|
Friday, January 19, 2001 - Filming at Municipal Park I decided to sleep in a bit to catch up on the diary of my filming adventures. I get up at 7:00. I knew the crew's call was for 6:00... But my flying part is over... I can just go to the set and hang out whenever I want to... As I sit at my computer and write about yesterday's happenings the phone rings. It's Scot Broadus, the movie production's Property Master, the guy I have been helping. "FRITS! ------ where are you?" He sounds a bit agitated. "On my computer, writing about you!" I joke. He doesn't even acknowledge it. He is not in a joking mood, I can tell... "What's up?" I say. "We need you now. Filming starts in about an hour and the Zero ("the black, sinister plane" in the script) is in it." "I'm on my way, Scot!" I say... %^&•†¥§¶!! And here I'm thinking I would not be involved today! It is now obvious Scot wants me to be around when anything that involves the planes is filmed, even the nonfunctional but all-important Zero. It's in several scenes with the star! Oh Yeah - I'm supposed to be the RC Consultant!... I finish up on the computer. I put on my clothes, including long johns. It's supposed to be cold again today. It's getting lighter outside, but skies are still grey. There's also rain predicted again... My feet are still killing me. My legs are sore. I head for Municipal Park... Before I go to the props truck I swing by the lake to see what's going on there. The set is still in total chaos. Cables and equipment are everywhere!. The crew is rushing around. There's a food tent with a grille. Several canopies are being erected. And a little merry-go-round is set up on the bank... In one of the scenes that will be filmed today, Wilson (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), carries the Zero under his arm and wanders into a spectators' area near the boat ramp. There's supposed to be a boat race, and Denny (Wilson's friend in the movie) is going to win it. The rc boat guys are already there, set up in their own little areas roped off with flags. Many boats are on display... There are rc boaters from the local boat club at Municipal park, the Port City Model Boating Association. And quite a few boat modelers came from as far away as Missouri to help promote radio controlled boating. I have to give them all credit, as without them, the turnout may not have been enough to simulate a boat race. There are several local boat modelers: Mark Ellison, Gus Grimsley, Buddy Lowe, Bill Lutz, Jeff Lutz, Brandon Milam, and David Poythress (whose brother Kenny Lewis I met on the set - he's part of the Love Liza Production crew.) There were also boaters from out of town or state who participated: Willie Dennis (Laurel, MS), Dean Dergess and Tony Farmer (St. Louis, MO), David Hall (Birmingham, AL), Kenneth Hildretch (Florsit, MO), Larry Kent (Atlanta, GA), and Bill Zuber (Huntsville, AL). No camera in sight yet. Good! That means I have at least half an hour to get my act together... I go back to the props truck to check the Zero over. Tyler, Scot's Props Assistant, is cooking scrambled eggs, grits and bacon in a microwave, enough to feed 25 people! "Don't bother, Tyler. I just had breakfast." I joke. "Props, dude!" (I knew that...) Tyler is not in a joking mood - the eggs are a clumpy mess! I decide to leave him alone... I grab the Zero. After I had glued the wing together the other evening, Scot had finished it in his hotel room. It's been stuck together with T-pins and hot glue!... It's a bit flimsy... No tail wheel. The front of the canopy has a big gap in it. Exterior parts are missing. Hot glue can be seen here and there. Other than that there's nothing wrong with it.... It looks fine, be it as it may... Nobody but us rc experts will know... Movies are make-believe anyway, right? I head for the set with the plane and set it on the bank close to the action but out of the way. I run into Jack Kehler, the actor who plays Wilson's friend Denny. "Hi, Frits!" "Hey, Jack, good morning!" He shakes my hand. Jack is a great guy. During the past four days he's always spoken to me. He's appeared in many movies. "Five Minute Warning!" Philip Seymour Hoffman shows up and looks at the plane I'm holding. He starts pacing... Tyler makes sure every prop on the set is in place. Scot and I worry about the black paint that he darkened the Zero with will rub off on Philip's hands and his yellow jacket. Scot had painted the plane with Streaks & Tips, a water-based spray for hair. It does not do well in rain! He calls over the Director, Todd Louiso. Todd rubs his fingers over the plane... Yep - it's coming off! %^&• §¶¥! We get some damp towels and start wiping most of the paint off. Even Todd helps. That's better! We're ready again. "Okay, TWO MINUTES!" I hear 1st Assistant Director Sholto Roeg yell out in his thick British accent. Scot then asks me if I want to hand the plane to Philip at the beginning of each take and retrieve it afterward. He or Tyler would normally be doing that. I swallow hard... "Sure!" I say. "Just be sure you hand it over to him the same way every time. You okay with that?" he asks. "Sure," I say. He hustles off... "Get READY!!" Jimi Woods, the 2nd Assistant Director already has the extras in their places. The little merry-go-round comes to life and starts playing a tune. A couple of children are riding on it. Local rc modeler Freddie Gartner starts up his nitro powered 4-wheel model truck and starts driving it along the bank of the lake, as instructed. I walk over to where Philip stands. He looks at me and I hold the plane so he can reach his right arm around the fuse, just as planned. He takes it. I immediately turn around and get out of the picture... I do just