YARD TIMES: Episode 3

This episode picks up where Episode 2 left off. Many of the crew are left picking up the pieces from the night before.

YARD TIMES: Episode 2

You don’t have to scroll too far back in this blog to see how much fun we had filming this episode. Mostly because of the party scenes, which of course gave us an excuse to throw a real party, but this episode also includes some great performances by a few guests.

YARD TIMES: Episode 1

After months of editing and reviewing and then more editing, episode one of Yard Times is finally out. It’s funny to finally see it all put together and we owe a big thanks to the crafty editing of Nick Chandler (who is also the director, a producer and also plays Lenny.)

So stay tuned as episodes 2-7 are released over the next few months.

 

Yard Times Intro Music

Huge thanks to Matt Sawicki at Suburban Pro Studios for putting together our Intro song. Check it!

More updates coming about post-production of Season 1 and we’ve begun pre-production of Season 2.

 

Season 1 Production Day 11 and Wrap Party

Ah yes, the final day (evening) of production. We had this bright idea that we’d film a party scene from episode 2 at the same time/location as the wrap party. Planning for a party is tough enough but then throwing in a night of filming proved to be a hilarious task. Must. Not. Drink. Til. Wrapped.

We only had one scene to film but had to coordinate extras, create a party atmosphere and then yell “quiet on set” during every take and to top it off, one of the main actors couldn’t make it. David, Nick and I put our heads together and came up with a reasonable solution. Deanna trying to get Duncan under control early in the shoot. (Above)

We had some amazing performances by our main actors and a few first-timers. Alex and Day stepped into the scene as our Girl 1 and Girl 2.

We also had the REAL Duncan on hand. My brother, Duncan Sewell, came up from St. Louis, MO to give us a hand and made it on camera during a few takes.

Nick lines up the shot while Toph ‘pretends’ to drink a Four Loco.

Riddle Time: Natalie, who appears in every episode and plays Sam’s wife, made an appearance for the first time on the Yard Times set. How does that work?

I’m pretty sure we were wrapped at this point but Byron and Dan started chilling out in the sun room.

Actually, there wasn’t a clear line drawn between where the Wrap Party started and the Scene Party ended. Who knows what will make it in the final cut?

Bev comes in and destroys the dance floor. Duncan and Andrew just trying to keep up.

Part of montage of party scenes, Michelle (playing Rochelle) hits on my friend Jeff.

Final picture that I remember taking, the Real Duncan and Toph (playing Duncan) had a dance off to see who the Duncanest Duncan was, a battle that ended in a tie. Greg, on the left side of the frame, delivered an incredibly hilarious performance as Lance, the gay friend.

Seriously, some of the most talented and genuine people I’ve ever worked with played a part in the making of Yard Times. I cannot wait to see this all edited and released early next year. Stay tuned as we leak some videos and other updates along the the way. We have some more Wrap Party pictures that we’ll post later too.

Season 1 Production Day 10

Day 10 started out with coffee and doughnut holes and whole lot of costume changes. I believe we filmed a scene from all seven episodes which meant a ton of continuity concerns. Some of us (me) only had four hours of sleep despite the extra hour because of Daylight Savings.

The gang (above) warmed up with some improv games and coffee. Our Day 9 break room was transformed into the Day 10 green room.

Margo enjoys a delicious cigarette during a scene from episode 3.

Duncan brings out the Santa hat and explains his hangover might cause him to work even slower than usual. You and me both Duncan, you and me both.

In the background, you can see the World Map Margo created for Yard Times. Currently, she owns the territories of North and South America.

Another lesson from Margo: when in doubt, whip out the gun.

Another busy day in the office, we barely got the electric system on that game to work.

We were quite happy with our Margo’s Office set. You really can never have too much purple.

In a racy scene between Margo and Henri, the director (still in Lenny costume) encourages the cast by removing articles of his own clothing.

During some tense moments, Byron just went off on his hand. We had our first on-set fight and Max (sound guy) jumped in to prevent Byron from punching his own hand in the face. Really rough to see this happen between such close friends. Byron later said that he and his hand worked it out together.

Our martini of the day ended up being a sound-only scene. A gentle way to wrap a very long production. At this point, the sun had already gone down an hour early and we were running two hours behind.

