Mom's surgery was a success. It was a long procedure (we dropped her off at 6:30, she in at 8:30, and we didn't see her again until 6 at night) in which they replaced the plate on her left femur with a longer plate and added two more cables and three screws to tighten the plate to the bone. The doctors were very happy with how everything went and mom was in good spirits tonight. They're going to keep her a couple of nights, which means a much-deserved break for my poor father. I fly home tonight and begin to edit some kind of clip select sequence together for finishing fund grants. Sinisa oversaw the telecine at Entertainment Post and said the footage looked great (whew). Apparently our telecine guy was the fella that oversaw Pi and Garden State.

Mom went in today to have the staples removed from her shoulder incision. She complained of continued soreness in her left knee and showed herdoctor that the swelling above her knee had still not receded. They did more x-rays and discovered another fracture, along the plate that they had affixed in October. The x-rays look crazy - I can't believe she can get around at all, considering what the bones look like. So, on Wednesday, they're going in again and replacing the plate with something more substantial. It doesn't push the time table for her walking back much, since she'll have to let the arm heal for another two months anyway, but it is dispiriting to say the least. My parents didn't seem too upset - went right off to a potluck for the LSU-Ohio State game. It's just part of their routine, I guess. Still getting used to it, myself.

Finished shooting. Camera returned to Panavision. Film at Fotokem. Telecine to be done at Entertainment Post. The shoot was unique: because of mom’s fall, we had a lot more time than we needed for what we could shoot (maybe 50% of what I had originally hoped for). This meant more attention to light and a lot more time in the Jacuzzi. Loved having my boys in town for it all: Sinisa, Renato, Miljenko, Joel. They ate me out of house and home, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

 

Here are some notes I scribbled as we progressed through this first portion of the shoot. I was very pleased with how much we covered – everything on my shot list – but it was disheartening to just be able to shoot the cutaways, inserts, and static material. Very little movement. In March we will get the sexy stuff and the Super 8 recreations. I have to keep reminding myself: this is the calm, meditative portion of the film. The fact is, I have picked a protagonist fighting an infection in bed in a suburban subdivision. Not exactly The Killer. I knew this would be the challenge going in and I convinced myself I could make it compelling. No point in getting antsy at this stage.

 

Saturday 12/29, am – Neighborhood externals

Got up with Kukic and filmed Tierrasanta subdivisions as the sun rose; wet streets from night’s rain; overcast but with sun burning through; started out with cooler shots but warmed up dramatically as day went on; last shot is of a few homes with gold sun pouring onto houses; overall a good start and nice passage of time; 5-6 shots total; we didn’t film the front of the house; will examine it tomorrow to see when is the best time – shot needs to be at end of the sequence, so more light may be better. Zoom lens was vignetting, so it’s all primes for this shoot. Kind of a nightmare, considering the size of the camera (Elaine model). Good things we have time and control over our location. Pennebaker wouldn’t be impressed with our setup. 

 

Saturday 12/29, pm – Backyard

A couple of cutaways of clouds with palm trees and parts of the patio deck in the foreground; looked nice. With the Panavision and the primes, every insert is a half hour undertaking, so we’re getting fewer shots than I like (I love me my cutaways). On Minutiae, I could just point and Kukic – hand held with the Arri in daylight – and Kukic would capture a nice cutaway.

 

Saturday 12/29, pm – Garage

Entire wheelchair sequence, with tracking shot (in and out) bookends and 16 closeup shots. Lighting is dramatic and stylized; not sure how to cut it with the found footage, but think it looks pretty consistent and really nice. Burned a lot of film. I think the foley will be key to selling it all.

 

Saturday 12/29, evening – Pool

Wide cutaway of pool lit up, and Jacuzzi with thermometer spinning around in it; our American Beauty moment

 

Sunday 12/30, am – Pool Cleaner

Nice tilt shot from leaves on ground up to tree with only a few leaves; shots of the cleaner and of isolated leave sin pool; tried to get cleaner coming up along ledge but didn’t really work; sky was gray and light flat but it seemed to fit the mood; I think the pool cleaner will be a recurring character – his Sisyphysian (sp?) battle is a nice metaphor.

 

Sunday 12/30, afternoon – Isolated flower growing in glass pot

Took forever to shoot and ended up a bit dark; will get the follow up when we are done shooting – we’ll see if it was worth it

 

Sunday 12/30, afternoon – Mom’s arm therapy

Gorgeous light and really nice composition; got mom doing arm exercises in bed around 2pm; variety of CU and MCU, plus some wides and inserts; all around the most satisfying stuff we shot so far; also got mom pulling back bandage to see her shoulder surgery incision for the first time

 

Sunday 12/30, evening – Dad’s den

Looked okay – we were confined by the space and decided to keep it fairly natural; wide was okay; tilts and pans along books was nice – sinisa got to use his geared head, which he’d been drooling over; I picked the T2 scene of Arnold ripping his arm skin off for what was on TV – not sure if that was smart; reliant on VO for the sequence to work

 

Monday 12/31, am – Bedroom cutaways

Mom eating breakfast and watching TV from a couple angles, plus a pan from bathroom to the bedroom; cool and more even light – clearly early in the morning light

 

Monday 12/31, am – Foot portrait

Two shots of mom’s feet, then profile of me putting mom’s socks on; looked pretty solid; didn’t get sound

 

Tuesday, 1/1, afternoon – Medical Devices

Wide shot of desk with devices, then a series of closeups; looked good

 

Wednesday, 1/2, morning, afternoon, evening – Antibiotics

Shot tons of coverage of dad giving mom antibiotic injections; went easy on the light, but things looked good; not sure how well things will cut together, but we were as careful as we could be; took all day and we got three different time-of-day lighting setups

 

Wednesday, 1/2, evening – Inserts

Pill case; dad cooking mom dinner; sunsets

 

Thursday, 1/3, am – Therapy

Filmed mom getting stretched, massaged and electrocuted at her therapy session; lighting was flourescent and even, and the quarters cramped, but we got some good stuff; a few full shots of the scarring and lots of therapy; filmed Susan, the therapist, a little; her and mom had a good rapport; sound didn’t work out; good footage of mom’s legs shaking as she got an electrical current sent through her thigh; also got in-the-car stuff on the way home; helped an elderly couple, neither of whom had the power of speech, call AAA for their overheated car – reinforced some of my fears about mom’s health and caretaking

 

Thursday, 1/3, pm – X-Rays

Shot 70 still images of mom’s x-rays; looked great set against the light board; seem to have some gaps in the process (at least two knees)

 

Next up: editing some of the after effects sequences; prepping for the Super 8 shoot in March; prepping for the follow up Super 16 stuff