That 4
Friends Movie
Day 7 - Monday
For reasons not shared, several members of the crew
had
replacements today. After this revelation of all the off’ed
grip (rumor of someone putting fish in the line producer's bed was
flying) and electric guys and all the new faces (including a
new DP and first assistant camera), everyone, not just me, was really
uptight about any mistakes we made today. So with the real-life
tension of all
morning, combined with today's big emotional scene shoot made things
somewhat
tiring – the perfect day for the crew to enjoy
the totally non-Hollywood company of Mike Bike.
Mike, nicknamed Mike Ironman and Mike
Bike, is the sponsor representative sent to assist the production with
maintenance and knowledge of the bikes. When Wardrobe was
concerned about how to wash lube oil out of bike shorts, he knew
how. If a seat needed to be adjusted for optimal comfort and
safety, he was there. He was also the guy we could count on to
ride a bike as a background extra during a ba-zillion takes without
ever getting tired. Need someone to ride up a hill over and
over? Get a new shirt for Mike Bike! Oh, dear, no room in
the van for that last person? No problem, Mike grabs a bike
and peddles back to base camp. After a 12-hour day, he’d go
running for a few miles. After one lunch break at a beach
location when we saw a wet-suited swimmer emerge from the water, word
got back among the crew that “Yes, that WAS Mike Bike!”
Much bike riding today. We started the day up on the
side of the
road with one
of the film financiers playing an ambulance driver (wearing his
sunglasses whenever he can, even though Tracy and I know they’re a
little “too hip” to belong to this standard ambulance driver
character), and lots of wide shots of bike riders featuring Harry
riding furiously down the twisting winding road. So we take
minimal
crew up to the top of this really really long mountain road with Harry,
Mike Bike, and some extras for much more bike riding.
Another nice part was toward the end of the day when
most of the actors had cleared and it was just us, a handful of extras
(who were constantly reminded by me to "DO THE SAME THING EVERY TIME
AND REMEMBER IT!"), and Harry. The camera crew and I were riding
a truck tracking Harry riding his bike down a long and twisting
road. On the way back up the really long hill, Harry sat with me
and I asked him about a director I'd heard wasn't a very nice
guy. Harry quickly confirmed the rumor, adding, "He was horrible
to his script supervisor." I said, "Was he mean? Would he
make me cry?" He said, "Oh, he'd have you crying in a half hour
on the first day!" Then he went into his imitation of the
director and the scripty: "'What do
you mean? His hand was down!'
'No, his hand was up.' 'I know what
I'm talking about! His
f**king hand was up!' 'But I wrote it down--' 'Your notes are
s**t!'" So I said I'd avoid him then, and Harry kept
smiling at
me with a nod. I told him I'd suspected something, considering
how much trouble I went through dealing with an assistant to get an
autograph for my nephew. Harry nodded and started barking,
“Why? Who is it for? Who
wants it?”
After the 13-hour day (with an hour's drive to get to location
and an
hour's drive back), I'm ready for bed - especially since there's
another 7 a.m. call tomorrow
morning, this one 35 minutes more north than today's location.
That 4
Friends Movie
Production
Journals - On the Set
The
Marilyn Website home
Copyright Marilyn Estes
1997-infinity