Day 29 was our most relaxed day ever. It was a very good day to be part of "The Joneses" and we owe so much of it to one Jim Shalkoski, Jr. and--more importantly--the Shalkoski family who hosted us on that beautiful Saturday. We arrived and two huge blue tents had been set up, and I immediately searched the cul-de-sac to see if a Sandra Bullock movie or something was shooting there too. But it was for us! It may seem like a few fold-up tents wouldn't be that big a deal, but those in conjunction with the overall vibe (our biggest shoot since the Cape) made me feel like I was back with my Bjortiffic family.
Those in attendance were Jim, Stacey, Tony, and Amy (yay for the stars!) and Mike, Max, Mark, Maura and me (yay for alliteration and for the ubertalented crew). And then Rajah drove up later at the crack of Rajah, rolling in like some kinda D.P. rock star. Man, the ego on that guy! Actually he had a very long drive and--here's a simple math equation for you--Rajah + morning shoot + new location + somewhere North of Boston = late Rajah. But we had our own tents and Mark got us coffee and donuts so...do you think we were complaining?! No, we weren't.
I decided one tent was for cast and one for crew, and I tried to steer Tony, Stacey, & Amy right past the crew tent, telling them not to acknowledge the crewpeople. They did their best. But frankly the crew tent was the party tent, so eventually everyone made their way over to it. Also we had the donuts and coffee. They had water. Ha, ha.
At some point we got started and we most certainly did not begin the day by committing a federal offense. It is, after all, not illegal to take someone's mail out of their mailbox and hide it under your jacket, and then replace it later. So take that, Amy! Seriously though, we had a good time shooting the first scene which found Ally walking to her mailbox and finding no mail. Good shots, good performance, and I hid behind a pine tree branch so as to not be conspicuous. I believe Mike had to move his truck three times. Meanwhile, Maura had a Valentine's Day decoration table on which she worked for the first hour or so, only to be determined later that we wouldn't be shooting that scene that day.
Then we moved on to the next sequence which was between Paul & Suzanne, as she is leaving for work in the beginning of the movie, and asks Paul to back his car out. Rajah set up a ridiculously great shot using the side mirror, soft focus (for Tony of course) in the background, and when Stacey rolled down her window, you could see her face in the mirror. It looked supercool. I had her awkwardly position her head so that it came out right in the mirror, but it definitely worked. Then we shot her angle I think from on top of a little hill, and I was really excited to see the scene play out. Stacey & Tony were awesome as always. I love the Paul & Suzanne marriage, and this scene was important to me because it establishes the rapport between them and that they're loving but have that marriage-y sarcastic language down pat. We ended up doing the reverse angle from a position near the passenger seat, on Stacey's suggestion (great, just what her ego needs), and it all looked great! Then the two "pros" got the giggles as they always do when they have to look at each other. The Paul/Suzanne marriage is one big blooper, I tell you!
Meanwhile, Max was holding a reflector up for a painfully long time, Amy was playing Vortex in the crew tent, Jim was entertaining the neighbors, and Mike and I were honing our comedy routine. I think everybody else was working, but I can't be sure. I do know I suggested Tony do a take a la Paul Rudd in "Wet Hot American Summer," which was funny, but probably not as good as Tony's original take on it.
Did I mention there were, like, a thousand gnats, but that they're supposedly black flies? Well, consider it mentioned.
Next we had the heavily choreographed shot where Tony pulled his car out, then Stacey hers, then Tony's back in, while Amy approached (shampoo in her purse). The timing was tough to get down, especially because my dear wife seems to think that her Mini is 20 feet long and can't clear any obstacle that is miles away. But we forced her to do it quickly, and she pulled it off like a pro. I really liked how this turned out too.
