First assistant camerman and blogger John Ott emailed to tell us about the the blog he’s been keeping on the production of Rain in the Mountains, an indie feature written by Joel Metlen and co-directed by Metlein and producer Christine Sullivan. Ott blogs on everything from day-to-day production issues to “poor man’s ADR” to the stroke that affected one the leads just days before the film wrapped just last Tuesday. (The actor is recovering and Ott is regularly updating his progress.) Ott even links to Peter Jackson’s “making of King Kong diary so you can compare the difference between making a low-budget indie and a holiday blockbuster.

Here’s from Day 21, when another actor called in sick with some kind of serious flu:

“When we came to pick her up, it was clear she wasn’t exaggerating. Danny and Patrick took her to the emergency room and the rest of us went on to Ericksons’. We shot everything we could without Audrey, including a re-shoot of a scene that Joel and Christine didn’t feel we got after they saw the dailies.

Right now I’m sitting with Joel, Christine and Lillian watching dailies. Before this movie, I thought dailies were a general waste of time, especially with shooting on video, when you can see pretty much what you got right away. But I’ve learned that you think different under on-set pressure. It’s neccessary to take a step back and review when you have a clear head. It also let’s you know if you got what you needed to get while re-shoots are still possible. Another reason to continue the tradition of dailies is how encouraging it is when you see you’ve nailed the shots. Don’t underestimate the satisfaction of a job well done.”