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LMGI COMPASS
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Spring 2025
Ferry Fun
Another challenging location was on the ferry crossing. The scene
is brief of the young woman looking back at the harbour and a
shot from above of the ferry moving. But the logistics of getting
150 crew onboard [to transport home] and have a small unit film
within the short ride from Mukilteo to Clinton without things going
wrong took a lot of prep.
Fortunately, on the advice of Mark, Paul met with Lisa on the
director's scout at the Whatcom Chief ferry to get some drone
footage where "Lisa gave me notes of exactly what she was
thinking and a brief rundown of the story. She had a compelling
vision that outlined a future direction and enthusiasm that helped
shape the direction of what Mark and I were looking to execute
on," says Riordan.
But it was still a challenge on the day. "The journey was 18
minutes. We were like, are you kidding me?" exclaims Riordan.
"But we had to film on that ferry for logistical reasons because it
was where we were heading to shoot most of our locations. It took
a lot of prep with the AD and transport department."
"It was a proper shoot with a load of hardware, not just handheld
filming," adds Freid. "Lisa had a stand and slider rig so she could
move back-and-forth. We had to take over a whole side and level
of the boat, as well as specific parking slots for each crew, for ease
of access. I had a whole map planned out. Then there were other
passengers to deal with, and the ferry company."
Riordan adds: "That ferry shoot was a good instance of a
company move at a particular time, basically golden hour, that had
to hit a specific brief while making sure the crew are in the right
place and doing their jobs quickly and efficiently. Plus, working
with the AD department to make sure we're doing things the right
way, and getting the best shots. It's a symphony of all these things
coming together to make it work.
"It was a logistical mastermind, putting the elements of the
puzzle together and working closely with the production team, the
AD, production designer, producers, etc."
Plus, they had to manage the drone shot from above, while the
ferry was moving, and they were shooting onboard. "The drone
team were like, are you crazy? But we somehow made it work,"
says Riordan.
"It took a lot of effort for things to run smoothly," admits Freid.
"But I didn't want Lisa to know that. She should just be able to
show up and do her filming. She doesn't need to know I had to call
up Paul in the middle of the night and tell him to drive 2½ hours
up to a rural county because they didn't have a digitized permit
application."
Photo by Mark Freid/LMGI