Then we moved onto the dialogue between Ally & Paul, which I wanted to be congenial and awkward at the same time. We shot it from up on the hill, in a long shot, which would have worked better if the sun's reflective rays hadn't made it look like Tony & Amy were boiling. It was very weird. So we moved the camera closer and Rajah and I had a discussion (as we do on just about every other shoot) about what angle the camera needs to be for separate shot/reverse shot type situations. As always, we both won because videotape is cheap. Amy & Tony did a terrific job, making both characters likable, their relationship intriguing, and creating a VERY funny awkward silence before they decide to go in for coffee.
I forgot to mention that I created a little monitor tent out of my jacket so I could see despite the glare. It was awesome and there is a patent pending.
So we finished that scene and did a little run-through with the actors for the next day's tennis scene. Then Amy skidaddled (sp?) and the rest of us enjoyed a FANTASTIC feast prepared by our already too generous hosts. We had burgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies, soda...the works! Now I know what the big deal is about this whole "eating" thing. It's excellent and I highly recommend it! Anyway, we loved our lunch and it even further made us feel so comfortable shooting there.
Some of the guys played a little basketball, and Max gave Rajah a fat lip. Serves him right for disagreeing with me. Tony left, and we got set up for our last segment.
It was supposed to be three different shots, but Rajah the Wiz came up with the perfect combined shot to see Suzanne in the foreground, grabbing the newspaper, and Mitch in the background taking out the trash. Then we reversed the angle. It was absolutely the right choice, and after we shot it I believe I did mention that those shots will almost definitely be in the trailer. We huddled around the citronella for protection as we shot it, and the Shalkoskis watched from afar. I have heard that since then, when getting the morning paper, Mrs. Shalkoski has insisted that her husband do a wave just like in the movie, and then do repeated takes when he doesn't get it right.
It was an awesome, awesome day. We went home to get some rest for our big tennis scene extravaganza for the next day. Rajah spent the night so he wouldn't be late the next day. And he, Stacey, Michael (yes, Andy the Pizza Boy) and I watched "Into the Wild" instead of doing the shot list. But we did each come up with our own "Into the Wild" names--Edward Zeppelin (Michael), Gerald Starship (me), Tabitha Whitesnake (Stacey) and Professor Ronald Wrongberry (Rajah). I know this had nothing to do with the day's shoot, but if I don't put it down here, I'm never gonna remember our weirdness.
Anyway, my thanks again to the Shalkoskis for a fabulous day and to the cast and crew who were as stellar as always, and hopefully had as much fun as I did!
Day 28 was the brainchild of that crazy Jim Shalkoski, Jr. who called us the day we arrived back from the Cape, bleary-eyed and 3 days past a good night's rest and suggested that we still shoot something that weekend. "The nerve of Jim Shalkoski, Jr.!" I thought to myself. We just shot seven days straight and he's suggesting we not take the weekend to recuperate?! He's lost his mind. Which turned out to be true, but still we decided it was a good idea.
Thankfully, what we decided we would be shooting was both light and familiar. So we decided to not bother the rest of the crew and just have Amy, Rajah, Jim, Stacey & me shoot their cheesy Space Invaders interview segment and the (gulp) reshoot of the reshoot of the funeral procession scene. We were banking on the third time being the charm.
So Stacey, Amy, Jim & I headed out to a location about a minute and a half from our house when we determined that the playground I had envisioned was--in reality--"full of people and crappy-looking," as Stacey put it. We set Mitch & Ally up on a bench near the water, Stacey framed it nicely with a sailboat or two in the background, and I got to break out the windjammer microphone hat. Mike tells us this is not called a windjammer. But he is terrible, and that's what I want to call it. Also, he's not terrible.
The entire shoot took 8 minutes. We shot it on 60 and 24 frames, did a few quick takes of each--and it was funny and fun to shoot. I think Jim & Amy did a terrific job and really enjoyed all 8 minutes of the shoot.
