“They’re just applying the last of the fake blood,” someone calls out. A cluster of crew gather around a picnic table, moving carefully around the strewn electrical gear. They chat quietly, relaxed but alert – when things move, they move quickly.
A printed page shows through a pink clear file: “Ext Tobacco Shed – Day. We see the outline of the tobacco shed from a low angle at a very long distance…”
On a fold-out chair, a man sits with his back to the group, frame tense and Bose headphones clamped over his ears.
Knuckles rap from inside a metal door. “Can we cut the haze on the machine?” Someone lunges to flick a switch. The man launches from his chair, finding space before bursting explosively into a round of star jumps and burpees. Breathing heavily, he checks a handgun before tucking it into the back of his trousers. He stalks towards the door.
“And we’re rolling!” Motueka’s Stef Harris has just wrapped 10 days of filming for his new feature, Blood Moon. The script writer enlisted old friend and New Zealand acting icon Mark Hadlow, as well as local alumni Douglas Brooks, both of whom Stef has worked with before – most recently on Stef’s award-winning feature film, Blue Moon.
Up to 18 people were on set, including half a dozen local teen interns who helped with lighting, props, catering and “keeping [things] focused, literally and figuratively,” says gaffer Peter Blasdale.
The lighting technician was among the first people Stef called when it was time to bring the project to life, as one of several trusted crew members the filmmaker has returned to over the years. The list also includes editor Judd Resnick, first assistant director Dan Abbott - who impressed Stef years ago with his aptitude in fake blood-making - and best boy Rob Ballantyne. Rob not only has a walk-on part in the film but shares a long history with Stef as a former Motueka police officer.
The Guardian visited the set on day eight of shooting, where the crew had settled into a smooth routine and the actors were hitting the climax of the script. Stef explains they are filming in story order, with suspense building scene-on-scene. “As the tension increases, scenes get shorter.”
The team was working through an ambitious nine pages that day, and although fatigue was creeping in, adrenaline kept pushing them forward.
Like Blue Moon, all filming took place locally. While the earlier film was set solely at Motueka’s BP petrol station, most of Blood Moon was shot just minutes up the Motueka Valley, in a cluster of old farming sheds. They offer atmosphere in spades, but little of the convenience of a purpose-built set.
The cast and crew have improvised and drawn inspiration from whatever they have found. The discovery of an old dentist’s chair, for example, was too good of a prop to pass up, and Stef hastily scribbled some rewrites into the script.
Day eight was filmed in the tight confines of a metal shed, a contrast to the previous day’s chase scenes through the surrounding bush.
“We ended up with some great-looking footage,” Judd says. “Both actors are just so gung-ho and literally just rolled with the punches.”
Stef reckons Motueka has looked after them superbly. After many years in the police force, Stef is stepping back from his highway patrol work, leaving more space for creative endeavours.
The Blood Moon footage is now on its way to Christchurch with Judd, who will assemble a rough cut. Once completed, the film will be submitted to the New Zealand Film Festival.
Stef is optimistic it will secure post-production funding for a soundtrack and what he calls “an added patina of visual goodness”.
Now filming has wrapped, Stef plans to catch up on sleep. But not for long. “I’ve got a book I want to write,” he says simply.
