That's a wrap! (Well, basically)

Another large chunk of Intersect filming is done as of this blog post... We've officially wrapped principal photography on all of our actors, except Jason Spisak! Wow! That's a great sentence to type. Why not take a quick look at what we've been doing over the past 5 weeks in this action packed video:

 :::VIDEO:::

Jason's involvement in this film as the lead acting role, as well as producer, will continue as we tie up all our loose ends and finish our pick-up shots. But having everyone else finished is, as you can imagine, a giant load off... for everyone. No more scheduling. No more long days in the hot Arizona sun. So much less to worry about now. It's a weird feeling, knowing your life is about to open up again. It's nearly time to dive full-in to the editing. It's already begun, but soon we'll be editing around the clock.

Abe Ruthless... what can anyone say? Abe has been with us from literally day-one of shooting. He's been the most hard-working, dedicated, and easy to get along with person we've ever met. From wardrobe, to makeup, to his extensive hair and beard work on this film, Abe has put up with a lot of torture from us. Not to mention the insane character arch he's had to follow. Seeing Abe develop his character and work through his vast emotional display on set has been truly inspiring to watch. Everyone has learned something from Abe by working on this film, and his phenomenal performance will be a joy to watch. We're all in for a serious treat.

Abe... wrapped!

One interesting night with Abe took us from shooting inside the hallways of a school, to Mesa's bustling downtown area at 2:00am. We filmed a few cutaway shots with Abe as he was leaving a restaurant from an earlier scene, then we waited as Gus hailed us a cab. For some reason it took an incredibly long time for a cab to show up, so I decided to take a few long-exposure photos while we waited. I'm particularly keen on Abe's "Hear no, speak no, see no evil" shot.

D'artagnan... wrapped!

What about this D'artagnan cat? Yes, sir... He's completed his tour of duty as well. D'artagnan Driscoll has been put through a particularly tough time on this film. Not only is his character emotionally flawed and severely conflicted, but his wardrobe has caused him more angst than anyone else on the film. D'artagnan's most prominently featured costume had been dubbed "Warmy", on account of it being comprised of an orange under shirt, a dark flannel sweater, and a red and black hooded sweatshirt over the top. Every time we needed that costume for an outdoor shoot, it was well over 100 degrees, with no cloud cover. We never once caught a break from the sun. But D'artagnan suffered through right to the end. Of everyone in our younger cast, he's endured more rough schedules and long days than anyone. We were glad to finally wrap him, and can't wait to showcase his abilities.

Warmy

Leeann... re-wrapped!

We brought Leeann Dearing back for a short day of one or two pick-up shots, and even wrangled in Garrett Boyd for one scene! Garrett, you'll remember portrayed Geoffrey from the Event Chamber lab scenes. And on our very last day of shooting, we even had Slade Hall back on set! It was a very long night of shooting, but we got some incredible footage with Slade and Abe inside a giant power station. Slade's performance as snarky science reporter Larry Fincher, and his run-ins with Abe's character provide a bit of comic relief to our serious time-travel, sci-fi, action movie.

Slade... napped! And wrapped!

Well, you're up to date again! Sorry for the long delay, and thanks for checking back. We'll be posting more entries as we completely wrap up filming, and along the way throughout the editing process. Also, be sure to follow us on TWITTER ( @intersectmovie ), where we will be posting more frequent, up-to-the-minute updates in the coming weeks. This adventure is far from over, so keep an eye on us. We're planning something special for the next post....

One last nugget... these are actual fortunes we got during the filming. One was from a chinese restaurant we ate at after our last day of filming in the lab. The other I found on the ground during one of our last outdoor shoots. Insert Theramin sound effects now...

-Luke (D.P.)

Space for rent

It's official... the laboratory at the William Marshall School of Temporal Science at Miskatonic University is now closed. The computers have been packed up, the power cells discharged, the mice freed, and the Event Chamber has been permanently dismantled. All that remains in the cold and damp, grey concrete warehouse, is a massive triangle scar... the footprint of a metal behemoth we filmmakers called our friend.

Below is a tribute video to the Event Chamber...

The footprint of a giant.

The set is emptying out now. All of the props have been moved out or destroyed. Our lab has reverted back to it's former warehouse state of being. There is almost no resemblance now to what it was just a week prior. The painted grey walls and a pile of extension cords are the only indentifiers. This set was never "like home", but I know a few of us had spent more time here, than in our actual homes during the course of shooting.



The Chamber in a beauty pose.

