6. That’s a wrap!
June 19th, 2021. Cold Start production blog post written by Richard Townsley
Welcome back to COLD START: The Road to Production. Talk about a dream come true. Cold Start has officially been filmed. Next up is post-production. I was extremely happy with the outcome of every element that went into making this production a reality. Our crew was beyond professional and had a great time working with one another. Even though we were wearing masks, it was easy to see the massive smiles everyone had during the shoot. Within two days, we successfully filmed 80 shots with multiple takes to ensure that we would get the perfect delivery of each line and that we wouldn’t get stuck in post-production.
On June 12th, the first shooting day, our entire crew showed up early ready to work and help in every way they could. The hours were 4 pm to 4 am. Not a minute was wasted. The first step was to have everyone check-in and get their temperatures checked by the COVID-19 Saftey Officers, then, we moved on to unload the equipment truck.
After all the crew and cast were verified, our Assistant Director ran a brief safety meeting. Then, we moved on to setting up the camera, blocking out the actor’s position, and lighting for the first shot of the day.
While we had daylight, the gear was staged outside of the garage set. In the photos above, the Director of Photography is searching for the perfect gel to tint the color of a light (left), our First Assistant Camera operator sets up the camera (middle), and the Key Grip and Gaffer can be seen rigging up an overhead lighting mount (right).
The crew worked quickly and efficiently. I was planning out the blocking for the first scene of the day. We began with the childhood flashbacks, below, I can be seen planning out the best way to have Donnini and Young Carter engrave their initials onto the most important prop of the film.
Once we completed the scenes with Young Carter and Donnini, they parted ways with the crew that made sure to thank them for all their effort and hard work. The production team then moved on to blocking, lighting, and filming all scenes that the kitchen set and living room set. These were two of the largest scenes of the film, they star Carter and Aunt Leona.
On the left, our boom operator is caught in the middle of one of his dad-jokes. In the middle, our Second Assistant Camera operator covers the Director of Photography’s ears from the words “we’ll fix it in post.” On the right, Aunt Leona can be seen enjoying a round of her favorite game show, Bring It Down.
On June 13th, the second shooting day, we picked up right where we left off. After spending the day sleeping and relaxing, the whole crew arrived early and prepared to continue production. The entire day was dedicated to the heaviest scenes for Carter. The hours were 6 pm to 6 am. I don’t think this day could have gone any better- we wrapped precisely on time and, just like the first shooting day, I was able to get several takes for each shot.
As you may notice, there aren’t any pictures that show off the car assembled of pure American muscle. The reveal of both the project car and race car will be held publicly on Instagram in mid-December, stay tuned, and be sure to follow @coldstartfilm so you don’t miss out!
The Road to Production has technically ended, however, blog posts and updates will continue with Cold Start’s journey through post-production and festivals. I urge you to continue to stay updated with our film. This story has only begun and I am greatly looking forward to sharing it with you.
Next week, we release the interviews held with each of the star actors. Following that, a detailed production post regarding our on-location racetrack scenes.
Pictured, top row: Nick Azzaro, Alex Flanagan, Lu Mendoza, Leo Gualdi Farina, Alex Kumph, Zach Goodwin, Nyle Manzano, Alex Casanova.
Bottom row: Pat Townsley, Richard Townsley, Ivan DeCrecy
