Filming Day

I am thankful to say that yesterday went incredibly smooth and that we have officially filmed everything needed for our short film – yes, in one day! I am calling it our own little miracle. Thanks to our wonderful actors, great weather, and great scheduling, our film was able to come together piece by piece right in front of our eyes.

Here’s a recap:

First off, we shot our opening scenes in the Coconut Grove Station and by a stroke of luck, one of the trains was on stuck at the station. We quickly boarded and shot our “In The Train Scene” on the stationary train so we wouldn’t have to worry about falling over (a bumpy ride is a guarantee on the Miami Metrorail). We were slightly behind schedule, but nothing major. Afterwards, we headed to Government Center, the main transportation hub for downtown miami.

While there, Alberto; our lead actor, decided that it would be a better idea to film at the 5th street station first. I advised the group not to do so, and to just stick to the schedule, but at the end I gave in. I consider that my largest flaw of the day, because I had already known that the lighting would be too intense to shoot at 5th Street Station this early. Needless to say, we wasted about 2 hours and produced nothing usable from our little scheduling deviation. Although we were behind, I had to accept the fact that we were all hungry and in need of food. So, we got back on the metro mover and got off at the Bayfront Park Station (where we should have originally been 2 hours ago).

We took a quick lunch at a greek place across the street and got to work. Bayfront park scenes were shot quickly and painlessly. The same goes for museum park, which we did afterwards. We were making good time, but nonetheless were still behind schedule. Afterwards, we hopped back onto the Metromover and shot some last minute footage (Ariel had come up with a brilliant idea at the last minute) for the intro and outro of the Dream Sequence.

Finally, back to 5th Street Station. The lighting seemed just right (although I must admit, it did come out a bit darker than expected). We shot the cat and mouse scene under the platform, and the Finale on the platform itself. That proved to be tough because of the inability to cross to the other side without going downstairs first. Also, trains coming in and out of the station ruined many of our shots. Thankfully though, after just a few shots we had done it! And so, we moved on to our final location: Riverwalk Trail. First, we made a quick coffee break pitstop at a hotel (that kicked us out once they realized that we weren’t guests). Afterwards, we got on to shooting our last scene. Less than 2 shots in, we found a perfect one. We were finally done! After getting everyone home safely, I can honestly say that we accomplished a lot and had a successful filming day!