Today was busy. Very busy. But a good kind of busy. Originally, Jonathan had scripted a bus into the script. When he shot his trailer for the ChristianFilmmakers.org 24-hour contest, he was able to use a bus. But for the film, there was no bus. So what does one do when he can't get a bus to use? Get a taxi, of course! So it was my job to turn Jonathan's car into a taxi. I had some time in the morning, so I cut out the letters, put together the cab light, and began painting. After a few coats of paint and a couple hours, I had to head off to Iowa City (south of Cedar Rapids) to return our Lowell light kit to the public access TV station. That took about an hour or so... well, more actually. I stopped at a Michael's to see if they happened to carry any stick-on lettering or signage, which they did. It was in the scrapbooking section of the store, and if I were to use what they had, someone would have had to use binoculars to be able to read it. Apparently people don't use really big letters in scrapbooks. So I went to Auto Zone... surely they would have at least number stickers or checkered tape. But alas, all they had as far as sticky stuff goes was logos and skulls... Definitely nothing that would go on a taxi. They say that you'll always find something in the last place you look. In my case, the last place I looked was at Lowe's, and guess what? I found what I was looking for! I found out that the number and letter stickers that go on houses and mailboxes work absolutely great for what I needed them for. Soon after my escapade all over Cedar Rapids (well.... all over a couple miles of the city, anyway), I arrived back home and began to work on finishing my paint jobs on the lettering I had already made. Everything being done, I had a bit of free time.
It looks like I'm snoozing... but I'm only posing for a rare self-portrait.
Soon Jonathan got home though, and I flew into action, getting all my taxi signage together, and soon had his car looking like it was for hire.
No, it definitely didn't look real from close up... but it had a great squint factor!
Heading out to Shellsburg, we met up with the actors and continued on out into the country, where we shot some footage and waited for our chase airplane. A couple of Jonathan's friends had agreed to fly, and Jonathan's roommate Jacob was the cameraman for the aerial shots we needed. I gave him a crash course in "DVX100b 101" last night, and all things considered, he did a good job! Unfortunately, Jonathan's plan for using walkie-talkies didn't work out so well (big aluminum boxes called "airplanes" tend to have an effect on signals...), so we had a bit of trouble with getting the timing of shots worked out. But we got 'em worked out, then shot some more regular footage in the gorgeous light of the late afternoon sun, diffuses by whispy cotton-ball clouds. It was kinda funny working out on the road shooting; I could tell that people driving by were probably wondering what exactly was going on... a taxi cab the kept turning around; a couple kids walking along the side of a road; a camera guy; and a camera crane three feet from the road... Yep, it had to be an interesting sight!
A One Step Taxi in a Step One film.
So all in all, it was a great day, full of new and challenging things, and overall very fun! I'm looking forward to tomorrow's shoot... and getting to have a bit of free time before it!
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