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Day 34 and The Joneses keeps plugging along.  I thought we weren't going to have much crew for the day, given that Frank and Rajah were MIA for the weekend, and I hadn't gotten an RSVP from Mike, but indeed we had Maura (on camera), Max (on sound), Michael (on slate), the return of Mark, and the even more momentous return of Lou "The Bert" Ottaviani.  And his crazy crutches.  We far outnumbered the cast, which was solely Stacey & Tony for the day.  The location was very generously loaned to us by Cheryl Curtin & Stanley Cruwys (Stacey's dad), and they did a wonderful job clearing out his office area to make it Paul's home office for the day.

The first thing we did was take a breakfast break, because it's one of the most important meals of the day.  We all met in Arlington and had delicious scrobbled eggs (I think that's what the waitress called them) and other hard-to-decipher dishes.  It was a good start to the day, and then we were ready for a nap.

We made our way to the location and spent a good chunk of time filling the office with the appropriate amount of photography gear--largely brought by Maura--with tripods, albums, slides, camera, mattes, printers, a light table, and photos placed very specifically by Stacey & Maura so that the room would look like the appropriate mix of organized chaos.  It looked really amazing.  I especially liked the photos hanging across one wall in front of the long light: the effect was really authentic.  We also spent a good amount of time prepping the first shot so we could do a dramatic pan from some antique cameras on the mantle to Paul at his desk.  Maura and I wanted to make Rajah proud, and I believe we did.  We even white balanced!  I know, I was as impressed as you are.

So we began the first scene which had a recent rewrite to it that Stacey & I came up with, making the scene nine times better than it had been a week before.  I actually can list the nine reasons the new lines are better than the two we replaced, but nobody in the world is that bored to hear them.  Although that didn't stop me from telling many, many people.  What can I say?  Smart rewrites are very exciting to me.  What was even funnier was we were able to work in the name Katarzyna (yes, from America's Next Top Model) which was just "playing with danger" given that Stacey & Tony get the sillies everytime they act in a scene together, and having her name was just blooper-bait.  Indeed, they did laugh through a couple takes, but overall the two of them were simply excellent.  It's the very first scene in the movie with just Paul & Suzanne at home, so it was extremely important (I know, I know, I say that about every scene) that the dynamic of their relationship be established perfectly, and these two were just so on that day.  Suzanne has to be bitchy and Paul has to give it right back to her, but it all has to have a real love behind it--and Stacey and Tony nailed it.  When they weren't laughing.

We did have an eyeline problem in that first scene.  Rajah's always talking about eyelines, and I'm of a mind that it's not that big a deal as long as you stick with the 180 rule, but my God he was right.  It was just weird how off everything looked until we made a drastic repositioning of Stacey on the other side of the camera, and then it all worked great.  Also, that forced us to set her up with the stone fireplace as her backdrop (or "wood stones," as I kept weirdly calling them), which looked equally terrific.  Anyway, the scene was awesome, although all of a sudden it was like 3:00.  So I started moving a bit quicker.

A quick wardrobe change for the actors and we set up for the second scene which is the second half of the montage part where Mitch has posted Suzanne's picture on a dating web site.  This part was the moment when Paul discovers it, shows it to Suzanne, and instead of her getting angry about it, she just uploads a sexier picture of herself.  I find that funny just because it's very much in character--I think/hope we pulled it off.  I can never tell with these non-dialogue, ten-second, largely visual moments how well they'll come off since so much of the joke is in the editing.  But we did enjoy watching all of the online men wanting to IM my wife.

Then it was time for a field trip, so we drove to a playground, walked across the weird spongy blacktop, and set up for the "Space Invaders" interview segment with Paul & Suzanne very not candidly explaining to the camera what they want out of their room renovation.  Aside from some wind problems (which Michael did his best to block), the bit was so much fun to shoot.  Paul was sitting on a slide, Suzanne standing next to him--dressed for business--it was funny to look at and even better when they said their lines.  This part always killed in rehearsal because Tony has a knack for doing the "bad acting" that the lines called for, and Stacey was right there with him.  Then we added at the end the funny business of having him being cued offcamera to slide down the slide, which worked out so well.  On the last take, we also tried having Paul mouthing out a few of Suzanne's words as she said them, making it look very scripted, and I loved it.  The whole thing took about 15 minutes to shoot, we were in and out.  And we then took photos by signs for no apparent reason.

