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First day of my trip. I had to get up at 7:30am in order to walk Lulubelle (my dog( and get ready. I was so nervous about catching my flight and getting everything done that I needed to do before leaving.

Anyhoo, got Lu off to Steve and Louise's (my neighbors) and Lorri (my neighbor and friend) drove me to the airport. It all started during the flight. I had a window seat which was kewl but I was sitting beside a man that had major B.O.!! I also forgot that the flight didn't have any meals but luckily I packed a few things before leaving cuz I knew it was going to be a long day. They did have a movie though. It was Amelie which I've been dying to see but I decided not to watch it cuz I didn't think the situation was optimal for the viewing a film of that genre. In other words I had a bad seat!

Once I landed, I had made plans to head to downtown Vancouver, Gastown to be specific. I had 5 hours to kill before I took the ferry over to Galiano Island. I got to Gastown and headed straight for a native art store called Hill's cuz the last time I was in Vancouver I had found the store but I didn't have enough money to get myself an eagle ring. Of course all of the eagle rings I tried on didn't fit so I ended up getting a frog ring which is probably for the best because it's suppose to represent wisdom and luck. Perfect!

So, I headed back to the bus stop, that I was told about, to catch the bus to the ferry. I stood there for a bit but things just didn't seem right. I called the bus company to make sure I was at the right stop and they assured me I was. About 1 minute before I was suppose to catch the bus another bus happen to stop and asked me what bus I was waiting for. Of course, I was at the wrong stop (I knew it!) and I could see the bus I needed to take already at the stop I should have been at. So I began running towards the bus but, guess what, he took off before I got there.

I spotted a cab and asked him how much it would cost to drive me to the ferry terminal. $50! I couldn't afford it so I asked him to catch up to the bus. It took forever for him to get my bags into the cab, cuz they wouldn't fit at first, but finally we were off. We caught up to the bus eventually and I wanted to make sure that I would have enough time to get my bags out so I got him to drive ahead a few stops. In the meantime, the cab driver said that he hoped I had change because he didn't. Thank god I had a few toonies.

Got on the bus and an elderly man called me over. He said: "if you give me your transfer, I'll give you something". I just thought, what the hell is he talking about. He let the charade drag on for a bit then he finally told me what his scheme was. He wanted to give me his monthly pass cuz he wasn't using it anymore so "you can go anywhere you want". I tried to explain to him that I had only one destination but he wouldn't take no for an answer, so I graciously accepted. Then he began talking to me about his life. He just went on and on about how he used to be in the construction business and how everyone called him General Joe and that his wife was English and that all of the English were stupid (his words not mine) and that he had just visited his daughter for Easter and that he had quite a few to drink and on and on and on... How bizarre! There must have been something in the air that day.

Well, I made it to the ferry terminal and decided to have a smoke before going in. This young guy asked me for a smoke and we started talking. Turns out he wants to go to the same school I was headed for. We talked about film. He was really weird, and you know that if I'm saying he was weird then he was really over the edge. He walked with a cane and used it a la Charlie Chaplin. I asked him if the cane was for show or if he actually needed it and he openly admitted that it was for show. Thank god he didn't get on the ferry with me cuz I just couldn't handle his energy.

While I was on the ferry, I went for another smoke and I met another gentleman. His name is Fred (you know who you are!). We had a great conversation and it turns out that he's been involved with film. He had just gotten back from a trip to Costa Rica where he owns a hotel, and L.A. where he met up with a friend and some film people. It turned out that he was from the same area I live in, The Beaches in Toronto. What a small world.

On arriving to Galiano, we got picked up by George, the founder of the school and I ended up sitting between Zoe and Ed. Zoe turned out to be the scriptwriting mentor and Ed ended up being in my film team.

We got to the school and I was shocked by how primitive the location was. It turns out that George had some old movie trailers which he had converted into rooms. We were 3 to a room. I ended up bunking with Ramona and Saya (her 13 year old daughter).

