I See Dead People

Want to know the funny thing about death? I hope so, because today we shot the BFC’s first comedy and it takes place in a morgue. The entire day was spent running around a hospital (the same one we used in Kivumvu: Basket Boy) putting an absurd twist on “grave” issues. So while we tried to keep the tone of the film light, the pressure on set was as high as ever.

Before we could even start, we waited almost two hours for our required chaperone to arrive. And instead of a shot list and schedule like Friday, the director had only prepared the most basic storyboard for the film, without properly grouping scenes by locations and actors. So while everyone sat outside the hospital grounds re-ordering the day, we cheated the opening scene and tried a couple tricks to introduce our main character’s journey imagining ghosts and dead people everywhere.

We wanted to loosen up the feel of the film with a mainly hand-held approach to achieve a different style from the others we’ve shot. The decision also helped us rush through a number of later scenes, but forced us to rely on one-take options in order to complete our day. Our permissions were running out, and we were all struggling to get out of our last location in time. But at least we got out, which usually isn’t the case when the morgue is your final destination.

Despite the mad dash at the end, when we all had some laughs looking at the footage before leaving. Our main actor was appropriately goofy, while the rest of the ensemble played it straight. Now I’ve got to just refocus for our final film tomorrow, and hope the pace of the last week doesn’t kill me.