C is for Cast & Crew

I've been lucky enough over the years to work with some incredibly talented people. Whether we're shooting for a day, a week or months, by the final wrap the group feels like family. Some of my favorite people in the world came into my life during filming. A friend told me yesterday that "people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime." I can wholeheartedly say that hope that all of these people are here for a lifetime. There's no experience that bonds a group of people together quite like making a movie together.
Some Cast & Crew of Fantastic Confabulations- Mike, Harley, Andrew, Tim, Me, Andrew, Chris, Scott & Race....Rick must be taking the picture.




Cast & Crew of Virgin (at a rest stop halfway back from Idaho!)
Seth, Autumn, Tom, Me, Wiley, Abby, Dru & Elayne.... Shawn, Jeffrey, Ian.


Nightshade Cast & Crew-- Erin, Jared, Drew, Me, Shari, Jason, WMP, Rick, Jennifer, Darlene, Kat, Andrew, Frank & Chris


Breaking Cast & Crew---Paula, Jason, Gary, Me, Shari, Jamie, Ryan, Josh, Daniel, Richard, Jeff and a few other awesome people : )

burying a body with friends

They say a friend will help you move, but a best friend will help you move a body. This summer I had the opportunity to bury a body with some of my favorite people. We filmed the short A Man, Buried, written and directed by Jesse Watson (Shallow Copy). The crew was awesome and the cast was amazing and incredibly talented. I spent some good quality time with the cast & crew and got to know everyone better.

My top 5 memories from those 5 days

-Me, Chris Taylor, Jesse Watson, Andrew Forderer, Frank Fu, Matt Bergman + bachelorette party

-Milk & cookies. Every. Single. Night.

-Me + Darlene Sellers+ Footloose at 1am

-Me & Erin using our Tetris skills to re-arrange the furniture in our hotel room so we could fit in the extra bed and still be able to move around the room.

-Matt Bergman on our choice of Indian food the previous night “remember that thing that we didn’t want to happen? Well, it happened”

I had such a blast working on A Man, Buried and I can’t wait to see the finished product. I’ve seen some clips and so far it looks awesome.

I’m really lucky to have such talented, hard working & creative friends. I'd like to thank Jesse Watson, Chris Taylor, Andrew Forderer, Matt Bergman, Frank Fu, Erin Viraldo, Darlene Sellers, Tony Doupe, Dawson Doupe, Carly Norton, Cameron Anderson and everyone else involved.

Ten Things I’ve Learned From Working on Film Sets

-Hand warmers aren’t just for your hands

-Just like tequila shots, one doughnut always leads to seven or eight more…(train syndrome)

-Sometimes working on a film set feels like a first date; you worry how your breath smells, you sweat for almost no reason and you’re very self conscious of any bodily noises.

-Every single person on set is immensely important, never forget that.

-Never underestimate the entertainment value of hangman and 20 questions….even played silently….thanks Stu!

-Any type of coffee is always better than no coffee at all. I’ve learned to enjoy Folgers instant, cold black coffee and even ridiculously strong coffee that inhibits sleep after an all night shoot (fist bump to my Nightshade peeps)

-When the AD says you have 10 minutes to get the actor through hair & makeup he really means 2 minutes but would be happiest if you finished in 30 seconds

-Turn off your phone the second you get to set, you’d rather cut off your own finger than have your phone ring in the middle of a take.

-Never get caught hungry…..this is why I keep a stash of granola bars with me at all times

-Golf carts add fun to any situation, if you’re dreading that upcoming family reunion, bring a golf cart, your family will talk about how fun it was for years.

www.makeupbyrachael.com


photography by Rick Walters and Becka Brebner

Adventures in Filmmaking Land- week 1

I’m having the time of my life working on the independent film Half Empty. With a great script and an even better cast & crew, I am so happy to be a part of this process. We enjoyed working at four locations during our first week. Two days were spent in an office in Gig Harbor where we were spoiled by a big comfy sofa and TV so we could watch the Olympics in between takes. The second location was a pretty sweet bookstore seemingly run by cats. I love that there were signs posted on the door stating “Filming in Progress, quiet please” and more than once we heard people reading the sign aloud saying “oh, they’re filming a movie in there” and “oh, I wonder if they can hear us”. Yeah, we heard you and yeah, it made me giggle. From there, we ventured to the lovely town of Lakewood where we shot some of my favorite scenes. During the downtime I was lucky enough to be entertained by the cutest dog I’ve ever seen and a guitar wielding, cammo-clad, multitalented producer. We spent three very exciting days in an old military hospital which is now a combat medic training facility. Getting lost on the military base, emergency simulations right outside the set, firemen looking for the source of smoke, real combat footage shown during lunch and getting rushed with the fake guns were some of the exiting reasons for my elevated blood pressure that week. The final day of filming definitely held its own set of challenges, but it ended in drinks & food with good guys at the awesome Red House. I am a lucky girl.

www.oldloyalfilms.com

photos courtesy of Rick Walters

great things to come

Filming begins next month for my first feature length film, Half Empty. I feel so lucky to be a part of this film and I’m looking forward to working with this great group of people. I’ve spent hours going through the script, developing character looks, and prepping for the challenge to come.

Anyone who has worked with me before knows I’ll be buying a palette of granola bars before heading to set. Other than that purchase I think I’m ready.

I can’t wait.

www.makeupbyrachael.webs.com