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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 9 May 16 (Day 48) The day begins again at 7:30 a.m. It was worth it as Carrey’s Luke not only tickles Adele’s fancy, but the ivories as well today when invited up on the party platform by his old music teacher, Irene Terwilliger (the marvelous stage actress Susan Willis) to become “Piano Man.” The moment brings the party scenes to a rousing climax, one totally unexpected by the endearing elder Irene. She coaxes Luke up on the stage and, trying to restore his ability to play, gently begins Lizst’s “Rhapsody #2.” Luke clumsily taps the keys as Irene tries to help. Just as Luke seems to get the knack, he bursts into a lively rendition of a boogie tune, much to the shock of his prim-and-proper teacher.  Carrey plays the piano (synchronizing his hand movements to a tape being played back next to the stage by sound assistant Ross Levy) like a demon possessed. What strikes the crew observing in the wings is that the actor’s pantomime hits all the right notes. Obviously, Carrey studied the musical piece in his off-hours, and matches his hand movements to the chords exactly in near perfect synchronization. Take after take (Frank must cover the scene over Jim’s shoulder on to his adoring audience as well as from their POV onto Jim for his close-ups), the huge crowd of extras shows their appreciation by giving Carrey an ovation. In between takes, he rushes over to the monitors and sits with Frank to see which takes are working for him. Frank smiles at some of Jim’s facial expressions while his character gets into the music. His last concerto moment happens just before 9:00, which takes the star to a wrap for the day. Frank still has one more key shot, another crane shot, another wonderful filmic moment in the movie. The grips at this point have already unloaded and assembled the Chapman/Lenny Arm III crane outside the stage. They push open the huge side door (called an “elephant” door in reference to its size) allowing them to roll the crane into its position on the stage. Camera assistant Todd McMullen aids in placing the camera in its carriage on the end of the crane. Frank (working again with dolly grip Young and cameraman Emmerichs at the controls of the Hothead) rehearses a few moves before a.d. Colwell invites the huge crowd back onto the dance floor. And, away we go. The camera, hanging from some 30-35 feet up looking directly overhead of the crowd, focuses first on Carrey at the piano. When Frank calls “Action!,” Young pushes the Lenny Arm from over Carrey onto the middle of the dance floor, where Adele has now joined the swinging Carl as they boogie into the night. Wait a minute -- did I say Carrey was wrapped? Indeed he was, but using another bit of trickery, the company has employed a “photo double” (not Carrey regular Kerry Hoyt) to play the role of Luke as he bangs away on the keys and unleashes a wave of fun onto the townsfolk of Lawson as they dance well into the night as the crew continues working well into the night. Because the lens angle is quite wide for this overview shot, when Frank cuts this into his various bits of coverage, it will happen so quickly that you would never notice that that is not Jim at the piano. The camera pans over to the crowd, the music arouses the group, skirts swing up like the fabric of an umbrella, and the enchantment continues until the witching hour. In the end, everyone seems tired, but elated at all the fun staged by the company these past five days! |
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