March 15th and 16th of 2008 was the second and final weekend of shooting on my thesis project. Again my crew and I made the hour trek from Milwaukee to Kenosha early in the morning. We had some new blood on the crew with fellow MIAD river rat Corryn Cue, Milwaukee Firefighter Ben Lopez and all around good guy Jose Velez. They helped immensely on the following shoots. The plan was to shoot on the frozen lake and I was very worried because we had had a good thaw during the previous week. All the snow that had beautifully coated the ground was gone leaving a stark muddy mess. Thankfully the ice was still there and with my timid inspection and Ben's approval was deemed safe to operate on, thank god. The entire cast of main characters were all together on the 15th. Kevin Croak and Gary Kriesel joined Tom Lodewyck and Ty Sutherland who where veterans from the previous weekend, but March 15th was especially exciting because the man who muttered such memorable lines as "Your worthless and week" and "What are you gonna do with your life!" was going to grace the set of Blue Lines. A Veteran of such classic films and TV as Animal house, Buffy and Seinfeld Mr. Mark Metcalf was coming. The anticipation was great and there was a buzz of excitement among all the actors and crew. When Mark arrived it was almost like how his character arrives in the movie, almost out of know where. His presents was immediately felt on the set. Pictures were taken and the legendary stories of his past experiences were fascinating. All the actors crowded around as he described working on various projects such as Animal House. As this happened I busily set up the first shot with my crew, Rick Peneloza. We began shooting. It was amazing watching Mark deliver lines I had written. I loved every minute of it. We shot lightning fast, completing Mark's scene in about an hour and as quickly as he had arrived he was gone. It almost felt surreal. No one on the set will ever forget that day, I know I wont. He came, nailed the part, and then was gone but his presents was felt till the day was over.
March 16th we finished all shooting at the cabin with Kevin and Gary. The day went well, maybe too well. The next shoot was at 8pm on the south side of Milwaukee. Our location was a gritty nasty rail overpass. We all met up at my apartment before the shoot. Nathan Polzin who was the shooting victim in the scene was already there when we arrived. We got together quickly discussed the scene and Tom did a stellar bloody make up job on Nate and off to the tunnel we went. Ben Lopez the firefighter was going to meet us there. He had gotten the location for us and notified the proper authorities of our activity. We arrived at the location at around 8pm and it was bitingly cold. We began shooting the scene. Now one of the reasons I picked the location was it was usually very quiet and deserted, but for some reason this dead end street became like main street on a Sunday night after 8pm. The scene was violent and sure enough a passer by called the authorities on us so with in minutes of us starting the shoot the Fire Department arrived. Thankfully Ben was with us. He knew his fellow firefighters and sent them on their way. Soon after the Police arrive and again Ben saved the day. Without Ben's assistance we would have all been in big trouble. Once the frightening interruption was over we quickly finished the scene and called it a wrap on the film. Out of all the shoots on Blue Lines it was by far the least enjoyable but thankfully it was the last. It turned out to be a powerful moment in the film and I think the environment and circumstances of the shoot only added to the grittiness. The performances of the actors that night were stellar and Nate particularly impressed me with his commitment and enthusiasm even to such a small but important part. It all worked in our favor solidifying a powerful defining moment of the movies story.
The making of Blue Lines is a defining moment of my life, the lessons I learned from making it have helped me immensely and made me a better filmmaker. It was also one of the great experiences of my life to work with such a wonderful bunch of people. It made all the difference and I truly hope to work with all of them again at some point. The cast and crew are forever connected by the experience of making Blue Lines, and I know I say it a lot but I can never thank everyone enough. Blue Lines will be seeing festivals soon, I promise.
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