Then they called us into a meeting. By now it was 9pm (which was 12am Toronto time) and I was very tired from my trip, especially with the time change. We were given the rules and introduced ourselves to the group. It turns out that most of the people that were there came from Kainai which is a highschool on a native reserve in southern Alberta (near Lethbridge).

I was so tired that I went to bed right after the meeting. End of Day 1. Almost, it was a horrible night cuz I can't sleep very well when I'm in a new place AND both Ramona and Saya are snorers (sorry Ramona and Saya - just wanted to be honest) AND I'm a very light sleeper.

We started off the first day with breakfast at 7:30am. They have a triangle that the cook rings to get everybody up. The rooms were nice and heated but as soon as you got up, the cold started creeping into your bones.

Then at 8:30am we got right into things by talking about media literacy. We discussed the impact of media in general and film more specifically. Then we had a session on how to come up with an idea. Then we got split up into our two groups. Well we actually got split up into three groups. The first cut was the between the film group and the animation group. The film group then got split up into two. The youths and the adults. My group (no not the youths! - ha ha ha :-| ) included , Ramona, Doug, Ed and I. Ramona, is native and was one of the teachers that drove the students from Kainai to the film boot camp. Doug is a young, up and coming director with a whole slew of acting experience. And, Ed turned out to be my buddy in crime. He's had some experience making shorts and had way more knowledge than any of us, especially when it came to the camera and lights. We were very lucky to have him in the group.

We started throwing around some ideas about what we wanted our film to be about and when I finally decided that I should let go of the fact that I tend to be a control freak, things began going more smoothly for me. That afternoon we began writing our script.

Our group had amazing dynamics. Doug had energy that can spill into next year. Ramona was the stabling factor. She kept us on tract cuz we ended up having heated discussions on every aspect of the filmmaking process. Ed and I connect like I've never connected artistically with anyone before.

We finished writing our first draft that evening around 9pm. I was exhausted... again.

Note: I'm being careful, at this point, not to give any of the story elements away cuz I want to keep the story a mystery so that you can have the full impact of the film when you watch it for the very first time.

I was surprised that no one had pulled any April Fools pranks.

We started off the day with writing our second draft after having received some notes from Zoe about our first draft. Actually, I started off the day by talking to Ed and he had come up with an interesting twist to our movie. We talked it over with the others and included it in our revised script.

The afternoon and evening were spent storyboarding. We had a really tough time with it because our locations were on the beach and in a house. We had no idea how the house we were going to be using was set up so it was very difficult trying to storyboard for a space we didn't know.

I think we ended the day at around midnight still not having finalize the storyboard.

This was our first shooting day. The youth group shot first and we were actors and crew members for them.

I thought they did a great job. The shoot ended at around 5pm and we got back to camp in time to have diner and we were back to storyboarding that evening.

That night Ed and I ended up staying up til 1:30am trying to get everything ready for our shoot day. We collected all of the props and made sure that we were completely organized.

Shoot day!

Ed, Doug and I had made a master plan of who was going to be director for which scene making sure that everyone had equal billing and an equal opportunity to direct, work the camera, work the lights and sound.

At about 9:30am we were off to our first location. The beach. I was directing the first scene we were shooting. It took us a long time to set up but once we were set up things started going a little more smoothly. We were under a tight deadline and our storyboard started falling apart. Not only that, but Kenna (our mentor or as she called herself, our tormentor) shot down our idea of distributing the directorial duties as we had. She wanted one person to do it for a while and for us to rotate. This threw us cuz we had spent so much time figuring out who was doing what and we were prepared for the scenes we had decided on directing.

We just managed to finish at our first location, on time but it wasn't without a little bit of tension and disappointment. To top it off we had forgotten a very important prop for our first location so we had to work around it.

Our second location was a shock. We hadn't planned for the condition of the location. I can't really say more without giving away part of the story. It just happened to turn out that I again was the first director at our new location so I had the added responsibility of the first setup again. I was lucky to have an incredible team to back up my decisions.