Tony took off then, we stopped by the local Starbucks and Trader Joe's, and headed back for the last two scenes.  The first of these was a shot of the empty office, with just the light table glowing.  Stacey liked the idea of having a screensaver appear on Paul's laptop that showed lots of pictures of them, so she and Maura worked on setting that up.  I started getting a little pouty because I think I wanted to knock that scene out quicker, and everyone's energy was beginning to run low.  We got the screensaver up and running and I did a few quick shots with and without it going in the scene.  Basically we did ten different mini-versions of the scene and we'll see which works best in editing.

We rearranged (very methodically and anal-retentively) for the final scene, which sees Suzanne on the floor of the office.  It was a very simple bit that I probably also made more complicated than it needed to be.  I think it came off very well, and again we overshot it so we can have lots of choices later.  And again, the energy was fading on the group.  We finished up and headed out.  We needed margaritas, so we went to a Mexican restaurant in Arlington that only served wine and beer, then traveled to Somerville and Michael introduced us to an excellent Mexican restaurant.  And, yes, please do not worry--they had margaritas. 

It was a very fruitful day, and our 12-shooting-days-remaining countdown has officially begun!  It is very exciting/sad for us.

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I was not sure when I woke up on Day 33 that the shoot would actually happen.  It rained much of the day before, and the forecast was for more of the same.  But as the day began, the sky cleared up and it looked like we'd be G2G.

The day started off in Saugus, with Max, Frank, Maura, Stacey and me gathering and preparing: we took a quick two-minute drive to our location--the town center of Saugus--to block out exactly how/where we would shoot the missing poster scene.  The local police and town officials knew we'd be shooting and we were told we'd only need a police detail if we disrupted traffic, which I knew we wouldn't unless I wore one of my low-cut T-shirts (which I had to foresake for the production).  Sorry, Saugus traffic, maybe next time.  My crew helped me block out the scene very well, and we returned to our house.

Next, R & J showed up (Gossip Girl is playing on our TiVo right now...my apologies...XOXO).  Johanna gave us some of her coffee liqueur swag, which was sticky and terrific; and we all decided was a great stimulant/depressant for the rest of the day.  Leila arrived, we all got in a few cars and drove to the center of town.

The scene went very smoothly, though there were some technical issues to overcome.  Much of the scene plays out as Suzanne, Renee and then Jennifer walk from one tree to another to post a missing sign, and so Rajah thought it best to try the shot handheld.  We were probably a very funny sight for the town of Saugus, because it was the three girls walking forward on the sidewalk in front of town hall, and in front of them was five of us walking backwards as one big moving blob--Rajah with the camera, Max or me spotting him, Frank holding the mic, and Maura wrangling the cord.  This worked out a lot better than you'd think, although we kept asking the actresses to not stop too soon, but just keep walking into us.  BTW, no actresses were hurt during the making of this scene.

So the good news was that Leila, Stacey, and Johanna did a great job in this scene, and needed very little direction to get where they needed to be.  My only fear and frustration with it was that the sound was not terribly great--between the traffic sounds and the very loud wind, even our fuzzy mic hat couldn't wipe out all the bad elements.  We did attract some very curious passers-by who watched us and hopefully didn't take the missing posters as legitimate.  Oh, well.  They ain't gonna find her, I bet.  We also (yes, on Stacey's suggestion) did one take from way across the street in super wide shot just to give us an editing safety net in case we need to dub/overlay lines of dialogue because of the wind, versus the horrors of dubbing lines later on.  Also we did a LOT of takes, and thankfully Johanna, Leila and Stacey were very patient with the number of times we did everything, just in case some takes were blown (literally). 

Then we all went to the bathroom at the nearby gas station, which was not as exciting as it sounds, but very much a relief after all that coffee booze.  We finished up and Johanna, Leila and Max took off.  The rest of us came back to our house, called our good ol' pal Jim Shalkoski, Jr. and let him know that we were headed his way.

