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Joshua works on Saturday mornings, so we met at Da-an Park that afternoon. An aboriginal concert was scheduled for later, and the sound people were setting up at the stage nearby. Dean called his co-worker Myra to fill in for Dolly, who is busy with her jetset lifestyle at the moment (it’s not easy to get a spot on the schedule of Lady X herself, even if you’re the director). Josh, April, Darrell, Paul, Dean and I proceeded to wrest a nearby fort from the clutches of a band of annoying children so I could mimic a crane effect, or at least a Somewhat High Camera effect for our final scene. Myra’s hat blew off one time, and I was puzzled by my camera’s inexplicable attempt to record in LP mode. The timing was pretty hard to peg down, but we got it and moved on to another shot, on the ground.
Storm clouds were moving in by this time, threatening us with our daily downpour, and I had to call off the rest of the shoot. We made it to Bongos just in time for the deluge, but I had to postpone the rest of the shooting for Sunday morning.
The weather on Sunday morning was bright and clear. Too bright, actually, as the sunny weather didn’t match the clouds of the day before. We had to wait for the clouds to cover the sun before each shot, which included the traditional park bench shot. At one point the camera was on the dolly track, which worked but was difficult to get just right.
We’ve had the opening scene done since last September, when we started shooting, and now we’ve got the closing scene as well. Both have Lady X in them, a sort of bookend even though she appears in other parts of the film as well and actually has lines this time, but it’s nice to be able to parallel the original episodes of the series. It’s a bit of a relief to have the start and finish done; now it’s just a question of getting everything in between. That faint glow ahead might just be the light at the end of the tunnel. Or it could be fireflies, or irradiated bats, for all I know.
Still. Another scene down, which is good. Next up is a temple exterior. Dean is looking for a jungle environment, a jeep (a proper jeep, not an SUV), and horses. Something tells me the horses are going to be a bit difficult, but you never know in this business.
I also want to get another trailer done, since we’ve done a lot of exciting stuff since the last one I put together for Urban Nomad, but we need to get all of Josh’s stuff done before he leaves Taiwan in late November, which means a fairly challenging shooting schedule between now and then.
