letter 006: we filmed a movie
we did it. we filmed a movie -- well i like to call it a movie because it feels more grand and spectacular, but it would be categorized as a short film if i’m honest. regardless, the filming is over, and i can’t believe it actually happened. it feels like it was a fever dream in retrospect.
carsten and i had been preparing for those four days of filming for over two months: storyboarding, rewriting the script, calling locations, gathering insurance, permits, etc. i had never tried to produce a short film as proper as this ever before and neither had carsten so it got very chaotic and overwhelming at times. we didn’t even have the final cast figured out until less than one week out from filming. i would go to sleep every night running certain scenes in my head, stressing over certain elements of the preproduction wondering if we would even be able to pull this off. in the end though, we did.
it was four long days of filming normally starting around 9AM and going until 10:30PMish. the last day of shooting was a night scene that started at 4PM and ended at 2AM, truly 3:30AM if you count the time it took me to drop the cast members off at their homes. my knees were achey, everyone got sunburned, people dove in the ocean late at night and toughed out the cold water. there were times when everyone’s energy disappeared and i was worried that no one wanted to be there -- maybe they truly didn’t, but no one ever complained. and i’m thankful for that. we kept on filming, and no one punched each other or cried.
i haven’t talked too much to the cast since filming, but if any of you are reading this letter, you hold a special place in my heart forever. i won’t let us grow into strangers. there’s an infinite number of stories to tell from that week, but i’ll save a lot of them for after the movie is out because they will hold more weight.
coming out of that week though, i now feel more alive than ever. i normally am a stomach or side sleeper and wake up with a stuffy nose for the first few hours of everyday but the last few days i started waking up on my back feeling rested. shit is whack. never have i ever slept on my back, but it just started happening post this movie. i think my body is finally taking a deep breath.
i feel so happy and excited for life again, and i haven’t felt like this since before quarantine happened. it’s odd because i wouldn’t say i was feeling terrible all of the pandemic, there were definitely scary low points, but for the most part i had accepted the situation and learned to love how there wasn’t anything to look forward to. that sounds dark, but since nothing could really be planned in advance i was taking each day as its own.
i had forgotten how lovely it is to meet new people and actually do things. i feel like before the pandemic hit i was becoming more and more introverted and that definitely got enhanced with how long covid lasted, but now as the world begins to open again, here in california at least, i get to start fresh in weird sense. like every experience feels oddly nostalgic, while also feeling brand new. for example, just hanging out in the backyard at a friend’s house reminds me of happy times before the pandemic while at the same time feeling like such an exciting new thing because it’s been so long. mundane hangouts have become such a joy. i appreciate the world more. this movie and filming week changed my life.
i hate to tease all of you talking about this short film, because it isn’t coming out for another few months due to editing and the timing of something else that it’s associated with. however, i will tell you, those of you who still read these, that there is new music coming out next month...and more coming after that.
yours,
garrett