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| Introduction: Opening the Doors Cast and Crew Prelude Journal 2: ACT 1: Blacklisted! March 6 (Day 2) March 9 (Day 3) March 10-11 (Days 4-5) March 12-13 (Days 6-7) Journal 3: ACT 2: Welcome to Ferndale! March 20 (Day 9) March 21 (Day 10) March 22 (Day 11) March 23 (Day 12) Journal 4: March 26 (Day 13) March 27 (Day 14) March 28 (Day 15) March 29 (Day 16) March 30 (Day 17) Journal 5: April 2 (Day 18) April 3 (Day 19) April 4 (Day 20) April 5 (Day 21) April 6 (Day 22) Journal 6: April 8 (Day 23) April 9 (Day 24) April 10 (Day 25) April 11 (Day 26) April 12 (Day 27) Journal 7: April 16 (Day 28) April 17 (Day 29) April 18 (Day 30) April 19 (Day 31) April 20 (Day 32) April 23 (Day 33) April 24 (Day 34) April 25 (Day 35) April 26 (Day 36) Journal 8: April 30 (Day 37) May 1 (Day 38) May 2 (Day 39) May 3 (Day 40) May 4 (Day 41) May 7 (Day 42) May 8 (Day 43) Journal 9: May 10-11 (Days 44-45) May 14 (Day 46) May 15 (Day 47) May 16 (Day 48) May17 (Day 49) May 18 (Day 50) Journal 10: May 21 (Day 51) May 22 (Day 52) May 23 (Day 53) May 24 (Day 54) May 25 (Day 55) Journal 11: May 29 (Day 56) May 30 (Day 57) May 31 (Day 58) June 1 (Day 59) |
Journal 11 May 31 (Day 58) While we continue filming at the Park Plaza Hotel near downtown L.A., production designer Melton’s crew is busy restoring The Majestic interior set (both the auditorium and lobby) on Stages 3-4 at The Lot. The way producer Behnke and a.d. Colwell scheduled these H.U.A.C. scenes (over five days) allowed Melton and his crew to refurbish and renovate the interiors of the title character. However, a wrinkle has arisen that now prevents Melton’s team from completing their job in time for our return to the sound stages next Tuesday on Day 61, when we are scheduled to begin filming the interior scenes which match those exteriors shot in Ferndale many weeks ago (when Harry and Luke unveil the newly-restored movie palace to the citizens of Lawson). The reason -- the company did not finish all the scenes in the dilapidated theater set before we were mandated to move to the Park Plaza, where our five-day schedule cannot be changed or re-negotiated (the hotel, although undergoing renovations itself, is heavily booked for various functions in the ballrooms we are now occupying for the film). So now, Melton’s restoration project can only be partially completed by Day 61, when Frank and company return to the theater to finish the missing sequences. We then move to another stage (#2) at The Lot for sequences in the interiors of the town hall basement and Doc Stanton’s office for only two days, thus severely reducing Melton’s planned timeframe to renovate the theater interiors (he now will have painters around the clock for two whole days). Meanwhile, back at the Park Plaza, Melton explains the minimal changes his art department made to the regal ballroom where Frank is staging the H.U.A.C. testimony sequences. Such a location is called a “practical” set, meaning it’s an existing site or structure to which changes (slight or plentiful) can be made based on the needs of the story. Shooting practical sets and locations usually saves a production several thousand dollars in construction costs. Yes, Melton could have built a congressional hearing room for the H.U.A.C. scenes, but probably at a cost dramatically surpassing what location manager Grant paid to the owners of the Park Plaza. When the filmmakers completed their “tech scout” of the Park Plaza ballroom (attended by all key department heads to ascertain their specific needs to mount these scenes), sound mixer Ulano hated the acoustics inside this cavernous room, which measures 750,000 cubic feet. If nothing could be done to soften the echoes and improve the sound recording for these crucial scenes (comprised of ten pages of dialogue), rank would have the actors re-record parts of the dialogue in post-production in a session called “ADR” (automated dialogue replacement, or “looping”) This, of course, would add expenses to the budget. “Anytime you work in a set with parallel walls, you create a pattern of infinite sound waves,” Ulano explains. “It is not dissimilar to putting two mirrors in parallel form. Your image continues in infinity. It’s the same principal with sound.” Melton came to the rescue by adding columns made of styrofoam in all four corners of the hall, where Ulano noticed the most echoing. Drapery hung throughout the room (in scattered patterns) also absorbed much of the repercussion while adding a reverential feel to the surroundings. Walking into the lavish ballroom this morning, the crew is greeted with the thundering sounds of the rock group Collective Soul, playing on a boombox situated near Jim Carrey’s chair. The music will not be used as backdrop on the soundtrack (in 1951?), but allows the actor to get into the proper mood and mindset required for another big day on the witness stand, as Appleton faces down his accusers in one of the film’s emotionally climactic scenes. The music does something to Carrey’s psyche, as he pumps himself up for his close-ups in these highly dramatic story points in the film. After several takes for the pair of cameras set up in front of the witness table (one operated by veteran Emmerichs, the second now manned by focus puller Heather Page, who has been upgraded on the show as our “B” camera operator), Carrey retreats to video village to chat with Frank and a.d. Colwell about the reaction they’re getting from the several hundred extras gathered inside the ballroom. After a brief discussion among the trio, Colwell directs the extras to respond louder and more energetically at certain points in Carrey’s speech, reminding them that it’s OK to continue their vociferous response, which requires Appleton to scream over their chanting, reflecting what would most likely be the norm under actual circumstances. As we close out Day 3 inside the cavernous ballroom, a reminder that all the scenes being filmed here take place within a ten-minute window in the story, so everyone of these several hundred background players wears the exact same outfits throughout the day, all day, every day (unlike stars, who have multiples of each costume). In situations like this, the wardrobe department is responsible for the laundering and cleaning of not only the stars’ costumes, but the extras wardrobe as well. Tomorrow – a multi-color Mohawk. |
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