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Friday, February 9, 2001 - Filming at Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach. Crew call for this morning is at 7:00, but because of the travel time involved, about an hour and a half, shooting call is at 8:30. I decide to sleep in and I make it to Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach where the crew is located around 9:30 or so. The weather is beautiful and barely cloudy... I spot the Craft Services truck first. This is the catering truck, and the props truck is always parked near it. Sure enough, there is the props truck! Scot Broadus, the Property Master (also called Props Master or Props Guy) shows up and he's looking for sand-colored thread. He finds a spool of beige thread and he's gone... I decide to go back to my car and get my camera going to the set. When I get back to the props truck I run into Dolores Hernandez (Key Hair/Makeup). "Where's the set?" she asks. "I don't know, I just got here. Let's find it," I say. We go around one of the buildings and walk across the dunes. We can see the set on the beach, close to the water. They're still setting up the camera. There's some pretty rough surf and several surfers in wet suits are bobbing around in the water. There are no other swimmers. I'm sure the water is still too cold. Local vacationers are walking the beach. Jill Newell (Costume Designer) brings around a large tube of sun screen. There are many light-complected people in the crew, including Director Todd Louiso, who applies the stuff liberally to his face and hands. The first scene calls for Wilson (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) to swim and jump around in the surf. He then runs back to the water's edge and grabs a blue drink from a waiting waiter's tray. Several passersby stop and watch what's going on. Sanford Hatcher (Craft Services, but now also doubling as Production Assistant) and Tony Niknejadi (Production Assistant), steer people around the set, behind the camera. Sanford Hatcher - he normally rolls his snacks and drinks cart close to the set - comes up pushing a wheelbarrow with a cooler filled with ice, bottled water and soft drinks. He also brings four bottles of blue Gatoraid, the sole ingredient for the blue drink Wilson is supposed to drink in the scene. Two "blue drinks" show up. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his entrance on the set, wearing a white robe. Dolores starts mussing up his hair. Finally it's time for "Action!" and Philip Seymour Hoffman gets into the water. He runs out into the breaking waves and jumps around. He dives into the tall breakers. He does this for about a minute and then 1st Assistant Director Sholto Roeg waves him back. Wilson starts to high-step back toward the camera. Off to "camera right" a waiter now stands holding a tray. On it is a blue drink, garnished with a skewer of sliced pineapple and a couple of strawberries. Quarter slices of lemon and lime are on the glass' rim. It's a very colorful drink. I recognize that waiter! It's Mark Hanibal from the Art Department, the On-set Dresser, pressed into service as an extra for this scene. (They're over budget, remember...) Wilson runs up to him and stops in front of him, grabs the drink, nods to the waiter, takes a few swallows of the drink, sets the glass in the sand, turns around and walks back to the beach. "Cut!" Todd says as Wilson gets right up to the water. The take is repeated two more times. The camera is reset for close-up action. Lisa Rinzler, Director of Photography) gets down in the sand with her camera. The glass is partly refilled this time (after all, Wilson drank some from it), placed in the sand and Now Scot gets to do his "special effects", making the drink glass topple over in the sand. Scot it to the left, outside the frame. He's rigged the beige sewing thread to the stem of the glass. "We need water to wet Wilson!" someone says. Wilson's feet and hands are in this shot too. I grab a couple of bottles of drinking water and walk over to the star. I hand Philip one bottle and he pours it over his arms below the elbow. We swap bottles and he pours water on his legs below the knees. He removes his robe. "Action!" Sholto calls out. As Todd gives the signal, Scot pulls the thread and the glass falls toward him. Perfect!... You'd think. But no! Even a simple scene like this has to be reshot. "Let's do a reset!" I hear Scot call out. I know what that means now as I have watched Tyler in action before (and we DO miss Tyler...) I have anticipated Scot's request! I have already rinsed the other glass with water and filled it half full of ice cubes. As he turns around to see where his "reset" glass I am pouring three fingers of blue Gatoraid in the glass. Scot stays in position. Now Carmen Soriano (Script Supervisor) comes over and makes sure the fruit garnish and two red straws are in place and positioned properly. "Wash off ALL that sand," she tells me. Oops! I had overlooked three grains of sand, stuck to the bottom of the bowl-part of the glass... I pour some more water and wash them off. "Don't hold the glass there. Hold it by the stem!" she says. "You make finger prints on the glass!" Even a simple blue drink gets fussed over! Carmen takes the glass to Scot. "We need water for Philip." someone says. I grab two more bottles of drinking water, walk over to Philip and he wets his arms and legs. "Aaand Action!" As I start to watch the second take I hear someone whisper: "No water. We have no more water." What? No water! §¶•ªº$%^&! I'm sure they'll want to do this several more