Day 1
September 7th, 2008
Filed in: Uncategorized
We’re rolling.
We shot the show opening on Friday at gorgeous Vessels Ranch in Bonsall CA and it was quite a huge production. The crew, the equipment, the location - it was almost overwhelming. The opening we were filming sounds really simple on paper (a single sweeping shot introducing all of the people on the show), but once we started working on it we discovered little devils in the mix.
Like my portion, for example.
I had to walk towards the camera with this amazing dog weaving through my legs with each step. Easy, right? When I practiced it it was flawless, but things got tougher when we started filming. I had to look at the camera (not down at the dog) avoid tripping, stop on a specific mark and then smile at the camera.
But I have this thing.
I can’t hold a smile on cue.
I don’t know why it’s such a challenge for me - I smile like a maniac with no problem during my everyday life - but that whole “look at the camera and hold a realistic, relaxed smile for 15 seconds” thing trips me up. So frickin’ weird.
We managed to get a few really good takes, then did some “here’s the whole cast standing still and smiling” shots (well, they were smiling, I was probably making some sort of pained smile-like grimace), and called it a day.
On Saturday I headed to the Helen Woodward Animal Center, a shelter in Rancho Santa Fe, to meet the dogs I’ll be using for my shoot on Monday. Oh, oh, oh the adorableness. So many wonderful dogs and cats living there. I was happy to see that the place was filled with people looking for their new best friends.
Fingers crossed that these amazing shelter dogs will be able to “hang” on camera (meaning, work happily) with me tomorrow!
(Yes, it’s back to crappy camera for the week.)
