Our final 2 days shooting in a cave

Soundstage vs. On-Location

I’d envisioned the soundstage shoot as “easier” than Washington, and in some ways, I was right.

First off – we had infrastructure!

DoorDash! Nearby supplies! Electricity! Wi-Fi!

All the luxuries of big-city shooting.

Besides that, we had almost twice the crew working here vs Washington, so physically, it was much less difficult for all of us.

Joining us on set this time were our production designer, Michael, who meticulously created and dressed the cave set. Meanwhile our additional grip and lighting teams would fly in and rig complex overhead lighting schemes before we even finished saying what we needed done.

It was truly impressive. I’d forgotten how nice it is to ask myself a question out loud, and have someone immediately start solving that problem.

This is the difference between bringing on experienced crew, and doing things solo or with beginners – assuming you’ve done your prep, things just start happening automatically because they are able to anticipate needs across the shoot.

At the end of the shoot I asked our gaffer if he preferred the Washington shoot or the soundstage shoot more. He said “That’s like asking if I prefer basketball more than baseball – I love them both!”

In WA we were shooting in nature everyday, and working with what we had – mainly the sun. That style of shooting was all about adaptation.

In the soundstage, any visible light was purposely placed by us. That means we have total control, and it becomes all about precision.

Both offer their own unique challenges.

Pre-Pro Precision

Our cave shoot was split by aesthetics: Day 1 for the lived-in look, and Day 2 for the untouched for 100 years look.

This meant a massive art reset, complete with aging, weathering, dusting, and cobweb application. We also planned a complete shift in shooting style for Day 2 – from formalistic dolly shots with vintage lenses, to suddenly shooting handheld with modern glass.

My goal was to crush Day 1, staying on a somewhat aggressive schedule, to give us breathing room for the substantial Day 2 art and style changes.

Our secret weapon? Day Zero.

This was the whole week before the shoot, dedicated to meticulous prep with my DP, Casey. We broke down every shot, determined the optimal order, and recreated exact angles in my backyard using the Artemis app on an iPhone.

This allowed us to mock up precise shots, giving us a blueprint for the actual shoot so there was no guessing about which lens to use or what angle to shoot from.

We also got lucky: the set owner let us in early on a Friday for a crucial tech scout. While the DP and lighting board operator nosed around and talked lighting, Toni and I loaded in a whole U-Haul van full of set dressing, props, and greenery.

Getting that massive load-in done on Friday was clutch, saving us immense time and stress on Monday morning.

Day 1: Almost Got It All

We rolled into Day 1 feeling prepared. The initial setup on a soundstage is a different beast than when filming on location. You’re always working from scratch in terms of lighting.

I’d scheduled about four hours for load-in and set-up before our first shot – a simple, very tight closeup on Oliver.

But our crew was so efficient, we were actually an hour ahead of schedule when we finally started rolling.

I announced it proudly, and my DP reprimanded me: “Don’t tell us that!”

He was right to keep us grounded.

Our 2nd shot of the day, a seemingly simple locked-off shot of the cave, immediately turned into a significant time sink.

Why? Because it was the first time the detailed set and full lighting scheme were visible.

While our initial close-up was quick, this wide shot revealed the true scope of work, ultimately costing us that hour we had won, and putting us squarely back on schedule.

We captured some really excellent footage, and day 1 wrapped mostly without incident, though we ended about an hour short of my ambitious schedule.

The biggest miss? Dedicated time for key art photos.

Knowing the importance of strong key art (especially for YouTube thumbnails), I’d set aside 30 minutes to capture some poster-worthy images, but we simply ran out of time.

We got our last shot and then immediately packed out, so I scheduled our unit stills photographer to come in first thing on Day 2.

Still, a successful Day 1 overall.

Day 2: Deflation, Quick Thinking, and a Bloody Climax

I started Day 2 feeling very optimistic – home stretch now!

We’d scheduled a luxurious (after my sleep-deprived Washington shoot) 12-hour turnaround.