times. And already we're out of water! Then I realize that I am standing near billions and billions of gallons of water! Why not? He's supposed to have come out of the water, right? I grab two empty water bottles and run over to the water, being careful to stay out of the picture. I bend down to fill the bottles. &* §¶•!! The water runs away from me. I go after it. We've got to have water, and I am determined to get some! "Cut!" I hear. My bottles aren't even one third full yet! Aha, here some water rushing toward me. I bend down again. Finally I get the bottles under water. I squeeze them first so I can suck the water into the bottles. All of a sudden another wave rushes in and I am up to my knees in water. &*¢ •ª•!! But they are full now and I run back to the set. Knowing what's coming, I quickly put the bottles down, grab the empty drink glass, rinse the sand off, fill it half full of ice cubes, put the fruit stuff back in it, and pour the blue Gatoraid in it, three fingers high... "Another reset!" I hear Scot call out. I'm done! Scot comes over and reties the string which had come off. Carmen straightens the fruit out. No sand this time and I am holding it by the stem... "A little more blue, Frits," Carmen says. I pour another ounce into the glass and then Scot takes it. (The photo shows from left to right: Sholto Roeg, Andrea Sweet, me, Scot Broadus and Carmen Soriano.) "Ready, everyone?" Sholto yells. "Water for Philip," someone says. But I'm already on the way, a water bottle in each hand. Philip wets himself... And then it's "Action!" again. I run back to the water and refill the bottles. I get better at chasing the running water. I have learned to go deeper, but now I am soaked to above my knees... Back I go again. There are two more takes! Then it's a wrap and everyone moves to the resort hotel's pool area where the next couple of scenes will be shot. The pool scene involves a couple of co-stars and some background extras. A woman and her young son who were at the beach earlier were asked to be in this scene as extras. The other actors arrive, Trace Turville and Jim Wise, their character described in today's call sheet as "Bland Woman" and "Bland Man", meaning nothing special, run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen... The camera dolly tracks are assembled, the camera is finally set up, and the chairs and tables all rearranged to suit Lisa and Todd. The extras are placed in the background. Philip and his two co-actors are seated at one of the tables. A plate of crab claws, a hot sauce bottle, drinks a camera and a handbag are on the table. Several spectators are standing around waiting for the action to start. Finally they start filming. Philip appears to enjoy munching on crab claws! They do about five takes, each taking about three minutes. Scot does all the resets. I decide to stay out of his way here as the set is a bit tight. In between takes he refills the drink glasses and replaces the crab claws that were eaten. After this scene they do close-ups on Philip, and then the camera is reset for close-ups on "the bland couple" from a slightly different angle. There is a break, and Philip Seymour Hoffman walks off the set toward where I am standing. I have my camera with me. Philip appears to be in a good mood. A lady who has been standing next to me walks up to him and asks for his autograph. "Sure!" Philip says and he smiles at her. "What's your name?" She tells him and he starts to write something on the piece of paper she has handed him. I snap their picture. The lady happily walks off, and Philip walks toward the steps near me. I take his picture just as he raises his head. He looks at me (I'm sure he recognizes me...), but unfortunately Philip smiles after I snap the picture. After the break the bland couple's close-ups are filmed. Then later in the afternoon a move is called back to Mobile to the Rest Inn, where a night driving scene will be shot. But first a late lunch will be served at the Guest House Inn, where the crew is staying. But I am hungry (no breakfast...) and I stop at a MacDonald's and grab a fish sandwich and a strawberry shake to go... When I get to Mobile I catch up with the props truck and I follow him to the Guest House Inn. After lunch we drive over to the nearby Rest Inn, just on the other side of I-65. There Wilson's car is already hitched to the pickup truck. It's dusk, but by the time the camera, lighting and reflectors are rigged to the Saturn, it's dark. The camera is mounted on a "tray" that's sticking out from the passenger's side on the car. The camera is pointed at the driver (a stand-in at this time. He is Forrest Perryman, one of the Grips). Finally they are ready, Philip replaces the stand-in, and the caravan, led and trailed by a police escort, leave to film the traveling road scene. By the time they get back our props truck is already loaded and ready to head home... The crew will be at a Web design firm tomorrow, but Scot doesn't know where it is yet. The company where the original scenes were shot wouldn't let the crew come back to re-shoot the footage that was ruined by the camera that malfunctioned a couple of weeks ago... "They'll probably slip the call sheets under our doors tonight," Scot says. "I'll let you know in the morning where we'll be." "Okay," I'll find you," I say, and we go our separate ways. My legs are tired and I feel sunburned, my pants are still wet, and my shoes have sand in them... I'm really looking forward to a shower. Then to the computer to write down yesterday's experiences. As before, I am again one day behind in my reports... |
