I’m sat here still recovering from an absolute blast of a weekend. Working with The Darkness, shooting a short film entitled either ‘Jesus of Nacogdoches’ or ‘The Jesus Project’. Just in case the casual reader may think I’ve upped and joined one of them thar desert cults, I can confirm the movie is not as pious as the unfinalised title would suggest.
Over the weekend, most of my experience was carting around a hefty wooden cross between takes and ensuring the main actor and writer, John Lambert, didn’t collapse under the weight of it. Not the most auspicious of tasks, but a necessary one. I certainly don’t mind stretching a few muscles, and to be honest I need the exercise. Other than that, additional tasks included cleaning up props and sets, as well as some time operating the boom microphone. By Sunday, I was entrusted with copying the filmed material from the camera to hard disk, and managed to fix a slightly broken Compact Flash card reader on site. (Definitely getting the knack back.) I was also drafted as an extra for shooting the final scene, wherein my novelty accent provided much merriment to the cast and crew.
At no point did any of this feel like a grind. Yes, there were long shooting hours, and much work needed to be done. But it was wonderful to be in a creative atmosphere, wherein many talented people behind and in front of the camera come together to give form to the writer’s vision. I met many friendly, enthusiastic people – having an accent like mine makes for a great conversation starter – and am happy to be making myself known amongst the creative community over here.
Later this week, I’ll be returning to the workshop to get my hands on the editing tools that are used to stitch random shots together into seamless narrative. I’ve also been promised an opportunity to get behind the lens and discover how to work the camera, thus becoming familiar with the non-obscene definition of ‘aperture’.
Although things are still strange at times, I no longer feel like a stranger.
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