Tales o' Hollywood

Production Journals - On the Set


That 4 Friends Movie

My first real film with name actors, so I was terrified of screwing up and losing my job.  This is a pretty detailed day-to-day soap opera of working on a real independent film set, so to keep it as true to a film set as possible, I've altered names, including the title of the movie (you probably haven't heard of it, not available on DVD, just runs in some film festivals and cable), to make it even less kiss-and-tell-y. 

The four leads came from four corners of acting - an actress from both TV and film, an actor who did primarily movies, a Broadway actor who's done movies and TV, and the obligatory "up and coming" young actor who's done small parts in a lot of movies.

  Waiting To quote A Chorus Line, "God, I hope I get it."
          Prod Mtg 1  We're going to what?  Where?  How?
                  Art Dept Mtg  So many pieces to keep up with
                          Prod Mtg 2  It's all coming together
                                  Read Through  Meeting the cast in one fell swoop


  Day 0   Travel day and pre-shoot setups
          Day 1   First day of shooting
                  Day 2   Bikes on hills
                          Day 3   New crew and wasting Polaroid film
                                  Day 4   Filming in a mission not as roomy as one might think
                                          Day 5   Never a bathroom when you need it
                                                  Day 6   “What’s a henway?”
                                                          Day 6.0   Travel day and sleepy van


  Day 7   Mike Bike rides again
          Day 8   Movie trivia at the beach
                  Day 9   The beach and 300 extras
                          Day 10   Griffith Park and building tents
                                  Day 11   That stupid backpack


  Day 12   The beach and a zillion extras, no day at the beach
          Day 13  Guest cameos and no straws
                  Day 14  Policemen and scripty lessons
                          Day 15  More new crew and wrangling Jeeps
                                  Day 16  Surrounded by grips
                                          Day 17   Dinner for six: Continuity HELL
                                 

  Day 18  Night one in West Hollywood
          Day 19  Night two in West Hollywood: wrangling drag queens
                  Day 20  A long night of tents
                          Day 21  Tents and black fingernail polish
                                  Day 22  More tents - what's a bug?
                                          Day 23  More rewrites and blood syrup


  Day 24   No night at the beach at the beach
              Wrap party    Run away




Production Journals - On the Set


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