Then we moved on to the 3rd rendition of the "in the car" funeral procession scene. I had made some script revisions that made it fresher and better, and the minute we started I could tell it was going to work out a lot more than the first two times. Jim & Amy had their stuff down, and we hit the usual snags that are now old hat to us in shooting this scene so very many times. Jim having to drive, act, brake, respond, and not kill pedestrians is a lot for him, but he did them all with flying colors. I really liked how Mitch & Ally came out in this scene and I'm so glad we kept doing this until we got it right. My hats off to Jim & Amy for doing such a good job and for being great sports about shooting the scene several times.
Rajah was happy (as happy as Rajah can get) with our coverage, and we even added some stuff afterwards because we were feeling confident about the scene now playing very well. We actually went outside of the car for a part of it! Very risky. True, it was parked, but I still like to think we were playing with danger.
Judgment Day. It was our last day of shooting on our whirlwind tour, and I know many of us were running on fumes. The final six--Jim, Stacey, me, Mark, Rajah, and Maura had survived and had one last day to get everything we missed and everything that was left. Green pages were being crossed out, folded in half, thrown out. Everyone was afraid to put down a drink or a clipboard (OK, Mark's never been afraid of that) for fear of Maura or me shouting at them, "Live set! Live set!"
The day started earlier than most as Maura headed out to get black posterboard to (gulp) block out the light in the bedroom. As I said before, this was a critically smart choice on our part, because it was going to allow us to shoot in the bedroom all day, and wrap up the finale at night. If we finished early, I promised we could all go to the beach and for ice cream. Thank God we didn't finish early, because I did NOT want to see these people enjoy themselves.
Stacey, Jim, Rajah and I blocked the sex scene (unlike the last few months where I've been blocking it out of my mind). The nuances you have to think about, and the beats you have to hit are very important and I think we did an excellent job coming up with every necessary part to the scene. Maura returned with the posterboard and she made the daylight go away. We were ready to start shooting!
We started light with some of the remaining bedroom shots that we still needed to get. I can't remember how many we did, but what does stand out in my mind is the extremely important shot we got of Stacey at the vanity that was so perfect, take after take, that it gave me chills. Mark & Maura felt the same. Rajah was able to see why I was doing this particular shot a certain way, and it felt like everything was coming together perfectly. It was hauntingly awesome.
Then we shot one of the last sections of the finale, with Mitch & Suzanne's confrontation in the bedroom. Some last minute rewrites we did to Mitch's final order of business in the room made so much sense, so much dramatic purpose, that it amazes me we hadn't thought of it before. I can't go into too many of the details, but there was always a revelation that happened in the final final scene that seemed terrible to all of us, and bumping it up one scene and switching to one simple line of dialogue...it just made everything fit completely. Jim's delivery of that line and Stacey's response to it worked so very well. But we found it wasn't 100% there yet, so we had them start the scene several pages earlier down in the kitchen to work themselves up to the emotions they'd need to be at by the time they entered the bedroom. I cannot tell you how much of a difference that made. It was kinda crazy from a production standpoint with Mark, Maura, Rajah and me waiting in the empty bedroom with the camera rolling, hearing this argument downstairs being performed for nobody, but when they burst into the room it was magic! When I think of moments of brilliance from our week, I think back to those last two lines as performed by Jim & Stacey in the bedroom and know that they are the equivalent of an emotional suckerpunch. I can't wait for everybody to see the entire finale!!!
Now that I'm getting my chronology straight, that was actually the first scene we did in the morning, and then we moved onto a bunch of shots by the vanity (detailed somewhat above). I actually had an inspired moment or two of how to schedule our shot order to minimize movement of camera and lights (it's about time!) so we banged out a bunch of highly important shots with Mitch & Suzanne. And then we were set up for the final frame of the sex scene, which is oddly anti-climactic--pun completely intended--to begin with, but there you go.
So how do I describe the sex scene without giving too much away, giving way too many compliments or not enough, putting forth details that ultimately seem either salacious, awesome or creepy--given who I am and who the stars are, etc. etc.? Ultimately, I don't know. I'm having blogging problems here. Perhaps I'll just stick to very technical and minimal descriptions and know that the scene will speak for itself in a great way.
