people wanted to smack one another) that can
exist on any project, but overall the focus always returned to the project.
So here’s what I hope, I hope
that more independent projects are given a shot to exist and breathe and see
the light of day. I hope that more woman helm projects and prove that we are a
force to be reckoned, I hope that I have many more opportunities to tell a
story that resonates with so many. And I hope that I – along with our team –
have contributed a story into the filmmaking annals that will leave its mark
and add a little bit of special to a world that often overlooks such things.