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There was about 8 inches of snow on the ground, but we didn't reschedule our Day 16 shoot (you're welcome, Jim, Rajah, and Mark).  Again, I woke up much earlier than expected.  It's very strange that I'm tired all the time, and can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but on these mornings of the film shoots I just cannot stay sleeping.

Stacey and I loaded up the car and drove into Boston for our shoot at my office.  First on the scene was Max (he beat us there), then Mark, Maura, and Rajah &  Jim bringing up the rear.  My worst direction for the day was definitely those that I gave Jim in trying to get him from the Aquarium T-stop, which I neglected to remember has two exits.  We had a fun 20 minute argument about where Atlantic Avenue is.  Stacey rolled her eyes.  Maura laughed at me.  Mark got annoyed and just walked to meet Jim, who was dressed for the day in his business suit, dark sunglasses and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" fisherman galoshes.  Tres chic, Dicky.

So though our crew time was 9:30, I'm pretty sure we hadn't really begun before noon.  Memo to self: don't let this happen again.  To be fair, we were taking our time because we knew today's shoot was all about the way Ally's cubicle was decorated, lit, framed, etc. and we also had a lot of blocking for Jim to do.  Stacey doctored up a wedding photo of Amy's to be Mitch & Ally--a result she claims is her worst photoshopping ever, which I would agree, not because it was so bad, but more because her norm is scarily perfect.  Still, the cubicle looked great and it had just the right moodiness.

We shot the scene a lot darker than I had envisioned it, but every shot looked really spectacular.  Jim did a lot of hand acting, which is fine because his hands are just so hunky and act as well as Robert Duvall.  The right one, at least.  His left hand is a little bit more like Tim Allen.  All of Jim's body was on point, acting-wise in the scene, and then we had our first "round-table discussion" of the day about my desire to have a 2nd chair in the cubicle for Mitch to move to at the end of the scene.  Many did not like this idea.  Mark came up with a great solution to make it work.  And we got to shoot it from my super wide overhead shot that made it look very lonely and moving.  Also Stacey had a great idea about the Inbox ominously saying Last Mail Call, which Rajah approved of, and involved camera movement.  Hurray!  P.S. thanks for the chairs, Derek!!

Once we finished up that scene, we were ready to move onto #2, and I'm pretty sure it was midnight by that point, but more likely it was about 2:30.  We went next store to the fancy top secret locale which would double as Mitch's office.  It was the perfect office, and we were so lucky to get to use it.  We lit the whole thing with natural light because the office is all windows, and between the sun and the snow, and the fact that the office is on the 7th floor with an amazing view of a Boston intersection, it was very awesome.  My instinct was to shoot from above (as I think that's my one instinct), whereas Rajah likes to shoot from low angles.  I was kicked out of the room because it was Stacey's turn to direct and it's hard for anyone to concentrate when my beautiful face and winning personality are in close proximity.

So I got to read the part of Dave Willis over a speakerphone (saying all of Monty's lines), and then was invited back into the room.  When I got there, the shots that Stacey & Rajah had were excellent, and they chose having Mitch pace instead of opening mail, which I can tell you was an outstanding choice.  From the low angle, seeing him seethe and pace, with these columns of light and buildings behind him--it was very dynamic.  I was struck by the thought that he looked like a caged animal, which was exactly what the scene needed.  We moved the camera around to nail a few more ridiculously cool shots, and Jim pulled off a flawless performance for a tricky scene.  Then we needed to shoot the end of the scene, which was Mitch throwing the phone across the room.  So Max and I caught the phone in my parka, off camera.  But not just any phone.  We actually had a stunt phone.  How was it different from the real phone, you ask?  Only we will ever know. 

Oh, and Jim pawed at the poms dangling from Stacey's sweater, as if he were a cat.  Then he rubbed his head against her hip.  Also as if he were a cat or, possibly, just because that's what Jim does.  He also has upgraded his immature "boobies in my face" catchphrase to the more sophisticated, "boobies on or about the facial region."  Jim is very special to the production, and I will let you read into that however you like.

With that scene done, we had about 20 minutes or so left of daylight, and two more scenes to shoot in it.  So Rajah busted out a superquick supercool long corridor shot with changing focus, dramatic shafts of light, that looked great on the monitor.  Stacey suggested a really cool shot against the window (with the water, boats, airport and horizon in the background), and all I know is that she and Rajah got very, very excited about how it turned out.  Then we made our way to the street outside to shoot Mitch walking across the street, and of coure the tape ran out as soon as we got there.  After a quick sprint, we got the tape and the shot, and then Stacey, Rajah and Jim shot another version over by a bridge, while the rest of us packed up our stuff.

So how was Day 16?  Very successful.  No tough spots, superb shots and performances by Jim, and the seven of us functioned with the efficiency of a crew twice our size (although it was our first shoot without the Loubert, and there was an empty place in my heart, to be sure).  A great, great day, and now I'm even more exhausted.  Maybe I'll sleep tonight?  Yes, I definitely will.  Goodnight, moon.