YOU'RE THE AD, I'M THE AC

Saturday

Alex Farnsley shows up first thing in the morning to help us with the camera problem. I was right. We did not shoot anything. I decide to leave that shot for later. As we are setting up, I notice something different about the pantry. There is food missing! Three bottles of two-buck chuck, four cans of ravioli, three cans of vienna sausages and two cans of tuna. I am sure it was the guys across the way. Fuckers! They took the good food and left the Pick 'n Save food behind. We are shocked and appalled. We are very shocked and appalled.

Freddy is acting weird. I can smell more drama coming my way. Things go pretty well until the kicking of the phone sequence. I find myself sitting on an apple box feeling terribly alone. I look around. No one is around except for Dulce and I. I think, okay…I'll shoot this one by myself then. I don't need a crew! I want to cry, but there is no crying in Teri's world. I can sense some tension between my AD and 1st AC and also my producer and production designer. I see them getting along, but then all of a sudden, they snap at each other. Natalia keeps telling Freddy what his job is and isn't, and Freddy is not taking it well. Oh yea, Natalia wasn’t there during my pre-shoot “this is not a SDSU shoot” pep talk. Grace under pressure, I tell myself. I see that one of the prop chickens is not looking very rotten and it must be rotten by tomorrow. I tell Ivy to put make up on the chicken and make it look the part. Freddy is not convinced with her make-up job. He will take care of the chicken later.

Finally, lunch arrives. Laura went and got rolled tacos for everyone. Neil doesn't eat food from foreign countries, so he leaves the set for his break. Laura claims she asked him what he wanted to eat. In spite of all the drama and occasional tension, I feel we are doing something good. I did not get that feeling when we were shooting "The Job." This is a good, committed and focused crew and cast.

Neil and Natalia start the midget shtick, and it is pretty funny but terribly un-PC. I hope no one here has a midget friend or relative. We were supposed to shoot the refrigerator/chicken sequence today, but we don't have a refrigerator. Laura was supposed to bring one from Tijuana, but then decided to get it from the SDSU drama department. We have to wait until tomorrow to get it from the other students using it for their film. Bye, bye shooting schedule. By late afternoon, we are in a better mood and having a better time. We had a good laugh with Dulce's salsa dancing. We set up for the mirror scene. I made them hang the mirrors with fishing line. It was no easy feat, but they did it. I love my crew. After shooting, Chris, Natalia, Neil and I go to the Rosary Room for a much needed beer. Just one, since they were closing and they kicked us out.