Georgetown was awesome as usual.  Jim Jim Jim had made up a collection of mailers to give to his neighbors for our upcoming yard sale shoot, which I signed after it made it past Stacey's grammatical tweaks.  Meanwhile, Maura transcribed a recipe she liked, Frank did crazy voices, and Rajah and I did our dueling Daniel Plainview impressions about every object we saw in the room.  ("If you have a pen, and I have a pen...I take your pen.  I take this pen alllllllllllllllll the way across the room.  And I write with this pen.  I write it all up!" etc. etc.)

We had three shots to do.  The first was Mitch & Suzanne returning from Victor's house, walking down the street side-by-side, silently, Mitch pulling along his suitcase.  When they reach the Dixon house, Suzanne quickly breaks away and Mitch keeps going.  Rajah set up the perfect shot, the actors did a brilliant first take...I absolutely loved it.  It made me laugh: it was so subtle but so great.  One of the only times we did something once and I realized we'd never nail it better than that.  So of course we moved the camera around nine more times to try different angles and positions because we're crazy like that.  The Shalkoskis (bless their hearts) kept moving to watch the scene and--since this was our first Mark-less shoot ever--somebody needed to accidentally be in the shot no matter where we moved the camera and they filled that void.  They were great about moving each time, and Maura was extremely conscious of Mark's pleadings for us to slate each scene, which she did faithfully.

Then we drove to the swamp in the Dagobah system because Rajah was inspired to shoot Mitch & Suzanne walking past it.  It really was a very cool area to see, and we'll see in editing if it looks right for a suburban area.  But we enjoyed shooting it.

We also needed a shot of Mitch leaving his house for Victor's place, and had the very fortuitous vantage point of the Shalkoski attic which overlooks the "Foster house."  Rajah and I went up into the attic and shot it three times, and it looks great (I snuck a peek at the footage yesterday).  Then Rajah and I set up the camera down the street for the last shot of the day: Mitch walking down a suburban street towards Victor's house.  Jim and Frank were gathering up the mailers, and Rajah and I began to panic because curious neighbors were beginning to approach to ostensibly ask what the hell we were doing on the sidewalk in front of their house.  Jim & Frank approached from one side, while the neighbor came closer and closer.  Maura and Stacey watched from my car in sheer terror of how this would all turn out--either that or they were looking through the pictures of the day.

So Jim and I talked for about a minute with the neighbor who was ridiculously nice and accomodating, and we were ready to do the scene.  In the meantime, another neighbor was mowing in the background and four young girls were running around with a dog on a leash.  We asked if they wanted to be in the movie, and they excitedly agreed.  Again, we had a one-take wonder.  Mitch totes his suitcase past a neighbor mowing, the four girls walk their dog straight across the street in front of him, with a loose dog travelling with them: it was perfect suburbia caught in a twenty-second shot.  We didn't need a second take.  I was overjoyed.  Stacey also came up with a great shot that she fine-tuned with Rajah so much that I'm afraid they lost a lot of daylight by the time they could shoot it as well as it was envisioned, but it still looked really good.  Meanwhile, I killed time with Jim while Frank schmoozed with the entire block.  It was a lot of fun, and a great day all in all.

And, following Rajah's wishes, I will now call this Day 33 1/3.

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Hello Beanywood.... Hello New England Film Makers..... How are your lives going?????

Mine is in the gutter..... This site doesn't even acknowledge my existence after 25 posts & over 14 thousand views....... But hell.... I'm just a nobody BUM that spent 12 year working & living & paying my BILLS in HOLLYWOOD... Ya know... The "REAL DEAL".... A guy that knows SOMETHING about Hollywood... But I'm just POND SCUM compared to the REAL players out here in NEW ENGLAND!

