In this scene being shot for Snow Globe, Claire, (Miya Montague) and her mom Big Birdie, (Carrie Lauren), sat on a couch staring at a fire in the fireplace after returning from a funeral. This shoot had been delayed a week because Carrie had been horribly sick.
When I arrived and was walking towards the house, Miya and her mom Brandi had also just parked. I thought Brandi might be the actress but her daughter was going to be the star for the day. As the room was being prepared for the shoot Brandi volunteered to vacuum the set. I helped by moving furniture, since I wasn’t sure where to set up to sketch yet.
This scene took most of the morning to shoot. In it, Claire stood up and walked to the mantle of the fireplace to pick up the Snow Globe. A message from her now deceased Grandmother was taped to the bottom. There was an obvious somber attitude to the scene but director Tracey Jane wanted a contrast between the two characters. Mom, or Big Birdie was to be emotionally distraught, but Claire who was clever and a problem solver, was supposed to offer hope and insight at this darkest hour. Maya was having difficulty finding that balance. Each take of the scene she projected a somber attitude. Tracey kept coaching her to lighten her mood and someone suggested that Miya needed to do some jumping jacks just to boost her energy level.
The dialogue was so soft that I couldn’t hear very well from where I sat. The boom operator kept the mic right on top of Maya as she spoke. Carrie’s mic was right near her hidden in the couch. Eventually a shot was done which captured the exact mood and energy that Tracey was hoping for.
Manny Plaza-Fernandez sat looking at the monitor. It was his job to be sure each shot was in perfect focus. In one two shot, the mom had some dialogue and then the camera had to rack focus on to her daughter Claire. Tracey wanted that rack focus to happen on a particular line of dialogue and Manny made it work. Gregory Mohn behind the camera often consulted Manny because he was almost always right. Collaboration made each shot work.