continued... by Maray Ayres
15
Festivals
11 Wins
After completing that second day of filming we headed back to Los Angeles where we would shoot what was to be our final and third day. This location was extremely convenient... my home, my kitchen and my comfy patio. We had bagels and lunch delivered. Someone watched our dogs so that they wouldn't make noise during our filming. We had the luxury of using my bedroom to rest and relax when needed and after this long day of filming, we wrapped and felt good about what we all had accomplished.
Now it was time for our director, Jody and her editor to start their collaboration. After several months of editing, Jody insisted we go back to Rosemond, stating that we'd all be much happier getting the shots scrapped due to all those interruptions. So a truly pared down crew was all scheduled to do some gorilla filming for one day on the 1st of December. RAIN! RAIN! MORE RAIN! EGADS! Due to everyone's schedule and the fact that we needed the sky to match our shots as much as possible... it was nearly a year before we were able to return. And don't you know that myself and other members of our production were scoffed at and criticized to the point of being harassed about why the film wasn't done and in festivals as yet!! But wait a minute even the famous director, John Carpenter... goes back again and again if he sees in editing that more shots are needed for the vision of his films. And he doesn't care if people think he's messed up or not. It's not about making people agree or liking you, it's about getting the film done the way you envisioned it..... whew! Anyway, you can bet, that if my MARAY & FRIENDS Productions ever do a film again... we will secure a house, or build a set, something enclosed, confined and comfortable for location. We will respect the weather, and ourselves, and also pay for enough security and whatever permits are necessary!
A costly lesson learned indeed.
What I'm about to share next is really freaky.....but true!
ACTRESS NEARLY SHOT BY LOCAL POLICE
Finally back in Rosemond for the first segment of filming...
we began at pre-dawn with me standing in the middle of the road holding a knife...
A couple of cars had passed by so I thought to hide the knife a bit by holding it close to my body. Evidently, one of the drivers must have noticed it, because I now see red, white and blue lights flashing in the distance. Then I began hearing sirens screaming as four vehicles came racing up the road toward me stopping about 20 feet from where I was standing. Wow, what's going on? Jody, my director was in the pickup truck behind me approximately a mile away by now. Instantly a stern voice from a megaphone demands, "Drop the knife." What? Sheriffs? SHERIFFS! EGADS! I took one step toward the cars and (without thinking) raising the knife as I innocently said, "We are filming a movie." With that... four (4) policemen leaped out of their cars, knelt down to the ground as they cocked their rifles and pointed them directly at me! Simultaneously, the other four (4) officers had jumped out of their cars also, and positioned themselves behind their opened car doors with their hand guns stretched out also in my direction! My goodness, didn't they hear what I said? "We-are-shooting-a-movie." Again I began taking a step forward to show them my 'dinner knife'... not a weapon. Right then (and thank goodness he did) Hal jumped out from behind a bush and screamed, "For God's sakes Maray, drop the knife!" Soooo, I dropped the knife and the main Sheriff rushed over to me, cuffed my hands behind my back and placed me in the backseat of his vehicle. The same was done with Hal in a separate car.
The Sheriff started asking me questions: name, etc and of course I had no ID on me. I again told him of us making a film and that's why we were there. He asked if we had a permit. I attempted to explain to him that we had one last year, but since we were only doing this one road shot so early in the morning that we hadn't secured another one. He saw no crew, no equipment. No camera. He didn't believe me.
"Nothing can help you or hurt you as much as the thoughts you carry in your own head."-Zen Buddhism
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