So here's what I've been up to..... I got my first gig EVER out here in New England after almost 4 YEARS OF BEGGING PEOPLE FOR ANY CRAPPY PRODUCTION JOB..... It was as an editor for an online gambling website located in Beverly Mass... The pay was $17.25 an hour.... Just enough for me to buy crack.... (NO Hookers), Just lousy Crack... Anyways I took the job.. Smiled... worked hard... kept my mouth Shut & listened to MORONS Bossing me around.... I did what I was told... & after less then 2 months.... After going through 2 BOSSES... (the first being a nazi, Gestapo Rude Arrogant Loser... Who called himself a DIRECTOR... & spent all day trying to figure out ways to boss me around & I took his CRAP Daily.... HE was finally FIRED..... & then my NEXT boss... ended up being the SON of the owner... A completely UNHINGED, DERANGED, DANGEROUS, PSYCHOPATH of a LOSER who's LIFE'S AMBITION was to be a COP!!!!!!..... Long story short.... This pathetic loser... Who for some screwed up reason had the audacity to claim to be MY boss... ended up CHASING me OFF the JOB by threats of TAZERING ME.... Assaulting ME... BEATING ME up... (Because I refused to TEACH HIM Final Cut Pro) & HE was going to HUNT ME DOWN & GET ME.... All because I refused to take HIS CRAP anymore...... I never got payed my last weeks pay.... (I have since gone to the Mass Attorneys General's Office & complained about my pay & how I was THREATENED & CHASED OFF THE JOB.... & have not been PAYED as of YET.... BU T THEY are still looking into it!!!!!)..... And FOLKS...... That was just my FIRST & ONLY JOB offer that I finally got out here in NEW ENGLAND!...... So ya gotta wonder Folks..... Who the hell else is working out here for MONEY????..... Anyways..... Lets fast forward to just the other day...... After sending out over 2,000... Yes Kids, that's right..... OVER TWO THOUSAND Emails to EVERYBODY.... Looking for ANY kind of WORK..... I RECEIVED a COUPLE RESPONSES!!!!!!!!..... Whoopee!!!!!!!.... YAhhhhhhhhh.....

Here's response ONE: It was for an ad making $50 dollars a day as a BOOM Operator.... Yes sir, FIFTY big ones a DAY!.... I Gladly responded not once.... but TWICE with my PHONE NUMBER & QUALIFICATIONS & RESUME WITH LINKS TO MY WORK...... For $50 Freakin Bucks a DAY!..... I received a email back with NO NAME.... NO NUMBER...... NO INFORMATION WHATS SO EVER......... Just the CRYPTIC Words...... WE might be all set for this Boom gig... BUT HANG TIGHT..... WE MIGHT BE CALLING YOU!.... Zooweee..... Wowee....... THEY "MIGHT" be callin ME???????...... I eventually received a CALL at 7:00 AM On a Sunday Morning &, believe it or not... I MISSED THE CALL!!!!!!...... When I called the number back... (there was no Message.... NO Name... NO NUMBER.... & NO reference whatsoever as to what the call was about) I reached a Women who stated that HER Brother was making a MOVIE & MAYBE he HAD called ME?????..... Believe it or not... I still left MY NAME & NUMBER & REASON for calling & have YET RECEIVED a CALL BACK!!!!!!

Here's an example of another Response from another GREAT NEW England Film Maker........

RESPONSE NUMBER 2: This guy had an AD Looking for a camera man to shoot in DOWNTOWN Boston Mass for 3 HOURS with a PROFESSIONAL CAMERA..... I SENT him all MY info & patiently waited for a reply.... After several hours & hear back from him & the gig paid $60. Dollars...... Thats Right FOLKS..... SIXTY DOLLARS!!!!!!

Whopppeeeeee..... Zoweeeeee......... I can't believe MY good Fortune!.... I quickly & Politely EMAILED HIM right back & stated: Make it, $100 dollars.... & you have a deal!....... NEEDLESS TO SAY....... I NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THIS BIG TIME, NEW ENGLAND ENTREPRENEUR.........

& the FINAL KICKER OF THE DAY....... (This all occurred Yesterday folks, On Sunday May 11, 2008)... I emailed an AD FOR A BIG NEW ENGLAND CASTING COMPANY Looking for a CASTING DIRECTOR.... I told them, my background was primarily in Video Production, But that I was looking to EXPAND my horizons & felt that I could be quite good at working for a New England Casting Agency considering that I spent 12 years Working & Living in Hollywood California & that I have over 30 years in the Entertainment Business.......

