Mansion of Terror - Steadicam Bloopers - That moment when you hit the wall.

We shot "Mansion of Terror" as part of the "Bloodshots 48-Hour-Filmmaking Competition" in Vancouver, BC, in 2010.

It was a fun shoot, and far too ambitious for the period of time we were allotted. I have stories of the craziness of this shoot, and I wish we had "behind the scenes" footage. I'll say this; we shot in a mansion, two hotels, and an airline warehouse. Those locations were located in three cities: Vancouver, Richmond, and New Westminster. Getting around was not easy.

During our shoot, we had access to a cheap steadicam. Its owner/operator, Kevin Rosmer, was a great guy to have on set. He was a sport. During one sequence, we needed him to chase after our lead actress running forward down a hallway, pass her, spin around, and then run backwards as she ran towards the camera. The shot worked out great, the only problem was, he couldn't see where he was going, and he kept running into a wall.

These collisions were hilarious for a couple of reasons. One, this was a 360 degree shot, and no crew people could stand on set. We all waited in hotel rooms, just out of sight. All we could hear, at the end of the shot, was a big bang sound. Every take was the same, with Kevin slamming into the wall. Second, we were shooting at a hotel room, in the most rundown neighbourhood in Canada. The owners gave us use of the entire floor. Even though we kept making slamming noises, no one complained. The occupants of the other floors couldn't have cared less. The good old Patricia Hotel, such a great place to shoot.

I did like how the shots turned out. Unfortunately, the action in the scene didn't fit the tone of the movie. Our protagonist, Tessa, never showed the same level of panic during the rest of the story, and it felt out of place. I cut out this scene for the sake of consistency. It's sad, but I regret nothing.