Most. Satisfying. Day. Ever.

My first day of shooting was all I could possibly hope. The rain held off for the outdoor shot (with the exception of one moment that sent us all scurrying, equipment protected under our jackets). We were able to use the back yards and alley without incident from the neighbourhood - our local city rep even dropped by. Me: "I'm Polly Washburn, the Director. Welcome to our community film studio. "

Sooo many satisfying moments, but a few include:

• Seeing my name on the slate in the Director slot


• Hearing the assistant camera call and mark the first shot


• Working with the cast and DP through a few moments that weren't quite what I wanted until I got what I was going for.


• Watching the Machine at work - a dozen talented and hard-working people collected for a single purpose - to transform the vision in my head into a silicon 'reality'


• Sitting around eating with the crew at 6 p.m., fulfilling my promise to them that we would have days of reasonable length


• After a particularly long setup and hold for the exact right cloud cover, getting the Exact Shot I wanted - I've been able to watch on a hand-held monitor - sweet.


• Seeing how beautiful the actresses look through the viewfinder


• Realizing there's going to be lots of gorgeous moments for me to choose from in editing

Another thing that's been great is to gain a further appreciation for shot lists, story boards, and my role as Script Supervisor on other people's sets. Until going through it myself, I could never fully appreciate how easy it is to get "lost" in your own shoot. Several times I had to go to the side with my Assistant Director before moving on from a set up, to make sure we'd covered everything I had said in pre-production that I wanted to cover.

Fun to fall asleep in a house filled with film gear...

Pics and The Conclusion of the Story after day 2 of 2.