I will now give you an EXAMPLE OF OUR EMAILS:


MY FIRST EMAIL RESPONSE TO THIS AD FOR WORK AT A NEW ENGLAND CASTING AGENCY:

On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 12:29 AM, Craig Amabello wrote:
Hi,
I noticed your post... I am qualified in video production & have over 30 years experience in Show business... I would like to speak with you about this position... Maybe I could be the right candidate for the job... I am looking to expand my horizons & would feel right at home dealing with many sorts of talented actors, etc.

I have enclosed my resume for you to look at.
Thanx's
Craig Amabello
Located in: Southern New Hampshire.
Contact me @: [email protected]

And of course my resume shows my MANY YEARS EXPERIENCE IN VIDEO PRODUCTION....

I then receive THIS BACK AS A REPLY FROM THIS BUSINESS PERSON...

On May 11, 2008, at 1:58 PM, XXXXXXX wrote:

Hi,

What can you offer Our Casting Company?


SO I THEN.... CALMLY... PROFESSIONALLY..... ANSWER HIM BACK WITH THIS, SINCERE RESPONSE!


On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 2:23 PM, Craig Amabello wrote:

A) I'M HONEST......
B) I'M HARD WORKING......
C) I'M INTELLIGENT.......
D) I AM GOOD WITH PEOPLE......
E) I'M CREATIVE...... I write, make music, do photography & do Video....
F) I CAN SHOOT VIDEOS OF YOUR TALENT FOR AUDITIONS
G) I CAN SHOOT STILLS OF ALL YOUR TALENT FOR HEAD-SHOTS, ETC.
H) I CAN GIVE DIRECTION.... OR I CAN TAKE DIRECTION... I'm a team player.

And I have a good, basic, common sense about ALL the basics of Show business.... With over 35 years involvement.

Do you have any other questions that I could answer for you?
Please feel free to ask me anything.
Thanx's
Craig Amabello



and this piece of crap MORON scum-bag HAS THE AUDACITY TO EMAIL ME BACK & SAY!


On May 11, 2008, at 2:26 PM, XXXXXXX wrote:

Thats wonderful Craig...but really didn't answer my question. WHAT CAN YOU OFFER MY COMPANY?



So I email this absolutely, Arrogant, Delusional, Hollywood WANNABE .... THIS RESPONSE:


May 11, 2008 5:31:33 PM EDT
To: XXXXXXXX

From Craig Amabello:


MONEY?... BAGS OF GOLD?.... The best WHORES IN THE LAND?... DRUGS?????...... An Invitation to the White House????

DUDE.... I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU MEAN BY THAT QUESTION???

IT'S A VERY NEBULOUS QUESTION.... VERY VAGUE..... VERY ESOTERICAL????

PLEASE.... I'M JUST A DUMB COUNTRY BOY WITH NO COLLEGE EDUCATION....

I LIKE THINGS SIMPLE & SWEET & SPELLED OUT FOR ME!!!!!!


I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU WANT ME TO SAY??????

I AM NOT GOOD AT PLAYING GAMES....... I'M A SIMPLE GUY......

REALLY DUDE..... DON'T YOU THINK YOUR GETTING A LITTLE STRANGE WHEN I DO THE BEST I CAN TO ANSWER SUCH AN OPEN ENDED QUESTION SUCH AS YOU GAVE ME & THEN YOU EMAIL BACK & SAY I DIDN'T ANSWER YOUR QUESTION????

CHRIST........ TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT??????????


This ALL pretty much explains MY HATRED TO THE NEW ENGLAND FILM COMMUNITY...... ALL THE PEOPLE THAT I HAVE COME IN CONTACT WITH OVER THE PAST 4 YEARS ALL ARE SO DESPERATELY ATTEMPTING TO " MIMIC" WHAT THEY THINK HOLLYWOOD TYPE PEOPLE WOULD ACT LIKE...........


PEOPLE.... THIS IS SO EVER WRONG!!!!.... Will will you people ever learn??????