Rajah (thankfully) was there to shoot it. It was all handheld. As I said before, we blocked every part of it, and then shot it section by section. It was apparently very exhausting for the actors doing take after take, and I can believe it. I believe we all compartmentalized as necessary, so that everybody could give their all to the scene, and I am so very proud of the scene and think it will work amazingly well. The actors did a phenomenal job, and Rajah had so much creative input that it helped a lot. It was very important to all of us that this scene play a certain way--with violence and chaos as compared to the intimacy of the other sex scene we shot. Seeing it all played out, I can guarantee we got wonderful footage, a very believable and important scene done, and everyone was at the top of their game.
Two moments of extreme comedy during the scene occurred when we were taken out of the illusion that this was all part of Mitch and Suzanne's story. One was when Rajah, standing on the bed, said "Jimmy, reach into your pants again!" After we all stopped laughing, we reminded him that it was Mitch, not Jimmy. It was really funny. Also in one of the last takes, I had to move very close to the bed in order to not be in the shot, and Jim's leg hit mine when he tumbled into the bed. My thought at the time, "I wonder if this takes Jim out of the moment at all that he just kicked my leg." And apparently he felt the same. In the end we got a very exciting scene and, again, without giving up too much I'll say that I'm indebted to everyone for keeping focus, for Rajah's excellent coverage, and for the performances that gave this scene every ounce of truth it needed.
There. I blogged it.
So then we all took some sort of break, and got ready for our final scenes of the night, of the week, of the marathon shoot. I'm not going to lie, when we started back up again, I felt like we were missing some of the energy we had had before. We were all tired from the week, tired from the day, and knew that these were our last few hours to finish everything. We didn't have too much left to shoot, thankfully, but I know that to me at least it felt like my last semester at college, when I was ready to just phone everything in and get the damn degree already. But we, as a group, pulled it together and just took a little more time on everything to make sure we got it right.
First we did the scene by the cursed front door and stairs which leads up to the sex scene we had just shot. It did not go very well at all. I was unhappy with everything, and could not get a shot in that stupid foyer that made sense to me. The lighting was tricky, the angles were weird, and it just wasn't coming together how I had hoped. Plus I kept making Maura and Mark move out of every shot we tried to do. At one point I remember sitting on the stairs trying to hold the boom and the camera, staying out of the light above me, inches from Stacey & Jim doing the scene and I think that's when it kind of reached its silliest point. After that, Rajah took the camera back, we broke up the short scene into three different parts, and I think got it all right finally! Also we had to change the first two lines of dialogue because it was making the whole scene feel false, and once we made that change, it came out great.
Finally the finale! Wow, I can say even less about this than I can the sex scene! I really don't want to give away any details. It was slightly complicated, so we covered the dialogue first, I made some slight directing choices so we could have two different ways in which Mitch & Suzanne said their lines, and then we moved onto the very last parts where we had a lot of fun shooting it--even using the crane!!!--and I think the results of the entire finale will be tremendous. God, I hope so.
Then we all sat down with our celebratory drinks and listened to the Jimmy & Rajah song again. It was about 2:00 in the morning (although only 10:30 in Joneses Savings Time, according to the kitchen clock which we purposely kept about four hours earlier to make us feel less stressed). We took pictures with the crazy hands prop. And eventually we went to bed.
It's hard to sum up the whole week other than saying that it was one of the most memorable if not the most memorable of my life. It was so fun, so productive, so exhausting, so everything it needed to be. Stressful. Exciting. I've never been on that much adrenaline for that length of time. And man, what a letdown that it was over and we never got to really enjoy ourselves having downtime. But the truth is we did enjoy ourselves all week.
