Good for Camera

There it is folks, we have officially wrapped on production. After months of preparation, countless hours of inspired creative processes, long days of work, short nights of sleep, and plenty of rice and melon bread, we have shot a film.

The crew has worked very well together under some pretty extreme conditions. We have been shooting in some of the smallest locations ever with some of the biggest equipment ever. Carrying a 400 pound  dolly up a tiny, nearly  vertical flight of stairs in bare feet, standing on a roof for hours in the cold wind, running across the streets of Nippori Tokyo to catch a shot before the sun sets, and standing in the middle of street or a train station praying we dont get arrested.

Shooting a film in a foreign country is hard work. It’s hard to know what the locations look like or how much room you have to move the camera around or if it is possible to set up lights outside a window until you actually  arrive on set. It requires quick thinking and creative problem solving to capture the scene properly and convey the right emotion and mood. The camera team, along with grip and electric have done an outstanding job of working together to capture something truly beautiful. Everyone worked extremely hard and gave all they had to help this story in the best way we can. Joey, Trevor and Aaron are simply the best camera team. They are so good at what they do and I trust them completely. Jordan and Jordan both worked so hard in making this film a reality by lighting the locations and making the shots happen. We all collaborated and communicated well with each other. It is unfortunately a rare experience to have this many quality people working so closely together. They are not only talented, but they have good hearts and that will hopefully show through the visuals of this film.

One of the many things I learned is that the sun moves differently in Japan… or is slightly more unpredictable. We battled the sun many times. It was a race against time and mother nature trying to keep the sun light out of our shots when we didnt want it and then recreating it when it disappeared. But we did it. All in all, I think we have captured a small part of a really beautiful world and I am excited for you to see it.

Here is a tiny taste of the magic.

Persimmon is good for camera. Let’s move on.

-Zachary Gladwin