Monday, May 5 – Day 17

Quote of the Day:

“He’s not big; he’s Northwest healthy.” “Yeah, full of water.”

 

Our final day at ‘Francis’’ house. We’re blessed by sunshine and be-deviled by gremlins.

 

Susan has a hot-flash and we have to hold until her face stops sweating. Our first production delay for a hot flash. You don’t see a lot of that in filmmaking.

 

It’s lawn mower and leaf blower day in the neighborhood.  We’re shooting the last scene on the terrace and at one point, Seymour leans over the rail and starts yelling “Hey guys! Shut the f* up!”

 

Now that Susan’s supposed to have a hot flash for a scene, she’s cool and dry as a cucumber.  Sam and Darren fix it by staging a tickling attack.

 

We pull some big silks outside to cut the sun’s intensity as we shoot on the terrace.  Everybody’s griping about it being too hot, until someone reminds us all that a week ago, we were dealing with hail and hoping it wouldn’t snow. We all shut up.

 

It’s the last day the whole crew will be together – we’re going into the country on location tomorrow and don’t need everybody.  So Tim (who now has screws in his fingers and a cast on his arm), Licia, John and Stephanie – the Art Department – stages a traditional goodbye on the front lawn as we wrap. One bottle of champagne to Sam, one to Darren… and the war is on!  Everyone ends up drenched to one degree or another, and posing for group photos.

 

One more day!

 

 

Tuesday, May 6 – Day 18

Quote of the Day:

“It’s chocolate chicken!”

 

What a wonderful location for our last day, and the ladies’ final liberating moment. We’re at Geer Crest Farm just outside Salem, a biodynamic farm that lives and teaches agrarian culture. Susan gets goat milk from here every week or so, and is a steward of this part of the local network of ‘co-reliant’ farms that provide farm fresh food to this area. It’s in beautiful rolling farm country, resplendent with trees and ponds, and populated by chickens, goats, horses, sheep, ducks, dogs, cats, and people.

 

Brian the city boy is immediately terrified. But the rest of the crew starts pulling overgrown grass to feed the goats and one horse through the fence. A lot of us end up buying goat milk and fresh eggs to take home with us.

 

The weather’s sunny… except for those moments that the sun goes behind dark clouds and it gets cold. We alternately put on and take off an assortment of sweaters and jackets, but the sky is filled with ever-changing banks of clouds, the way only Portland seems to be able to do clouds.

 

We do some driving shots of the women from inside ‘Michele’s’ van, then move up on the road to the final location, which is also the final location of the film.

 

Sam’s wearing a Chocolate Chicken t-shirt he had made. For some reason, the crew decided their best shots have been better than anything – “They’re as good as chocolate chicken.” Sam took it to heart, found a picture of a chocolate Easter chicken on-line and had a t-shirt made. The crew’s loving it.

 

Bruce Lawson shows up with his mule – his ATV – so he can haul the women back up the hill if we have to do more than one take of the final shot. He jumps in to help the crew as the sun and wind play topsy-turvy with our shots. Bruce has been terrific throughout the shoot, willing not just to help, but to also generously give this young crew the benefit of his years of experience. The crew is grateful and soaks up everything he says.

 

We start shooting, and this time, it’s not lawn mowers bedeviling Tyler – it’s tractors. Bruce times the tractor’s trip across the field and back, and tells us we have 1 minute and 20 seconds of relative quiet before the tractor turns and we get the full force of its motor.

 

Carolyn, Shelly and Stephanie stand in for the ladies for the final rehearsal, and trip downhill looking a bit like drunken geese.

 

The real deal happens, and on the third take, the sun which has been hiding behind a black cloud for 30 minutes breaks through, classic rays of light streaming down. Golden Hour. And everything we ever wanted from this final crane shot. Roland catches them on his steadicam, silhouetted against the rays of light. Playback – and we’re all in tears. Sam says it’s chocolate chicken.

 

It’s been an amazing few weeks. There were more than a few complicated shoots and occasional difficult weather conditions, and this small crew has pulled together and performed amazing feats and pulled off brilliant shots. The cast of locals and special out-of-town guests have delivered one wonderful performance after another. It’s a story worth telling, and they’ve told it well. What a privilege to work with such people, and to know just how lucky we are to have them here in Portland. My hat’s off to everybody!

 

And that’s a wrap.

 

 

Jackie Blain – Associate Producer