My photographic side-gig

A friend of mine is shooting a movie. No, not a student movie or a wanabe movie but a movie he plans to submit to different film festivals for consideration. Hopefully, it will make direct-to-video or something of the sort. It's the story of a guy named Danny McKay (the movie is called The Danny McKay Project) who finds out he has a cancerous tumor in his brain. It's filmed more like a documentary - everything is shot with a digital hand-held.

The story is sad. I cried when I read the script. It was very emotional. I wasn't the only one - I found out many on the crew cried when they read the script. Not that it makes me feel better to know that. It's one of the best scripts my friend has written. I was very moved. I have no doubt he will be able to get on film what he put on paper. Not only is he a talented writer, he is also a talented director.

So... My job is Still Photographer. If you've ever seen promo shots of actors in a movie, those aren't the scenes from the movie itself. There is actually a photographer on-set that takes the photographs you later see on the DVD box, the movie poster, in promo shots for writers and reviewers... they're not taken from the movie itself. This job is fan-fucking-tastic. I'd give my left testicle for a job like this in the movie biz. It's fun, it's behind the scenes, it's easy and there's a lot of money in it. Unfortunately, it's a hard gig to get into. You need to know someone. And even then, good luck.

Anyway, the following are just some of the pics from behind the scenes. They're off my digital camera. I've got stills on film for the promo collateral. I'll have those tomorrow. I can't wait to see them.

This makes things very hard for me. On one hand, I want to move away.. to start anew. Yet, my friend is so close to getting a movie deal on something he wrote and he'll most likely direct. If this happens, I'll get the job of being the set photographer as he'll hire me for the gig. It's not like this will happen in the next year but I may move in that time. I'd have to friggin' move back! In any case, it's something I have to keep open as an option because I know he'll make it. It may sound shallow but I'm waiting for his success so that I can succeed as well. Unfortunately, it's a position you have to wait for someone else to succeed to get. Just a hope... Anyway, here are some shots.. Oh, and the main character looks a lot like Matt Damon.. and the costume designer looks a hell of a lot like Sarah Jessica Parker. How strange.