I've got to thank the people who drove a long way--Kevin, Michael, and Leila--to be there for one of the most fun shoots we've had, and doing a great job themselves. To Mike, who was a huge asset for four days and was crucial to the sound and cinematography of the first half of the shoot. Lou, who despite his very injured ACL not only came at my pleading, but stayed much longer than I even asked. Amy, who brought us food and her husband, and who knocked out great performances for the entire first half of the week. Tony, who got a chance to play Paul at length, did an amazing job, and who we really missed after he left as one of our favorite roommates. Jimmy & Rajah--the clown princes of our week--who came and went, came and went several times, were with us at the very end, and were absolutely brilliant in their work and so much fun to be around. To Stacey, who never fails to wow me with the depths she gives to her character, giving brilliant performances, and making the entire week possible by planning out every detail with me for weeks leading up to it. So when I say "I" in every part of this blog, of course it really means both Stacey & me.
And then a final shout out to Maura and Mark. On behalf of Stacey & me, I just cannot emphasize enough how much help, support, and everything we got from them for the entire week. Without them, there would have been no week, and without them we would lose our sanity. As the Bjort family grows, it is so wonderful to have them as key members, and I know the four of us have (since the week ended) crashed out of exhaustion and then looked back so nostalgically at everything we did, and all the fun we had--it's been really hard to get into "normal" life. But we're shooting again tomorrow...so our rest and emptiness can be short-lived!
Drink of the night: Tequila with pineapple wedges
Food of the night: I have absolutely no idea.
Catchphrase of the night: "Jimmy, reach into your pants again."
Music of the night: All the greatest hits from the week. The French songs. "Hot Tranny Banana," "Key Lime Cheesecake Pike" "Boobiesonmyface.com," "Jimmy & Rajah," "2 Dudes In a Bathroom (Alone)"
Bedtime: 4:00 AM
P.S. the next morning we did a quick cleaning, exiting, loading of the cars, throwing out of the garbage, Maura's car hit a minor snag, and then we all went out for a breakfast in which Rajah desperately tried to come up with new and better verses for "2 Dudes in a Bathroom." A surreal morning to end the week.
Mark, Maura, Jim, Stacey & I started out Day 26 with a trip to the Optimist Cafe for some breakfast and some serious script discussions. It was the first time in five days that Stacey and I had left the house, and was probably a good thing. The rewriting was very inspired, and we came up with some super excellent changes that would make all the difference in the world to our grand finale. It will be hard describing them without giving away key plot points, but suffice to say we were all very happy (and full of eggs) on our trip home.
What did we shoot that day? Honestly, Wednesday and Thursday are all one big blur to me right now, but I shall do my best to remember.
I do know that we blocked out the entire Finale, scene by scene, room by room, and it was SO worth it. It gave Stacey & Jim ample time to practice one of the trickiest segments of the movie, and I wish we did every scene that way. We definitely shot something during the day, but I cannot for the life of me recall what. Maybe Jim just sang to us for hours on end. I also know that we had taken photographs of every potential shot, but now I feel like that happened Tuesday night. Hmm.
Oh! I thought of a few things. Jim walking into the kitchen and looking at the calendar. Stellar. Also Jim walking into the bedroom and looking under the bed. Equally gripping. Jim "suggested" a shot that involved having him face his bottom to the camera, and we all agreed with him out of politeness that, yes, that would be a great "creative" choice. Clearly, he was trying to show off. His shot actually made more sense than mine, so...congratulations Jim's ass. You're having the best week ever.
Rajah arrived after his daytime event, the sun set, and we were very ready to begin shooting the finale. The finale overall, in my opinion, is one of if not the best sequence we've shot to date, and it was a complete thrill to watch it played out for us over and over. You so rarely get to shoot a sequence in order, and for building the dramatic tension, keeping the actors in the moment, making continuity a non-issue, etc. etc. it is so ideal.
