Winter Shoot: Day 02: Sukanen Museum

Yes, it was a frigid dawn. With the sun up the mercury read -20 but with the windchill factored in the temperature hovered around -30. The Sukanen Museum is a summer attraction and none of the buildings are heated; in fact, there isn't really much power on location. We kept blowing fuses just trying to keep the heaters running, which we eventually had to give up on as we needed power for the lights for the shots. If Jim hadn't been there with his motorhome we would have had to scrap the shoot altogether. Not only did he keep us alive and save fingers and toes, he was even able to supply us with power to run one of the lights heater, which was a total bonus and not even something I'd been worrying about.

Something else I've never thought about before, but can now definitively attest, is that nothing looks quite as good as a warm motorhome when you can't feel your face.

Home sweet motorhome!

I wanted to be able to see breath in the shot, so we saved this scene for the winter. In retrospect I guess we could have shot it on a less insanely cold day (even in the summer) and composited frozen CG breath in later, but hey, where's the adventure in that? We shot in a homesteader's cabin at the museum that had gaps between every plank that made up the walls. These added some great whistling sounds to our audio when the wind picked up but I think by the end of the day we all had newfound respect for those families of 8 and 10 who spent long Saskatchewan winters cooped up in little shacks like these.

The photo does not do justice to how bloody cold this cabin actually was inside.

As with most of the buildings at the museum, this cabin is packed with artifacts, but in order to get us all in and make it look like a sparse Depression-era dwelling we there was quite a bit of art directing to do. Kristine and Kevin, as always, worked their magic and had it looking absolutely perfect in record time, and were back in the motorhome sipping hot drinks before I knew it.

Before: cluttered.

Trevor didn't have enough warm clothes with him for the really desperately cold temperature and we all felt pretty bad for him. He was a real trooper though, flirting with hypothermia all day, and, as we later found out, finally putting six packs of 'Hot Toes' shoe warmers in his boots, spending the next few hours feeling like he was walking on hot coals. I'd never used Hot Toes before but grabbed them on a whim at Home Depot and am I ever glad I did. Most of us used them, although Trevor outdid us all.

Trevor Derrick: Gaffer, Sound Technician, and Hot Toes King.

The little Sony we were using on this shoot was a trooper too; all of the shots looked great, even though the LCD screen froze up and quit working at one point.

Partway through the day batteries started dying. Raul's camera quit working, which explains why there aren't as many shots from this shoot, which is too bad because the actors looked awesome (Kelly Liberet as the cold Depression-era mother Sarah and Keenan Fafard as her son Robert). Clara did her usual magic and they looked cold, hungry, and tired. Of course, the rest of us kind of looked that way too, even without Clara's help!

I got the frozen breath I wanted (it's beautiful) and so I hope ultimately it was worth it.

What was kind of stupid was that we needed to cut Don's hair for this shot, as yesterday he was meant to look rather scruffy, but this shot needed to match his look from the hospital scenes we shot in the summer. The only time we could find was just before the shoot, so Don and I found a place in the sunshine (which I don't think helped at all) and I gave the coldest haircut I've ever done. After about two snips I couldn't feel my hands, and Don couldn't feel his ears. I think it is safe to say it is also the worst haircut I have ever done.

Tom's appearance in the scene is a kind of dream scene where he leaves his hospital bed and sort of 'astral travels' to this cabin, so he is supposed to just be wearing his gown.

Don: "Are you sure you can see my parka in the shot?"

For the close-up we gave Don a blanket for his lower half, but he was still freezing. He was a total champ, holding on those long shots were nothing was happening but it was looking great, and I couldn't help holding on his awesome expression, holding, holding, and then finally with "Cut!" there would be this mad scramble to get Don wrapped up in his coat and toque, with more blankets thrown around him between takes.

Don looks warm in this shot but it's just the lighting. Great work, Andrew and Trevor! I think Kevin helped on the lights too. Anyway it was terrific.


We had several angles to shoot from, each one requiring a new set up and some set dressing, and even though we were only shooting one scene, unlike the summer where we sometimes shot five or six in a day, with all of our warm-up breaks it really did take us all day. I think there were several times when Andrew could not feel his hands and was just relying on his eyes to make sure he was actually pressing the 'record' button as there was no sensation left in his fingers to feel it.

Here's where Raul's camera quit working, so you'll just have to imagine how we kept shooting until lunch time, when we devoured Dauminique's amazing chili (which really hit the spot), and then went back out to that cold cabin to finish shooting, then as the sun was dipping below the horizon got all the gear back in the van, reassembled the cabin, and headed back to Regina after saying good bye to wonderful Paul who made it possible, and Jim who saved the day.

We had a simple little wrap dinner at La Bodega, and said our goodbyes in the ice bar outside.

See you all at the world premiere!

Tomorrow is truly a light day, and it's all indoors in my studio at the University. The crew will just be Andrew, Raul and me, and the only talent is Don. Today was pretty extreme and I think we're all looking forward to a warm environment where we have control over the lights and the set. And where it will be warm. And it won't be cold.

Until next time...Sisu!