Here are some photos from our June 30, July 1-2 filming at Meramec State Park in Missouri.

We filmed 20% of the movie two weeks ago and another 60% this weekend. It was very exhausting, but it’s done. Next Saturday we do the vertical entrance. I’m starting to look forward to these shooting days.

If we could have one thing to improve our shooting, this it would be a second camera. It is hard to get the incidental shots we need to hinge from one shot to another. It takes all our time to set up for the main shots. But we’re doing the best we can with what we have – we’re maximizing our abilities. We’re learning the skills to do better next time.

I felt like I was bossing everybody around, and some of the crew have made comments to that effect. I need to learn to say “please” more often. “Please move your foot over so Jason can put the tripod leg down so we can get the camera right in your face.” “Please don’t move that light – it was perfect where it was!” “Who’s making that burping sound? Please stop.” “Please stop throwing mud balls at the actors. It’s splashing on the camera.”

Hans is going to edit a very rough cut of what we have – select out the best takes. I need to work on a post-production list and a shot list for this weekend. Hans and I are going to have a serious meeting this week to nail some music ideas down. We need to watch our footage and try to get a feel for the pace things are taking.

We ran into some issues at Meramec State Park that emphasize the need to get clear permission to film in a location. We arrived and asked the park officials for the permits and key to enter the cave, and were told they didn’t know what we were talking about. We got flustered and that made the administrator feel flustered, too. We said we were making a caving movie, but he didn’t know what sort of “movie” we were making. That is quite understandable. I realized I should show him our script and the sight of that made him feel a lot better. It was all resolved and the next few days we had Mushroom Cave all to ourselves.

Nathaniel

Map of Wilder Cave

Ledge scene

Bat scene

Outside Paul Petroske Cave

Director and DP conferring

What our camera sees

Tight spot