05.22.07
On the set: days three and four
We regrouped in the afternoon for some daylight shots - I was impressed how they took my bedroom door and by putting up a curtain and cropping in tight, made it look like a window - shot from the outside. Being a true fan of creatively finding solutions - I richly enjoyed seeing this kind of inventiveness.
Since the producer made extensive use of my paintings, he decided an establishing shot of one of the actors painting was needed - so I became the on set consultant, setting up the easel and providing direction for the actor to look realistic. Guess art school paid off after all…
We did a few more shots and wrapped fairly early - and shortly the habitat was back to pristine condition. You’d never know that it was packed to the rafters with a film production. After chatting with the roomies, they weren’t too put off by the whole thing - I think we might be using the habitat as location again - hopefully for money next time…
The next morning was an early rise - on set call was for 8:45, I haven’t been up that early in a while. We met on 46th St. at the set of ‘Tony & Tina’s Wedding,’ dragging all the equipment down a flight of stairs - I wasn’t looking forward to dragging it back out at the end of the day. Set up was easy, as the location had already been rigged for lights, the biggest problem was wrangling the 40 extras we had for the ‘reception,’ people of all ages, including several little kids running around - I had to mentally remind myself to temper my language…
Amazingly, NinjaScott got the shots he needed quickly, running the glidecam through the crowd - basically giving groups of people free reign to act as if they were at a party and they responded well to this. I tell you, the man is a natural. We shot some seated scenes, a few crowd scenes and cut everyone but a handful of extras and the principle actors.
This was my favorite moment - one of the guests was annoyed that there were no men at the reception and hooked up with the waiter. It was another glidecam shot, in the kitchen. Since I was on the boom - I had to sit on a filthy kitchen floor, right underneath these two as we went for 3 or 4 takes, shoving a mic between them as they were making out…
The rest of the day went quickly - amazing how a 12 hour day on your feet can pass - and as they were setting up the ‘martini shot’ - the last shot of the day, I busied myself cleaning up, gathering equipment and hauling it up the stairs. There was a cute PA guarding the van with a huge bag of assorted candy, and the last minute sugar rush helped power me thought the exertion…
This is it - we’re over the hump, 2 more days and done…
