Black Boogers & the Return of Slate Girl!

It was back on the set yesterday for another bit of filmmaking. It was a relatively short day; only about 9 hours; but the environment was the puzzle piece that made for a tough day. We were in a dingy, dusty, creepy basement. Once we turned on the lights, it looked like it was snowing indoors. So much dust inhaled. Black boogers. Good times. I can recall the last time I found black boogers in my tissue. It was the last strike I was a part of back in my college days. The sets we had; while beautiful and effective; were generally monstrous in size. Dismantling the sets; cleaning the wood; prepping the stage for the next production was never an easy (or quick) ordeal. I believe the longest strike was probably 10 hours; and the average was about 7 hours (those college chums reading this; does that seem accurate?) At any rate; each time I would return to the dorm for a much needed shower; the nose blowing would go on forever; and it was pitch black. Inhaling dust and dirt for that long could probably be seen as the culprit (see how quick I am?) Yesterday brought those memories all flooding back. The space was certainly effective for the look of the film. Hell, we had to dress about 5 percent of the location; cuz the rest was already so scary and filthy. We only needed to add the specific props/set pieces that our lead actress (the splendidly diva-ish Leah) would have to deal with. Bathroom breaks and food runs left me in the basement by myself for a short time. Uber-creepy. I took some photos of the place while I sat there. They will be posted later. It had also been 3 weeks since I had done any work on the film; so by the time we wrapped, I was exhausted. Even right now; my whole body feels as sore as it did when we did the big fight scene a month ago. Oy. Another highlight was the additional crew member on the set...a possible ghost. I doubt it was truly that; but I had my back to a darkened doorway as we completed several takes of a shot. The floor of the basement was gritty, which made it quite obvious when someone was moving about. I heard something behind me; sounded like footfalls; moving through the nasty grit. It could have been a rodent or something; but sounded a bit to heavy for that. It freaked me out for the rest of the evening; and the tiny crew we had for the day started to play it all up. We asked if we were invading their space; and it was all in good fun. Even a possible "cold spot". Y'know, I think it was just the end of a long day. It was a good day making movies.