Ironhold January Project Update
Jan 26, 2022"Ironhold"
Nick James Director
Brandon Cullen Producer
Savannah Gonzales Line Producer
Director of Photography Hamid Nekouie
1st AC Sebastian Skaw
2nd AC Cameron Smith
1st AD Grace Wagner
2nd Ad Haley Bradley
Ben Cristopherson Boom Op
Ironhold is officially 66% of the way towards completion of the Production phase. Having completed filming of 6 of the 9 scenes, and nearly 20 pages of the 27 page official script, for all of the roadblocks we have experienced so far, we are well on our way towards the Post Phase.
Going into this film, we expected a challenge, as well as an intense Production process, and we got that experience, plus some. So far we have utilized 4 shoot days: 1 Day shoot, 2 night shoots and 1 full day shoot. Getting what we planned on getting has not gone to plan, but because of exterior location challenges, we have adapted very well to the issues thrown at us. Location-wise, we were put in a very interesting situation immediately, having to deal with the operations of a digital film crew running on batteries that need to remain charged, while also balancing a crew that needs to remain warm, fed and happy. Those 2 elements have sent this film into quite the learning experience but thankfully, we are able to pull through, evolve, adapt and learn on the way as we head towards careers in this business. College is for making mistakes and learning from them, so we can go into our fields the best possible way we can, and this film process has given us such great tools for that.
One of the obstacles we had to go through during the filming process involved our first shoot day ending up falling through due to locations pulling out last minute. Our second shoot day was ended early due to weather and a faulty generator, meaning we wouldn’t be able to charge our equipment for the remainder of the night shoot section of the day. Our third shoot day went well, with a minor hiccup with the rain, and our fourth shoot day gave us technical issues in the cold which led to Cast and Crew uncomfortability in the cold weather. This production has had its fair share of struggles, we cannot deny and having to learn to balance this, properly equip the set, get the shots we need, and keep cast and crew mentality on the happy side is a daunting task that us as filmmakers need to be able to do in our careers. Getting the chance to be thrown into this undertaking head first is the best sort of experience in the field I can ask for and we can only learn and get better as we attempt this sort of task. The film is going to be something I believe our whole crew can be proud of and the struggles and adaptation will be worth it in the end, I have no doubt.
We have 2 more shoot days scheduled and the Post Production phase is revving it’s engines in anticipation to begin.