5AM - I wake up, alone in my trailer. Stacey is at the same hotel as Jerry. Daylight is already out, I put my marshmellow outfit on, grab my camera and get out. The light is perfect... The sun, hiding behind the thick morning fog... I take pick up shots of cars, car parts, engines etc... I love working alone and thrive that way.

7AM- I pick a few oranges from the tree and visit the chicken coop... Bummer. No eggs for me .

There is a chicken laying down inside.. She looks like she is thinking about it... I coach her:

"Common!! PUSH!! PUSH darn it! I aint' got all day and I sure would love a nice fried egg with my frehs squeezed OJ... PUUUSSSSHHHHHH "

But the chicken just stares at me...  Undoubtedly, the lights are on but there's nobody home LOL.

Below: Unwilling.

Well, I guess it's right back to the Faith Granger diet then... No breakfast for me.  I'd like to bitch and moan about it but I don't have the time... My crew and cast has started to roll in. We got work to do...

This morning I wan to film Pat's shots in front of her house, and to match my soft light from last night, I will need to take advantage of the morning layer. So we must roll ASAP and nail it fast. Since I am not in most of the shots, I can once again be behind my camera and that sure feels goooood.

Below: I can shoot Pat's shots - Yes this IS the (IN)FAMOUS ski outfit. aka the "Marshmellow outfit"

Pat has a great face

Adam rolls in (guess he's hard core LOL) and takes over for the over the shoulder shots...

We nail the shots fast... Good thing, cause now the sun has burnt through the fog and we are back to harsh light and heat...  

I move the crew back to the shed where we are to film the continuation of shot #1. So we will be in the shade now, no matter what. But I guess I have made enemies yesterday when I lutted the spider's homes... One of them bites me twice on my back and it is now rather swollen...

I dial in the light. Adam has some suggestions so I let him try it his way but it does not produce results I am happy with. So back to my old ways. And now I have something that looks like my work. I shoot Pat's medium and close up single shots myself... They come out really good... Pat is doing a great job and showing just the right amount of emotion at the end of the dialogue...

Here, showing emotion as she remembers her late husband...

We now tackle OTS shots and my close up... I HATE close ups on me. It's so humbling. You never feel so ugly as when a camera is shoved in your face and STARING at every little flaw of your skin, teeth, nose oh the list is LOOONG... I need a head transplant that's what I need LOL.

But today I am happy with my performence. In fact, very happy. This morning I watched the footage filmed last night and found that my acting was very much OK. Not sure why I was freaking out so much... But I guess your first on screen appearence with dialogues can do that to you... No matter how confident you usually are (sigh)... But I'm all better now! (apart from needing the head transplant LOL) I got my mojo back and it will not leave again for the remainder of the film.

Below: the hotrod girl... Not perfect looking but handy with a wrench (or two)

We struggle with the sound... People driving by, cars and of course BIRDS ... I used to LOVE birds... But that was a long time ago .

One of them is now perched atop the highest palm tree on the ranch. And making a rockus. We are pounding on the trunk with a shovel... To no avail... And none of us can throw rocks that high anyway... Although we take turns at trying... That one mocking bird puts us out of business for a good 20 minutes...  Where's a bazooka when you need one????? 

Now done with the dialogue, we have lost a lot of daylight... And running out of time to finish the scene...

AND OUT OF HARD DRIVE??????????????

Holy shit! This is the first time I fill both my P2 cards up... Oh boy... I am a good 60 minutes away from home and have no laptop (maybe next film, when I have some money??) ...

Oh boy! (Jerry's favorite expression)...

I blow off a few takes that I know we don't need for sure... making room for a few more takes...

below: time to get the deuce out of the shed

Meanwhile, we are quickly removing the deuce from the shed and loading it up onto the car trailer. A look up at the sky confirms my fears: The sun is plunging...

 AGHHHHHH  No time to tie the deuce down. I will have to tow it for the scene as is and hope to not lose it somewhere on the driveway... I also have but 5 minutes to block the scene. This is to be one continuous, transforming shot which may be challenging to nail... And we might only be able to get about 4 takes before we lose daylight... We'll never make it.

I want my mommy!!!!!!!!!

below: Stacey is my stand in so I can visualize my shot and how to block this section of the scene.

NEVER GIVE UP NEVER SURRENDER!!

Brief pow wow with Adam....

Let's roll it ! I put my life into Adam's hands. Stacey will be pulling focus for him... We all hold our breaths...

The shot starts with an extreme close up, turning into an Over the shoulder that Pat has to step into and then turning into a master shot as I leave...

God is with us today because Adam and Stacey NAIL IT FROM TAKE TWO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

What could have easily taken 40 minutes to film has taken... Five minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another DEUCE OF SPADES miracle.

Quick! Pat's closing shot!! I film it as the sun plunges behind the mountain... Pat looks great standing next to her lonely house...

Below: JOANN quietly watches as  Faith drives off with the deuce...

7PM - Joann leaves... We wrap... Adam and Stacey help us load the truck up with the gear (more biceps) and then also leave. Now it's just Jerry and I. We are dead. But we have one last nagging problem on our hands:

TOMORROW WE FILM ALL DAY AND I HAVE ZERO HARDDRIVE SPACE LEFT.

Sigh.

And so it was that, although both completely spent, Jerry and I had to drive all the way back to my house to download that night...

1 AM - We are starved. Wendy's is the only joint open so we are eating burgers, sitting in the truck in the parking lot. Late dinner would be an understatement .

And then IT came. Trotting across the parking lot... Alone. Hungry. A coyote. Amazed, Jerry and I watch it for a long time. It roams around, for over 10 minutes... Ignoring us... Looking for trash to eat...

A survivor...

I leave him a piece of my burger.

Cause I of all people, know first hand how it feels to have to fend for yourself all by yourself. And to be hungry LOL.  But we survived another shoot, and I did it, yes, I did it... With a little help from my friends ...

"Ready to head back to Fillmore Jerry?"

Jerry nods and shifts it in first gear. We're good to go.