One Weekend Left and the Arrival of James
Just one weekend left of the Phasma Ex Machina shoot. We were feeling pretty good a week or so back thinking we had done a whole lot until we realized one of the characters, James, had yet to be in a scene (James is in about half the scenes). That was a downer. But now a weekend of James is in the HD can and things are on the up.
Since last I wrote we’ve shot two weekends worth of material. The first was at the character of Tom’s house where we shot a fight scene. Safety is of the utmost concern when filming fight scenes unless, of course, your actors are game. Luckily we had two of them. It went remarkably well. It was a lot of wrestling, a breaking of a stool, and a few swings of a bat and suddenly it was finished. It was a real credit to the actors Sasha and Matthew for putting their all into it and making it as convincing as it possibly could be.
Last weekend was week 1 of shooting the scenes for the characters of James and Cody’s house. It was also the first scenes for James (played by Max). Max, going 14 or so, is already a seasoned veteran in the acting ranks. He announced his tradition of handing out cigars on his first day of shooting. Everything was well and good until I told him that Matthew (who plays Tom) also handed out cigars. The two debated over who stole whose shtick. It’s yet to be resolved. I don’t think the crew minds too much though since we each got two cigars.
It’s been interesting to see Director Matt collaborate with the actors. He’s been making it a point to talk over the scenes as they’re going through them. Some of it has been talked about beforehand and some of it comes up on set. The scenes hold the same meaning but together they’ve been able to mold the action and dialogue into making it more convincing. I’ve heard of directors who stick strictly to the screenplay and I really don’t get it. If it’s the actor’s job to learn and portray the character then why wouldn’t they have input on what they think their character would be like? I really can’t imagine it any other way.
Stay tuned for further updates and be sure to continue to track our day-by-day progress at www.phasmamovie.com.
Ben Van Santen – Production Manager