fine handing the plane to the star. After each "CUT!" I take the plane from him. They do five takes... During filming Jimi shoves extras into the picture or gives them signals to start moving at the appropriate times and they walk through the scene as instructed... Jimi spots me and walks over to me. "Frits, I think we can use you here... Ahhhh, hang on a sec... LISA!" He calls out to the woman near the camera. Lisa Rinzler, the Director of Photography, the woman who mans the 1st Unit camera and one of the top three people that run the show, walks over. "Is he okay?" Jimi asks." She looks me over from top to toe... "Can you take off your shirt and just wear what's under there?" My shirt is the wrong color or too bright, I just realize. I have a dark grey tee shirt on underneath. "Yes, ma'm..." I peel my shirt off as I casually suck in my belly... "You want it in or out? The shirt..." I ask. "Out. Leave it out." I pull my shirt out of my pants. She looks me over from top to bottom one more time. I feel a bit self-conscious. People are all around and I know they are looking at this... Lisa smiles. "Okay!" and she leaves for the camera. Jimi is back in charge again... "Okay, Frits, stand here and on 'background action' you walk over to that spot over there. You cross over past the camera. Okay?" "Yes, Sir!" I stand where I'm told and I wait... My first walk-on role as a film extra! Is this cool or what!... That familiar Beatles tune returns in my brain... "They're gonna put me in the movies.... They're gonna make a big star out of meeee. And all I have to do is ...." Okay, enough of that.... pay attention... don't stumble or slide down in the mud... don't forget to suck in that gut... NOW DON'T SCREW THIS UP!... "Okay, people! QUIET ALL AROUND! ... ROLL SOUND!" (Sholto)... "Rolling sound" (Skip Godwin, the sound mixer) "ROLLING SOUND!!" (Jimi). I hear the slap of the electronic clap board operated by Matt Gaumer, 2nd Assistant Camera as he holds it in front of the camera. "Marker" ... "Speed" (Lisa and 1st Assistant Camera Martina Rawan) ... "Speeding..." (Sound Boom Operator Ben Williams). "Aaaand Action!" (Sholto) "ACTION!" (Jimi). It sure takes a lot of people to get things going here!... "Aaaand Background action!" (Sholto). "BACKGROUND ACTION!" (Jimi)... The actors are doing their thing but I don't even see or hear them. My eyes are fixed on Jimi... Other extras move into the scene as soon as Jimi points at them. Suddenly he points at me. I start walking at an angle across the camera, toward Philip Seymour Hoffman, a clipboard in my left hand and a pencil in my right... Nothing to it!... "CUT!" "Back to one! Let's do it again!" (Sholto). "AGAIN! ... BACK TO ONE!" (Jimi)... I hear this four more times during the following takes... My walking gets better during each take, I'm thinking... And I'm liking this a lot! Acting is pretty easy!... It has started to rain again... I look at the Zero. ^&*¶•%^! The black paint is starting to smear... I grab it and take cover under one of the canopies. Julia Lashea, who played the concession stand cook in a previous scene is staying dry there as well. She has flaming orange-red hair that flows over her shoulders. She has a pretty smile. She's very friendly and we talk for a while. She's from New Orleans, sings in a band and has appeared in several movies. We have a nice and long chat... I take the Zero back to the truck. An hour later I overhear Tyler call Scot on the radio. After Scot answers, Tyler says: "Scot, send Frits to the truck! I just broke the plane!" Scot looks around for me, but I'm ahead of him! I have already started to run toward the truck. I see him looking around for me and he catches my eye. I give him the thumbs-up sign. He knows that I know. He turns and goes back to the set. When I get to the truck I see the plane lying on the floor in the back of the truck, the wing separated from the fuselage, one gear and the belly pan broken away from where they are supposed to be. %^&*†¥¨§¶•! "What did you do, Tyler?" I asked. ""Sorry, dude! I'm sorry! I accidentally walked into it... Sorry, man! By the way, dude, the spinner fell off again..." I plug up the glue gun as Tyler hurries off to the set. I start gluing the plane back together. When I finish it is stronger than ever! I lean it up nose down against one side of the truck and head back to the set. The looks of the plane cannot be change now, as it has been "established". Tyler had explained that to me before. This means that after a prop has been filmed in a previous scene, nothing can be changed on it as it may have to be re-shot in future scenes, perhaps even up close. I take great care wiping down the Zero. I softly pull and tug on things. Everything is still hanging on... During one of the close-ups, filmed by the 2nd Camera Unit (Sean Finnegan), with a stand-in holding the plane, the prop and spinner fall off... The stand-in had bumped it on a nearby water cooler... &$*(¶•§¶! Fortunately only the left wing is needed in this shot... After they stop, I grab the plane and rush back to the truck. I plug the hot-glue gun in again... The day ends at around 6:00. I help Tyler and Scot gather up their many props from director's chairs to towels, from stale hamburger buns to dirty pans and dishes... As he takes a quick break in the truck I try to snap his picture. "Hey, dude! NO PICTURES on the set! You know the rules!" he says. I take one anyway... What a day! I'm tired and my legs are killing me! My feet hurt and one has developed a blister... I don't think I can do this movie stuff much longer... I head for home looking forward toward the big boat race scene tomorrow... I have to be back at the park at 6:30 in the morning... |
