Will Bryan was our production designer for Saying Goodbye, and he did such a great job bringing the rooms to life that we wanted his help with High Heels and Hoodoo. But since it was an outside shoot in a graveyard, we weren’t sure if he’d have enough to do to justify his drive from Columbia to Charleston; so we decided to make him work double duty as first assistant director. Not much ruffles Will’s feathers, so he’s a calming asset to have on set. He’s also volunteered to do the poster for High Heels and Hoodoo, and after the awesome one he did for Saying Goodbye, we can’t wait to see what he comes up with for this one.
Next up is our gaffer Bill Allanson. Our DP John Reynolds recommended Bill to us, and like John, Bill has been a part of most of the projects shot in Charleston, such as Dear John and The Notebook. In fact, he came to set on Friday evening after having worked a full day on the Army Wives set – we really appreciate Bill being willing to work those crazy hours to help us out. In addition to his lighting duties, Bill became the Official Fog Wrangler. You can’t have a ghostly graveyard scene without some fog, but of course it ended up being windy during that scene, so Bill hustled to keep the fog in the shot rather than floating off over the Cooper River. The end product looks great, so we are glad he was there to tame the wild fog beast.
And then we had Oren Malik as first assistant camera, another crew member highly recommended by John. Oren actually worked on a few of last year’s indie grant winners as one of the Trident Tech students on the crew, so he was a perfect addition to our set. Not only did he do a great job as John’s right-hand man, but since he was in the students’ place a year ago, he was able to guide them and offer advice.
We’re glad all three gentlemen were willing to brave the cold and the creepy graveyard to help us with the shoot. Thanks, guys!