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Saturday, February 10, 2001 - Reshooting interior scenes at a local computer company. - And the crew packs up in record time... I know that there are no scenes to be filmed this morning that involve either of the planes. I take that opportunity to sleep late. I get up at 7:00, fix myself some coffee and check the e-mail on my computer. I have had many e-mail messages commenting on my daily Love Liza reports. They have come from relatives, friends, fellow radio control airplane modelers and some of the rc boat modelers that I got to know on the set. I send replies to all of them. Then I start writing about Thursday and Friday's experiences. Usually I stay only one day behind, but I have two days to catch up now... I manage to finish the two reports, but by now it's almost ten o'clock. I didn't get the call sheet for today, so I don't really know where the movie crew is. I thought there was a scene to be reshot at the Guest House Inn, the same motel where the film crew is staying. It's near the Beltline Highway, so I go there. As I get within a couple of miles from the motel, my cell phone rings. I answer it. "Where are you, FRANS?" It's Scot Broadus (the Love Liza Property Master.) He's been calling me "Frans" (another popular Dutch name) for several days now. He thinks that is funny. I don't mind it, as it lets me know that he's in a good mood and there are no fires to put out! "I'm on the road heading your way," I answer. "Oh, do you know where we are?" he asks. "I assume at the Guest House Inn?" "No - that got changed. We're on Dauphin Street at a computer company reshooting the interior office scenes." He mentions the name of the company and where it's located. "I'm almost at I-65 now," I say, "I'll get on it and I'll be there in less than ten minutes." "Good," Scot replies, "we should go ahead and repair the Zero again." "Right - see you shortly." "Great!" he says and we hang up. As soon as I get to the set, Scot gets the Japanese Zero (the "sinister, black plane" mentioned in the script) down from its perch and holds it up in front of me so I can see its gray underbelly. On the bottom of the plane, on the wings, the fuselage, the tail and the belly pan are signatures and comments! Scot had told me a week or two ago that he would get everyone on the set to sign the plane, including the producers and directors, and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jack Kehler, the main stars. He had said that the plane would be given to me after the filming ended! Apparently last night Scot took the plane around the motel where the crew is staying and had several members sign it. What a great memento! The plane will hang in my hobby room as a reminder of this great group of people I have come to know. While I'm slowly repairing the Zero, Scot flags down a few more members to sign the plane with a black Sharpie. He spots Todd Louiso. "Hey, Todd!" Scot walks up to him. After a minute or so Scot walks back to the back of the props truck, where I am using the lift gate as my work bench. The plane is belly-up and I am squeezing another stick of hot-glue under the belly pan and into the gear blocks... "Turn the Zero over - quick!" Scot says. "Don't let Todd see the underside of the plane!" "Oh? Why?" "Well, I asked Todd to sign it and he said that we shouldn't put any marks on it yet because we're not done shooting! I told him we'll never see the bottom of the plane in any of the scenes anyway, but..." I quickly turn the plane over. "You know," I tell Scot, "we can always cover the bottom with gray tape if needed." "They will NEVER see that bottom," he says. Oh, well! I hot-glue the spinner and propeller back to the cowl, glue the canopy in place, and finish up by running a strip of black tape around the canopy seam. I carefully wipe the whole plane down. The Zero is stronger than ever before! I put it back on the shelf near the ceiling of the truck and tie it down with a rope. It's almost one o'clock. My wife had told me that she would get our granddaughter Isabella and take her to a Mardi Gras parade at Tillman's Corner at 1:30. I want to get away for a while and see my granddaughter, as she's supposed to go back home around 6:00. The movie crew probably won't knock off until 7:00. I tell Scot I'd like to get lost for a few hours and I tell him the reason. "Go, man!" he says. "There's not much else for us to do here, so go." "Thanks," I tell him, "I'll be back later." As I'm driving out of the parking lot I slow down as I smell one thing that's on the menu today. Gary Miller (Chef) is grilling tuna steaks on an outdoor grill. I love fish, especially grilled tuna! I roll my window down. Wow, does that smell good! The steaks are about two inches thick and five inches in diameter. I'm sure there will be some fancy-schmancy delicious sauce that will be served with them... I look at my watch. Nope - I'll have to skip this lunch. I've got to see my granddaughter! But those tuna steaks - they sure look and smell delicious... There's just no way I'll be back in time... The smoke is drifting through my van... I drive on sniffing deeply... §¶•ªº&! I'm drooling a lot... I make it to the parade just in time, and when I see Isabella's smile when she sees me, the tuna is forgotten! After the parade I go home and spend time with her until almost five o'clock. Then I tell her bye and I head back to the set on Dauphin Street. I haven't attended any of the filming inside the offices today because of the tight quarters in there. I can hear what's going on by listening to the radios of Scot and the nearby Sanford, the caterer, who again doubles as a Production Assistant today. The front and rear parking lots of the computer company's office building are pretty much filled with the crew's vehicles. Sanford's truck is parked next to the props truck as is usually the case. A long motor home is also nearby - it's for the main star Philip Seymour Hoffman, his co-stars and the producers and directors. The honey wagon (potty truck) is connected to the makeup trailer which also has tiny offices for a couple of production assistants. One is Brian Pitt, Second Second Assistant Director. The other is Leonard Reynolds, Additional Second