Our blood splattered car is wedged firmly in a ditch surrounded by towering weeds and drooping trees.  It’s one o’clock in the morning.  “Let’s go…let’s go” yells Ed.  We’re behind.  For the first time on the film the elements have beaten us.  Rain.  First in a relentless down pour and then a torturous drizzle.  “That’s filmmaking” I chirp to the two investors who have been patiently waiting on the set hoping to catch the pale figures in action pounding the car.  “I think we should come back tomorrow and see them then – it looks like the rain is getting harder”.  “We’re not shooting pale figure tomorrow – tomorrow night candle house” growls Four – the first assistant director.  The schedule has been shuffled.  The Candle House is mostly interiors; a better bet as it looks like the rain will be with us again.  Matt Compton, the third producer who is mostly in charge of logistics, and Tasman our unit production manager, go into overdrive shifting people and equipment into the contingency plan.  Matt has a tough night as well.

Hong Kong is notorious for its rain.  We are however out of the rainy season and so far this is the first rain we have encountered.  We originally planned for 5 rain days with a number of cover sets.  With us ahead of schedule we have some flexibility but as Gregg says – it really throws off the rhythm on set.  For the first time, we did not make our day.  We shot a lot: the actors climbing into the trunk, the man being slammed into the window, and some of the pale figure work.  These, as they say, are the times that try men’s souls!  Part of any production plan is predicting the worst and being prepared.  Fortunately we were able to build a rain tarp and shoot inside a large version of the car trunk.  Because the trunk is so tight it would have been really difficult to get the shots if we had tried to shoot everything in the real car trunk.  It is amazing how the illusion plays on camera.  Kudos also goes to the art department for having the candle house ready as the cover set.  Gregg and Ed are going to head out early today to make sure  it is ready.  Still the intensity holds on set.  Amy and Tim are pro’s and despite the long hard day we managed to get good material.  We’ll be back in the ditch on Friday sans rain (knock on wood) and finally the pale figures will get to pound some glass and metal.  Tonight?  Many, many candles and more stunts.