It's a Wrap! Dear Diary 1944 Shoot Finalized

How do you shoot an 11 minute short with almost no budget? You shoot it over three days, in your living room.

That’s how I shot Dear Diary 1944. The film was shot on the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, 2024, with one half-day of reshoots after. Having only one actor, and doing a ton of prep work well ahead of time helped streamline the shoot.

Of course having an amazing actor, Bella LeSante helped immensely. Bella had the lines memorized when she showed up. We had a zoom call a few days before to give her basic direction. With that and my direction on set, she turned out a fantastic performance that needed very few takes. Because I shot digital, we were able to playback the footage of each scene as we did them, so we could collaborate on improving the performance, lighting, and camera angles on the fly.

Because I had unlimited access to the set (really is mostly in my living room) I was able to do test shots with different lenses and lighting ahead of time. This proved extremely helpful when doing the actual shoot, as I was able to set up each scene quickly.

With the help of Willy LeSante (Boom Operator) and Cameron Nolan (PA), we were able to complete all the takes, record the VO, and do a couple of quick reshoots in under three days.

I’ve directed stage shows, dozens of TV commercials, and tons of personal videos for friends, but this was my first full-fledged, serious shot at a real movie. Now comes the next part: Editing.

I will be editing this film myself, which I’m sure will be a huge learning experience (my previous editing experience has been iMovie, and one 4 minute short I edited in DaVinci Resolve, which I will be using to edit this film).

Dear Diary 1944 was shot on a Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro in 6K at 24fps, using a variety of Sigma and Rokinon lenses, plus a vintage 1959 Terragon 35mm that helped give some of the scenes a very dreamy, 1940’s look.