Philomont, Virginia --

On a very cold January night, a handful of us met at Christian Amonson's house to film the monologue of his character, Confederate Private Gabriel Moss, who's wrestling with his decision to cross the Potomac River and give himself up.

The full moon shone like the king of all set lights and erased the need for flashlights. We descended a giant hill toward the pond owned by Christian's neighbors, the Whitsons, and walked into an even colder trapped pocket of air.

Peter faced some challenges setting up his tripod in the mushy grass near the pond, and he ended up posting a "tripod holder" - Christian's Mom, Denise. We all shivered, rubbed our arms, jumped around, and stomped our feet in an attempt to create a little warmth. Christian braved the worst of it, suffering a very cold, wet, numb derriere as we filmed him sitting (!) by the pond.

But the full moon, the light of Christian's candle propped on the underside of a tin cup, the dark shapes in and around the water - all combined to create a moody night and another unique filming experience.

P.S. It took our toes a good two hours to completely thaw. The drive home was painful! So much for the memory of hot days of summer filming...