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 Warning: by the end of this blog, Tony Wright will be wrapped from "The Joneses" production. Please prepare yourself emotionally, as we did.
So this was the conclusion of the shoot we started Sunday, and I have to give big thanks to Mark, Maura, Jim, Tony, Stacey, Rajah & me for sticking with it and driving to Georgetown on a Wednesday night to finish up. We did a phenomenal job, I think, and that's not just my dinner of watermelon and Jim's famous Long Island Iced Tea talking (although that certainly helped). Also, thanks to OurFilmSpace we found the perfect cupid in Scott England, who was really game for the ridiculousness we put him through for the night. When we arrived, Stacey & I couldn't help but see that the renovations to the Shalkoski front lawn/driveway area had dramatically accelerated since Sunday, which changed around the way we'd be shooting. Jim made a buddha watching TV out of sand in his front lawn to welcome us. The three of us immediately decided that the huge pile of gravel in between the two houses would be in the way, unless we used it to our advantage. We're so smart. So we covered the pile in red blankets, set up our Valentine's light stands on a table behind it, plugged in the strobe light and added some spare lattice pieces, and PRESTO! we had the perfect Valentine's display on which Cupid could lunge. And by "PRESTO!" I mean two hours later. I wasn't stressed about time, though, because we had to wait until it was dark anyway, everyone was working hard to make it look great, and I was kinda drunk. Rajah was a total perfectionist about lighting the shot, and God bless him for it, because it came out looking so good that we were able to scrap the more complicated moving shots for a very simple but hilariously effective one of Cupid, Paul, Suzanne, and Mitch driving out of his driveway and into frame. It established everything I wanted, just watching it on the monitor made me laugh at how absurd it all was, and though they had no lines, the performances of Jim, Stacey, Tony & Scott were all spot on! People are REALLY going to enjoy this sequence. Big props to Dan for coming up with the live cupid display long ago--we always thought it was a good idea, and we totally (and finally!) pulled it off. And, as always, big props on the props to my wife who created the perfect Cupid wings out of a boa, some coathangers and a wreath. Jim helped too, I guess. Then we all gathered around Tony and said our goodbyes. It was very sad to know he was wrapped, even though we all are eventually (literally and philosophically), and I'm glad we'll still get to spend the next six months or so seeing Paul on our computer screen. I'm pretty sure Rajah was the most broken up, because that guy just gets so attached to actors it's embarrassing. Tony did not bring beer for his final night, if you can believe that! Not much to say about the rest of the shoot, really. We shot the two other scenes in the neighbor's driveway (one of which will feature a HILARIOUS digital effect suggested by Mr. Lou Bert long ago). We had lights, red gels, the DiSanzomobile, Jim pushing fake buttons on an electric meter, and good Mitch-y expressions overall. This entire sequence, while only about 30 seconds, is going to be a great one...trust me. So that's it. Our penultimate big shoot. One more to go, next Tuesday and then (aside from three very short scenes that we'll be shooting in the future) we are officially wrapped. Goodbye, Georgetown: we loved being there--and again we appreciated the generosity of the Shalkoskis and their neighbors immensely. Tony: thank you for tonight. And thank you for the shoot. It has been our pleasure.
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