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!