That's a Wrap!

With those three monosyllabic words, we've concluded production for Earlids!

Some memories from filming:

Puppets. Needless to say, I might be insane. Words that came out of my mouth included, "You might have to sit in the fireplace to fit." "You're going to have to lay on the bed behind him for this one." "I'm not sure if you should crouch or slide around on the ground." But you know what? It all worked!

Autumn leaves. I have no idea how we lucked out so much, but we avoided rain all six days. Okay, there was a moment of hail on the beach, but that was as we were wrapping. You never know when fall will peak in Chicago, but it happened to coincide with our park day. So the leaves were in full color right when we needed it. In true Chicago fashion, it also just snowed--but the day after we were done! Phew.

Mmm, meatloaf...

Cake. I've decided I want to put prop food that isn't eaten in all my films. Because when we wrapped on Sunday, there was a nice prize awaiting us: a delicious, untouched (but oft filmed) double-layer, circular, yellow frosted, vanilla, buttercream cake. The perfect way to end an amazing two weeks.

Earlids. Prosthetics and puppets? Sure! With fingers crossed and an immense amount of work put in by our prosthetics creator (thanks, Ellen!), the earlid appendages worked! To reiterate: Phew.

Learning about earlid surgery, or ariculapharoplasty

Carrots. Our wonderful producer Madison fed my addiction to the orange vegetable, getting a new bag every day. Don't worry, the entire crew enjoyed them! Though I think I may be turning orange now...

Seasonal confusion. I've decided I definitely wrote a summer movie that takes place in fall. Beaches? Check. Ice cream? Check. Waiting to go to college? Check. Long nature walks? Double check. But this film is much better in autumn: backgrounds are more beautiful, costumes are more layered (i.e., it's cold outside, but you have more options), and there's something charming about still being in nature despite the oncoming chills. Also, ice cream is a year-round food group.

Cast and crew. What an amazing group of people we had working on Earlids. I couldn't have asked for better creative supporters to help me make this film. The biggest thank you goes to you!

A shaky start

Now we enter the post-production stage! Thanks for following this production diary--stay tuned for updates over the next several months as the film takes shape, leading up to the premiere in June!