Hollywood is made up of MOSTLY money GRUBBING sharks that would RAPE your lil sister or your mother for the next BIG DEAL!!!!

So many of YOU "NEW ENGLAND" FILM PEOPLE are so DESPERATELY TRYING TO MIMIC & FOLLOW THIS TYPE OF ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOR that it is DESPICABLE!.... DISGUSTING!!!!!!..... DEPLORABLE!!!!!...


PLEASE PEOPLE....... PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO MIMIC!!!!!!!

TO BE JUST ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD SCUM-BAG DOES NOT MAKE YOU CLEVER..... BETTER.... NOR, PROFESSIONAL.....

WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS HERE FOLKS..... WHY CAN'T WE HAVE THE SIMPLE COMMON COURTESY TO TREAT EACH OTHER WITH RESPECT??????


TRUST ME PEOPLE.... I AM ONE OF THE "ONLY PEOPLE" ON THIS DAMN SITE THAT HAS SPENT 12 LONG YEARS WORKING & LIVING IN HOLLYWOOD....... I HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGE OF THE PLACE.... I HAVE SOMETHING VALID TO SAY!!!!......

PLEASE PEOPLE.... I BEG OF YOU.... STOP TRYING TO MIMIC THE "WORST OF HOLLYWOOD!".....


Try to act like decent, civil, human beings with a little respect for other humans........ Life can still be good this way...... PLEASE PEOPLE...... UNTIL YOU HAVE SPENT THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT I HAVE SPENT DEALING WITH HOLLYWOOD ASSHOLES........ YOU WILL SOON REALIZE WHAT A SIN IT IS.... FOR "ALL OF US" TRYING TO DEAL WITH "PRETEND" WANNA-BE HOLLYWOOD ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!

DOES ANYBODY OUT THERE HEAR WHAT I AM SAYING??????

DOES ANYTHING I SAY MAKE SENSE TO ANYBODY OUT THERE??????

I AM SO LOST & FRUSTRATED OUT HERE IN NEW ENGLAND..... KNOWING THAT ALL I DEAL WITH OUT HERE ARE LOUD MOUTH WANNA-BE HOLLYWOOD SCUM........

IT HURTS US ALL..... NOT JUST AS A BUSINESS.... BUT AS A PEOPLE AS A WHOLE!

PLEASE..... I BEG ALL OF YOU TO HEED MY WORDS.... THIS IS WHY AFTER 12 YEARS OF LIVING & WORKING IN HOLLYWOOD THAT I LEFT!

I COULDN'T STAND THE FAKE... PHONEY.... BULLSHIT... RUDE... ARROGANT BASTARDS ANYMORE!!......

& NOW I COME BACK HOME TO NEW ENGLAND & FIND EVERYBODY & THEIR BROTHER TRYING TO MIMIC THIS VERY SAME BEHAVIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE PEOPLE....... WHAT I AM SAYING IS TRUE!.... I CAN NOT BE THE ONLY ONE EXPERIENCING THIS BEHAVIOR OUT HERE!!!!!

GROW UP....... BE HUMAN.... STOP BEING RUDE, DELUSIONAL ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!

From your very SAD, DEPRESSED X- HOLLYWOOD REJECT...... Craig Amabello.....

I will always tell it like it is...... Please people.... HEED MY WARNINGS!!!!!!!!!!

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I'll be honest--I wasn't that excited at the outset of Day 32.  I'm not sure why.  I was tired from the night before, and I think there was no small part of me that felt a little discouraged that we were about to shoot a scene that should have been done months ago, in a different location, the way that it was written.  The fact is that the change of location came about only out of necessity and, while I thought it was a fun idea to move it from the Foster Kitchen to Mitch's office, it's still a bit frustrating when you have to do it a certain way because of other factors.

So here's what the scene was.  Mitch comes home and finds food spread out all over the kitchen; Ally looking a little crazy.  She reveals that all the healthy foods have been replaced by their junkier counterparts, and that over the course of weeks she has gained weight because of it.  It's an important part of the competition between neighbors, and a funny scene to boot (especially because of an absurd Mitch line that--had it not existed--I might have lobbied to cut the scene altogether).  Anyway we were about to shoot the scene in February, maybe a half hour away from starting, when our location was pulled out from under us.  And so I said, "well perhaps it could work at Mitch's office, and make Ally look even crazier if she's brought in all this food and spread it across his desk."

