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ANOMALY Trailer
Shoot |
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Saturday November 10th & Sunday 11th weekend was
the most enjoyable experience I've had as a filmmaker so far.
There were many reasons for this. |
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Getting Sean McGinn back as my Director of Photography was the biggest key. All the work we do on a movie is for what gets captured on film. So the DP position is paramount to the film being done right. With Sean, we have now worked together on four films. He understands my vision and can see the same picture in his head as I do. This is not something that's automatic between a director and DP. Maybe even more importantly Sean expands the thought process & energy to capture the pictures we "see" and is able to use the tools of his trade; lights, lens and locations to make it happen. On top of this, Sean's personality is ego-free even though he's accomplished quite a bit at this point. Sean won an Emmy for one of his documentaries and he shot the International Award-Winning film for me WASHINGTON ROAD. People like working with Sean because he is a tremendous worker, completely dedicated and always friendly. That's unbeatable combination.
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1st Assistant Camera Chris (George) Kishore and 2nd Assistant Camera Alex Fernandez were critical in helping Sean do his job. They came with needed experience working with cinematography equipment. Chris and Alex dove in immediately setting up lights, the camera crane and other tools of our shoot. They always did things in the most efficient way possible and helped allow Sean to actually enjoy this shoot. They took turns operating the boom mic and Alex will be taking on the job of Visual Effects artist during our post-production phase. Chris also played "The Ghost" (sorry Kato) in one scene. I really liked working with these guys. |
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Liz McKendry had the responsibility of having to do the first scene this weekend as well as on the shoot done back in May. Liz was more than up for the challenge each time as she brought incredible enthusiasm. For this shoot, two examples of her turbo charged energy was when she was doing the scene where she pounds on "Monica's" door. First she came into "Monica's" so enthused, she slipped on the floor. Then after knocking on door for all the takes (including the long 5 minute insert shot) a large purple bruise surfaced on her index finger. Liz makes it clear she relishes the chance to play "Jodie" and has read the entire ANOMALY feature film script at least 4 or 5 times. |
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Daisy Taveras made most of the crew's eyes water when doing her first scene on Saturday. This scene was the one where "Monica" stumbles out of her bedroom, barely able to walk after being attacked by a ghost. Daisy got the physicality of the scene but what she really nailed was Monica's emotional state. Daisy's performance affected all of us, as she was able to convey the hurt & helpless "Monica" felt as she told "Jodie" what happened. I also found it really interesting to listen to Daisy speak, as she has a lower sounding voice, especially if you combine her accent to go along with the emotionality of the scene. Daisy was funny Sunday night when she got the giggles during the car dialogue scene with Chelsea Switzer ("Betty"). |
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Martha Velasquez was absolutely the right person to play "Officer Karen Langer." Not only is Martha stunningly beautiful, but she's got a sweet personality and is not a prima donna. After watching and listening to Martha act the whole weekend (she was in four scenes) I told her that her delivery and screen presence reminds me of Sigourney Weaver. What I found particularly interesting about Martha was that onscreen she comes across as somewhat fearless, when in reality she is a bit of a Fraidy Cat. There was one moment Saturday night were we were doing a long lens shot looking into "Officer Langer's" police car, when the spooky shape of "The Ghost" is seen standing staring at her in the woods close by. It was getting a little late, it was cold and we where outside. Mike Porciello was backlit, standing motionless within the trees, which everyone felt looked creepy. Anyway, Martha was really getting into doing the scene, when our Gaffer Kato Peragine tapped her on the shoulder through the open window on her driver's side door. This caused Martha to let out a scream that made everyone stop what they were doing. We all got a laugh out of that one. Well, maybe Martha didn't think it was so funny.
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Chelsea Switzer moved from the east coast to St. Louis on November 6th, only to fly back to New York four days later to be a part of our production. That showed real commitment on her part, which in turn made me raise the level of my game. Chelsea has a real calming feel to her aura. There is a certain easiness you feel being around her and that translated on the screen as well. I thought she made the scene where "Betty" listened to her answering machine really natural and believable. Then when she did the scene with Daisy in the car, I was convinced they were friends. We were lucky to get her involved on this project before she moved.
