2000 - Urban Legends: Final Cut

[...] The most important was the cast. As a new director the casting debates could have gotten bloodier than they ever got; I was so obsessed with my actors that many nights were spent sleepless in fear that the studio would forbid me to cast certain members. There were touch and go moments, and heart-stopping phone calls regarding this, but thankfully, in the end (to skip a lot of details!), I was trusted with the cast that I wanted. We actually did a screen test mixing and matching potential cast members so I could present to the studio an unbiased combination of candidates. But it was crystal clear to me that the chemistry of Jennifer Morrison and Matt Davis was impossible to beat. If you are not at peace with your cast as a director, the process can be miserable. I loved my cast. It was a joy to work with enthusiastic non-jaded actors who often wanted to do their own stunts; the best part is they all had tremendous wisdom and a great film-making sense. I loved collaborating with them.
[...] I wanted Amy to get wet at some point and be running as she was freezing, so it worked well to have the school on the edge of the water. The trick was matching the water's edge at a different location than Trent when we actually shot the scene of her in the water weeks later. (It would be too expensive to stay out at Trent to shoot ALL the exteriors.) We ended up finding a park way the hell outside of Toronto, but the shoreline was so shallow we had to build a peer out over the water so that Amy actually had enough water to fall into!
[...] The number of actual locations used in a scene can be surprising. In one scene, Amy runs out of the university scoring stage (an actual scoring stage in Toronto), then we placed a mock-up of the exterior of the university on the lawn next to the forest at the park 1 hour away where she bursts out the "exterior door" of the stage. Yet another location was the water she falls in. Then Amy hides under a grate with steam coming under it, but the grate at the lake location was just a mock-up with ground a foot below it. We shot Amy looking up from under the grate at a stairwell in a train station in Toronto by placing the grate over the stairs above her. But her POV of the killer on top of the grate above her was shot in a soundstage with the celiing blacked out to be the night sky. Intercut you'd never know. [...]
I remember our last shot we filmed in late December '99 was about 3AM where Jennifer screamed at the top of her lungs in the tower set .. and that was it. It was a little weird. You looked around realizing that the moment you say you don't need another take, the filming is over. The relief is always a bit bittersweet as the awkward goodbyes ensue. But for me, it was all just the beginning of the next phase...

[...] I've begun casting, which is exciting for a couple reasons: First, it's relieving to know the lines actually work and that the interaction of the characters will as well. So this is energizing. I also love working with actors, and it's been a long time since being able to interact - especially being a hermit composing and editing for the last few years. Second, there is, thank God, some really inciteful talent we've come across for the leads. The heroine of the film has to be somewhat Jodie Foster-ish and organically beautiful. The weight of the film is on her shoulders, and my fears of not finding a capable actress I think are alleviated after our last cast read-through. We have many more though. The male lead is also complex, and haven't found one yet. Because our budget is so low, we may not have any names, but new faces; which is ok with me.
[...] Well, what can I say, things get a little BUSY! After weeks and weeks of 17 hour days, we locked down most of our locations, hired all the crew and cast the film. Mainly new-comers for the cast. Jennifer Morrison is playing the lead, Amy, and Matt Davis is playing the roles of Travis and Trevor. Hart Bochner plays Professor Solomon. Joseph Lawrence (previously Joey) plays Graham. And Loretta Devine is back as the now quite disgruntled security officer Reese.
[...] The actors are really helping me in my attempt to make some ludicrous moments in the story (as are a trademark in this genre), as believable as possible. They're a great and quite inciteful bunch. I feel just terrible in scenes where the lead, Jennifer Morrison, has to cry or scream hysterically. I end up leaping up and hugging her as it's hard to watch someone make themseves go through that take after take. It's all looking pretty nice. Naturally I'm terrified about the editing, which is the process it all boils down to.
[...] As we were filming on an airplane set the other day, I looked to my side and there was Bryan Singer standing there watching. Ironically he was filming on the lot across the street. [...]