Thankfully, It got better...

Even after the crash and burn of Day 1, I was still hopeful for Day 2.

Overall, it went great. I was shooting Jay's scenes for "Toilet". Started around noon, finished by 4. Got the shots I needed, got the performance I needed. Everything went smooth, and we finished before the bathroom got unbearably hot.

I did however, hit a snag that night. Turns out that the sound recorded at a low volume, for reasons I have yet to determine. I upped the dialog in post, which worked, except for the unfortunate side effect of also raising the volume of the background static. This was a problem. I began to freak out.

Was I going to have to rerecord everything? I thought of ADR, but I don't think I'm at the point where I could pull that off. Worst of all, I couldn't handle telling the guys about ruined footage after the mess that was the first day. And then it hit me.

I bought the Adobe Production Premium for a reason. It was supposed to have everything I would need for post. And that includes Adobe Soundbooth. I opened the sound file in the program, clicked a few user friendly buttons, and all was well. Volume was fine, no static, I was happy.

I was also done for the day. Going from that extreme low to that extreme high in a span of 30 minutes drained me. I knew the footage was good, I knew the sound was easily saved. Time for bed.

On to Day 3. Mick's "Toilet" scenes. Started the day with organizing the footage from Day 2. Blocked the scene with my roommate's assistance. He gave some great ideas for a better way to change the opening shots, so some slight replanning was done. Mick arrives at 5 as scheduled, and we're ready to go. First up, the "Steady-cam" shots.

Now, obviously, I don't have a steady-cam for this. My solution: Take my tripod, loosen up the adjustment handles for free swinging movement, extend the neck to get some counterweight at the bottom, screw on the camera, and grab and guide the whole thing by the adjustment handles. Worked out pretty well. I recommend a carbon fiber tripod, as they're much lighter.

Shooting went perfect. Got everything I needed. Sent Mick home, captured the video, organized the footage, and was ready to edit the next day.

So here I am, taking a break from editing "Toilet", getting you all up to date. Starting next week, we begin getting all the living room footage for the series.

Till next time.

- Chris