Brought on a new editor. Mister Trent Palmer. Getting him up to speed this week so I can have some time off! Yea!

J

Special thanks to FLF filmer Greg, who actually rode in a chase truck for the entire Baja 500…. that’s 500 miles off-road, folks! I was dying to ride in the chase truck, too. Now that I watch the footage though, I’m guessing I would have been pretty sick. That’s some crazy driving!

It’s gonna be a fun documentary, and I’m looking forward to posting the finished project in July. Danny May’s been cuttin’ away at it in the last 2 weeks, logging footage and putting together the rough assembly. Jerry and I just got to watch a rough, first 12 minutes or so today. It’s lookin’ good!

 One of our favorite parts of last week was shooting with our little puppy star, Hamlet.  I’m happy to say that because it’s rare… thus the notorious film industry warning, “Never work with animals or babies.”  

Puppy Actor Hamlet

Having worked with animals on set numerous times, we’ve learned a couple things that have made it easier and made us more successful in getting what we need.  That said, here are some tips for shooting with animals:

1)  Don’t just cast for the animal… the handler will play an equally important role in your success or failure.  Communicate with the handler… A LOT.  Make sure you’re comfortable with, and confident in, his or her style, and make sure they’re comfortable with you.  

Erika with puppy talent, Hamlet

2)  Be extremely clear about the expectations and requirements.  What may seem like a no-brainer to you may be a big challenge or just an impossibility for the animal.  Wearing a hat?  Looking at camera?  Walking in deep snow?   The clearer you are about your expectations, the better chance you have of finding the right talent for your job.  Also, will you be running sync sound during the animal’s scene(s)?  If so, make sure the animal can understand visual cues from the handler, not just verbal ones.

3)  Be clear about the conditions where the animal will be working.  Hot lights?  Cold weather?  Let the handler know exactly what the working conditions will be like so the two of you can plan together.  A little extra planning in the outset can make the animal much more comfortable, and will help keep the handler relaxed and focused.  

4)  Consider the logistics well in advance.  Not every hotel will allow dogs and cats, and not every location may even allow animals on site.  When working with animals, bring up that subject in every step of the production…   Make sure human talent isn’t allergic/ phobic, confirm the property where you’re filming will allow that type of animal, make a plan for animal feeding, watering, waste disposal, etc.  

Actor Drew Taylor and Wrangler Lloyd Cooper on location

5)  When on set, ask the handler what they need.  If an animal has been cooped up in a trailer or on a plane, don’t rush them to get suited up and in place.  Ask the handler how to best get them adjusted and ready… Does the animal need some rest?  Water?  To be walked around the set and not touched for a few minutes?   Remember, every animal has its own distinct personality and needs.

Nurse puppy in an FLF toy commercial

6)   Don’t underestimate the value of prep time.   For working animals, everything is a factor of “getting used to it,” and that just takes time.  Our puppy last week needed to get used to wearing clothes and sitting in a chair.  Our horses in The Sierra (the Western short film) needed to be “gun broke” (meaning, they needed to get used to having guns fired from their backs).   Sarah, our excellent handler last week, videotaped and uploaded her prep sessions for us, so we could see what strategies would work the best to give us the shots we needed.  It helped tremendously, and our clients told us it was their best experience ever with a dog on set.

Jungle set

Just checkin in from day 2 of our toy commercial shoot this week.  Today’s concept is super fun and zany. We’ll definitely post some pics and video when our dog talent, Hamlet, arrives this afternoon, but in the meantime, here’s a little behind the scenes tour of our stage, crew, etc.

Our little Los Angeles actresses today (4 and 9 years old) are the cutest little things.  Danielle, the 9 year old, is such a pro.  On our first shot this morning, our Assistant Director Garrett asked her to slightly adjust her gaze.  She responded, “Oh, you want me to cheat the eyeline a little?”  Little stars in the making!!

Today started with an 8:00 AM call time to meet at Ryan Baker’s house to prep our camera gear for an intensive morning of casting.

We arrive at The Glenn Group office and proceed to set up.  The people at this ad agency are as nice as can be, willing to help us with anything we need.  What a great work atmosphere!

Anyway, the auditions we’re filming are for a campaign called “Kindness is Your Currency”.  The idea is to reward people for random acts of kindness.

Candidates started showing up at 9:00 AM excited and seemed ready to go.  Each interview was approximately 10-15 minutes with appointments scheduled 15 minutes apart.  

I was in the lounging area greeting and checking people in, downloading the footage onto my computer after each individual interview, and being comical as usual.

Overall, everything went smooth and I had a great time on this little job.

Be back soon with some more updates!

This reminded me of one of my favorite FLF projects I’ve produced… A commercial for Smurfs toys!   I was so excited when we got the project — I’ve loved the Smurfs ever since I was little, and the client asked us to take that retro-cool brand and go ultra-contemporary with the commercial.  We even got the amazing, Grammy-nominated Shiny Toy Guns to re-record the famous Smurfs “La La” song!

Our cast was fabulous. The break dancer boy was one of the most amazing break dancers I’ve ever seen… and he’s only 10 years old!  Definitely a star in the making.  Kandee the Make-Up Artist did super, super fun hair and make-up (check out her blog entry about doing hair/ make-up on the Smurfs set), and Jeanne fixed up the most trendy, funky wardrobe. 

Check out the final spot below!

Between 3 commercial spots, a sales video, and a series of interviews finishing up in post; a 20-minute athlete profile just starting in post; 3 national girls’ spots in pre-production; casting for a viral campaign we’re producing; and 2 national boys’ toys spots in pre-pro, FLF’s got a full plate at the moment. And we love it!

The last few days have been so busy in fact, that we had a first yesterday evening… A script meeting at the hair salon while Jerry was getting a new ‘do!

Here are some pics from our little hair parlor powwow:

Today just started and we’ve already got phones ringing off the hook. Here are some pics from our office this morning… The production department is hustlin’!

I should issue a warning though… get your tissues ready! It’s a tough one. Working on the edit, we were in tears the whole time.

Don’t know what made me want to post this today… Maybe all the rain in Reno this week has been putting me in a somber mood.

On a happier note, have a great weekend everyone!