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Lindsay Drew returned to play "Paula Walker." Lindsay has a nice contrasting look compared to the other girls. Lindsay is the shortest and most curvaceous member of the ANOMALY cast and looked terrific again. She did a nice job switching gears during the scene where she gets a visit from an unwanted visitor at the door to her home. If you haven't heard of Lindsay before (she is a signed folk/pop singer), I'm confident you will be a fan of hers after seeing her in the trailer. |
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Paula made the crew totally at home again with her organized focus on making the behind the scenes warm & cozy and making sure we kept on time. All of the cast made a point to tell me how much they appreciated Paula making them laugh and how showed she always a concern to make them feel at home on the set. Paula surprised me be having a candle lit cake to celebrate my Birthday. I guess she wanted to make my Birthday extra special because I was making a film, doing the thing I like doing the most. She was right and I love her for it. Paula also agreed to let me use our house as the final shooting location, which I was very thankful for.
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Ellen Trapani was under the weather but didn't let that stop her from being attentive to logging all the shooting details and being her gracious self. Her husband, Paul Trapani, also must be thanked for allowing us to use their home. We shot half our weekend at Ellen & Paul's. We used almost all of the house. On this shoot one room was the make-up room, while we shot two scenes in their living room, one in their kitchen and two scenes upstairs. In May we shot scenes in the upstairs bedroom, downstairs bathroom so basically we used almost all of their house. |
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Kathleen Connolly and Jaclyn Lui are the two best Make-up Artists I've worked with. They handled all make-up and hair. Though they had never met prior to the shoot, they worked together as if they had been partners for years. They made our cast look spectacular. I really appreciated the amount of work they both did arriving on the first shooting day before anyone else, then working to get each girl's hair and make up just right. They also came to me with ideas on how to make each girl look distinctly different based on each character. After completing the initial make-up, they took their portable make-up tool kit belts and gave attention to each cast member in between takes. Kathleen and Jaclyn will be my make-up artists of choice on all future shoots.
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Gaffer Kato Peragine and his sons Michael and Joe were a huge asset for our production. They ensured we had everything covered electrically and helped Sean & his team get lights & camera into action. These three guys worked tireless, kept the cast & crew light on their feet and made things more pleasant. The only problem I had was distinguishing between who was Michael and who was Joe. It seemed like every time I guessed the name, I was wrong. There is no doubt we were in good hands with our Gaffing crew. |
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Janette Pellegrini is the first professional Still Photographer I've had involved on one of my productions. Janette would work around the set finding the best places to take pictures.. She even got the opportunity to help make the "Jodie" kitchen scene work as the "blower." It's not at all what you may be thinking. Janette acted as the ghost who spoils "Jodie's" attempt to light a candle. Some of her stellar photos are here (her pictures are copyrighted with year & date).
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Kevin Austin played had the vital role of picking up all food from the different restaurants who donated meals to our shoot and picked up people from the train station. Kevin mentioned that he filled up his gas tank twice so you know he put some miles on his car driving all over to help us the way he did.
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Mike Porciello was also valuable to our team as he acted in the aforementioned scene as "The Ghost" and helped too many ways to list here. |
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Milt Marmara,
who is a police Captain, lent his
expertise to teaching Martha how to approach her scenes, especially
the ones with the real handgun. Milt even stepped into to play
the government official that interrogates "Officer Langer."
He did this even though I told him that his character probably will not make it into the
trailer. Milt was a good choice to play the intimidating
character because of his physical
stature and commanding voice. Milt's wife Linda Marmara, a
retired police officer donated her police uniform for Martha to
wear. It was kind of fun watching Milt and Linda disagree on how
"Officer Langer" should walk thru her house when she hears
the ghost inside.
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The teamwork and camaraderie stood out big time during this shoot. I've never worked at a regular job that had the extraordinary positive spirit the cast and crew displayed. People were busting their humps and enjoying every minute of it. I credit that to the character of everyone involved.
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We also must thank the wonderful establishments that helped support our production. These include: November shoot: All American
Hamburger Drive-In - Massapequa, NY
Bagelman - Copiague, NY |
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