The mushroom scene Max Steadi Roger Bonnici Long shot up a hill

12.32am

 
Last shot of running sequence. Jonnie jumps straight over camera at 48fps. Maybe this is the title shot where we freeze frame and "Do Elephants Pray?" comes up? We will see!
 
3.01pm
 
Finally got to the lake. We are setting up now for the scene 115 where Callum and Malika arrive and dive into it. I have come up with a way to shoot it that can exclude the possibility of a hair and makeup reset.
 
The doctor is here to take care of Jonnie and Julie. The water is 6 degrees. Freezing cold.
 
Waiting for delays. Some people are still at the camp site. We have gone a circuitous route to get the generator in which has cost us a lot of time also.
 
My back is worse. I can barely look over my right shoulder. At times it is excruciating. Is it a trapped nerve? Is it just stress?
 
Rhys has decided he will stay in the forest tonight camping. He has wanted to do this since we arrived. As we will go late tonight and we want to start early tomorrow this will save us humping gear in or out from the forest. That should save us some time.
 
4.32pm
 
Shot the opening shot of scene 115. We are going late. Will I have time to shoot everything before we leave the forest. Also I have to shoot the part of the mushrooms scene where he is out of his mind so that he can recover tomorrow.
 
5.26pm
 
Just waiting to do another shot of Malika and Callum swimming naked in the lake. I have shot them entering now. God, Julie was absolutely freezing after that. Even with two hot water bottles, two emergency sheets, a jumper, hand warmers, three coats and a hot cup of coffee she was still physically shaking with cold. It has taken now 30 minutes to get her body temperature back up.
 
While waiting I shot a suitably Tarkovskian shot of a bird feather falling into the lake. Beautiful.
 
The next shot is of them swimming, him shouting and then him chasing her out of the lake. This is the second time I have shot a scene like this. It is a goddam nightmare. The doctor says I only have a minute with them until things get bad. That means I will have to shoot a wideshot on a 12mm and closer ones on a 100mm all in one by use of a crash zoom. Hopefully I will be able to cut in on it or use a cutaway.
 
6.32pm
 
We shot the second lake take. Before it happened I looked into Jonnie's face and saw something I had never seen before in it. Fear.
 
The water is so so cold. After about a minute in it your body starts to shut down completely, you feel tired and have no control over it. The timings of the shot are thus absolutely crucial and totally my responsibility. I hold the lives of my two actors in my hand. I have to cue them getting in, the "action", the zoom and the exit perfectly within the minute before their bodies shut down completely. They could if the coldness takes control, actually drown in the scene.
 
After 19 seconds of the shot Jonnie still hasn't done the cry out of "Yes!" that he should have done by 15 seconds. I waited one extra second and got it before the zoom in. When I shouted "Exit", Julie didn't hear it, thanks to the numbing effect of the cold and I had to shout again. I called cut on exactly the 61 second mark as they exited the frame and the doctor, physio, Dougal, Cristina descended on them like a huge blanket/warmer vulture engulfing them. They had been in the water for 55 seconds. Not for a frame did they give away how cold the water actually is.
 
When I got to he other side of the bank I saw Julie was in a terrible state. I ran to the tent to get her some hot tea as that had been overlooked. She was shaking like a pneumatic drill, crying, spaced out, her body on the verge of shutting down completely. She was wrapped in ten blankets. body warmers, hot water bottle, even more than before. People were rubbing her feet. massaging her arms. I caressed her forehead and fed her the tea. It was so moving. So painful to see the effect that the water had on her. She was destroyed by it. The physio talked her round, stopped her panicking, controlled her breathing. I fed her more tea and said "You are so brave!"
 
She was a hero for me. An inspiration. Even though the first shot had effected her much more than Jonnie physically she had been braver and less afraid. The result was before my eyes. The devastated shell of Julie shaking uncontrollably so frail and lifeless. I felt terrible for making her do it. Confronted with the terrible human carnage of my leading actress, I hated myself.
 
She whispered to me between breathing problems "Was it Ok?". My heart melted. A tear came to my eye. I whispered back "It was wonderful."
 
She would have volunteered for another take, I know. I didn't need it. We had it. Thank God. Even the crash zoom thanks to Rogers intuition worked perfectly. It framed straight on Callum beautifully.
 
Afterwards the doctor said she could not shoot anymore today so I got her off set, in bed with hot soup. I qill go with Jonnie to visit her after the wrap.
 
12.20am
 
Playing a little poker. What a day! What a night! After doing the swimming scene I shot a close up of Jonnie for 119A on a 5mm lens of Callum out of his mind. He was. I just shot and shot talking to him, cajoling him, provoking him, illiciting different emotions. Take one he talked to himself about the office problems in the script, advertising, selling things. On the second one I talked to him about his real future, about his future. Then we really went crazy. Shouting. Laughing etc. It was amazing stuff. We had to shoot that scene today. It was the only day it could have been done.
 
Afterwards Williams escorted me and Jonnie out of the forest at night via torchlight. I clung to Williams' backpack. It took ages but was inspiring and magical, walking through the forest at night. Afterwards the two of us just chatted in my caravan, slowly returning to normality. We talked about the amazing synergy of the shoot. How life reflects art etc. It was a real bonding experience at the perfect moment to do it.
 
The reason Jonnie had been afraid earlier was he had dreamt a couple of days before about his own
death in that scene. Of course, it was a metaphorical death. That was obvious to me the moment he said
it but still he had not been able to banish those thoughts from his mind before the second shot. His ashen
face now makes perfect sense.
 
Some druids had put a protection spell on Jonnie before the shoot and I wear round my neck a gris gris
made in Marrakech specially for the film also. Spiritually we are protected. I also knew in my heart that
the lake would not harm us. Our film is a kind of ode to it. Every feature film I have made has a lake in it.
That is not by chance. Jonnie knew that too but it's hard to completely banish those thoughts even with
Jonnie's soothing Tai Chi breathing exercises.
 
Now for bed. Three wonderful scenes but lots more to do tomorrow.