We were so tight for time that we had to work and eat at the same time. Luckily, with the advice of Kenna we had a packed lunch prepare so that we could eat on location rather than go back to the school for our lunch. Even with all of our advanced preparation we ended up going an hour and a half over our allocated shoot time and we even had to cut out some shots. Thank god we managed to get all of the essential ones.

It was a very long day and it wasn't even over yet. I want to mention, at this time, that we were shooting with a young girl (9 years old) who was simply a gem to work with. She was so professional. She even told Ed how to do his job! She was great and I felt really guilty having her work so late.

We got back to camp, had a quick diner (luckily they held it warm for us cuz we were about an hour late) and it was back to work in the editing studio to capture our film on the computer. That was the first night I snapped. It wasn't pretty and I'm not proud of it and I was actually very surprised that it happened cuz I'm usually a pretty kewl person. I finally figured out that sleep deprivation was starting to take it's toll on me.

I think we finished at about 11pm and I hit the pillow hard!

The day started at 7am. We went straight into editing. We were given a tutorial on how to use the program and we started editing immediately. It was a very long process.

And this was the second time I snapped. Kenna (our tormentor ;-))was trying to get us to do a bit of trick editing. I was driving (meaning I was the one at the computer) and I just couldn't understand what she was trying to explain. I felt a lot of pressure to try to understand since I was the one at the wheel. As she was trying to explain herself to me, and the others, she began getting closer and closer to me until she was right behind me peering over my shoulder. I felt so much pressure that I snapped and told her to back off. I felt really bad the next day and I hope Kenna is laughing as hard about, now, it as I am.

Anyway, Ramona called it a night at about midnight cuz she had a long drive the next day, so she needed to get some rest. Doug gave up at about 1am. But Ed and I plowed on right into the next day. Straight to 10am the next morning that is.

It was a really interesting time. Both Ed and I were exhausted but we knew that we couldn't stop until it was finished. We were also working with a composer, Derek, who brilliantly wrote some music for our film. Merging the music to our movie was a really orgasmic experience. It just happened to fit perfectly with what was happening on the screen. The music would get intense in just the right places and it would stop in just the right place. It was such an intense experience...

Like I said, Ed and I worked until 10am, then I took a shower and ended going to sleep for an hour between 11am and 12pm. I started packing and finally had a little bit of breakfast but I was so exhausted I really wasn't hungry.

People slowly started showing up, friends and family and avid viewers. George and others began getting the meeting room ready for the Premier. The occasion was filled with pomp and circumstance.

It was a really emotional time for me, and others too I think. The boot camp was coming to an end, which also signified that I had completed my very first film. Each movie was played and after each film the filmmakers were called to the front so that they could be recognized for the great work that they did. We also had a chance to speak about our experiences. And then we were given our certificates. It was a wonderful experience being able to watch the fruits of our labor and others' labor and to see the reaction of our film. It was really well taken and we were all very happy.

Then we took lots of pictures and said all of our good-byes and it was off to Toronto. I took the ferry back with everyone, cuz anyone that was leaving the island - which was just about everyone, had only the choice of one ferry.

I managed to get a ride to the airport and I had to kill 3 hours, which were extended to 4 hours, waiting for the flight. It was really hard. I had to walk around a lot to stop myself from falling asleep. I also gave Val a call and in my exhaustion I found myself euphoric.

I finally caught my flight and slept for 4 hours on the plane. I barely remember the plane taking off and I woke up just before we landed.

My arrival was pretty anti-climactic. I landed, picked up my gear. Took a bus to downtown TO and took a cab home.

Home sweet home.

My whole experience left me with a feeling of euphoria and I'm glad to say that I've managed to hold onto about 60% of that feeling even after 3 days (probably cuz I still haven't caught up on my sleep!!!).

I hope this feeling sticks around for a while!!