I spent Veteran's Day becoming the hero of my own story during the first day of filming for my upcoming short art film with director Rick Canfield. It was nothing shy of a real life fairy tale. What began as a cold and gloomy harsh weather day turned out to be quite a little adventure for 4 South Texas creatives with one shared daydream of an artistic endeavor. Film maker / director Rick Canfield and I began brainstorming in September and had landed on wanting to drum up a whimsical and flexible film short featuring my spoken word poetry as our inaugural project together. I'd only loosely begun drawing up set ideas by the time I contacted photographer Livi Cardenas of This Witch's Photography (a big up and comer that I recommend looking into). After an energetic conversation and pitching my concept, I knew that between all of us we were onto something magic. Pulling hair expert Crystel Franco into the mix made a solid team I was confident could deliver something impactful. On the day of however, light rain poured as temperatures dropped to the point that we could see our breath. This would have forced most to reschedule. But San Antonio artists are a stubborn breed and fortunately for us Livi knew of the perfect alternative location for our setting. I'm happy to report that this once "alternative" is now the solid set for the film. I'd never heard of The Denman Estate state park until she suggested it and we're collectively glad she did. The grounds of the estate are sprawling, open and dappled with mythical looking trees with low hanging branches. Just like a story book. We were grateful enough to shoot the stills and film under the welcoming awning overlooking the lush green landscape as the mist came down through dusk and on into the cold night. From gilded gold Victorian masks to taxidermy insects, "poisoned" apples to antique and handcrafted jewelry (featuring one of artist Jen Burns' gorgeous eye necklaces), cloaks, smoke and a whole lot of playfulness...we pulled out all the stops to create something altogether other-worldly. It was a night full of on-set shenanigans and laughs, trouble-shooting and learning one anothers' rhythm. With such a perfect conclusion to the first leg of the project, day 2 came the following weekend. We were thrilled to be joined by my co-actress, professional freak show performer Miss Lita Deadly whose stage moniker is The Human Pincushion and rightly so. The weather on the second day was as cold, but a bit dryer which made for excellent access to the grounds of the estate, to include the Moon Labyrinth---my personal favorite. In no time we were frolicking, levitating and conjuring all about the spiraling maze. And what day of magic would be fully equipped without a real life miniature unicorn? Between the tiny horned pony, the wandering geese and a curious butterfly who landed on my finger, no one could doubt that the fairytales we wove were coming to life before our eyes. It's just the sort of alchemy you cannot make up. By dusk as the darkness crept in, so too did the film begin its descent into the deep of the woods to the witch's den. Rick's camera rolled over crystal balls, hand-painted skulls, tea-stained parchment and all manner of glass bottles containing everything from herbs to ashes, powder ground deer antler to scorpions. I will say it takes alot more muscle than you think to fain an epileptic spirit possession. And equally difficult to hold a straight face when your costar is instructed to whisper in your ear only to verbatim say, "whisper, whisper, whisper..." The laughs and bloopers were plenty and definitely kept us warm as the sky blackened and the temperatures once again plummeted. It was mind-blowing to see a cloaked body double of me following closely behind, eerily reaching and lurking. Definitely gave way to some existential shadow self ponderings. My colleagues seemed to share in the unnerving feelings our esoteric acting catalyzed. After a very Jungian day two of filming, only one day remains before the film goes to Rick's cutting floor. And it's all paper moons, a handful of stars, a wink and a prayer. To be continued... ~author K. Day *View Livi's photography at https://www.facebook.com/This-Witchs-Photography-1356141827821925/ and follow her on Instagram at @thiswitchsphotograpy Follow director Rick Canfield at @thenativecreation on Instagram
0 Comments
|
ModelI have modeled professionally for 14 years as of 2019. ~above still frame captures from my very first short film project as shot by director Rick Canfield.
featuring hair by Crystel Franco colorist Belleza by Terry Archives
November 2019
Categories |