Apologies for the delay in posting. Last night we wrapped around 1am and Paul and I were up early to catch our flight this morning. I'm now home in Chicago, finishing a dinner that did not include fish tacos or mescal for the first time in recent memory. Let me also take this chance to say that a previous post titled 'you'll never guess what happens next...' has been edited significantly; apparently, when I opened that post on my laptop while still in Mexico, Google Translate started changed my words - in some cases, from English to crappier English. All better now. Ok, with that said, let's rewind a bit and recap the final hours of the shoot.
When we last left our two heroes, they were enjoying a catered dinner and regaling the table with tales of rough massages at the W spa. The crew was concurrently beginning to set up the set for our final series of shots: a house party that transitions to an office setting (AVO: sometimes it's being led, other times it's leading). Unlike the other scenes, we actually have a few cuts to make; we start with a wide shot of the part, cut to a medium shot focusing on our hero dancers, and the use the actresses hand gesture to initiate the swipe to the office scene. For the second time this trip, Leo, our driver/PA, has managed to sneak on as an extra. He probably won't make the final cut, but I like his hustle.
It's now 9pm, and after seeing a few composites of the dancing scene, the crew begins the transition to the office scene - the final piece of filming. Here's a view of the set from Diego's point of view:
It takes about 90 minutes to set up the lighting and do the blocking with the actors and I'm finally starting to feel the fatigue set in. The lighting in the room is getting hot, I'm running out of emails to send, and my thumbs are tired of typing the blog. Then, unexpectedly, Diego appears in the video village with a fancy looking bottle of Mescal. Word has traveled to our director that the SHC and McGarry contingent is quite fond of the elixir (perhaps because of its hangover free quality), so he has brought us a bottle made by his friend as a thank you gesture.
We share a toast, share a laugh or two, and learn a little more about mescal (Diego is apparently a connoisseur - he tells us that mescal is sort of like bourbon; it comes in different flavors, styles, and colors). We also attempt to peer pressure one of the visual effects people to eat the worm. #fail.
After 20 minutes or so, Diego breaks back to the set, and Paul and I venture off to oversee a few basic shots of someone using a tablet that we'll one day use for More To You Thursdays.
It's now 11:30pm and we are about 30 minutes into the filming of the final scene. Gasp! Hunger begins to strike, thankfully there are more tacos to be had:
The clock strikes 1am, and the moment we have all been waiting for finally arrives: 'Fin!'. We have all of our shots, everything looks terrific, and all us are ready to celebrate! It's been a long three days, but the payoff will be worth it. Everyone from the director to the PAs, and of course, the client, feel like we have a special piece of film here that is more than just a commercial.
As the beers begin to flow, Paul and I join the McGarry team for a photo with Diego (who by the way is a leading voice in the upcoming animated movie, the Book of Life) as well as a shot with just the three of us.
Awesome day, but now it's back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before heading back to Chicago.
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