An Arizona Road Fable - A Production Journal

Production Notes For An Arizona Road Fable:

The film is almost done. We are waiting on the composer and a few minor tweeks, but it's almost done. I've been spending my time on design work, such as poster, press package, and DVD case. I hate doing this kind of work, but I really want to make sure we give this film a great send off. I think we did a really good job, which you will be able to see in the end product.

(November 18th) - ADR

Gordon, Alex, and I do some ADR on a few scenes. The final takes work very well.

(November 12th) - Pickup Shots

Patrick, Tom and I spend the morning shooting pick up shots. For The most part they went well. After shooting another hour of footage, I am confident that we have our movie. We celebrate with a lunch at Macows where the staff admires a rough cut I show Pat.

(November 4th to 6th - The Shoot!)

It has been an interesting three days of shooting. The footage came out very well, and I personally learned a couple of things about filming in Arizona. First rule of filming in Arizona... remember the sun screen. The second rule... there are no remote locations left in Arizona. From atvs, nude guys in campers, police activity, and rubber necking snowbirds driving their caddies, there is someone everywhere in this state. The following are some shots of our filming journey:

Day 1: The Great Out Doors

Day 2: The Car Scenes

Day 3: The Coffee Shop

(October 24 - 31, 2004 ) - Second and Third Rehearsals

Patrick, Gordon, and Laura.

The past two weeks the movie has come together. The cast is ready. The crew is ready. We ran the last rehearsal as blocking practice, and the shots came out great. This coming week we begin the real thing.

(October 17, 2004 ) - First Rehearsal

Gordon and Patrick prepare for their roles as Phil and Chet.

Rehearsal went very well. Patrick and Gordon got into the swing of things. In a short time we got into character study, examining the dynamics between Phil and Chet. The two developed a good chemistry that will work well in front of the camera.

(October 7, 2004 ) - Production Meetings

Tom and I have finished the final shot list, though we are dreaming up some alternative shots. We are reworking some of our former shot list. Our equipment list is continuing to fill-in, and production looks like it's going right on schedule.

(October 2, 2004 ) - Casting!
Casting went well. Thanks for everyone who came out. You did a wonderful job. We are still looking at our options though. We are getting close on having the entire cast finalized. In terms of production we have finalized our shoot dates, and Tom has been playing with his car mounts to great effect.

(September 25, 2004 ) - Two Shot List meetings later…

Second Location These blocking notes made the Dp have to go to the bathroom to collect himself.

Casting has been scheduled to begin on October 2nd. It’s been a busy few weeks. The rehearsal space has been found and paid for. We’ve been working on the shot list . It looks good thus far, though we still need to work on the car interior shots. (Tom feels my blocking notes resemble a smiling robot.) Tom will be doing some test shots to we will have a good feel for our flow before we begin shooting. There has been a good response to our casting call, though we continuing to look until deadline for more talent. The props are slowly coming together. In the next few weeks we will be getting our second unit list together and head out to shoot these scenes.

(September 17, 2004) - Shot List Started
Casting has been scheduled to begin on October 2nd. We have decided to schedule auditions rather than hold a general casting call. Tom and I have begun work on the shot list. Still more to go, but we had a great start. Jon and I went over the scene breakdown. I am hoping by next week to have the locations set, and rehearsal space taken care of. We took last week off for labor day.

(September 02, 2004) - First Scouting
After viewing the location, we have decided against using it, given the ruggedness of the land. I took a trip up north of the city and found some good outdoor locations. Still keeping eyes open for private land. Also, we can get free rehearsal space in Surprise, but given the distance from the majority of people, it might not be practical.

(August 27, 2004) - Third Production Meeting at Star Bucks in Glendale.

Not a boat, but has character First Location

Meeting went well despite the late start. We worked on the breakdown, and logistics of Props. Had lead on some private dessert land to use in the project. Planned the first scouting trip to view it on Thursday. Tom brought some of his equipment. We are looking to shoot this in early November.

(August 23, 2004) - Second Production Meeting at Krispy Kreme in Tempe.
The meeting was eventful. Jon Ray, Tom Moore, and Myself were there. We have an interior location for one of our scenes. We are still looking for exterior desert location to use. We have the car we need for the film - Tom's lovely Mustang. We also have a sound engineer for the project, Alex Valdes. Jon has recommended we get a script supervisor.

A Tempe version of reservoir dogs.

(August 16, 2004) – First Production meeting held at Ruby Tuesday in Tempe.
The first production meeting went well. Jon Ray is now the Assistant Director. Tom Moore is the Cinematographer. Matt Eppright will be lending a hand when we begin filming. And I, Gregory Dyke, will be Directing. We next move onto location scouting, breakdown a shot list, and casting.

(July 24, 2004) – Script is registered and ready to go. You can download a copy of it in PDF form. Currently, looking for the first pre-production meeting in early August. Hoping to follow with a casting call in early September.