In this video I’m taking you deep behind the scenes on my horror short film, “Late Fees,” and I’m doing it the way I prefer: not a flashy highlight reel, but a raw, long-form “fly on the wall” look at what it actually feels like to be on set. We shot the film over two days, and this is episode one (day one) playing out linearly—so you hear the real conversations between me and the actors, me and the writer, and me with the DP and the gaffer as we problem-solve in real time. You’ll see us testing a new camera/lens combo for the first time (RED V-Raptor 8K VistaVision with Iron Glass Mark II’s) and why I wanted that big full-frame movie look with a little vintage character. I also break down practical set stuff that matters if you’re trying to shoot nights on an indie schedule—like blacking out windows so we can start at 5pm instead of waiting until 9pm, and using sound blankets to help with traffic noise. We get into blocking and performance notes (like keeping an actor “locked in” on the TV to sell the hypnosis/possession vibe), plus little technical hacks like tenting behind camera to kill reflections when you’re shooting an insert on a domed TV screen. Day one ends with us flipping coverage once it finally gets dark and wrapping with momentum for day two pickups.