DAY 7
Monday, August 17, 1998

The Night Before Week Two
The Farm House, Seattle
8:15 PM (Sunday August 16, 1998)
Jesse P. Howard, Director

Well, it is not a surprise that I have not had time to write. The immense pressure and the incredible limitations of time have worn on my late night intentions to scribe.

It is just plain hard to make a film. Yup. Belive it. Know it. I can't say it any other way. It is incredible and awesome and fun and crazy and great... but it is hard. There were a few moments this wek that make me realize how fortunate we are to have survived. Disaster loomed, but we pooled our resources and kept it at bay. It is true that we dangled on the edge of a few cliffs, but we were pulled back by members of the family here.

As Director I am very pleased. We are capturing the footage and it is beautiful. We are earning it, though. The actors, most of whom are under 14, are simply top notch. I don't think that this caliber of performance can be topped. The read so clearly on screen and they tell their story so honestly. The images are great, too. Jesse is doing it so well. I have to hand it to Carl and his crew, for the lighting is making it look, well, like a movie.

Things have not been as we planned. Every great project has its weeknesses and we are no exception. There is friction because of schedule changes handled poorly in week one. Thursday night we kept them three hours over under high stress, low food conditions. It was not pretty and the pressure was palpable. That night was when I realized that making this film is the hardest thing I have evr done, and I 've done some pretty hard stuff. I want it so very much; for me, for the kids especially. To honor and dignify their work by getting it into a professional realm is a dream long dreamed. It will be a proud day when can see their names on the video box.

We are ironing out the wrinkles. I think we are headed for a better week two. Not to say that week one was bad, just full of unexpected things which we seem to have a bit of a handle on now. We are commited to sticking to the schedule and Jesse Moore and I have trimmed 15 pages from the script. This means that it is realistic to shoot all of the principal photography in August. We'll see.

The most interesting thing about this project is the meeting of two realms. It is the kids I have worked with for years on shows and summer video movie projects, but it is also a professional film crew making a film. The mix is difficult, but fascinating. The two worlds seemed reluctant, at first, to even acknowledge one another, but I see a shift. The kids are reminding us to have fun. The crew is helping the kids to up their professionalism in order to accomplish the task at hand. It is far fromperfect, that's for sure. But affinity is building and this will be history to look back on proudly. It is the little movie that could. The kids and the crew have brought it to life and they deserve the utmost respect and they have it from me.I can't wait to watch the documentarians footage. They have worked diligently to capture the process and they are invested and working hard. I think it is hard for everyone to get used to them; four "kids" running around with a camera with an all access pass. Sooner or later all will see that they are there to help us all see the value of the process. It will be a great insight to see there work.

Well, week two starts in 7 hours. I gotta sleep. It's just connect the dots... just glorified connect the dots...

Jesse H

The Snohomish Wedding Chapel
(a.k.a. "the Sunday School Massacre" scene)
10:05 AM
Todd Howard, Producer

Well, a milestone has passed. The first week of shooting is complete. We have superb footage, and morale is high. There have been a few roadblocks however, that now - in the light of their being overcome - I feel I can objectively comment on.

Communication, communication, communication. On the set and off, if links in the communication chain break down, major things can fall through the cracks. I offered a clear analogy to explain the nature of decisions that are made on a film set. It is like you are at the center of a multi-spoked wheel. The smallest of decisions in the givenest of moments sends a random assortment of sparks out along a seemingly random subset of the spokes toward the rim. It takes a half-second for the sparks to reach the rim, and try as you might you spin and whirl in a vain attempt to know which spokes had channeled what sparks whence. My point is: you are nearly guaranteed to miss one or more of these effects. You are made all too aware very quickly, however, that those decisions and their resulting effects do indeed affect someone in a way that you could not have anticipated. Thus enter the microcrisis.

More soon...

-Todd

Snoho Wedding Chapel
10:15 AM
Jesse Howard, Director>

We obviously had a day off. The feeling on the set reflects the changes that we have implemented and the sleep people undoubtedly got. More parents are here which adds a stabilizing force for me as there is more supervision and a family vibe. The kids are more calm and rested and are sensing the improvements in our approach and mood.

The baseball scene was fun. The crew seems to be getting it with the kids. There is a sense of fun that the kids bring in that we have been fighting. Today it seems everyone has said, "Oh, forget it, I'll just have to join in." Well, it is a good feeling and I hope we can use it to aid us in the next difficult moment.

The fact is, people seem to really WANT this now and that drives us. AND now that we've seen the footage and we know we're making something great, everyone seems to be more relaxed. Onward.

-JPH

Snohomish, WA
10:25 AM
Paul Westfall, Audio Designer

The start of a new week, and I can see the effects of a day off in the faces of cast and crew alike. On Thursday night of last week, I noticed that everyone looked two years older. Folks seem to have found their youth again. Games are being played and music fills the air during breaks.

