Shoot Day 1

One of my daily tasks as the assistant to the producers on BOHEMIA is driving my boss to and from set every day. Call time for our first day (meaning the time when all the crew must report to the set) is 6AM. Jeff is staying about 15 minutes from our first location of the day (Prospect Park in Brooklyn), and I live about 30 minutes away from him, so this morning I'm out of my house by 5AM. It's still dark outside, and I can't remember the last time I have set my alarm for 4:30am. The rental car is parked down the street, in front of a Dunkin' Donuts, which by the way is still closed. As I start the car I think to myself, this is an ungodly hour, it's not even time to make the donuts!

We arrive at the entrance to the park just as dawn is starting to break. To my surprise, we seem to be two of the last people to arrive. The wardrobe department is unloading their costumes, grips are moving equipment, PAs are running around with headsets and a catering truck is serving coffee and breakfast burritos. I feel like a dope thinking I was getting up earlier than the rest of the city.

Our location this morning is a meadow inside the park where we are shooting a dream sequence that bookends the film and is arguably the most complicated shot of the entire schedule. A dozen crew members are setting up a crane that will hold one camera, another group are milling about a steady cam (which is strapped onto a camera operator so it's mobile), sound guys are hooking up microphones, Jeff and Rick are joking with the actors, and above it all, the sun is rising over the trees in a bright blue sky. As I watch it all, I feel like i'm in my own dream sequence--the beauty of it all is overwhelming. I stand for a minute taking it in, trying not to smile like a kid in a candy shop.