RitM: Day Twenty-one - Sicko

An exciting day. Right before we left to meet up this morning, Lillian got a call from Audrey (who plays Lindsay, Eric's wife). "Uh, hey, Lillian. I'm really sick. I don't think I can come today. I was up all night throwing up."

It was fun watching Lillian kick into hardass producer mode. "You have to come. We can't reschedule these scenes." "But I'm really sick. I can't keep anything down." "Okay, I'm gonna call Joel and Christine, but I think you're going to have to come to the set. You can sleep when you're there, but we have to have you there."

Read more of Rain in the Mountains Day Twenty-one - Sicko (with some notes on dailies)...When we came to pick her up, it was clear she wasn't exaggerating. Danny and Patrick took her to the emergency room and the rest of us went on to Ericksons'. We shot everything we could without Audrey, including a re-shoot of a scene that Joel and Christine didn't feel we got after they saw the dailies.

Right now I'm sitting with Joel, Christine and Lillian watching dailies. Before this movie, I thought dailies were a general waste of time, especially with shooting on video, when you can see pretty much what you got right away. But I've learned that you think different under on-set pressure. It's neccessary to take a step back and review when you have a clear head. It also let's you know if you got what you needed to get while re-shoots are still possible. Another reason to continue the tradition of dailies is how encouraging it is when you see you've nailed the shots. Don't underestimate the satisfaction of a job well done.

So back to Audrey... In the middle of the morning, Danny called to tell us the diagnosis was food poisoning. (Tourist tip: avoid the turkey at the Tumwater Subway.) Medicated and rested, Audrey was already feeling better. We took a long lunch while they drove over. They rolled in around 1:30.

Audrey not only summoned the energy for the scene, she summoned the energy to yell her lungs out. She was an A-1 trooper and got it done. Then she went back to the hotel room for some well-deserved recuperation.