Then two more things to debate.  One, Jim's idea to have Ally walk in on Mitch talking with his young attractive intern, which would plant seeds of distrust in her mind.  I thought it was too much, but Stacey liked the idea, so we figured it was worth trying.  The second thing was do we shoot entirely in his office, or just open in his office and then move to the office cafeteria?  Given that we had no extras, I thought the office made the most sense, but Rajah and Stacey both thought it better to move to a different location.  I give you all this backstory to point out that: a) I think the scene worked even better in my new version at his office, because it gets us out of the houses a bit; b) Jim & Stacey were right adding the intern role--it does work towards character development very subtly, but it's there; c) of course Rajah & Stacey were right that the cafeteria was more dynamic, and in fact the wall against which we shot--as Stacey swore it would--looks awesome on film.  Lemons to lemonade, and how refreshing it all was!

I was quickly surprised and very happy with how the shoot went, and I owe a lot of it to my team.  Stacey & I came with Rajah and Maura, and we met up with Mark, Max, and our cast of Jim, Amy, and Val (playing the intern that we kinda named Rebecca afterwards).  We set up and lit the cafeteria so it was good to go by the time the cast arrived (which may be a Bjort first!), and then shot the office part first.

We walked into the office which was even more bare than the last time we shot in it--no computer this time--although there was a blue water bottle on the desk with a Post-It on it that said "Poison Water Bottle."  This would have struck me as more funny if I didn't know the story: bottles had been given out to employees, but then determined that they may be made of some mildly toxic material, so they cautiously recalled them.  Either way, it's pretty funny to see that written on a Post-It on a water bottle. 

We very quickly grabbed some office-y documents, put Jim & Val in their positions, and started shooting.  It went great, I was really pleased with how naturally the scene played, and we brought Amy in to stand in the doorway and watch as Val exits.  It was one line, very small movements and reactions--but it came off very very well.  We even were able to block that dreaded thermostat with Amy's head (you're welcome, Rajah)!  Kudos to all three performers who took a twenty-second scene and loaded it with subtle importance.

Then me and the Funshine Gang (as I named Stacey & Maura) walked out on the deck off the cafeteria and looked out on Boston on this rainy day.  I believe Rajah had dreams of shooting the next Batman movie up there, and while I asked Max to write it that night, I don't believe he did write the next Batman movie that night.  Meanwhile, Stacey read a book that was written by a doctor and his mother, which was goofily titled as such on the cover.  We made fun of him and his mom a lot.  Also there were lots of weird phrases that came up, such as "Max, please don't bleed in me today": Rajah's warning for Max to not repeat the basketball-related bloodshed he had endured the previous week.  And my deck exclamation to the raining heavens, "Why you gotta drizzle all up in my piece?" which really did not sound very good at all.  Oh, and there was a secret passageway in the cafeteria that I discovered and then entertained everybody by utilizing over and over again!

As you can see we were working very hard.  Then everybody took food from the fridge, which you are on the honor system to pay for, but the cashbox wasn't there to leave money, so we threw the honor system out the window.

Oh, yes, back to the shooting.  It was terrific.  Simple shots, and great performances by Jim and Amy.  I was smiling from ear to ear as I watched on the monitor, which is always a good sign.  Of course the highlights were getting to hear Mitch say, "Abre los ojos, Ally!" our absurd line, and Ally constantly shoving a hot dog into Mitch's mouth.  We went through a whole pack of hot dogs, and it was probably more fun than it should have been to terrorize Jim that way.  By the last hot dog I got a take where he wasn't smiling as it was forced into his mouth.  Again, silly, I know, but I liked it a lot.  And Amy had hot dog juice to deal with after every take.  Absolute pros these two. 

In the end, we had a lot of fun, finished ahead of schedule, and I think the scene is going to be a memorable part of the movie.  Also we didn't get kicked out which is always a nice change of pace!

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