Today was a comedy of errors on our second to last day of shooting the “Untitled Marc Lawrence Project”. One word:
WEATHER
A film crews worst enemy at times…Mother Nature, unpredictable and unmerciful. Today reminded me of a documentary/behind the scenes of a film called “Lost in La Mancha”. What starts out as a “making of…” turns into a film in itself. A movie that never gets made due to the “cursed” production and all the mishaps that happen along the way. It was (going) to be called Man of La Mancha, starring Johhny Depp. If you work in the film biz, I suggest you watch it. It’s torturous to watch at times but, makes you appreciative you weren’t on that job.
Anyway, We kept trying to do a reshoot of a scene that is supposed to look like winter but, it’s now 80 degrees out and sunny in NY. However, we did have clouds and rain today but, everytime we moved the gear outside, the sun came back out. Again, if you work in film you know how long it takes to move gear in and out of locations….not to mention get the actors hair/make up/wardrobe changed/ready.
We finally got that shot. (had to cancel an entire scene yesterday that I don’t know if we are reshooting because tomorrow is our last day…was supposed to be today by the way).
I will say, at least it has been a pleasure working with such a lovely director/DP/AD dept. etc. That can really make a film tolerable or tedious. As in any job is starts at the top of the food chain and Marc Lawrence is just kind and patient and considerate to the crew/actors.
16 hour day is over and I have to be at work in 8 hours. Trying hard not to think about the Preliminary call sheet we got that says “Be prepared for Anything”.
American Drifter 