Survivor's Club: Polar Plunge!

There are a lot of days when we film in bad weather - days so hot your eyeballs feel like they're frying, days so cold your hands might fall off, and rain pouring so hard you could almost drown on set. Each month we'll remember one of those horrible weather days and celebrate the survivors who braved the elements in order to film.  Why would we want to remember those days?  Because going through hell on set has a way of bringing everyone closer together when they can say they survived mother nature AND filming on a Yibble set.

Polar Plunge!

For some reason I like nightmare sequences to include lakes and drowning (I blame Doctor Who’s episode Paradise Towers), so since I had a lake available in Carbondale, I decided to have a shot of Zoey falling into a lake at the end of her nightmare in the final episode. 

The problem was that most of the filming took place in November.  I asked Brittany if she would be okay with that, and she readily agreed, despite the fact that it was probably going to be a wee bit chilly (she’s up for trying almost anything film wise – which is awesome!).

I also really wanted to have a demon come out of the lake and chase her during the nightmare sequence and was able to talk Michael Bunnell into playing the part.  I’m pretty sure he regrets agreeing to that now.

We chose a sunny day in late November for the shoot. It wasn’t really a warm day, but it wasn’t too cold either.  We began by filming most of the dry stuff around the area of Campus Lake. Then we filmed the lake shots.

Mike was the first to go in.  The look on his face as he slowly inched away from the shore made it clear the lake was very cold.  It hadn’t frozen yet, but it was probably close.  Since the shot involved him coming up out of the water, he had to duck beneath the surface first. 

It took him a few minutes to brace himself for the inevitable, then he ducked under.  He came up immediately, walking forward menacingly then stopped, unable to deal with the sudden cold - which unfortunately meant doing it again. 

The second time he went under and came up was perfect.  He stumbled towards the sure where Brittany waiting and as he got closer, she took off running.  As soon as we cut, he got out of the lake and headed home.  I was stupid and as inconsiderate as always and forgot to bring a towel or blanket to warm the actors up after their dip in a freezing cold lake. So Mike had to head home completely soaked – and I think he had to walk back to his dorm, which I really hope was somewhat close.

This experience lead to Mike’s piece of advice to future actors:

Never ever EVER allow Yibble to talk you into going into a lake at the end of November!  You'll spend the next hour in the shower trying to warm up.

Yeah, I’m not a nice director.  Although to be fair I gave him plenty of chances to back out, even up to the point where he was standing at the edge of the lake getting ready for the shot.  Still, the least I could have done was bring some towels.

After Mike had gone home to dry off, warm up, and nurse the cold or flu he would inevitably have soon, Brittany and I headed to the other side of the lake.  We filmed more shots of her dry being chased around the boat dock, than poured fake blood all over her so she could chase herself in a twisted nightmare situation.  She ended up at the edge of the dock, covered in blood and being pushed off the dock by an evil version of her self. That was pretty tricky to film, but we managed to get the right shots leading up to it. 

The last shot was her being pushed into the lake.  Since the person pushing her was herself, she had to look like she was being pushed but in reality she was actually throwing herself – backwards – off a dock and into a freezing cold lake. Again, it took a few minutes for her to get up the courage to make the leap and brace her self for the cold.  It was an awkward shot for an actor to do, but she did it really well and actually made it seem like she was being pushed off, landing in the water with a huge splash. 

She came back up to the surface and slogged her way to the shore, climbing back onto the dock and collapsing into a puddle – literally.  After a moment of catching her breath, she jumped back into the water to wash off all of the blood that was still running down her face and arms.

When she was free of fake blood, she got back out, then took off her shoes (which she had worn into the lake) and dumped out the water before squishing them back on.  Then two of us headed back to her car.  She dropped me off at my dorm, then returned to hers to warm up and dry off (and nurse the cold or flu he would inevitably have soon).

To those who survived the Polar Plunge, I thank you and salute you:

Michael Bunnell

Brittany Ann Whalen

I’m so glad neither of you got hypothermia, pneumonia, or died. I promise I’ll bring hot chocolate and soft, fuzzy blankets the next time I convince you to leaping into a freezing cold lake in the winter (cause you know I will – it’s as inevitable as getting a cold or the flu after filming on my set).