December 14, 2021

Yesterday was Day 2 of production. We shot some of the big dinner scenes with all six main cast members. The day didn't feel as good as Day 1. Part of it probably was that video village, where I sit, was farther away from set. (Too far, really.) And they only have headphones for the dialogue for the director and script supervisor, so I was watching it but couldn't hear what was going on. But it seemed like the scenes weren't really clicking. And the shots all looked flatter than Day 1, not as well produced. It was day 2 out of a 10 day shoot in New Mexico, so we're having to go really fast. Details, continuity stuff, is being brushed off. It's probably necessary to get our shots, but it's disheartening and also frustrating some of the crew. I'm not having a lot of obvious work to do on set, but I was thinking about how I'm the person who this movie means the most to. The Director and the DP have shot at least two other movies this year. For the rest of the crew, this is at some level just a job. I think my role going forward might be to try to smooth relationships, to thank crew if the director doesn't seem to be acknowledging their work, and to just be the person on set who this really matters to. Maybe that will help the work feel more meaningful for everybody, even when it seems like we're rushing. 

I'm nervous how it will turn out. They cast a black man in the role of Henry, which I would have avoided, because he's a character with a criminal past and comes in with a gun etc etc.  It had always seemed pretty important to me that that character be played by a big scary white guy. But then again, the guy playing Adam keeps making his character more and more slimy, just more and more awful. To the point where I think everyone in this movie is going to look good compared to him. (Bless Emile, really.) 

I want the movie to be coherent. I want it to be fun. I want it to feel like the people who made it cared about what they were doing. I don't have much pull at all on set and yet I have as much pull -- in some ways -- as the director does. I'm the writer flown in from LA, and so far people seem to respect that more than I expected. I need them, and I appreciate them, and I hope I'm able to communicate that to them in a way that's not too cringey.