September 6

So here I am and the clock on my computer is telling me that it is offically Saturday and as I am exhausted I should be sleeping. However, as I sit here avoiding sleep I can't help but feel like I am supposed to be on set tomorrow. I know that I am not, but I feel like I should be.

Tomorrow Susan and David will wake up knowing that they are not going to be invaded by actors, equipment and crew. They will be able to go about their daily lives like before we swarmed them, broke their wall, drilled holes to instruct barricades and drenched every surface with fake blood.

Susan said she'll miss having the bustle, creativity and energy around and I have to say that I echo that. I am about to go into that lonely place a director goes - post production. As excited as I am to begin seeing Bill edit this footage into a feature it is something that I will be mostly on my own on. Bill will edit, Beth will do sound, someone will do music, and eventually the film will be complete, but I will no longer get to dwell in the constant presence of all the people that came together durring production to pull my vision out of my head and make it a physical reality.

I know this is part of being a director and I love it, but I also loved being on set because the people that were there made it an amazing place to be. I do wait excitedly for the hurdles that lay ahead, and I hope that I do not let anyone on this project down but in the end deliver the feature that I know it can be.

Can't, my director will kill me..

Well, I've had a few days now to weigh in on how I feel, now the shoot is officially wrapped. At first I enjoyed the knowledge that I no longer had lines to learn or a shirt to wash blood out of. But I also knew that the main part of my life for the last month was over... I can't imagine how Megan must feel! Because truth be told, there is a certain pleasure that we actors take in the small sacrifices we make for our profession. I loved learning lines all week long, staying out of the sun so as not to have a tan disrupt the continuity... same goes for the beard growing, whilst it was a pain... It really is a pleasure to be able to have these "problems" I shaved, cut my hair and laid out in the sun this week and all that freedom sucks! It was great being able to tell my friends "sorry can't come to the beach my director will kill me"

I didn't get chance to see much footage as we were filming but having worked with Beth and Megan before I'm confident it will be supreme. I can't begin to describe how excited I am to see this film. From the moment I first read the script I wanted to see it. Knowing that it is only a couple of months away is dead exciting! But as for me, well I'm back to being unemployed now... such is the life of an actor... Back to searching through websites looking for the next gig... Man I miss END already... it hasn't even been a week! Oh we have the photo shoot on Sunday! Shame that I'll now be a fully shaved, short haired, bronzed bodied version of William (yes Megan I'm only joking, I look the same... I knew that for one more week I could say, "sorry guys, my director will kill me")

Oddness

Project 365 - Day 217
Originally uploaded by mrbosslady

You may notice that this picture really has nothing to do with End; it's just a little ball of rubber that sits between me and my phone as I continue to take customer calls, close out orders, complete billing, and slowly sink into boredom. That is why this picture has everything to do with End; this film has been my rescue from the droll daily grind that I have been forced in to.

I have loved being on set every weekend. It's been hot, it's been tense, it's been frusturating and yet the stress hasn't bothered me; I go home from the set everyday happy with what we've done and a little more in love with every person involved with my film. No matter the conditions on set it is also funny, comforting, creative and a sanctuary where everyone understands my kind of thinking. At the end of the day we all like each other and no matter how tired I am I have had fun.

Juxtaposed to that is my rubberband ball. I work forty hours a week at a job that could keep me alive, but no matter what it frusturates me and the only escape is my wacky little things like my rubberband ball and decorating my cubicle with movie art & quotes while customers complain about things that I don't actually care about. I have reached that point in my life where film is such a part of me that it overflows into each and every aspect of my life and I no longer hide it.

I cannot describe quite how much I have enjoyed working on End; this film has been my first genuine glimpse of what I know God can do with my life. This film and the people involved with it have helped me feel like my goals are achievable and for that I cannot ever fully repay them.

I can now say that I have wraped principal photography on my first independently produced feature film and I still don't think that has fully sunk in for me. God has been so faithful to me, and I cannot wait to see what is in store next.

Bittersweet:)

     So We wrapped up this past weekend and I must say I'm a little heartbroken. I have had so much fun working on this film and I hope to one day work with all of you once again.  Actors, You guys are all amazing and it was entirely my pleasure to work with you all. Crew, You guys were terrific and as well the pleasure was all mine. I hope all the footage turns out well. So the last weekend was very fun, just one scene that i think overall came out great. Marissa did absolutely wonderful, And I am honored once more to have worked with her:). Dave, haha oh man, this entire shoot, he cracked me up but i was usually so focused i could stop my self from laughing but this last weekend he finally got to me. As he slowly came up behind me durring this one scene and placed his hand on my hip, hahah , from that point I was always wanting to laugh when i looked at him. Very funny individual. Good Times. And Fantastic job also Dave, as always and with everyone else.

- just some goodnight thoughts, Thank you guys and sleep tight

-Ashton Reese Trujillo 

Lessons Learned

The following are things I learned over the course of our shoot.

You can use a black garbage bag for almost anything.

Surrounding an impressionable 14 year old girl with very adult actors and actresses may result in some hefty therapy bills for her later on in life.

Spontaneous human combustion is a myth. None of us burst into flame on our 300 degree set so I’m not buying it.

Never shoot a movie in a unairconditioned house in the middle of August.

EAR MUFFS!

ALWAYS make sure you have tweezers handy.

It’s a lot easier than you think to put people through walls.

It’s surprisingly cheaper to repair a wall with a gigantic hole in it than you’d think.

HOT SET!

There ARE actors out there that actually respect writers and the scripts they produce.

Shaving cream will take off almost anything.

If it can’t be fixed with gaf tape, it aint worth fixing.

More thought can be put into attaching words to the alpha-numeric scene number system than can possibly be healthy.

There are more than a few people who worked on our movie that will win Oscars one day. (I’m not going to tell anyone who they are I’m just going to write their names in an envelope, date it and seal it and then years from now open it when they win to reveal I predicted it all along… seriously)

False walls are really really heavy.

Given the right set cast, crew and pretty much everyone else can make ANYTHING dirty.

Seriously HOT SET!

Making a feature takes a huge amount of selfless sacrifice and commitment from many talented people and kind and loving friends. Without each and every single one of them none of it would happen, which I guess means I need to learn new ways of saying thank you. Until then… THANKS!

Scene 46

Today we shot the monster of a scene - scene 46. This scene is about thirteen pages long. It is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. Angela (Marissa Merrill) has to go to a very emotional place and watching her was remarkable and she was able to make me emotional watching her. I really think this was a special scene.

Scene 46 was the only scene we shot today; this was probably our last day of shooting so I planned to have the scene be the only thing we shoot today. I knew it was going to be long, emotional and hard and I really wanted for us to do the hardest things at the beginning of the shoot and build towards this.

Despite things like tricky dolly moves, shooting day-for-night, and set dressing colappasing around us the scene went well and I really hope that I gave Bill enough footage that he can cut scene 46 into the scene that it deserves to be.

To end our day we gave an open dinner invitation to the cast and crew and everyone who wanted joined us at Pat & Oscar's after we finished cleaning up the set. My parents joined us as well, which was really great and they got to see how zany a group of people we really are. We joke, we shout, we laugh, and we share a love for all things creative. We enjoy each other's company.