Final scenes are being filmed tonight (at the time of the writing of this post.) We will post pictures from those scenes and the wrap party next week. Thanks for reading.

Season 1 Production Day 9

Our final full weekend of principle photography started with the crew converting an apartment living room into the Yard Times break area. I learned that refrigerators had wheels and that futons are easily the most awkward type of furniture to move. Both days this weekend were extremely long and exhausting but we managed to wrap all necessary scenes late  Sunday evening.

(Above) We began with a scene from episode 1 where we establish most of the main characters in the Yard Times world. Henri eating a meat stick.

Bryon (playing Henri) prepares for the next scene with some stretches.

Another scene from episode 1, the one where Duncan decides to wear a shirt over his head the whole time.

Henri and Lenny discuss the finer points of AIDS and serious methods of prevention.

The director’s favorite shot of the day. We realized that we utilize Byron’s body more than anyone else during the first season.

Setting up Margo’s office took a majority of the afternoon but afterward it looked amazing. On her wall is a photo of Martin, the manager of the rival crew, and of course it rests on a dart board.

Margo, sporting a strange assortment of mesh garments, moon shoes and Hannah Montana microphone, works hard to keep Yard Times running. These were some of my favorite shots of the day.

Sam (played by Samuel Priest) and Margo (Sophie Austin) figure out the best approach to ruling the world. Margo wants a steady take over beginning with Yard Times while Sam pushes for nuclear warfare.

Nick, still in Lenny costume, directs some of the final scenes of the day. We wrapped Saturday knowing that we’d spend the entire next day in that room. Quite frankly, we miss shooting outdoors and, like every long-term project,  most of the cast and crew are SO ready to wrap this first season. Check later this week for Day 10 photos.

Season 1: Final Production Days

Yard Times has the final three days of filming coming up in which we plan to tackle nearly all indoor shots. We have a setting for our Office and Break Area scenes lined up and can’t wait to wrap the first season of Yard Times. We couldn’t have reached this point without the help of dozens of wonderful and talented people.

This blog will be updated with pictures and clips from the final days and we’ll even post some pictures from our wrap party so you don’t forget how cool we are. After that, we will continue to post information about post-production, the process of creating a web series and maybe even a few pictures of our editing process. Who knows, maybe we’ll get anxious and release more clips?

Finally, Yard Times would like to give a big shout-out to Suburban Pro Studios who have agreed to create an epic theme song to Yard Times. Check these guys out if you find yourself in St. Louis and have an immediate need to spit some lyrics in a mic or drop some dank-ass beats.

Today on Cooking Today

While filming a difficult scene in Episode 4, someone left David and I alone with the shotgun mic. Between takes we snapped off a quick NPR parody about cooking dandelions. Enjoy this small Easter Egg recorded from the inside of my car.

 

Season 1 Production Day 8

We were on hand for the FINAL day out outdoor shooting *whew*. With Blaise taking over direction duties for the day, he was too busy holding the camera and lining up the camera, so I took most of the pictures with the help of Michelle.  We filmed in beautiful Humboldt Park on an Indian Summer day where the temps hit 80, and outside of a few domestic disturbances a few houses away and a couple of scooters riding by playing mariachi music, they day went pretty smoothly.

You know shit gets real when we start filming scenes with tricycles.

Max and Toph discuss the receding shade as the sweltering sun passed over. Jenna is probably wondering what she's gotten herself into.

Pay no attention to the yellow leaves on the ground! Blaise filming a scene with Henri (Byron) wondering WTF was going on over there...

... where THIS was going on. Let's not speculate. Just go with it...

"We're like the Smuckers Brothers!" Today we finally got to film scenes with Bunny (Jenna) and Be-Wizzy (Andrew). I almost peed my pants during these scenes.

Blaise and Max look on while Anthony prepares for some epic garbage picking.

They'starting a new band called the Shit Stick Sundaes.

Roach (Michelle) holds a knife to Henri's (Byron's) neck while they argue about what to do with their discovery. Byron is a brave guy. I actually saw metal touch skin twice. There were no injuries, and Yard Times was not reduced to snuff film status.