DAY EIGHT (Thursday, November 14)

 

Today we complete the “casting off” part of the story; the characters begin their ill-fated journey into the bayou.

 

Production is using a technique of floating barges made to look like small islands covered in foliage to vary the look of the lagoon, so even though we are floating in the same places over and over again, we appear to be in a variety of different areas.

 

The stunt divers and other crew in wetsuits stand around in the four foot deep milky swamp water up to their armpits and shunt around the floating set barges to create the illusion that our boat is traveling.  We appear to be going around new corners, passing new features of fallen trees, creating a much larger environment than the one we actually have.

 

In post production the special effects team will expand the bayou set even more, extending the height and density of the trees and deepening the background.  I’m sure it will all be very convincing.

 

The amount of coverage we are shooting is extensive and each scene of three or four pages takes about one full day to execute.

 

The camera is positioned on the shore, or on a platform half in and out of the swamp, reaching into the scenes on a extendable Technocrane, and sometimes on a floating platform made of plastic crates.

Often a camera team using waterproof housing to protect the camera goes right into the water.

 

James, the director, dressed in hip waders, enters the swamp often to give us directions and encouragement. He’s been quite supportive and fun to work with.  He keeps a sense of humor, which to me is another good indicator.

 

I’m mentally getting prepared for next week, when, after our initial contact with the mysterious monster, we cease being able to float around in our little aluminum tour boat and slide into the swamp, where we will spend most of the rest of the film. I’m happy with the slow and deliberate pace of production, because it is clear that no one is going to be in the kind of rush from which accidents can develop.

 

My wonderful makeup assistant, Zoe, comes around to make sure my mustache is still holding its own. She is Maltese and reminds me of one of the characters from Game of Thrones, one of those snake women, with slender, tapering facial features and golden colored eyes. She is very nice and kind, not at all like those snake women.  Still…

 

All of the set crew are extremely attentive to the actors and I have Americanos brought to me whenever I like by a tall Greek girl named Irini. I realize that next week, when we are in our wetsuits and spending long hours in the water, resorting to coffee drinking for comfort is going to be a poor tactic; too much trouble taking bathroom breaks.

 

At wrap, still early in the evening with the sun and puffy clouds making incredible compositions everywhere, I walk back to the hotel, stopping often to take photos.  I’m hoping to do a watercolor from one of my shots this weekend.

 

I eat dinner at the Indian restaurant in the lower part of the hotel, which is delicious. The Indian wait staff is extremely officious and formal, and seem to all belong to the same family.

 

I had to ask my server to repeat himself four or five times due to an impenetrable accent; after the appetizer, he seemed to be asking “are you ready for a man?” Eventually I gathered that he meant “are you ready for the main?” (As in main course.)

I talk with Tamra and Taylor on FaceTime. It’s always just morning when I call Tamra at my evening. Taylor is now in Florida and doing well.

 

Call tomorrow: 6:25 am.