PRODUCTION JOURNAL
DAY THREE - Wednesday June 15, 2005
The Dapper Man finally finds his gal
The Young Woman falls for the Dapper Man
Spiegelman's Novelties. This is the location I was afraid I'd never find. We needed a vacant storefront in an old building on a side street, somewhere in Manhattan. For a price we could afford. And did I mention that we had no Location Manager?
Jeffrey and I were driving around in Harlem on a scout late in pre-production and we drove past a shuttered storefront that I thought looked promising. We stopped the car and asked around the neighborhood to find the owner. A few minutes later, we had found her in a nearby brownstone and she agreed to let us look inside. It was perfect! After a relatively easy negotiation, we had our novelty shop.
The
shop before the transformation into Spiegelman's
The trouble started when we told the City that we wanted to film on that street. We were informed that this was a "Hot Spot" and that while they would permit us to film there, we could not post "No Parking" signs. We explained that this was a period (1932) shoot and that it was essential that we at least clear the cars from in front of the shop. Nope. From the Mayor's Office's standpoint, this was non-negotiable. Hmmm. The answer to this seemingly intractable problem was to engage the services of an experienced parking PA who was able to work within the parameters of the City's directives and still deliver us a vacant street. The only exception was a van parked smack in front of the store. But, this, too, eventually moved and we had our 1932 street on the morning of our shoot.
The shop itself took shape in an organic process that explains why I continue to work with Lovisa. I went to the Museum of Modern Art and saw some great early Soviet graphic art in their permanent collection. I thought this was great inspiration for the design of the storefront, so I took a couple of photos with my crappy cell phone camera:
I showed the photos to Lovisa and after considerable discussion and tinkering, this is the design we came up with:
The Yiddish roughly translates as "Good Stuff Cheap"
I knew we couldn't afford to have a hand-painted sign, especially since we were going to destroy the sign in two days. So, my solution was to have a vinyl sign made, but designed as an outline, with all of the letters and areas of color empty. Lovisa, Roberto (Property master), and Marti (Set Dresser) then painted the insides of the letters with poster paints. This also enabled them to realistically age the sign for a later scene set in the present day (see Friday's entry).
Marti and Lovisa fill in the blanks
As for the interior, I relied on "Crazy Joe's House of Props" as Kim Moarefi affectionately refers to my office. Every single item of dressing and props came from my personal collection of old crap, with the exception of a few of novelty items purchased on eBay or from a cheap toy catalogue. See, I knew all this old stuff would come in handy some day! One of the featured props is a recent addition to my collection, a Northern Tree Jackalope. To the uninitiated, it is a squirrel with antlers. This fabulous creature was created by Sarina Brewer, purveyor of Custom Creature Taxidermy. "She calls it art... You can call it whatever you want."
The Dapper Man's view of the Young Woman
For the exterior, we had exactly one period car, a 1930 Ford Model "A" pick-up truck that was my father's. He had it sitting in the barn for thirty years gathering dust. When he died, I made it my mission to restore it. Several years later, it is a lovely little truck that purrs along. It provided just the touch needed to convincingly turn a 2005 street into a 1930's one. It was, precisely, the least we could do.
Tim Bohn and Sarah Bloom are ready to dance their way to Coney Island
This location was the biggest test of our continuity-free production and I am pleased to report that we passed with flying colors. The actors all matched their action from master to close-up and Mr. Obsessive Prop Manipulator Director Guy also made a meaningful contribution to the gaffe-free shoot.
In every other respect, filming went off without a hitch, but for the late-breaking news that we had to be out of the location by 6 PM. Somehow the owners had the impression that filming occurs between the hours of 9 AM and 6 PM. After failing to convince her that it in fact happens from 7 AM to 7 PM, we made the best of it and actually finished well before six.
I bark orders as Dave watches and Jeffrey operates
* DAY ONE * DAY TWO * DAY THREE * DAY FOUR * DAY FIVE *
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Copyright © 2005 Cypress
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