It rained all day on Sunday, but they were shooting Cherry
anyway. Interiors.
These were the same interiors they had hoped to shoot on Friday night, but
the production was shut down by the Hoboken police. The foundation of the dispute was
discussed in the February 4th Making Cherry. With just four days
of shooting left the frustration is palpable.
"I got a call just 45 minutes before call. I was leaving the
house!" Heather said as we drove home from
location Sunday night."I slammed down the phone, I was so frustrated, and I walked
around the house cursing. I was all psyched up, ready to work for 16 hours, all night!
Then the phone rang and it was this British voice, Eddy I thought, but it was Heath
pretending to be Eddy. And he said in this fake English accent:
"'Get over to the park, right away, luv. We're going to shoot Balto.
We don't care if it's night. And bring livestock! Plenty of livestock!'"
By this time Heather is rolling with laughter. So is Richie, who is driving. Through all of this laughter
Heather says, "They got me laughing."
They also invited her out. Sure, it was a pain to be scheduled to shoot
all night, to be ready to stay up all night, and have it be cancelled. On the other hand,
it was a night off, a paid night off.
Sunday, on the other hand, became a full work day.
 '
It looks like an old picture, and it's meant to be, shot some 20 years ago
or so. The two girls are meant to be Leila and Evy at the Alice in Wonderland Statue in
Central Park. Playing Leila and Evy? Helen and Phebe Pierson. That's right, Joe's girls.
In the penultimate shot of a long Sunday, Shalom
is sitting on the sofa looking at this photo. The camera peeks over her shoulder, and
slowly zooms in on little Helen and Phebe. It sounds simple enough, but there are
complications, of course.
There can be reflections of the lights, and Tim's
white shirt, and the camera. Eventually he is draped in black-wrap, it's kind of elegant,
and shielded by a scrim as he works the zoom.
And the zoom lever, a rotating handle on the bottom back left of the
camera body, is a sticky thing. But Tim is merely operating it, he can' t see what's
happening.
"You're popping the zoom," Jeff says and they do it again.
Shalom holds the picture so that her face is reflected in the upper part
of it. The angle must be precise and after they do it a few times her hand starts to
cramp. She sets the frame down and gets the blood flowing again, and when she's ready the
focus must measured and reset. This, as you probably know by this point, is why movies
take so long to shoot. It seems easy, but there is much that can go wrong.
Finally, everything falls together at once. The shot works.
"That's a good one," Jon says.
Jeff suggests they do a take without Shalom's reflection, to give them a choice of looks
in editing.
"Good idea," Joe and Jon agree.
"Let's reset," Elizabeth
calls. They do so quickly and in one take the alternative is down.
"On a good gate Shalom goes home," Elizabeth calls. The gate is
good. There is one shot left.
Actually, it turns out, there are two.
"Look at Marilyn," Elizabeth exclaims. The dog is lying on the
couch, more or less asleep. "Isn't that perfect for when she looks over at the
dog?" Janna agrees that it is.
"Looks good," says Joe.
"It's a bonus dog shot!" Elizabeth announces. The camera is
quickly set, the focal distance measured, the lens focused.
"Roll 'em" Jon says. It's a bonus dog shot. Elizabeth took this
one.
Jon leaves before the last shot, another shot of Marilyn, this time
ripping up a sock. He is making bloody marys for wrap. Jon's bloodies are special. Here is
a how-to...
|
"The first thing, get the Leatherman from Michael (McDonough). Then
open the tomato juice." |
|
"We've got Sacramento brand here. Not the best, but it will do the
trick." 
"The ingredients are (measurements approximate):
2 fingersful of horseradish (you can use a spoon if you have one)
8 tablespoons Worscestershire sauce
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
a few shots of Tabasco and a lot of celery salt. That's the key.
|
|
"And then the vodka. And for some reason you have to stir with a
wooden spoon. "Taste and adjust..."
Jon adds more Tabasco and horseradish. Marcus comes in. |
|
Marcus: "Jon, you're wanted on the set for rehearsal." "Okay.
Just a second. And finally, you need a lot of ice. Marcus, will you bring this ice in
please?"
"Sure."
A bloody mary is a real nice drink for Sundays. |
Peter Kreutzer
|
