Filming Day Three - Outside Scenes

     Today is the day we film the most imaginative scenes. Trying to make Nico’s empty house look like a fun house full of toys and lights to turn it into a child’s dream is not very easy. Getting all of the toys and equipment for this was on me, so I started searching. I got the biggest stuffed animals that I could find to make it look as full as possible, got many colored lights and lasers, a toy car, some hats and glasses, microphone, etc. After getting all of the materials in the car, we went to pick up our actress for the day, Paz.

     Since Nico’s house would be used for the rest of the day inside, we had to make sure to get the outside scenes first before the sun went away. Nico and I knew the exact neighborhood that we wanted to film in because it is well known for it’s beautiful, large houses. However, we weren’t sure of what house to film outside of. To enter the neighborhood, I spoke to my friend Valeria who lives there to let me use her address. She said “of course!” and then we started searching. We drove around the entire neighborhood until we found a huge house that worked beautifully. It was full of palm trees, garage doors, and different rooftops. The door was placed right at the middle of the house, so Paz could stand in the center and look tiny next to the huge house.

     We started by filming the graphic match we are planning on doing with the box in the trunk of the car. I had Paz put the box inside the trunk and then take it back out to be used before and after, making it look like Paz traveled from her current, regular house to the new, huge house within seconds. It was easier to do both shots at once than have her removing the box now and then trying to set up everything perfectly to make it look the same for her to put the box back in. Afterwards, we filmed the scene with Paz looking up and running inside of the new house. We got several different angles to pick if we want to show her facial reaction as well or just her body running into the house. 

     The weather looked great and we drove back to Nico’s place to film the outside shots of the old, small house. Getting Paz walking down the front of the house was a mission. We must have recorded the same scene of her just walking at least 20 times. I knew that working with kids is very difficult, but it became very clear after Paz laughed and struggled looking upset for fifteen minutes. She tried hiding her smile by looking at the floor, but it just made it look even worse. Lastly, we recorded her looking at the house and walking away. To make the house look even smaller, I framed it in a way that showed only the front door and window, with as little garage and second floor as possible. 

     The very last thing we filmed outside was Paz walking over to the car and putting the box away to later combine with the graphic match. After we finished filming everything outside, it was around 6:15pm. Since the sun would be setting soon, we grabbed all of the things I had packed into the car and went inside of Nico’s house to decorate and start. I will explain everything that happened later in my next blog because… let’s just say it got a bit crazier than expected!