Assistant Director. No! - there are NO typos or extra words in the previous sentence! Those are their real titles! (In case you are trying to figure this out, Jimi Woods is the Second Assistant Director and Sholto Roeg is the First Assistant Director. Todd Louiso is the Director, period! He's the head honcho...) Around the other side of the building are a camera equipment truck, a lighting equipment truck, another large equipment truck, a couple of smaller trucks and the large power generator. In an adjacent parking lot that belongs to a law firm, the production crew's smaller vehicles, vans and some personal vehicles are parked. It's getting dark, and "the martini is up". Each day, this call goes out over the radio right before the final take of the day is being filmed. So we're getting close to finishing! As I am rummaging through the trainer plane kit box, looking for the planes' transmitters, I hear a bit of commotion outside the props truck. A man has just driven up and he has stepped out of his car. He's walking over to Sanford. "What's going on here?" he asks in a demanding voice. Another talkative, obnoxious, curious bystander, I'm thinking. Sanford turns around. "We're shooting a movie," he says and keeps on walking. "No! You don't understand! What the hell is going on here? I own this place! I want to know what you are doing here!" Sanford stops in his tracks and walks back to the man. "We're filming a movie, Sir," he says. "Movie, what movie? What company do you work for? Who's in it? What's the name of the movie?" Sanford starts to answer his questions, but it doesn't help. "I just got in from out of town and... and... What the hell are you all doing here? Who's in charge?" He makes a big circular gesture with his outstretched arms. "I am '(name omitted)' and I own all this property! Who gave you permission?" "We got permission, Sir," Sanford tells him. "What if things get damaged?" "We have insurance, Sir. This was all prearranged," Sanford says. But the man is not really listening. "I want to see the man in charge, or I'm calling the police!" Scot who has been holed up inside the props truck walks over to the back of the truck. "Start with him!" Scot calls out to the man and points at an unsuspecting Brian Pitt at the A. D.'s trailer (Brian's the 2nd 2nd A. D., remember...) At that point, I hear Sholto announce over the radio: "AAAAaaand CUT! It's a wrap, people!!!". The agitated man is now talking to both Sanford and Brian. "It's a wrap," Sanford announces over his radio channel. Then: "Horst! Horst! Come here, please!" Now Horst Sarubin, Location Manager, rushes up to the three men. "It ain't gonna happen!" the man is shouting, "I will call the police!" Horst takes over as Sanford and Brian scurry off. He explains to the man that he, Horst, is in charge of location procurement, and that everything had been approved by the managers of the computer company and the law firm. No need to wait for the police, I'm thinking and I spring into action! I get out of the truck, walk over to the front entrance of the building and start stacking director's chairs on the dolly. I push the dolly to the truck. Then I get the props cart and haul it to the truck. I walk into the building and try to find other stuff that belongs to Scot. During my trips back and forth there seems to be a lot of hustling going on in the three parking lots! Crew members are rushing around faster than usual, I notice... The man has driven off in his car. Horst is heading back into the building to see Sholto and Jacky Morgan (Line Producer), who is also here, presumably to tell him about the uninvited visitor... With Scot's help I start loading all the stuff into the truck. Leonard (he's the Additional 2nd A. D. - remember...) comes around and passes out the next day's call sheet. I take a quick glance at it. A residence at Dog River tomorrow, I notice. Map attached... Jimi Woods comes around picking up trash and cigarette butts in the parking lot. Trucks and other vehicles start pulling out in a steady procession. And then it's only us and the catering truck in our parking lot. Sanford has been ready to go but we have him blocked! I roll up the extension cord and throw it into the truck. Scot is pulling the door down and latches it. There are only a few people left in the building. Scot starts pulling out. Sanford follows. I run over to my van, climb in and start to head out. All the big trucks and vehicles have packed up and left. Most smaller trucks and personal vehicles are gone. The three parking lots are empty except for a few vehicles! As we are leaving, the building's lights are being turned off one after another. I estimate that only 15 minutes have passed since the time wrap was called! The crew has never cleared out this fast in the three weeks I have been with them! What an exciting ending to a relatively uneventful day! As I drive off of the lot, I see a note on the passenger seat next to me. It is a note to myself and it's written in large letters. "Another remote and more asst'd junk," it says. Scot wants me to bring a second radio control car transmitter and some more assorted rc 'stuff' just in case what I had provided during the first week is not enough. I meet Scot back at his motel. We are talking and Sholto stops by and joins the conversation. Tomorrow will be his last day on the Love Liza movie set. He is going back to England, and he will soon marry a woman who is also in the film industry. Sholto and Scot talk about some of the current problems on the Love Liza set. And this is a relatively small and low-budget movie. I never heard if Sholto said his fiancé Andrea is a producer or a director, but he says she is involved in a $140 million dollar movie that uses 7,000 extras per day! "And it's a period film," he says, "so each extra has to be dressed and made up and instructed properly every day! They have 50 makeup artists! Can you imaging the problems on THAT set?!" He laughs. We soon leave. Before I go home I swing by my son's house to pick up the car controller. On the way home I think about the filming tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a busy one, as one plane, my old rc race car and other radio control related stuff will be involved. |
