With Governor Bill Ritter's permission, of course. It's a lovely place and he, his wife Jeannie, and James Finnerty, the residence director were the best hosts that I (and a movie crew) could possibly have asked for. And this was even their first time...well, the first time that a movie has been shot there.

Being built and largely decorated in the Colonial Revival style, much of Boettcher Mansion was already dressed and ready to be a set for The Highwayman, a film set in 1750's England. We did a little redecorating to set most of the main floor up as the mansion of Lord Shafton (and it's not every day that you get to redecorate the Governor's digs), but so much was entirely appropriate, both for the period and the character, that our job was made a lot easier.

On top of all that, the Governor and his staff let us leave all the lights and equipment set up in his house while we wandered off to sleep in between shooting days. With enough gear to fill our 40-foot grip truck, that alone shaved a couple of hours of setup and teardown time off each day of filming. (Did I mention what incredible hosts they were?)

Besides playing the nemesis of The Highwayman's eponymous hero (yes, I'm a bad guy again), this marks the first time I've tried my hand at directing a film.

In the past, I've spent a lot of time working with other actors on our on-screen chemistry and relationships, but this adds a whole new dimension: besides being concerned with the nuances of body language and expression, this time I'm responsible for creating and maintaining a visual style and flow that propels the story from start to finish.

I've always said that the camera is every bit as much an actor as anyone in front of it. How you use movement, focus, framing, lighting, and all the rest of the camera techniques at your disposal has to tell the story and make you understand who the characters are and why they do the things that they do just as much as the words they speak.

Sometimes more so--because the quiet and subtle language of the camera can invoke feelings, alter moods, and place important details into the viewers minds...without making them consciously aware of how or why they know and feel it.

I'm fortunate to be working with such an experienced and talented cast and crew. It's probably a good thing to have your first time be with someone more experienced (and being patient, caring, and gentle helps, too).

The schedule was pretty ambitious, and I'd had my concerns going in that everything could be completed in the time allotted, especially for the second day. And things did tend to slip a little behind schedule--though I've never seen any production that didn't--but it was almost entirely because I or Ed would come up with some additional shot or variation that hadn't been in the original plan. 90% or more of the time the cast nailed it on the first or second take, and there was never a shot where I didn't get everything I'd wanted--and a few where the actors surprised me with something even better than the version of the scene that I'd built in my head.

Being in front of the camera and directing adds yet another level to the challenge. For most scenes, I would see that things were set up and then retreat off the set to watch on a monitor a distance away or even in another room during the take. That made it easier for me to judge what the camera saw, free from the impressions and details that wouldn't have made it through the camera lens, but that I'd naturally, even unconsciously, be able to see with my own eyes if I were in the same room with the actors.

As an actor, there have been too many times when the lighting, the expressiveness of the actors, the look of the scene, seemed absolutely perfect...when I saw it live on the set...only to later discover that what had actually been captured on film was barely a pale and disappointing shadow of how it had looked from my own perspective instead of the camera's.

That is something I would prefer to avoid.

When you're acting in the scene as well, it's a little trickier, but mostly it just means spending a little more time running back and forth. You set up the shot, knowing where you'll be in it, run through a take or three, then watch it all on playback and decide how (or whether) it should be done differently.

It adds an extra step, but it's not too bad. And it is a good way to hone your skills as an actor to be the one directing and critiquing your performance.