That 4
Friends Movie
Day 00 - Friday - Travel day
We gather at the office for the big van caravan to
Cambria for our first day of filming.
While standing around watching other people running
around for the travel arrangements, Wardrobe Marcy asked me if Wardrobe
Tracy told me about her adventure at Producer Alice’s house last
Wednesday when we were doing the photo shoot. I assured her I had
not, but really wanted to. Tracy says “Okay, so, Alice tells me
to lock up her apartment and where to leave the key after everyone’s
gone, and I’m in the back room working through the wardrobe, and when I
come out to leave, someone had locked me in. She’s got that kind
of old-fashioned door where I can’t unlock it from the inside. So
I’m stuck inside her apartment and panicking because I want out!
So I call Marcy and I don’t know what to do, and finally I had to climb
out a window.” First story of the shoot.
Production Coordinator Jennifer was assuring
everyone that we would be leaving by 9 a.m. (something I had been told
the day before by someone at the production office, who didn’t bother
to tell me that the meet time had been pushed back to 8:30).
Make-up Enya said 10 a.m. Make up Enya won.
So we’re in the best van ever, Craig’s van – Tracy,
who gets carsick, had inalienable dibs on the front seat, Marcy and I
took the second row, Make-up’s Enya and Stella had third row, and Still
Photographer Don and PA/Intern John had the back seat. So we’re
off, “Yeaaaaa!” And we want breakfast. Enya really wants
breakfast, especially after walking to a near-by convenience store and
returning with an unsatisfying muffin before we left. But first
we have to go through an hour of Jennifer on the walkie, after which
she promised we’d eat.
“Okay, we’re changing to the left lane,” Jennifer’s
voice announced over the walkie. We’re all looking at each other
in amazement at the number of details that aren’t being left out of
this caravan concept. After several more lane change
announcements, Craig broadcasts that we’re coming upon Marcy’s parents’
exit. Another voice announced the next exit is a location where
she sneezed once.
“Food! Food! Food!” we chant.
Craig gets on the walkie and announces “We should stop for food
now.” Jennifer’s anti-stop voice crackled over “Why don’t we
drive on…?” “Van 1 is stopping,” Craig declared and we pulled off
in Ventura. Jennifer had tried to talk us into a
combination Denny’s and drive-thru arrangement, but Enya and Stella
were really game for sit down, with table clothes and a smoking
section. Jennifer gave us 20 minutes, which Enya said would never
do because that simply wasn’t enough time to relax and enjoy her food,
followed by sitting and relaxing and enjoying her cigarette.
Eventually Enya’s own van sided against her. So we’re roaming
around the antique-shop filled streets looking for restaurants that
were hiding and I said we had to find something fast or we’ll be faced
with a big I told you so that I would prefer not facing. So we
find a quick little ‘50s motif sandwich shop and get take out, and get
back in the van within 20 or 30 minutes, which is a good thing, or
Jennifer would have just died on the spot I’m sure. Since this
was a “travel day” which they weren’t paying us for (say what?) and
they asked us to brown bag our own lunch (Say What?), we felt like we
were being good enough sports.
Eventually we start seeing really beautiful Northern
California type scenery and it’s swell, and we pull into our fabulous
Motel 6 in Cambria. And it’s chilly. Chilly breezes off the
ocean cutting through us standing out in the parking lot. So we
start settling into our room and Props is all ready there with the
Softride truck setting out the bikes and equipment for “show and tell”
for the actors to get them familiar with their bikes before tomorrow’s
big ride.
I chatted briefly with AD Bob. I asked him if
he had worked with Lonnie before, and he assured me with a smile that
he
had never worked with Lonnie before and he would never ever work with
him again, which I thought was a really professional thing for an AD to
say to the Script Supervisor about the Line Producer. So I
drifted from him and tried again to make some form of pleasant contact
with DP John, although I had little confidence, since he was the
Director of Photography and therefore enemy of the Script
Supervisor. To my shock and amazement, John was completely nice
and chatty, confiding in me his already frustration that he and Alfredo
were supposed to go location scouting this morning at 8:30 but Alfredo
walked past him in the parking lot for breakfast instead and they left
they hours later. It wasn’t long before John stated that Alfredo
was
going to DP this movie whether the producers liked it or
not. Someone later told me that John referred to himself as
“just playing with someone else’s crayons.”
