one-take wonders

remember how worried and stressed i was about this weekend? well, i shouldn't have been, because nothing was more fantastic than these past two days.

friday sucked, because it poured and we ended up having to postpone a lot of the stuff we wanted to shoot that day. saturday, the day of our intro shoot, didn't look like it was going to be any better, because it was frigid, gray, and blustery at the park where we were shooting. but amazingly, after taking the shot only three times (the first time was actually perfect, we just took it two more times for safety), we were done and the HDcam that we rented made the footage look awesome. the camera was even able to pick up salvageable audio in the 30-mile-an-hour winds.

so we were pleasantly surprised, and ready to take on the behemoth that was the OUTRO shoot, involving complicated movements, ridiculous props and costumes, and a lot of room for error. chris, ross, brent, and i went to kenosha (for you east coasters, that's in wisconsin) early to set up and practice the shot. we decided to shoot in kenosha since chris's family basically owns the place and he can get anything there ("you need a boat? i'll get you a boat!"). plus, he was able to get his street closed off so that we could shoot up and down it.

kenosha itself was a lot of fun, since it perfectly embodies midwestern suburbia and i got a kick out of experiencing a bunch of new things. since i was the only one of the four who had never been there before, the boys made sure i was exposed to the wonders of menard's and "the spot" (a drive-in burger place with a long-lasting odor).

this morning, we woke up way early to get a headstart on setting up before all the actors and crew arrived. not as many came today, but those who did were extremely dedicated and actually wanted to be there. it made the day much more fun. anyway, i don't want to give away too many details about the shoot, so people will be surprised and amazed when they see the finished shot. of course, it all involved a LOT of rehearsal, so i spent most of the day driving down the street at a zippy 6 mph with brent shooting out the back of the van, then reversing all the way back down to the beginning of the street so we could take it again. (mv was surprised to hear that i was the appointed driver. i must admit that i myself couldn't believe that i was given so much responsibility. especially since i'm not the best at driving the giant van.)

then we got one take of it. just one take. and it was perfect.

what a glorious day.

for pictures from on set today, check the nstv website. the last one kind of makes my heart hurt because i love it so much.