The Dollar General Video Shoot

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The crew arrived bright and early (6:45) yesterday morning for the Dollar General video shoot that I mentioned last week.  As the crowd began to descend on the Ha house, I took the beast and the boy out to the dog park and then for a leisurely breakfast in Downtown Franklin.  I wanted to thoroughly exhaust Brick so he would sleep for the majority of the shoot.  It worked like a charm.

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With the dog and boy out of the way, the crew began unloading a mountain of gear into our house.  Cameras, computers, lighting, stands, monitors, cables, giant boards to block/reflect light, the actor's wardrobe, make-up, and props filled our living room.

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This big light was used to create an artificial sun.

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Here it is outside my west-facing bedroom window.  This and other lighting tricks were used to make each scene look like it was filmed during different times of the day. 

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As each scene was staged, rehearsed and then filmed, the director would watch on a monitor that was located in another room (my boy's room in this case).  This allowed him to make adjustments to the lighting, scene blocking or the actor's movements before recording the final cut. 

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Additional lighting was brought in as needed.  The master bathroom was the perfect location when shooting the scenes in our bedroom.

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Here's one of the cameras that was used during the shoot.  It happens to be pointed directly at my bed. 

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One of the scenes showed an actor walking down our long hallway.  From it's location in the den, you can see a member of the crew checking the monitor to make sure the lighting was just right.  Notice the effect of the artificial sun shining through my bedroom window at the end of the hall. 

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An iPad along with the Movie Slate (Clapper Board and Shot Log) App was used to log footage and take notes as each scene was shot.  I thought it was pretty cool.

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Here the cameraman and one of the actors prepares to record a scene in our kitchen.  Notice the big white board used to reflect the light streaming in through the kitchen window.

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My boy decided to hang around and watch as they tried to film a scene featuring a tabby cat.  You longtime readers may recall that I am not particularly fond of felines. Thankfully, the cat scene only took a short time and the crew was careful to make sure the animal stayed in one corner of the house. 

All in all, the video shoot was a great experience.  While it made for a slightly chaotic day, I thought it was fascinating to see the process involved in shooting a commercial, video or movie.  To be honest, I was surprised by just how many people it took to pull the whole thing off.

The entire cast and crew were delightful to work with and they were careful to leave the house exactly as they found it, save for a few bits of grass and mulch that were tracked into the house.   I would definitely do it again should the opportunity arise.