I'll rest when I'm dead. Which at this rate, will be SOON.

Got my three "vacation" (haha!) days and plunged head first into an ABYSS of non stop work around the clock.

I am not using the words "around the clock" loosely here. I mean:

AROUND THE CLOCK.

Days are blending into nights, time vanishes... I have locked up myself into my home and turned my phone off... Locked myself into my Ivory tower and gone to town on the film, implementing every change I had noted needed to be made. Guided by some of my audience's feedbacks, I was able to fix some of the problem areas.

It is always fascinating to see how an audience will perceive things differently then you do. I thought my close up shot of the fortune cookie was exagerately big and long, yet none of my spectators could read the whole thing. (??) Go figure. So I made it even bigger and longer... Same with signs along the road... The omminous tree was a mystery for some of them as well... Not everyone was able to connect the dots. And although I do want my audience to do some thinking and refuse to handfeed them with a spoon, I must confess that I also do want them to "get it" in the end... So I had to step in and give some more "obvious" clues as to how the tree was connected to the story...

Sound kicked my ass big time trying to dial in levels... The M416 Sennheiser mic I used was worth all the money spent. Glad I was smart and listened to my pro friend's advice and didn't cut corners there. The mic saved me more than once. Which is more than I can say about the crikets, dogs, birds, cars, and especially commercial AIRPLANES that snuck in the film, no matter how careful we tried to be. Oh and add to that the refrigerators hums. When you film with no budget and can't pay for locations, it's not like you can tell a house owner: "Hey dude, your fridge is making a hell of a rockus, so turn it off, and NO I don't give a damn about all your frozen low calorie diet entrees."

Might need to do some overdubs there...

Talking about overdubs... Did a session with Tim today. It was nice to see him again. He showed up at my door bare chest (I think he did that purposely, just to torture me LOL) and with a smile on his face... I was not about to complain about either . When a gorgeous man shows up at my door with his shirt off, it is generally a good day . If I was half asleep from lack of sleep, I am wide awake now LOL . But work is work and filmmakers can't get distracted with stuff like that so I have learned to turn the blind eye and we immediately set off (shirt ON) to a local park up a hill, away from traffic.

We sit down on the ground, I put my camera down and hold the boom over his head...

My butt cheeks had barely touched the ground that a ranger arrives.

And follows the usual ritual:

RANGER (not so pleasant): "Do you have permit to film here?"

 ME (calm and friendly): "No, I don't, but I am not filming, I am merely recording"

RANGER (suspicious): "What's the camera for then?"

 ME: "To record the sound... If you look closely, you will notice the camera is pointing AWAY from us and does not even have a lens on it at the moment"

RANGER:  -blank- (realizes he is not very well versed in matters of filming HAHA) 

 ME: "It's just I am doing overdubs and they need to be done outdoors to match the ourdoor scene and my neighborhood is so noisy with cars etc... I just needed a little quiet..."

RANGER (stubborn): "Well, filming or recording, you still need a permit... If the other rangers come by they will site you"

 ME (nice friendly smile): "I will take my chances, but thank you for the warning though "

He drives off...

What kind of world do we live in? When a girl with a little camera, is recording someone reading, sitting in the far corner of a park tucked in the far corner of a hill tucked in the far corner of a residential neighborhood tucked in the far corner of a valley.... WHAT HARM CAN SHE POSSIBLY DO????

America is choking it's up and coming cinematographers... Silencing them... Making it nearly impossible for them to do their craft.

The reasonning behind this escapes me. Shouldn't the Art be encouraged and treated as a most valuable part of our culture?

A woman on a part time job trying to make a no budget home made indie flick has to (get this) PAY THE SAME FEES AS METRO GOLDEN MAYER STUDIO to have official permission to film on a street, or corner of a park.

Basically there are only two classes and two rates: Film school student and Big Ass Rolling on dough Film Studio.

And me, well, I simply fall in the crack of the system. It's like we, the small indie filmmakers, don't exist.

If I was president, this would CHANGE.

But then, I am not president, and nothing is gonna change and I am left with the delightful fear at the pit of my stomach each time I go out there to shoot, knowing I could get in trouble, as though I am committing some horrible crime...

Making a beautiful film. Go ahead, lock me up like you did JOHNNY.

(sigh and shaking my head in discouragement)

Rest of the session went well. No other rangers showed up that afternoon and we were able to record all overdubs peacefully... Maybe my stomach ulcers won't reopen after all.

Below: Hard to not get distracted when you open your front door and this is what is waiting otuside...  Good thing I am harmless (for the most part HAHA!)