So I woke up refreshed, rented another U-haul van for the big end of day load-out, and got to set early, noting a few people already waiting outside.

Then my phone rang – our site rep was having car trouble and was running 45 minutes late.

This wouldn’t be a big deal… except he’s the only one with a key to let us into the set. 🤦‍♂️

Immediate deflation. On top of the extra time I needed for the key art today – we lost 45 minutes!

While waiting to be let in, some of us grabbed food from a nearby pupuseria. (Turns out I was starving, so maybe this was a blessing)

Casey and I used that downtime to strategize how to make up the lost 45 minutes. We found an opportunity late in the day to pick up the pace.

Finally we got into the set – first priority: those key art photos.

I treated this like any other shot, demanding a full lighting setup. Even better, it doubled as prep for a similar shot in the film. But it took a full hour (double what I’d allocated) 😬

While the camera department prepped for the handheld shots, Michael furiously aged the set with cobwebs and dust. We were finally moving.

I camera operated for the found-footage style shots. But since my character is wearing a jacket, and there’s no air conditioning on the set, I was drenched in sweat by the end of it.

Worth it!

When the crew gets bigger, as the director you can feel a little detached from the physical making of a film.

Getting to swing around that Alexa 35 on the EasyRig was the most fun part of the cave shoot for me.

The post-lunch shots were the scary climax shots, but thanks to our earlier planning, they went smoothly, and we clawed back that lost morning time.

The grand finale? A shot involving a blood pump rig.

These always make me nervous; you never know how the blood will flow – and resetting & cleaning up the blood is always a time-consuming pain.

Our first take was decent – usable for sure.

We had just enough time for 2 more takes, so we went for it.

The second take barely produced any blood. No good.

For the final attempt, I told our special effects artist to give it everything. We adjusted the tubing to flow closer to camera, and… it was perfect – lots of blood, timed just right.

That’s the one for the movie, I’m sure of it.

The Finish Line & What Comes Next

We wrapped the shoot with champagne and a celebratory crew photo.

Then, the real work began: furiously cleaning and packing.

Camera and grip were quick, but the art department’s cleanup was a marathon. Sweeping up a dirt floor, cleaning and boxing up countless dusty, dirtied props for returns took hours. Toni and I finally got home at 11 PM.

And the grind didn’t stop there. The next day was a “returns tour” of the San Fernando Valley with the U-Haul – five or six stops of dropping off rentals.

Even then, our house was still a disaster zone when we finished.

That’s why I wasn’t able to write this up last week lol, wrapping the shoot didn’t mean work was over by any means.

Also for the last 2 months I haven’t been able to do much in the way of YouTube videos, so I’ve been slowly burning money. I knew I’d need to get back to work immediately after shooting to bring in some dough and keep the lights on.

Amazingly, an old editing client hit me up with a month-long gig while I was on set – which I could start the day after wrap!

Despite the fact that now I’m juggling this editing gig, multiple YouTube videos, and hopefully editing the film itself – it’s a huge relief having some extra income coming soon.

The movie gods provide.

Overwhelming Gratitude

If I had known how challenging putting this film together would actually be – I definitely would not have gone through with it 😂

But now that it’s finally sunk in that this ambitious shoot is over, the overwhelming emotion is gratitude.

Gratitude for every single person who donated their time, energy, skills, and belief to this project. It truly feels like they saw something in the film and in our team, and it’s a humbling reminder of how far I’ve come to be able to work with such great people.

There’s so much more to come, including tons of behind-the-scenes content from both parts of the shoot. I might even make a mini-documentary for the channel!

Huge thanks to Kim Preston, our unit stills photographer, for some of the fantastic photos in this issue.

And lastly, thank you for reading this newsletter and watching the YouTube videos. None of this would have been possible without your support.

I hope everything I learned on this film and continue sharing will be helpful to you in your own projects.

Let’s make some movies.

-Kent