The sequence started in the TV room, perfectly quiet and understated, but it's where the argument between Mitch & Suzanne began to unfold. We shot the whole sequence handheld with minimal lighting adjustments, because we wanted the acting and the story to take complete center stage. The way the anger built in this first part was electrifying, and culminated in Mitch & Suzanne storming out towards the dining room.
I believe it was Jim's or Rajah's idea to have that next part occur by the sliding glass door instead of the front door, which I thought was stupid until I saw it. But since I'm writing the blog--I'm pretty sure it was my idea, and it was definitely the correct one. The violent anger coming from Stacey as Suzanne was scary, and Jim as Mitch matched it beat-for-beat as he lost his composure and got sucked into her argument. It was downright awesome to watch these two work, and Maura, Mark and I just tried to stay out of the way. Rajah was right there with them every step of the way. I will admit every time Jim slammed the sliding glass door I worried about the neighbors, but I breathed a sigh of relief when that part was done because I could fully enjoy it then.
Then their argument moved to the kitchen, which is probably the part I find the most memorable because every time Mitch dropped the C-bomb, and Suzanne slammed down the butcher knife and yelled back, it was VERY uncomfortably real and perfect. This sequence was really like watching a great play, and I can't give enough kudos to Jim & Stacey for their work, other than to say that their performances in the film will speak for themselves. So dynamic, so honest, so scarily Mitch & Suzanne. I think we jumped every time that knife hit the cutting board. And once, only once, the knife broke. But we kept on going.
The next part followed them to the front room for a brief exchange that was also excellent, building even more to the climax, and this scene (like the rest of the movie, in my opinion) works so well because it incrementally pushes the viewer towards the next emotional beat. We tried so hard with performances, and especially the writing and last minute rewriting of the script to shape as many parts of this movie as we could that would nudge the audience forward and hopefully justify every time the violence increases, avoiding any unrealistic leaps. I know we can do a lot of that in editing, but from watching so many of the scenes we shot our marathon week, and especially this final sequence, I think the actors nailed it completely.
So at this point, we did a reality check to see if we were really going to be able to do the last part of the finale also that night, or whether Jim, Stacey, and me and the Bad News Bears were spent at this point. We kind of were, and agreed (after a weird quasi-argument where I think we were essentially all arguing the same thing, but different ways) to shoot easy stuff for the rest of the night and pick up the next day. We also made the bold and critical move to block out the windows in the bedroom to allow us to shoot the sex scene during the day and not spend our last night scrambling. Blocking out the windows with garbage bags, by the way, was one of the two phrases I grimaced at whenever it was suggested (the other being how we didn't have any exterior locations yet for the film). Those of you who've heard our tales from our first feature, "Naughty or Nice," know that we spent a good six months putting garbage bags up on windows, and I just didn't want to invite that kind of trouble or memory again. But it was the smartest move to have done it.
So we finished up for the night with several shots of Jim running up and down the stairs in two different outfits and two different angles. Then Rajah and I walked around and got shots of the empty TV room, the empty kitchen, the empty dining room, the empty front room, and close-up shots of objects in each of them. This was also TONS more fun than I thought it would be. Rajah is the "ECU on Object" King, and I am amazed to see the level of detail and excitement he puts into each of these shots. It is infectious, and I found myself very into it, while all the others began drinking without us. What's great about Rajah too is he gets so involved that he literally can't stop until it's perfect, and so I feel useful in just pressing the button on the camera to make sure we at least record some of the "almost perfect shots" for coverage and, you know, ideally to be used in the movie.
When we finally stopped and enjoyed our drinks we were tired and energized at the same time. I would definitely say that while the dinner party was the most fun sequence of the film to shoot, the finale sequence was the one of which I am most proud to have been a part. It was a phenomenal day. And, yes, still kind of a blur.
Drink of the night: Coconut-flavored rum
Food of the night: Pizza and coconut flavors
Catchphrase of the night: "I'm not mad at that lighting"
What's more miraculous then Bitchy (Suzanne) and Dicky (Mitch) flying is that they actually allowed someone else to take a picture of them, but I guess even superheroes have their limits.
