I woke up about half an hour ago after catching up on the sleep I denied myself this weekend. The past three nights I gathered in the woods as dusk with the cast and crew of "Severus Snape and the Marauders", where we filmed a short epic film until dawn. The nights were long, cold, and last night they were rainy, but we made movie magic.
Last night I wrapped early, as did my cohorts Moony and Wormtail. We said our goodbyes while the rest of the team set up for the next shots. I took a while to part with everyone, just as I took a while to gather my things before finally leaving. This film was an experience, I don’t wanna let go of it. It occurred to me this morning I no longer have a need to take biotin pills, to listen to nothing but 70s rock music, or immerse myself in as much Harry Potter related material as possible. Though I probably will. But I realized I’m no longer working toward this goal of becoming Sirius Black. Shooting the film is now behind me, which means I can’t look forward to it and I have to move on to the next thing. I’ve already got the next thing lined up and coming up soon, but I enjoyed everything that putting this film together brought, I don’t want it to end.
Though, in a way, it won’t. We still have to gather one more time for one last scene in March. Once that’s over there’s still however long it’ll be before the film is finished. I’m fairly certain I’ll be hanging out with the Marauders again, only this time Snape and Lily can come along. It wasn’t just that four of us were playing best friends. We each had the time of our lives with each other as if we been in each other’s lives for the past seven years. And everyone is so funny! I don’t know how he did it, but our director Justin and producer Liana found the perfect cast and paired us up with an phenomenal crew. It’s my hope that I get to work with the crew again on another film in the future. If I’m lucky enough I’ll have them all together again! From our first day’s interior shoot with our awesome extras, things went smoothly. Everyone worked hard without faltering, we got so much done in a short amount of time, and from what the monitors showed, the film will look amazing. If anything is a testament to how great our team is, it was last night.
The day started off with everyone gathering in our three-room green room tent. The cast managed to dress taking turns in maybe two square foot of space. Our makeup artists for the night, Lanie and Allison applied their work in a cramped space while their cast members held lanterns and smartphones so they could see their work. And once they were done, we moved crafty into the tent. It was a little unorganized but for muggles trying to fit three rooms and kitchen into one tent, we did well. Meanwhile, the technical crew was outside setting up lights across a small field, in the cold rain, working for far less than they deserve, so that the cast and I could play wizard for a few hours. When our AD Nikolai brought us to shoot, I was proud to see that everyone was just as focused and dedicated as they had been since the indoors shoot. They had two cameras going at once, and John and Thor never missed their mark. If anything there was pressure on us performers to make every take perfect, because we knew Stuart and Paul made a whole forest look incredible, Joey was getting the sound despite generators humming in the background, and Brian would get a perfect shot no matter how much we threw ourselves around in the shot. If I was better with names I’d be able to say what each person in this crew contributed to the shoot, but I think it’ll speak for itself in the final cut. Everyone was so good at their respective positions that we finished an epic in the rain.
Being a part of “Severus Snape and the Marauders” was an experience. It was the most professional and dedicated production I’ve been a part of. Trying to become a part of the quintessential fandom of my generation is the most compelling thing I’ve ever been invited to be involved in. And while I’ve probably put as much pressure on myself to get a character absolutely right, I’m not sure I’ve ever had as much fun with a role. Zack, who plays Peter and was kind enough to drive me home, and I reminisced about our initial emotions when we learned that someone out there wanted to make a Harry Potter fan film starring the Marauders. Neither one of us thought we had a chance. After initial hesitation, we submitted ourselves in the hopes that maybe we would be right for the part. We were cast, we met the others and were intimated at how perfect each of our castmates are, and with our director we put our little film out there against difficult odds. It failed at getting it’s funding. We were bruised, but determined. We kept working, we educated ourselves and tried again. We succeeded. We kept working, we had fans, they made art and contributed themselves to our little film. Then, before we knew, we were doing it. It wasn’t until I saw myself in the monitors just before my take it finally hit me that I was playing Sirius Black. And now, I’ve done it. We did it. We celebrated our fandom and made a Harry Potter film. It took months for me for it to hit me that it was happening, so I can’t imagine how long it will take me to realize that it did happen. Perhaps when we release the trailer.
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