Still, to stand in the parking lot, watching
everything come together, seeing each character’s bike, helmet, gloves
neatly lined up in front of the actors' directors chairs with their
names printed on them was very exciting. Only Harry’s bike wasn’t
out. Either for the drama of carrying it out of the truck or
because it was so expensive (the price quotes bounced from $8000 down
to $2300), they didn’t want to leave it sitting around in harm’s way.
Thomas was the first to show up and Art Director
Scott laughed, telling me how disappointed he looked when he saw his
conservative bike compared to Richard’s sporty bike.
Eventually they all showed up, Harry last, and they were discussing
among themselves which one must be Harry’s, since he's got the flashy
character. They pointed to Richard’s, assuming that was it, and I
stepped over, letting them know that Harry’s was in the truck, due to
its expense. “What?” asked Harry. “I hear it’s an $8000
bike,” I said smiling. He politely wasn’t buying it, and I told
him to please act surprised if I’ve spoiled any producer’s surprise.
Later, Harry’s sitting on his bike, checking out all
the finery, and I ask him “Do you like it?” He rolls his head
back and says “Oh, YEAH!” like Duh!
Sponsor bike rep Mike worked with them,
fitting them onto their bikes, showing them the controls. How
fast would they be going, this was basic peddling speed, this was for
hills.
Props Chris stood off to the side, going over the
whole “which watch do you want to wear” discussion with Thomas.
Thomas wasn’t keen on wearing a watch during the bike ride scenes,
especially since Chris had chosen a metal stretch band, which
pinches. So they asked me to make a note, no watches during the
ride sequences. “What about the night stuff, the dance, dinner
with Doug’s parents?” I ask. Something between that’s fine and no
watches at all was decided. Cool.
Then I realized we probably should discuss whether
or not Richard's character should still wear a wedding band, since he’s
been widowered and not divorced. I ask Alice, who says probably,
yes, she would think so, but ask Gregg the writer and then
Richard. They go round in circles saying probably not, but ask
Alice. I say Alice and I both think he would, but Richard assures
me that guys are different, he probably wouldn’t. But maybe he’ll
call his friend to see what he says, since he’s
lost someone to AIDS. I voice my disgust that even though guys
are different, come on! It’s your big love and he hasn’t been
gone that long. Jane sits down with us and I pose the question to
her, would she take off her ring right away? She frowns,
thinking, then says “Probably not,” then laughs, “But it’s a 4-carat
diamond!” Then Alice steps up with “That’s what I said, no
ring.” (Foreshadowy of what I was in for with someone telling me
what to tell the actors and then having them tell the actor something
else. I, being a character in this particular drama, didn’t
know that yet).
So Show and Tell was finally dissipated, and we
started to head back to our rooms, the actors back to their nicer
hotel, but not before Lonnie made his evening announcement about dinner
(Hey! We finally got a $15 per diem) and how we have to treat our base
camp, some pristine field which some guy is letting us use for free on
the condition that we leave it in pristine condition. So a
five-minute lecture on the smoking section ensued, where people can
smoke, they have to pick up their cigarette butts and put them in their
pocket, if we don’t do exactly as he says, he’s shutting the whole
thing down, and everyone exchanges “Oh, really? You’re shutting down
the production?” smirks.
Eventually we finally escape and most of us (actors
and producers excluded) finally wind up at Linn’s in Cambria for a
delicious meal and even more delicious ollalieberry pie with ice
cream. Roomie Gina, who's very sweet, has warned me that
she's snores, but she's getting someone in Production to pick up a box
of Breathe Easy, so that shouldn't be a problem after tonight.
That 4
Friends Movie
Production
Journals - On the Set
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