That 4
Friends Movie
First production
meeting
Monday morning, key members of the production staff
for a readthrough of the script and discussion of issues we'll have to
deal with. It's a relationship story about a group of people
brought together
by the death of a gay friend. The first week will be shot on
location in northern California, featuring an AIDS fundraising bike
ride.
Wow. I've worked on
"guerrilla filmmaking" movies before--low budget, skimpy crews,
"stealing shots" on public property without permits--but, man oh man,
this one's going to be a challenge. Not because of the low-budget
limitations or the crew's personality (so far, so good on that), but
the play-it-by-ear-and-cross-your-fingers-and-your-toes mentality on
the shooting logistics going into the first week of the shoot.
First of all, our plan is to meet in San Francisco
(part crew and cast one day, remaining crew the next day), and prep and
start shooting as people in a local AIDS ride register and begin the
trek. Here's the deal: even though we have everyone's
permission about filming, if things get squirrelly (no attitudes
allowed, safety always first) and we disrupt the 2500 riders in any
way, we're sent packing. End o' story. And that just sounds
so easy, doesn’t it?
Then we went over the script for the first
read-through, where our line producer went scene-by-scene over where
and when we would be shooting on location. On Day 1, when
thousands of people will be getting ready or helping riders get ready,
hardly any of the crew will get to be with the camera grabbing shots of
our actors in the crowds. I'm guessing I'll be allowed with them,
but I haven't gotten the word yet. Imagine one person in the
crowd thinking a Hollywood crew shooting a movie is belittling the
importance of the ride and starting something. It’s a genuine
concern: a "star" acting like
he or she is riding in the ride and
they're really faking it, when everyone else is riding for personal
reasons. I've been assured this is an extremely emotional event
and nerves ride high for everyone. That's Day 1 of shooting.
The rest of the scene reading constantly brought up
phrases like "we hope to get this scene at a turnaround with the riders
biking in the background, but there might not be room for us" or "we
might not be allowed to shoot there" or "we're not sure what this looks
like on bike day, so we'll see when we get there" or etc, etc. I
kept stealing glances at Props, Wardrobe and Hair & Make-up for the
ensuing continuity nightmares.
Grip and Electric couldn't stop
asking questions about equipment ("No. We can't have cables." "But you
want power, don't you?" "No room for a generator. Can’t draw
attention." "Can I use a shiny board or reflector board?" "Shiny board
yes, reflector no.").
Hair & Make-up kept paling as she was told how
mobile she was expected to be during the road trip, and Wardrobe
continually fought to make her responsibilities understood when people
kept saying "might be extras that day" or "the extras should bring
their own clothes," or, her favorite, "the stars will dress in their
hotel room and show up on set in wardrobe" (actors have to be handed
their appropriate clothes by Wardrobe or Wardrobe will go insane—so
will Script & Continuity).
We were assured that the stars are aware of our
limitations and struggles, and they know what they’re getting
into. “Well,” said a producer, laughing, “the stars we
haven’t got yet do.” (Still none signed yet, to my
knowledge. This is a bigger problem for Wardrobe than for anyone
else at this point, so no one’s asking.)
My inward concern (not to be confused with my
continuity and matching outward concern—Did I mention that all shots
will have to be matched with other locations doubling for additional
footage the three weeks following the bike trek?) is that my Director
(my defender on set) is also the Director of Photography (mortal enemy
of the Script Supervisor). "My only love sprung from my only
hate."
This should be interesting.
That 4
Friends Movie
Production
Journals - On the Set
The
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