Red Hands diary

Day one of shooting is done. Shooting of episode 4 is done.

Here are the highlights from the hour by hour entries:

7AM - Wake up. No cough -- good. Pack the DayQuil and costumes. Get 6 Winchel's donuts and listen to Wilco's Being There on the drive over.

8AM - Actors and crew already up and running at the location. Actors look amazing, and of course they do; they're doing their own costumes and make up. Great hat on Wintermouth. 1st scene in bathroom where Wintermouth confronts Dall while she's trying to shit. Seems like a good place to start.

9AM - Talking shit about Michael Bay and trading obscure Mickey Rourke movies with Kim the producer. Shooting going great. I'm slamming 7UP and my cough is still manageable.

10AM - 3 7UPs done and no peeing yet. Is that bad?

11AM - Actors are getting more and more into their characters. Ed and I have split the direction so he does everything and I advocate and support the actors. My job will be easy today because they're all fantastic -- really bringing it. Ed is in his element -- this is what he's meant to be doing and I'm glad I could help make it happen.

12NOON - We've switched from the bathroom to the "diner" and have lost some time, in moving set and also lunch hasn't gotten here when expected. I finally peed and clogged the toilet -- good think I'm good with a mop. The actors are now at a bar and I'm calling it "Chickenhawks at the Diner." No one seems to get this allusion. That's OK.

1PM - Lunch was a turkey club that was more like roadkill with seared baloney. That's cool -- it's part of the environment and this is environmental movie-making. I really have very little to do. The crew is top notch and the actors are still kicking ass -- some wig issues with Dall, but nothing insane.

2PM - The Agent arrives from LAX -- in character. He's spooky. Perfect. My suit is of course too big for him -- why am I surprised? One of the PA's will let him borrow his. Looks great. Why people spend hundreds of thousands on wardrobe is beyond me.

3PM - I'm crashing big time. Doesn't matter -- the mode here is relaxed and not stressed at all. I'll go into the corner and listen to Phillip Glass and try to dig the great continuum.

4PM - Found my throat lozenges. Not like I really needed them. We're basically done. Nothing more for me to do so now I'm in the bar soaking up the local Tom Waits atmosphere and trying to convince the bartender to play the role of the desk clerk.

We ended up finishing about two hours ahead of schedule. If we had tried to go for the other scene we would have been screwed. If we were an independent movie or a Hollywood movie that's exactly what would have happened.

Tomorrow we shoot the big episode between The Agent and Dall. Should be lots of fun. This is lots of fun. I'll keep you all posted.