Doug's Production Diary 23

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Today was one that had been looked forward to for some time, lemme tell you. Bob Bene from the Willoughby Brewing Company was really cool about letting us shoot there, and EVERYONE was excited to see Brian Shapiro in action as Frankie Chains.

Man, it was worth the wait!

Brian looked phenomenal in his tailored Ticknor's duds, and the W.B.C. looks awesome on film!
Our first challenge began, really, the night before when all our extra help bailed on us. No "Make-Up Girl," no Brandy, no Gina. Dan and I quickly summarized what we had available and adapted to that. So Frankie's show became one of budget cuts itself: the Make-Up Girl got a better gig on Sally Jesse...powdered sugar buzz subbed for cocaine habit...craft services quite...and apple juice is better than Irish whiskey on an aging body. Jay was great as Frankie's Stage Director, and because of our changes he got extra lines, screen time, and even a close-up!

So our first shot - the Long Pan, went very well.

Then the acting began, and Brian was stellar. He takes direction well, really does a lot to establish his character, and is very cognizant of continuity. Plus, he LOOKED the part so much!
I don't think I have to mention how much storyboards help...but they do (immensely!). There, I mentioned it anyway.

The rest of the shoot at the Brewery went smashingly, and we got all the footage and angles we needed, including Brian's "Promo Spot" for the Frankie Show to use throughout the film. It was great!

Our good luck followed us the rest of the day, as we went from place to place to fill out our scene. Bobick's Golf was really cool - good example of what carrying a camera and equipment can get you! They let us shoot in their private driving range area. A few on-the-fly changes and this segment came out great! Check out the "way to dive right into it..." line - sweet! We came up with a little gimmick for Frankie where we start each part with a close-up and then zoom out to show the new locations - it worked superbly. Frankie quickly endeared himself to us all and hopefully this will translate into the film as well.

Clark Street Convenience was very cool, too. They lady on shift (Jimmie Dawson) was our movie clerk and she was fantastic - this part will knock 'em dead for sure!
Arabica segment went very smoothly too, except for the sound which is atrocious but we can easily re-do that. The Point Park segment was equally smooth (on the Tech Center steps) and the segment down by the river was a lot of fun too.

Only one more segment is needed for this scene - the "sun tanning/boat dock" segment which is my personal favorite. I've had this part in mind for a long time!!
Our shoot was from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. A long one (who keeps THOSE kind of hours?!). But so completely worth it. As usual, this shoot was easier and another step forward in improvement.

Afterwards we watched all the raw footage (45 minutes) and all agreed it was fantastic.

One more scene in the bag...

Almost there!!