Last night I dreamed "the race" scene. In my dream we had a fortunate accident during shooting that looked fascinating on film. As Tommy and Liza run, Liza runs past a post, but trips and falls out of the picture. At the same moment, a bird (perhaps a seagull?) flies past the post and into the shot. The effect is that suddenly Liza trasforms into this bird. Cut to a crane shot of Tommy running around the corner of the building with the bird flying at his side...

Also heard some intriguing audio of their footfalls as they ran over a metal grate, thus setting the tone and rhythm of the music for the scene.

Suddenly, I am watching the dailies for this shot with the other Home Movies partners. I mention that a possible "Tag Line" for TLTE may be "Don't Settle". This goes over like a lead balloon and the dream ends. Ah well, this is why I'm in audio and not publicity. Toodle-oo!

-Paul

Sno-ho Wedding Chapel
10:40 AM
Nathan Daynes, "Tommy," (age 13)

I had a great day off. I got caught up on my sleeping. The baseball scene was funny. We had to do it about 30 times, to get it just right. It was fun though. Now were just starting the mud dumping scene. That should be a great laugh. Especially since I'm not getting mudded. And so we continue on.

-Nathan

The Snohomish Wedding Chapel
1:32 PM
Samantha Duvall-Thomsen, Props Manager / Costume Coordinator

My car is full of props. My husband's car is full of props (including Picker, the "dead guinea pig"). My back bedroom is full of props. I have forgotten a thing a day, and become overwhelmed at least that often. And yet.....and yet I am finding a new kind of peace today. I could credit this to a number of different things (a day off, the lighthearted atmosphere on the set) but I have another thought.

My thought is that I am working with a group of kind, caring, loving, and (thankfully!) forgiving people. Each one of us gets frustrated, but there is never a time when someone isn't available to give a hug, offer a shoulder, or voice words of encouragement. Used to pursuing primarily things I am good at, my love for these talented people has forced me into the unique (for me) position of making errors, struggling, and taking risks that I would never have considered a year or two ago. There is a weight off me today--and perhaps that is the greatest gift for me from this process: I am allowing myself to be imperfect, and to actually continue something at which I feel less than competent.

On a lighter note, I've also discovered that movies have been ruined for me. I went to one yesterday, and could think of nothing but "Wow! That was at least 9 different set-ups for one scene!"

-Samantha

Quinn Thomsen, Doumentary Coordnator/Director/Dictator

(please spell check this. I'm a math teacher not a grammarian. Worse yet, I have big swedish fingers typing on a laptop. My keyboard is the size of the kingdome.) I'm waiting for Todd, the only reason I have this moment to type is that I need Todd's password so I an make the Apple QuickTake camera work. A lot of how we work is like that. I know this part, she knows that part and if we can put them together we can make something a little bigger.

My crew of documentarians are all studetns and actors from Seattle Country day school. What I find funny is how much "film" experence they have, they have each been to movie camp half a million times and I feel a little intimidated. Grace is the best of them all, (she's sitting right here.) So what do I do? They sat next to me a minute ago and filmed a great interview with Eliana (who plays "Bitta.") I watched. I think about good shots. I gossip with the children. I panic and run to find the video crew to catch a good shot. Sometimes they have it already, sometimes I'm too late, sometimes it's perfect.

-Quinn

Sno-ho Wedding Chapel
1:50 PM
Nathan Daynes, "Tommy"

Today has been the coolest day. I don't know why but, it just has. Filming has been great and I got a lot of sleep. I've had an awsome day. And it's still going. I haven't even seen the shoot from the cemetary yet.

-Nathan

Zion Something-or-other Church
5:25 PM
Robin Stewart, Documentarian (age 14)

It was really fun earlier today seeing and documenting all of the extras, each one doing their own thing, but all doing their part to help the film. It was also fun to see 'parents' (about half of them weren't really the kid's parents) scolding their 'kids' and then hugging them when Jesse yelled "Cut!" It was also funny to see Jesse dump mud on the boys for that scene.

I also captured on tape some pretty good flirting, though a lot of it won't be useable. It will be fun to watch later though. But don't worry, Katrina (ahem harrumph), if you really don't want us to use something I'll respect that.

It's been a great day with everyone not too tired and we're ahead of schedule for once. Okay, all for now.

-The Binsk

Zion Lutheran Church, Snoho
5:41 PM
Kate Weinberger, Documentarian (age 13)

Today has been a really great day. You can tell that everyone had the day off yesterday. I think that everyone should try to get more sleep, because when we are rested, things get done quicker and better. I think that everyone also has more fun when we are not deprived of sleep (I certainly did).

We have been getting some really good documentary footage lately. Everyone has been really cooperative during their interviews. Some of what we have shot has been very funny. Earlier this morning, we taped Jesse pouring mud over the boys' heads. When the scene was all over, they all hugged Jesse so he could experiance what he had done to them (they gave him a taste of his own medicine, you might say).

That's all, folks!

-Kate

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