Today was our first day shooting Episode 2, "Forge Goes Wild." My production manager, Brianne DiMarco, works seven hour days prepping the props and script. She schedules what we shoot, in what order, and when. She organizes and packs all the props for that specific day and makes, alters or fixes any props as needed. It is a full-time job for which she volunteers.
Brianne was not my production manager for Episode 1, "Tom Tita, Come Home." I was my own production manager for Episode 1. How did I handle being the director, cinematographer, writer *and* the production manager for Episode 1? I just brought all the props with us to every location, every day. It took an hour to pack and unpack the weather-sensitive fifty pounds of props.
It should go without saying, I was more than willing to relinquish the position.
Today officially began at 1pm when we arrived at Banner Forest. There were ten locations in total today, in and around Port Orchard. The shots were fast and in public spaces and in front of local businesses. Not businesses supporting "Ghost Sniffers" but businesses that are known to be independently owned and operated. The focus today was efficiency and speed. With Brianne calling from the script and setting each shot, I was able to concentrate on directing Faith Aoibhinn DiMarco, my daughter, who plays the ever-serious Faith Forge. I could also set up and execute more complicated shots with more tracking and panning than I was able to wrap my mind around during Episode 1. The creative freedom of not trying to juggle the management was incredible.
One of the challenges we met today was that the town of Port Orchard was decked with Christmas fare and Episode 2 is not set at Christmas specifically. Shooting around the decorations was tricky but not impossible. The cold of the day was also an obstacle. Though we were blessed without rain, snow or wind, the air was brisk and more than two hours were spent on the waterfront itself at a remarkable play ground.
Some wonderful chance shots were a pan of the silver sky down into the inlet where a starfish was clinging to a rock, and a female seagull who decided to land a foot from us and pose for several minutes. Another rewarding moment was when Maxwell Kier DiMarco, my son, and the actor who plays Maxo Forge, discovered a fabulous momentum-powered play structure. Maxwell is autistic (as is Maxo) and it was incredible to film him playing on this sculpture that seemed to instantly relax and center him.
In the end, we reached all ten locations before we lost the light. We shot from 1pm to 5pm with about an hour of travel time. Divided across our ten locations were twenty-six shot captured in forty-four takes total. That puts my director's scorecard at 1.69:1. Pretty good ratio, I think, for Day 1.
Jennifer DiMarco
When disabilities become super abilities, young heroes prove what's real and what's ridiculous. Visit our website at tinyurl.com/ghostsniffers or join us on Facebook at tinyurl.com/ghostsniffersFB
