|
|||||||||||
 |
|
|
|||||||||
| 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 6 April 11 (Day 26) With spritzing rain unveiling our 26th day on the production, the company returns to the fairgrounds sets (the Majestic’s basement for Sc.55). Frank wants to complete Sc. 55 by lunch, then head back to Ferndale for more exteriors. Sc. 55 spotlights just two cast members -- Carrey as Luke, who has ventured down into the theater’s cellar to discover that there is an apartment down there, inhabited by the Majestic’s aging usher, Gerry Black, who plays the character of Emmett. Black, most likely in his sixties, has been acting for 35 years, but has not done that many movies. He is known more for his work on television (he played Det. Chesley on the pilot for “Hill Street Blues”) and TV commercials. Because he is somewhat unknown in movie circles, his performance today takes many by surprise, particularly sound mixer Ulano. Ulano, like most sound recordists, spends most of his time out of sight from the actual working set. He views the action from a remote video connection, thus allowing him the convenience of watching while listening, and adjusting his tones and volume to obtain a clean sound track (which eliminates the need to re-record dialogue in post-production, a process called “ADR”). Because of his extensive career in sound mixing (almost 100 projects over the last two-plus decades, including the Oscar for “Titanic”), he can gauge an actor’s performance just by listening to the line-readings. He expresses his impression about Black, whom he had never heard of, stating “this guy can act!” I agree.  At wrap (near dusk at 7:30 p.m.), Frank, d.p. Tattersall, production designer Melton and writer Sloane retreat over to The Majestic set on Main Street. There, the electricians (from the neon manufacturing company “Heaven or Las Vegas”) have illuminated the impressive neon-marked marquee allowing Frank to see the set lit at night for the first time since Melton’s painting crew refurbished the facade in preparation for Sc. 88, which we will shoot next week. While Frank and his crew watch in wonder at Melton’s set, a small crowd of Ferndalians (many with camera in hand -- which we’ll probably see on the internet any day now) gather on the sidewalk behind the filmmakers, also staring in amazement at the set’s beauty. Light it, and they will come! Is this heaven? No, it's Ferndale. Frank walks around, viewing the set from various angles. Writer Sloane, who envisioned what the movie palace might look like when putting his words down on paper five years ago, also stares in glee. One could swear there was a misty-eyed happiness permeating the set tonight. Frank moves in closer to inspect the outer lobby area, which includes the ticket booth (prominently front-and-center on such old-time theaters) and the poster cabinets which contain the repro “one-sheet” designed by Frank and illustrator John Alvin (“Sand Pirates of the Sahara) and an actual 1951 war movie called “Flying Leathernecks” with John Wayne and Robert Ryan. This being Wednesday night, and the scenes set for Monday night (with Friday being an industry holiday), Frank asks Melton whether it would be possible to create a set of “lobby cards” for “Sand Pirates...” on such short notice. Lobby cards, printed in sets of eight, were colored placards that adorned movie theater lobbies back in this era. Many of the early designs from the 1940s and ‘50s were color tinted b/w photos with the “title treatment” (the artistic rendering of the film title) and “credit block” (the list of key actors and filmmakers included on any printed promotional movie material) surrounding the photo. When Frank shot his scenes for “Sand Pirates...” way back in February, still photographer Steve Vaughn stepped in for our set photog, Ralph Nelson, due to Nelson’s unavailability (he was completing a Kevin Costner picture called “Dragonfly”). Castle Rock confered with Frank to make a selection of Vaughn’s work to be used at some point in the film’s promotional campaign. We contact the studio’s still photo editor, Linda Rapoport, in Los Angeles, asking her to gather two sets of these stills so Melton (and his art director, Tom Walsh, back in L.A. to supervise completion of the sound stage sets) can manufacture the lobby cards for the Ferndale set...BY MONDAY! In the meantime, writer Sloane wants to get an immediate photo of The Majestic glowing against the nocturnal sky. Stillman Nelson is the guy to see. He has shot the lighted marquee with several types of film and cameras, including a Nikon 990 digital camera. The photo image appears on a special card (not traditional film) that can be inserted into a computer (laptop or personal). The photo image is then immediately viewed on the computer screen. Using Photo Shop software, Nelson (a whiz with computers) can manipulate these photographic images any number of ways. While getting Sloane’s e-mail address to transmit the photo, he also has on hand a stock of special photo paper. Using an inexpensive Epson ink-jet printer (for a rock-bottom cost of $130 at a local Costco), Nelson will walk onto the set tomorrow morning with his handiwork in tow, especially for those who weren’t on the set tonight to witness Melton’s set in all its glowing glory. Tomorrow -- Majesty on film! |
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
| back to menu | |||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
