The End

today we wrapped on principle shooting of John Basketball. it ended on a short day in owosso in a van. thanks to everyone who helped out with anything. all the cast and the crew and the locations. there were lots of great times had, i cant thank everyone enough.

WERE BACK!

today we had everyone back together for the first time in a while. even the sound guy showed up! just kidding dustin. wink nod wink. but it was great. we met at jerrys house. some people were late. one person didnt even know we were shooting today! but we left jerrys house for my old house (greers house in the film). it was weird being there and someone else living there. it was cold and the suit is starting to be the best costume on set for warmth. it was raining for a short while but no one really complained. dustin left at one point for class and then ran back before the next shot even started saying it was canceled.

we busted out the jib in a big way today. and had no problems with it. i dont think thats happened before. and it was complicated and on a dolly. and we got it in less than ten takes. so go team.

we left my house and got taco cart for lunch. it has become a staple. jordan always requests it and everyone else follows. from there it was only a few blocks to the quality inn where we shot motel interiors to sub in for a different motel that wanted to charge us lots of money to use it for a few hours. what a bunch of jerks. well this place had a pool! and we were able to get off my cannonball scene. i learned that i am a pretty weak swimmer and cant really tread water for more than 5 minutes without being completely exhausted.

it was really a nice day of shooting. we shoot again on thursday, i think its our last big day of shooting. kind of sad.

road trip in a juggalo van

ITS A ROAD TRIP!

today was a great day of shooting. really a lot of fun. we had some problems getting a van so i guess greer just went out and bought one that didnt work, then he put in a new radiator and made it awesome. it didnt break down and it had most of its seat belts.

the crew was as small as it can be today, no sound guy, no script supervisor just the cast, a grip and the director. we started in lansing and did a breakfast scene at theos and then went to the capital really quick. from there we went to a giant chicken statue thing. from the giant chicken statue we went to turkeyville, which was actually pretty awesome. they had ice cream and a play ground farm animals and the meanest goat ive ever seen. also make sure to check out the dead bird, hes a staple. next we went to a magic museum that was tons of fun, the guy did a card trick with me, he totally got me. then we went and played some putt putt and called it a day. we got a lot shot in only half a day. we shoot again next thursday and wrap all the van stuff. after that its just a hop skip and a jump till we are officially done. cant wait!

hey do you know about this?

heres how a general day of shooting goes. i get up, generaly early and go to jerrys house. im usually one of the first ones their but i have had my late days. if we're going to a different location we car pool as best we can after all the equipment is packed. then we unload the camera, tripod and steadycam and people start looking at there lines. if we have to set up things and dress the set we do that while someone sets up lights or the dolly or jib if its a crazy day. then we shoot for a while. jerry says cut and that was great a lot. caset claps the board and dustin does sound. at some point we stop and eat, sometimes its things like granola bars and sometimes its chicken salad. pizza once or twice. and then we get back to shooting, lights are set up and taken down, couches are moved and make up is applied. at some point we finish and have to put everything back the way it was and take down all the lights and put the equipment away. then usually people go to a bar or get food or back to jerrys house. and thats a typical shooting day minus complications.

im a few days behind so this is going to be a bit scattered. we had about a two and a half week break trying to get things scheduled for the last few shots. we still dont have everything on the books, and now people are back in school and have different schedules so its been hard to get everyone together. but we started up again in full swing, we shot with a dog! that was fun. and he even had a dog double that was way more hyper and wanted to run into the road. that was scary, we quickly went back to the other older regular dog.

we shot the jackson hurts his ear scene, which is also the janitor scene i guess. the janitor was great, even though he was a few hours late. it was the third time wed tried to shoot this scene, and our third janitor. but it went really well. mark had the joke of the day with his phone and a picture of matt leblanc. the fake blood looked really great, and father don was back again in full force. its great having him on set, hes a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from all the young actors we have. back at it later this week trying to shoot the van scenes. we've spent about a month just trying to find a van we can use. so hopefully we can get it out of the way.

Cool Day In A Hot Factory

today we shot at a giant board of water and light coal plant. it was really awesome. the people working there were super nice and helped us with everything. we all got to wear hard hats and safety goggles. Dustin is out of town so Tom took his place as sound guy for the day. it was probably for the best that there was no talking in the scene.

it was just a short shoot. we faked a tour and one of us got lost and then found again. it was a really fun day on set. the crew is hilarious and everyone gets a long super well. its such a great fun group of people.

tomorrow. body paint. ive been waiting months for this. its going to be ridiculous.

back in the saddle again

we resumed shooting today after a 6 day hiatus. my face has sense gotten unswollen and my eye unbrused. today was a big day. the scrimmage with the michigan militia. it was 8 pages long and it started at 830 in the am. we started right away in the car on the way there and then set up to be in oak park all day. i didnt have my camera charged so jackie sent me these nice cell phone pictures for the blog. way to go idaho.

pretty much the whole day was spent on the basketball court. the whole gang was there and gary butthole was introduced. you may know his brother barry. it was a long hot day in the sun, and i think only greer got sunburned. but that is normal. there were some problems with the jib. but that is also normal now. tom got to sit in an air conditioned building all day and donaldson took a nap. also it was a big joke on set today to have people kiss donaldson on the cheek. he was kissed seven times.

the other team was great. the militia are a really funny group of guys and they had some really funny improv. also they can ball. the scrimmage went well. shooting at the factory on friday. should be pretty awesome. did you know at this factory they will take a whole train car and flip it upside down to dump coal? did you also know that its all anyone who works there talks about?

Busy behind the eightball

So im about three days of shooting behind right now, so im just going to make it all up in one big blog entry.

day whatever. we shot in the church parking lot, i had a black eye and had to wear sunglasses to cover it. it was a pretty big scene between me and father don. mark boyd is a great actor and really cracked me up on set. jerry took a break and schooled mark roebuck and jjcomedy@gmail.com in behind the back handball. it rained and we had to stop for a few hours, but it dryed out eventually and we shot everything we set out to (almost)

day whatever plus 2. we had one of our few night shoots at bobs house. his cat is hilarious. it will hiss at you all day, but doesnt mind when you pet it. what a hoot. we shot greer eating a sandwich on the ground and it was one of the funniest things ive ever seen. mark roebuck spent the night all weekend. and we ended up shooting till about one that night. we coined the phrase dirt sandwiches and had a great dinner scene.

day whatever plus three. started at noon and went till midnight. a long day. starting in bobs upstairs and finishing in his downstairs. there were tiny delays here and there, and we kept mark a little later than we wanted to. but it was a blast. having a scene where we all had to be fake laughing we would mess with each other before each take. jackson and marcus had some really great scenes together. it feels good when the long days are done. that we really shot a lot.

as of right now we are at a stand still. i woke up today with a swollen face and have to get a root canal. so i cant shoot until the swelling goes down. hopefully sunday we start back up. jerry quoted to me today that we only have 6 more shooting days left. exciting stuff.