Warning - may contain spoilers

I had made a new young friend who was a scruffy, skater boy type. He really struck my fancy, and I was very anxious to get him on video. He was into it, and he had another friend who was willing to operate the camera. We batted around a few ideas, and finally I had them over to my place to actually shot some footage.

We recorded a couple of things for practice, but the one we got serious about wound up being Tricky Trick. We scripted it out from start to finish. We didn't do detailed story boards but we did list out all the individual shots we would need. Because it would be shot out of sequence in multiple locations we needed to be sure we had everything itemized ahead of time to ensure we got it all.

I rummaged through my closet to find just the right clothes and accessories to dress up my co-star just right, and we really nailed the look. There was no dialog, which made the whole production somewhat easier. I had a GoPro camera that I could mount to a magnetic pad which allowed me to get the in-car shots. However there were some other logistical issues we had to work out. Most of the piece was shot right at my property, but one location was remote. Because we were in a 2-seater car, and since neither of them had a driver's license to follow along in one of my other cars, my co-star and I had to leave the cameraman behind and shoot that sequence ourselves using a tripod.

It worked out okay, but we really had to plan it out ahead of time to ensure that we got all the shots we needed and there there were no continuity mishaps. And the shot where he pulls away in the car made me a little nervy because he didn't know how to drive stick. I was able to cut the shot right when he starts his forward momentum, but I was still afraid his foot might slip off the clutch and he would pile into the guardrail right ahead of him. I wound up being the one to drive the car off into the distance, but since it was shot from far away you can't tell.

After we got all the footage we sat down and edited it that same day. It came together pretty quickly. I was really happy with my co-star's screen presence. I thought he was a natural. I searched my music library for a song that had the same running time. I wound up with "Wonderful" by The Beta Band, and it fit perfectly. The song just naturally changed mood in all the right places. It couldn't have been better.

Overall I was very happy with the final product.