The struggle to bring The Privateers to air continues. Some days have brought dilemmas that could try the patience of a saint. then there were days like this. We needed to shoot some action footage of our Captain Vyancort (Jason David Frank,) who had been unavailable for the trailer. So we wrote a little ditty and headed out for Malibu.; Jason looked pirate-ty immediately. Scott was not pirate-ty immediately, but was a strong indication that today would be very easy on my eyes. (Drat, I must behave, right?)

Bobby Lento and Jason had never worked together, but they got a feel for each other right away. Soon, they were hacking and stabbing with great abandon. In fact, they bonded very quickly. It was hard to keep them from working. They even worked through lunch.

As with the trailer, we had to work with what was at hand. In this case, we had to share the beach with the locals. Note the rock-climber to the left. They remained just out of shot the whole day. This was Jon's first directing gig since his student film years ago. And the camera was new to Steve. They did a fine job.

This is world's smallest video village. Here are the guys checking out the replay of a scene. With all the strapping young men about on the set, somehow Sunshine ended up carrying the treasure chest.

Meanwhile, Jason found someone to toss around. Scott Levy was such a great sport. They tossed him around. And tossed him some more. Until the poor man had to pull a gun. Just kidding. It was a prop anyway.

Despite everything, Scott continued to try to bond with Jason.

Fenrir and Heimdahl get the drop on Captain Vyancort. But then the fight is joined once more. This is one of my favorite shots. It's very Captain Blood.

The original guardians of the treasure aren't too pleased with this. Incidentally, these guys sure attracted attention. Could be all that wool and those turtlenecks on a sunny Malibu day. (By the way, Rich Lehmann, the guard on the right, also played a blood donor in Demon Under Glass.)

While Vyancort and Fenrir take on the guards, Heimdahl demonstrates that he's smarter than people think.

For some, it was hard to get out of character.

Rapeiaa Cantina wasn't nearly as large on this shoot, but we still had cute customers...

One of the many difficult jobs Sunshine had was helping Scott get the sand out of his pants. Oh, the sacrifices we make.

And I'm actually smiling at the end of the day! I told you it was all very easy on the eyes.