I think that's what I'm going through now.
Except it's been almost a week since it has happened.
Oh, woah, it sounds like something horrible happened to me, my bad.
Nah, I'm good, but shit got cray'.
So I'm working on this film called, "Snippets of Wally Watkins" for the last month, which is probably one of the best scripts I've worked on since I got here.
Ch-ch-check it. They don't need anymore money, but they're kickstarter page is pretty bomb: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/droptheraygun/snippets-of-wally-watkins-a-short-film
The feeling you get when you're like, "Fuck I have to get this" is what I felt when I read for Wally's girlfriend, Emma. And I did a huge happy dance in my car when I found out I got it a couple months ago. It's been challenging, pushing my own boundaries. Lady-bits-covered sex scene on a beach. Definitely not something I came out to LA to DO necessarily, but put in the script in a way that wasn't raunchy or porn-y. Okay, that's a whole 'nother story. Sparknotes: sex scenes are never sexy. Especially when done in a semi-public place. And scene.
Okay, back on track. So basically, I loved the story and characters so much, and knew I was in good hands, that I felt really comfortable just following along and doing whatever to get the story across.
One scene that was in the last week of filming: Wally is in a cow field when Emma goes up to him when he's on the ground and gives him a granola bar.
So the cast and crew meets together and we head about 2 hours or so to cow country in the middle of fucking nowhere.
In fact, this was so in the middle of fucking nowhere, that there was ZERO phone reception. Except our sound guy, Justin, who somehow had a bar or two.
Kinda worth it when you get a background scene like this, though.
That's with zero allteration, kids. Postcard status.
But we start to walk around...and the dead rattle snake on the side of the road doesn't look like the worst of our problems.
There's TONS of shotgun shells, all near a "DO NOT TRESPASS" sign.
Alright, I guess someone really likes to use their shotgun. That's...cool.
And for at least a little bit, I was under the impression we had a permit or something to shoot on the other side of the fence, so I didn't reaaaaaally think about it.
A few cars stop by to see what we're doing: we tell them we're shooting a students film, and they go on their way.
We shoot all the wide shots of Wally and I driving through the hills, and a few shots of us pulled over to the side of the road. And the cow field scene comes up.
It becomes clear that we, indeed, do not have permits. Nor do we have the permission to film on the field from the rancher.
My first thought is not "Oh rattle snakes in the field". It's "I don't feel like getting shot today".
I mean, if you think about it, it's kind of the perfect horror film set-up: Cast and crew go up to film sans permits on some rancher's field, no service on our phones, and it's getting darker and darker...
We've been having a few cars pass us during the day, but as we set up the scene on the field, a car passes by with a flashlight. They don't really stop, just kinda roll on by. We assume they just wanted to see what we were doing and make sure it wasn't anything stupid. Cool, well, they left, so all's good to go.
So the lights get set up, the camera gets put on the other side of the fence, and the "No Trespassing" sign suddenly 'disappears'...AKA: someone moved it.
They start filming the first shot of the scene, which is just Wally...and we see a car come down with a flashlight again.
But this time it's a cop car.
But it doesn't stop, or pull over or anything. Just keeps going.
So we assume they realize we're not doing anything illegal (kinda) and keep going.
It's my turn to join the scene, so I hop the wire fence and place myself in the field for the scene, which ended up just being a kinda dirt patch. We shoot the wide shot first, and things are going pretty smoothly.
That is until someone yells that there are 3 headlights coming down the hill.
That's 3 cars of either: police...or rednecks.
My mind's racing, but I know I don't want to be on this side of the fucking fence.
I run to the fence, hop over it, and hide/sit in the backseat of one of the cars.
Two people hide on the other side of the fence, someone shuts off the generator to the big light we had going, and everyone's heart rate is fucking pounding.
And suddenly, the cars' lights flash.
The three cop cars pull to the side of the road, and what seems like half a second, about 5 police men and women come out. All I hear is "Put your hands up!"...
...and the reloading sound of a shotgun.
WHAT THE FUCK.
So I put my hands up, and I don't move a muscle.
I hear, "Girl in the car, I need you to slowly get out".
OH SHIT THAT'S ME.
He shines his flashlight on me as I get out of the car, with most likely an expression closely resembling someone who just shit his or her pants.
One at a time, we're told to kneel on the road, our hands still up in the air.
All of us are in a line...and I sense a wee bit of confusion budding through the police members.
"So. We got a call saying that a group of kids were shooting and drinking here"
We respond with a soft cloud of "No, no sir, that wasn't us". I suddenly felt like I was back in second grade, and someone asked me if I had beat some kid up. True story.
So apparently, someone had called the police, saying that a group of kids were drinking and shooting shit. The police, instead, came upon us: a group of kids shooting a film while drinking from water bottles and soda cans.
They then ask what exactly we were doing on the other side of the fence, seeing as the camera had gotten left in the field, and the director and a crew member had gotten caught on the other side of the fence.
Someone explains that "we didn't know, there wasn't a "No Trespassing Sign".
Because we hid it. But close enough.
Apparently he told us we could lower our hands like two minutes ago, but my subconcious didn't want to take any chances, so I kinda stayed like that for a while. Before the cop was like, "It's cool, you can put your hands down." Oh, okay, cool.
He basically lets us continue shooting on the RIGHT side of the fence near the road, and tells us to watch out for drunk ranchers and rednecks, because I guess this is the cool place for them to drink and drive. Lovely.
We all regroup, none of us really processing what just happened, and the cops kinda stick around for a while while we decompress.
What the fuck just happened.
We take a second, drink some water, and chill the fuck out while we try to set up the next shots near the road where it's legal.
After staying for another ten minute or so, the cops decide that everything's cool and they head off.
And as they're heading up the mountain again, a white pick up truck drives by us.
We all watch him as he sticks his sunburnt head out the window.
The truck starts to drive out of our light, and suddenly we hear
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!
Rounds of shots are heard and everyone fucking runs or ducks.
They head off into the night, while we CAN STILL SEE THE COP CARS' TAIL LIGHTS.
WHAT. THE FUCK.
And that kinda was the final straw of "Fuck this shit".
Justin, the guy with 2 bars, tries to call 911 to tell them about what just happened, in hopes that the cops get the message that the guys they're looking for ARE RIGHT BEHIND THEM.
Collectively, we all decide it's not really worth dying from redneck bullets tonight, and we're all in actions mode, grabbing whatever we find and shoving it into cars.
What was on everyone's minds was: what happens if they turn around?
We're fucked.
I try to keep an eye out for any headlights I see coming down and race to shove all the shit into the few cars we have down there.
And suddenly, we see headlights again.
OHFUCKOHSHIT.
The whole cast and crew crouches behind the four cars, and waits as the car drives by...
No shots. Awesome. Let's get the fuck out of here.
We shove the last bits of equipment in, and we're outtie.
Driving away, half-shellshocked, murmurs of 'Did that just happen?' come up every few minutes. And when someone asks how Wally and I feel about picking up where we left off when we get back to homebase...there's a deadpan silence. That's a no.
Someone in the car remarks that that could've totally been the cops fucking with us, knowing we weren't doing anything dangerous.
And then, the scary thought of...oh shit...what if the cops and the rednecks WERE ALL IN IT TOGETHER?! comes up.
Now THAT'S some fucking horror film shit.
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