The First Degree of Lighting: On the Set of the Independent Film "6 Degrees of Desperation"

Being the Dp on an Independent Film is Never Easy

It's Friday, July 20th and there waits a crew of tenacious filmmakers ready to begin production on the new Movie Tao production 6 Degrees of Desperation, which is being produced by Hawk & Bren Pettengill and Chuck Fallaw and co-directed by Bren Pettengill and Fallaw. Usually, I would be either a producer or writer or even a director on most of the films I'm associated with but tonight on this independent production I am one of the director of photography (or lighting designer and/or consultant) on the film. Since I won't be available for all days of filming, my interpretations (of the script) and influences on the "look" of the film will be limited to the hand full of scenes I am available for.

I also happen to be the location manager for tonight's proceedings as we are filming at Gwinnett Civic & Cultural Arts Center in Duluth, Georgia (my 9-to-5 day job). Tonight's scenes need to represent the rear exterior of a library where the main character Peter Bacon (Chandler Darby) is about to blackmail Thad Davis (Hawk Pettengill on double duty). Coming onto the production late I have yet to read the whole script (although I was emailed the shooting version several weeks ago) and therefore know little about where in the film tonight's scenes actually fit.

What I do know about the film is that its an experimental cross national production in which several teams of filmmakers from across the United States (and one team in Puerto Ricco) each have the job of crafting a unique story that is linked through the action of blackmail and the ever present "phone call." Since today's society is so much dependent on the cell phone it's only fitting that screenwriter B. Pettengill (with contributions from Steve Denham) opted to use this device as a means to link all of the stories hence the tile "6 degrees." The blackmail angle is a thematic device that also lends the film a sense of added credence.