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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 7 April 17 (Day 29) It’s about time to chat about what a marvelous job set decorator Natali Kendrick Pope and her staff (led by assistant decorator Meredith McCarthy) have done with the storefronts on Ferndale’s downtown artery (since we’re back at the cemetery for Sc. 132, based on the sunny start to the day).  The first thing that catches your eye are the antique pictures of servicemen in the shop windows. Many photos (8X10 b/w) are actual Ferndale residents from WWII, copied, framed and placed there by the set dressers. While many may not be seen in the film itself, a few have been captured in close-up for Sc. 25 (shot our very first day in Ferndale), when Stan (Whitmore) gives Luke (Carrey) some background on Lawson’s losses during World War II. McCarthy relates that she approached the local V.F.W. to ascertain whether any war veterans may still have their military portraits, and whether they'd be interested in providing them to the company for this extended period of time (McCarthy began her tenure in Ferndale at the turn of the year, three months before our arrival). The response she received overwhelmed her, as dozens of photos turned up for use as set dressing in Lawson’s storefronts.  Propmaster Farley has also come to us with another photo, this of a Ferndale resident named Charlie Everett. Mr. Everett recently suffered a stroke, and his recovery has been of the utmost concern to his family. We have chosen his WWII portrait for a more significant role in the film -- that of Mabel’s (Catherine Dent) deceased soldier husband. When Mr. Everett hears that we are using his photo in this manner in the film, he smiles, one of the few times he has done so since his illness began. Still photographer Nelson goes one step further -- he poses actress Dent (dressed as Mabel) with the photo, shoots a digital print, and in less time than you can say “cheese”, he has an 8X10 print ready to send over to Mr. Everett’s house. We also provide a copy to newspaper editor Titus, who runs the shot in the Enterprise. Farley also contributed to the authenticity of the storefront displays by providing gold star flags to accompany McCarthy’s vintage military photos. The seasoned propmaster (returning from her tour of duty on Frank’s “The Green Mile”) contacted a company (a movie prophouse) called History for Hire in North Hollywood, California, who assisted in the manufacture of these flags. Pam Elyea at History for Hire (you’ll read more about some additional contributions this organization made to the production in later journals) contacted the Gold Star Mothers group in Long Beach, California, for the special gold stars that will adorn the 45 flags. The Gold Star Mothers organization is a group of women who have tragically lost sons in various war efforts over the years. They gather to pay tribute to their lost kin by manufacturing flags on which these gold stars represent those lost in battle. In approaching the Long Beach retirement facility, Elyea and Farley uncovered an unusual coincidence in their efforts to manufacture these special flags -- two of the Gold Star residents actually lost sons in WWII, when our film story is set (Farley advises that most of the others living there in Long Beach lost family in Vietnam). For every magical moment that unfolds on the set, there always seems to be an equaling fascinating facet of our crafts behind-the-scenes!  Looking out to Ferndale’s Main Street from the storefronts decorated with these military mementos, one notices the orange cones that dot the line which separates the east and west traffic transversing the town (which runs all of three blocks, with no traffic lights). Turns out that Ferndale's double yellow line (which signifies no passing between the two lanes) has been removed (scraped away) by the art department. Research indicated that back in 1951, only a single white line would demarcate the traffic lanes, and that's what Greg Melton’s team must recreate. The cones have been mandated by the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) to temporarily replace the double yellow line, which will be repainted once filming has concluded in town. It turns out that Ferndale’s Main Street is actually a California state highway, Rt. 211, that begins in the neighboring town of Fernbridge (five miles away) and runs straight on through to the Pacific coast. During our extended stay in Ferndale, the film company also provides free vans to shuttle Ferndalians all over the downtown area while filming continues. The vans run along Berding Street, one block north of Main, with hand-painted signs along the shuttle route advising locals where vans are available. This provided a solution to the closing of Main Street to vehicular traffic during filming. Chalk one up to location maven Rory Enke, who anticipated that business to storeowners along Main Street could be severely affected if local patrons could not get around town. With the weather somewhat cooperative today (intermittent showers cause some minor delays while the company waits out the intermissions and remains outdoors), Frank shoots pieces of two separate scenes as follows: Sc. 123 -- Ext. War Memorial: Pete is subpoenaed (when cloudy) Sc. 132 -- Ext. Lawson Cemetery: Adele tells Pete he has to testify (sunny) Our daily production report indicates all sorts of interesting facts about what type of film stock was used and shot (including inventory on-hand), how many pages of script were filmed (and the total thus far through Day 28 of production) and how many minutes of the story have thus far been filmed (as of today, 72:27). Once we complete principal photography sometime in late June, Frank will look at an “assembly” (you may recall our definition back in the introduction pages to this journal). Thus far, we have almost 75 minutes of the story on film, and we have completed more than a third of our shooting schedule. Thus, calculations indicate that Frank may look at a first assembly running well over three hours long. Of course, that does not mean that’s how long the film will actually run (the assembly will then be shaped and molded by Frank and editor Jim Page into a viable running time). Tomorrow -- a chat with location manager Rory Enke. |
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