We're moving on to the next phase of the film. In fact, we're currently location scouting. We're out of the lab and out in the real world all on our own! We'll be filming exteriors, interiors, day... night... all that stuff. This blog will have a totally different look from here on in. But that's not to say we aren't without a few surprises. Ahh! Suspense! You'll be coming back, I can tell.

This is POST-destruction clean up... still looks amazing.

Original design in stunning cardboard and packing tape.

Lyle London of Art In Metal

Matt Scheick of Art In Metal

But seriously, I wanted to post this blog to give the Event Chamber, the Portal, the robots, and the lab a proper send off. It's been amazing shooting in there. We've been very fortunate, and the footage is looking incredible. A big special thanks to lead builder Matt Scheick, Lyle London, and all the guys at Art In Metal who brought the Event Chamber and Portal to life. We were gob-smacked when we first saw it, and we still are every time we see it.

Amen.

-Luke (D.P.)

Filming in the lab, complete!

This week saw the last days of filming on the Intersect laboratory set. Let's celebrate with another behind-the-scenes video! Yes? Look below...

VIDEO:::

Turn your old, discarded jewelry into cash now!

Don't you just wonder what was so funny and interesting?

Blog updates stopped for a while... over the past few weeks we had been shooting lots of the automated robots zipping around the Event Chamber, the Portal turning on and off, doors opening and closing... sort of "2nd unit" stuff with no actors... so I didn't see the need for an update. But we just finished the last scene inside the Event Chamber with Jason and Leeann, so it's blog time!

Leeann Dearing and Ashlyn Melancon

"Trust me guys, this is how people will stand in the future."

The 2nd unit filming wasn't as bad as I might have made it sound. There was actually quite a lot of interesting things we did. Like pouring giant trash can loads of blood all over the Chamber and melting prop mice with a lighter. Oh, memories for a rainy day.

Killed with a thought.

No one else saw it... but this blood spill was the spitting image of my dog, Dr Poncho Diaz.

After all our clean, sterile lab shots were committed to film we started the process of destroying it. Yes, you remember the giant feller in the bomb vest... did he ever get around to doing what he set out to do? We'll make that the cliffhanger. Sure, look at the photo below, but you'll have to see the movie for the real answer. Science fiction... after all... is fiction. Fake. Lies. Twists. Things could be misinterpreted, or skewed... even a the blog of a mad DP. Mad as in mental, not angry.

Luke (R) with Matt Sheick (L)... the Portal builder has become the Portal destroyer.

Post portal destruction

In one interpretation of the movie... uh hum... our lead girl, Caitlin met a dirty end. Our makeup artist Ashlyn Melancon dove in to the job of roasting Leeann's face. Check out the amazing work.

Leaving the set on the last day of shooting was bittersweet. Boy, that'd be great to say... and right sappy. Really, leaving on the last day felt like when your mom lets you sleep in on a school day. I for one was ready to go home and rest. But don't despair... I get to go back all month and spend a lot more time there as we strike the set... pack up the portal, reset the original lighting, and bin all the now useless props. Don't lament for me just yet. And don't worry... I'll have photos of the whole thing. Time lapse too? Maybe. Geez, pushy.

...and what a party it was.

Mirror mirror...

Just working out some new dance steps.

As ever, I promise "more to come". Maybe even the briefest peek at a little footage? You'll just have to check back in. We do thank you for reading... come again soon.

-Luke (D.P.)

Laboratory shooting, nearly done!

We're nearing the end of our time in the lab. This week we finished off a giant chunk of shooting, did a few pick ups, and started planning our final days on this set.

How about a video why not?

VIDEO:::

 We're getting to that point of "shoot what we can, cause this set is being torn down soon." We scoured all the footage and frantically made notes on what we had, and what we still needed. But in the end, we were able to knock almost everything out. In the boring in-between-shots time, the actors have invented a new sport called "Flizz"... which involves a used gum wrapper. I'm sure it's more involved than that.

Flizz, a gentleman's game... apparently.

Jason giving proper credit... four.

This week also meant the first of our CG shots. Setting up a giant green screen and tons of lighting was an interesting challenge inside of a triangle with lots of windows.

This was for my "Save the fish" campaign commercial.

Hopefully this blog can keep churning out regular content. I still have a few up coming days of shooting to discuss, and I plan to document the destruction of our amazing set, but after that it's relax time for a little while before we dive into the rest of the shooting.

Green is the new RED.

More to follow shortly. Stay tuned in.

Thanks again to our friends Fit For Rivals for all the awesome tunes for our behind the scenes videos!

-Luke (D.P.)