Shooting the opening scene…

Last weekend we started shooting the opening scene to A Pilot’s Story. I will not tell you want we shot as that would spoil the film, but lets just say it involved the stunning California coast line and a beautiful little Piper J-3 Cub.

I will tell you about one aspect of the shoot just because you should know what I will do to get the shot. We were shooting on the side of a tall cliff on the Northern California coastline. I wanted to get a shot of the Piper Cub flying along the water from above. So my pilot in the Cub was to fly along and bellow the cliff and I would get the shot from above. There was a good amount of ice plant and other vegetation in my way to the edge of the cliff. No worries I am a hiker, I have my hiking boots and my good cargo shorts on . So off I trudged through the think brush with camera and tripod in hand. About half way to the edge I noticed the green and red leaves of the bushes I was walking through. It was all around me, and I had about fifty more feet to go before I found the edge. I look down and notice that each leaf had a smooth side and a bumpy side. I think to my self, “Hey this is Poison Oak” and it was bushing up all over my legs. I looked back to see the fifty feet or so I had already walked through and said to my self. “Art is pain, move on Will!” Laughing it off and kept going. I got the most beautiful shot of the Cub flying along the empty beach and across the crashing surf. It is a beautiful shot and will defiantly make it into the film. 

Somehow I didn’t get any kind of a breakout of poison oak thank goodness. The film Gods must have been smiling down on me that day. So with the Gods on my side you now know I will do just about anything to get the shot.

-Will

The Zed Card of the future…

In the old days actors and models would hand out Zed Cards. Zed Cards like resumes that would have a few photos on one side and a resume on the other side. These cards would allow actors to hand out a small sample of some the looks they can achieve along with some examples of there work. The problem was it could not really show off there acting skills.

With the internet, now actors and models have a much better avenue to show people there work world wide.  One of the services we provide here at Wilco Films is HD video “Zed Cards” for internet distribution. Now actors and models can create really samples of there acting abilities and let the world see there work. We can set up small scenes, light them, edit them together, and even add sound effects and a sound track to enhance their exposer to posable acting or modeling jobs. 

Just recently I had to the chance to work with three up and coming actors. We shot two thirty second scenes for each that shows their range of work. Now they have a good sample of their work on the internet that can been easily seen and shared around the world. 

I am really excited about continuing to provide this service to many more actors and models, and help them achieve their goals and further their careers. Let the future begin.