Day 5--Tuesday, if you're keeping track--of our marathon gave us a bit of time to regroup, refocus and shoot some much needed solo scenes with Stacey as Suzanne. At the end of the day Mike needed to go home, shortly before Jim arrived, so there was a period where it was only Rajah, me, Maura, Mark and Stacey. That is one quiet, quiet group of people.
We shot a bunch of scene-lets: the empty bedroom, a stack of pizza boxes in a messy kitchen, Suzanne sleeping alone on the couch, Suzanne admiring the necklace in the mirror, Suzanne asking Mitch out on a date. All came out great, and Stacey did a good job with little to no lines for the day. We also got to play around with movement, using the dolly tracks in the kitchen (yay!) and the crane in the TV room (double-yay!) Mike and Rajah constructed and operated the latter, and it looks very impressive. It was also a whole lot of fun.
The dolly tracks in the bedroom proved to be the nightmare of the day: we could not make the scene go smoothly no matter which direction we put the tracks. Then we found that the mirror was dirty and impossible to clean. And then we realized that dollying near or towards the mirror wasn't going to work because the slightest movements in the room made the mirror move significantly enough that the image looked like it was jumping no matter what we did. Stupid mirror.
When Jim got there things livened up and we re-shot the Mitch shaving scene which needed to be redone because of our location snafu back in January. The shaving scene, however, will forever be in some of our minds as the birth of Jim's infamous ode to him and Rajah being alone in the bathroom. The tune, entitled "Two Dudes In a Bathroom (Alone)" was an instant hit. This is what I remember of the song:
Two dudes in a bathroom alone. One of them's got a camera. Two dudes in a bathroom alone. Why are they even in there? Two dudes in a bathroom alone (then there was another line about auto-erotic asphyxiation--it will definitely be a Top 40 hit someday).
We knocked out another scene with Mitch entering Suzanne's house looking for Ally, and instead of whatever complicated scenario I had come up with we ended up shooting as one shot, with a bit of a rack focus. It seemed really powerful to me, and I'm excited to see how that one turns out.
We were going to stay up late that night, but we were beginning to run out of steam. Rajah needed to leave early the next morning for a few hours, so we decided to make it an early-ish night. Some of us--Maura especially--were extremely concerned how we were going to get through the next two days of sex, murder, and suicide scenes, and Stacey suggested that we swap the order so that we would shoot the grand finale on Wednesday and the sex scene and anything else we missed Thursday night. This was a tremendous suggestion and it made much more sense than leaving the whole finale to the last day thereby stressing us out completely. We celebrated by drinking!
Drink of the night: Whiskey
Food of the night: Is whiskey a food?
Catchphrase of the night: "I'm Stacey and I'm boy-crazy. Ooo-oooo."
Song of the night: "2 Dudes In a Bathroom (Alone)"
Our Monday began very relaxed with a revolving door of celebrity guests. Amy brought donutsto the set, and it was nice to have a non-lamb pastry in the morning. During the course of our Monday we said goodbye to Jim first, then Amy later, and hello to Rajah who took his "showing up late to the set" trend to new heights by skipping Friday, Saturday, and Sunday altogether.
The day started with the "couch scene" which really became the "blanket scene" when we found out we would not be staining anybody's couch with wine. Plus, it wouldn't have been nearly as funny to hear Mitch say, "hey, I think we already paid enough for that couch." Maura had been on stain detail for days leading up to this shoot and she--like the fabulous trooper that she is--proceeded to stain it, we shot the scene, then she washed it, then we had her stain it again for another shoot, then she washed it again, then again we needed it stained. It was very comical, but she has quite a talent for such things.
