Prelude to a premier

            I suddenly find myself a bit overcome by both reality and the delusion of reality. I just spent my evening on the twenty-eighth floor of Dolby Laboratories staring at a wall full of Emmy Awards before attending the premier of a film called Prelude, written and directed by N. Sanjay Singh, that I had script supervised last year. When I took on the job, I was fresh out of training and had done only one short, independent film prior to this. It was more a favor for a fellow script supervisor, who wasn't able to take the job because of another commitment, that I took the position and also as a learning experience for a future in doing this in feature films. I didn't have the courage to jump right into the long ones yet so this was perfect. Lisa and I were at the same level of expertise so she recommended me for the job in her stead and I was so honored to have had her recommendation, that I would have picked up trash on the set, at the time, just to make good on her advocacy on my behalf.

            It was sometime in late March, early April when we filmed for the two nights out in Long Island. It was below forty and one of the only things keeping us from going into hypothermia was a campfire that was used in the backdrop throughout the film. Thank God that was written into the story because if it was, say, set in a rainstorm or an ice-fishing scene, I think I would have thrown my stopwatch and pencil over my shoulder and taken the next train back to my bed where it was nice and warm. Most of the people on set were NYU students with large sums of money invested in this project. All I kept thinking while I was there was how nice it would have been to have the kind of budget they did when I was working on my own short film. They went so far as to rent a crane with a hired operator just for an opening shot, which lasted less than thirty seconds on film. And, because a fire was involved and we were filming in a state park, the local fire department had to be there the entire time, so they had to be (unofficially) paid for their services as well. Can't complain about that though. The fire wasn't the only thing radiating heat once they were on set. Oh, but the things I could have done with that money.

             I'd have to say, NYU definitely has their shit together. They were trained well and worked as professionally as anything I had ever seen working on major motion pictures and network television. However, I have to give City University of New York/Brooklyn College a whole lot of credit too. That saying: "necessity is the mother of all invention," definitely applied to what we had to work with. The stuff that my fellow classmates and future filmmakers had to come up with to compensate for our lack of funds and equipment, would make a person's head spin. We became very inventive when it came to shooting complicated scenes. No dolly for the camera? Not a problem, we'll use a good ol' wheel chair like Dawson did. No crane for our bird's eye view shot? No problem, we'll string that camera up on a wheel and pulley and slide it into position. Watching all of those episodes of MacGyver definitely came in handy once I had to think quick and we were limited on our resources.

            When I arrived to the right space where the premier was taking place, the first person I saw, to my relief, was the friendly face of Bruce Bayard. Bruce was one of the main actors on the set. He kept me entertained with his witty banter and stories of life in the country while we both roasted our tookus's by the fire like marshmallows whenever we were between shots. The people that I absolutely couldn't get enough of, both on set and at the premier, was Sanjay's parents and grandfather. Not only were they sponsors, but they were also the caterer's on set. I had never seen such a supportive family in regards to their child's career in my life. It was amazing to witness the pride in their hearts that were so very apparent in their work ethic. With support like that, there's nothing you can't do. Sky's the limit.

            Once we all settled into our seats within the state of the art theater and each had our little bags of popcorn to munch on, Sanjay stood to make his humble speech before the projector began it's hum and the lights went down over us. I honestly didn't know what to expect. I had already seen the entire film in its non-sequential form because I had to notate every detail imaginable every time the cameras rolled on set. But in the bitter cold and the lack of sleep while shooting, I definitely questioned my capabilities as a script supervisor, sure that I had missed some important details that might have been imperative to the continuity of the film and helpful information in editing. To my happy surprise, the film was beautiful and I felt as giddy as Sanjay's parents when the film was over. Not to mention the burst of exhilaration I felt when I saw my name on someone else's film for the first time as the credits rolled. I've done a few things before this but I've never seen an actual credit other than on IMDB and that's as reliable as anything else you search on the Internet these days. When I saw my name scrolling down that big screen, it took everything I had not to run into to the next room, grab one of those Emmys off the shelf, sob over a speech like my name was engraved at the base and Steven Spielberg was placing it into my hands. There were a few moments before I finally made up my mind to go to the premier that I nearly backed out, not sure if anyone would recognize me and afraid that I'd look like a wallflower at an event where that is the last thing you should be. I'm sure glad I did and that I was able to experience this project in its entirety. Although I was sick for nearly a week with a nasty cold after a grueling to days in the woods during filming, it was well worth the pain for the gain.