|
|||||||||||
 |
|
|
|||||||||
| 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 3 March 22 (Day 11) Mabel's Diner, one of the "three front teeth built on Main Street," per production designer Melton, hosts the company today.  Melton has fashioned one of those classic 1940s looks for his diner set. The streamlined silver steel facade was erected from the ground up on an empty lot in front of a garage called Lino's (still adorned with the paint job it received for the 1994 production, "Outbreak"). Writer Sloane gets giddy every time he walks through town, noting that Melton's sets "look like they've been there forever. " He is indeed right about the diner, which "paint foreman" Woodward Romine, Jr. and his staff have aged in such a way as to make us actually believe it was built back in the ‘40s, and is a permanent part of the town's tapestry. In chatting with some Ferndalians, many yearn to keep the diner and movie palace as permanent fixtures on Main Street (which Melton adamantly says is not possible because these sets have not been built to local codes). Not only has Melton and "construction coordinator" Joe Delmonte built a beautiful three-dimensional, art deco set (reminiscent of the "moderne" era of the ‘40s), they have made it a working diner as well, with ceramic tile, working grills, running water and other necessities (the latter courtesy of special effects coordinator Pritchett). Adorned with neon lights on its exterior, the set is visually stunning. Titus’ weekly newspaper relates an anecdote about some tourists who, seeking breakfast, settled for another eatery when they assumed the diner was closed the day they visited.  The diner is a small, tight set, one in which the art and construction departments would build what we call "wild walls. " These partitions, decorated to blend right into the set, can be removed at a moment's notice (the grip department usually tears apart wild walls) to allow camera angles behind various props and set dressing. In Mabel's, Melton built his wild wall behind the counter where Mabel (Catherine Dent) serves her customers. So, in Sc. 26 -- Int. Diner: Pete looks familiar, Harry is shocked when he sees Pete's face, Frank (using two cameras all day in this confined space) must "cover" dialogue from all five actors who appear in the scene (in addition to Dent, they include Carrey, Whitmore, Landau and David Ogden Stiers, marking his first day before the cameras).  In order to film Carrey and Whitmore at Mabel's counter (with Stiers walking in midway through the scene), the wall behind actress Dent is removed to allow the cameras to shoot the sequence over her shoulder as she tends to Carrey's voracious appetite. Here's a peek at some of the dialogue from Sc. 26: Mabel pours a cup of coffee, slides it toward Pete. He sips it gratefully, notices Mabel peering at him. MABEL Have you ever been in here before? PETE I think I'd remember these eggs. MABEL I don't know why, but...you look kind of... STAN ...familiar? Said the same thing myself. The bell above the door dings. DOC STANTON, hale and hearty, enters and moves to the counter. DOC Morning Stan, Mabel. My bearclaw ready to go? Mabel lifts the pastry cover and snags a bearclaw. MABEL Uh, Doc, there’s somebody here you should say hello to. DOC Hello, son. How'd that happen? PETE I have no idea.  Now, whenever food appears in a scene, the prop department provides the menu, hot or cold, based on the scene's requirements. It could be finger food, pizza slices or a banquet dinner. Regardless, the prop department usually "cooks" on these demanding days. Sc. 26 takes place during Mabel's breakfast call, so propmaster Farley (and assistants Merdyce McClaran, Valerie Van Norte and John McElroy) slave over hot fryers immediately outside the diner. Farley and McClaran play the behind-the-scene set waitresses, constantly run back-and-forth between their makeshift "kitchen" (a table under a tent with two electric frying pans) with fresh plates of bacon, eggs and a biscuit for Carrey to devour, take after take. Van Norte, who manned the fryers all day long, cooked four dozen eggs and four 1 lb. packages of bacon for the sequence. At days end, Frank might have suggested that actor Stiers (playing the town doctor, and the veteran of TV's “M*A*S*H” check Carrey's cholesterol (of the 48 eggs cooked, Carrey easily ingested a dozen or so). I didn't ask what his dinner plans were that night. And, with all the eggs and ham, you'd have thought the star of "The Grinch" was back in Dr. Seuss-land. At wrap, the stuffed actor walked over to some four dozen kids waiting across the street from the set, hoping to catch a glimpse of the superstar, maybe snap a photo or even garner an autograph. The amiable actor came over to shake some hands, and was immediately surrounded in a sea of fans, who shouted questions while the grip and electric fellows "struck" (shut down) their lighting equipment across the street. Carrey signed several autographs, and made sure that everyone there got the chance to at least shake his hand while answering questions about his past films and popular TV show, "In Living Color." Carrey's graciousness this evening is the absolute best p.r. the film company could ask for in smalltown America. After observing the happy incident, several of the company retired over to our local hangout, Curley's Grill, in the Victorian Inn. Robert "Curley" Tait (who had a key extra scene in Mabel's this day, the only background player featured in the scene) runs the best eatery in Ferndale, a place that has become our Algonquin round table gathering place for many of us. It is a welcome haven for us while filming here. Tonight, Frank dines with actress Laurie Holden, his colleagues Anna Garduño and Denise Huth, and Castle Rock exec Tammy Glover, visiting the set from Los Angeles.  The quintet passes a few of us at the bar as they head into Curley's main dining room. I am joined at the bar by my longtime friend and colleague, still photographer Ralph Nelson (and, later, by cinematographer David Tattersall). While our 150 or so crew members form this tight-knit community on the set, the various departments usually split off into their own cliques. Grips dine and drink with fellow grips. Hair and makeup artists usually socialize together at night and on weekends. The film's publicist is a one-man band. The still photographer is considered part of the camera crew. But his or her work becomes an integral part of the marketing campaign. Thus, stills and publicity, by nature of the individual crafts, are an informal team. Nelson, a thirty-year veteran whose filmmaker father directed such classic films as "Lilies of the Field" and "Requiem for A Heavyweight, " documents the film production on a daily basis. In addition to shooting stills (b/w and color) of each scene as it is filmed, he also records various doings behind-the-scenes. The craft is one of the unsung art forms of our business, lacking the true recognition it deserves. And Nelson is one of the industry's best and also one of its contemporary pioneers in his quest to preserve and even elevate his job as an art form. FYI, the photos you see here represent his artistry and handiwork. Truth be told, if I'm not nice to Ralphie (my endearing nickname for the seasoned pro), he won't take my picture with the likes of some of the film's stars. To this point in time, the only shot I have is with Thai the Elephant (sans a shovel at its tail). Tattersall ambles in for a quick beer before heading upstairs to his room at the inn. The soft-spoken Brit carries a current copy of Newsweek, whose cover reports on the current livestock disease sweeping through England and Europe. It turns out that Ferndale Enterprise editor Titus also hails from England. She also joins us at the bar (pen and pad in hand for any quotable quotes for next week's issue), at which time I introduce her to Tattersall. Titus, I discover, has planned a lengthy vacation to her homeland, and chats with the cinematographer about the deadly outbreak plaguing their native country. Tomorrow -- "Interview with a Vampire" |
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
| back to menu | |||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