We started the scene in the kitchen and Stacey & Amy were doing a top-notch job in one of the few scenes we have in the film that shows off the Ally/Suzanne dynamic. I enjoyed it a lot, and Mike and I did a lot to frame it up very nicely. Then that punk Rajah showed up, and I felt like I was caught cheating on him with another D.P. But what could he expect? A director has needs, after all. And what with him spending so many late nights with Extreme Dancers, I had to really examine what was best for the child (i.e. The Joneses). OK, that was a weird segue. Needless to say, we were glad Rajah had arrived, and the scene continued very nicely.
We moved to the TV room, where the ladies finished their scene very admirably, and then we had the all important job of spilling the actual wine. SO many precautions were taken we could have done a featurette on it alone. The cushion was wrapped in a blanket, then in a trash bag, then a baking sheet was placed over that, and then the blanket over that. All for a few drops of wine. Well, to be fair, the second part of the scene involved Ally basically pouring it freely, so the precautions were very necessary and thanks to all of the ladies' care, it came off without a hitch. Until...Amy noticed a single drip that missed the blanket and the tray and she and I went into emergency mode. Thankfully it has absorbed into the wraparound fabric/plastic bag, but we decided it was too close a call, so we (mostly me) quickly pulled the blanket and it's puddle of wine completely off the couch. Hastily, I might add. So of course, there was then significant winespotting (a great Danny Boyle film) all because in an instant I undid all the care that Maura and Stacey had put in.
Then it was time to say goodbye to Amy and give Tony and Stacey the facetime they craved. We proceeded to shoot a bunch of scenes that were all about Paul & Suzanne. We did the yard sale scene, which I just loved--I thought both were extremely charming in the scene, and Rajah had to show off by having us shoot it in the "impossible to light" front room, and used a mirror to rub our noses in it. That scene was very fun to shoot, as was the next one which had Paul & Suzanne on the couch, under the blanket (re-stained), waiting for the pizza guy. Not a huge dramatic scene for them to sink their teeth into, but I was just very excited we were getting a huge chance to see their marriage unfold. I really liked the nuances they came up with, and I also really wished that pizza was arriving at the door. Also, I would say we very likely said the word "weird" about a million times that day.
I think that was when we had our dinner break which was made by Tony and Maura largely, although apologies to others who helped out. Amy had made us some soy-marinated tuna from Mexico, and we ate that, some salad, vegetables, burgers, wine--a civilized sit-down dinner that was SO awesome. I will always remember that meal because it was a nice break for me, Stacey, Rajah, Mike, Tony, Maura, and Mark, and I really wish we could have done more of them.
Then the porn scene.
OK, it wasn't a porn scene, it was actually a "sexual situations/make-out scene" between Paul & Suzanne that we had rehearsed and rewritten very smartly before shooting. I absolutely loved working with Tony & Stacey on how to make the scene play out right, and we came up with the best changes possible. Tony thought it best to jokingly bring up the shake, which was totally the right way to go, and then we decided Stacey could react defensively. We swapped the order of a few lines, cut a few more, and then Stacey added the "do-over" punchline, and we were golden.
Thank God for Rajah's presence that night too! Not only would it have been highly awkward for me to be behind the camera, but the way he framed the couple in near-silhouette, and the other shots he created that were so intimately lit combined with the truly outstanding and honest performances by Stacey & Tony made this scene ten times better than it is in the script. I was so proud of everybody that night, and Rajah cracked us all up by insisting that Tony just keep inching himself out of every frame, which we then mercilessly mocked him about. And then of course Stacey had to deliver one of the funniest lines in the script in the middle of this genuine, dramatic moment with Tony's face about half an inch away from hers, and she lost it almost every time. Frankly the fact that she nailed it several times after that is amazing, because I could never do it. Anyway it was a perfect end to a great day--a scene that stands on its own as a great one, and within the script really does so very much to show exactly what the Dixon marriage is all about. (i.e. blankets, pizza, and porn).
Food of the night: Tuna and burgers (but not tuna burgers)
Drink of the night: Wine
Catchphrase of the night: "Tony, can you please just move completely out of the frame."
