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11 days until the movie comes out…
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
1:19:00 AM EDT
…and it’s been a long holiday weekend, so I thought I’d hit you with a quick guest blog.
Below you’ll find the rambling musings of Clay Tweel – a recent college grad who started as an intern, was promoted to assistant location manager, moonlighted in the art and editorial departments, and is now an official “go-to guy” for any kind of job where we need someone we can trust. Along with the actors, he was one of the only people on set who could make me and Beau feel old, but the guy could teach a class on how to endear yourself to a film crew in 22 days or less.
When I PA’d on THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, I thought I could have done an awesome commentary track, since I was so low on the totem pole, I saw everything that went right and everything that went wrong. I thought it would be fun to have a commentary from a “man on the ground” on every movie I made, and thought Clay would be perfect. There might not be enough room on the disc (we are busting our butts to include as many extras as possible, like our short films and casting tapes), so Beau thought we should give him a crack at the blog. As is usually the case with Beau (don’t tell him I said so), it was a great idea.
Hope you enjoy – and I hope you’re getting excited (I know I am). The movie is going to hit theaters before we know it.
All the best,
Jeff
-----
Hello everyone. I’m sure if you have been reading this blog that you are probably pretty sick of all the attention the big names are getting. Every time I look it’s some producer talking about “the struggle” or another department head commenting on how much Beau and Jeff “fight.” Whatever happened to the every (wo)man’s struggle, in the fight of his/her life that is simply being part of an indie crew? Well fear not up-and-coming assistants, mailroom clerks, cinema enthusiasts, and studio receptionists, I will let you in a few of my favorite secrets of the making of CRY WOLF.
I was fresh out of college when I heard that a small film was coming to Virginia. When I heard that Jeff Wadlow was directing my ears perked up, as I knew he was from my hometown of Charlottesville; and when I heard that they were going to film primarily at the University of Richmond, my recent alma mater, I knew it was destiny for me to work on this movie. The Virginia Film Office gave me the number for Jeff and some local crew, and I pestered the hell out of them until they gave me a job.
Task 1: Setting up the Production Office
The production office for CRY WOLF was set up entirely by three people: Jeff Anderson the production coordinator, Oriana Robertson the UPM/location manager and my eventual boss, and myself. Unfortunately, independent films do not usually delegate much money for their production offices and this film was no different. In a matter of three days, we turned a shutdown meat packing plant that smelled of asbestos, rotten meat and death into a fully functional networked production office that smelled of citrus death. PETA is right, you can never get rid of the smell of tortured souls. I’m sure it provided Jeff and Beau great inspiration for their last minute re-writes. Once we were up and running, Oriana decided to officially hire me as the assistant locations manager for the rest of pre-production and principal photography. I guess she figured that whatever I had inhaled at AAA Meats was probably going to kill me in a few weeks anyway, so she could afford to pay me until then.
Task 2: Learning Locations
I am highly unorganized. This meant I had a lot to learn about working in a production office. What am I saying? I had everything to learn. I had never dealt with answering multiple phone lines, filing, shrinking script pages on a copy machine to make “sides”, reading a one liner schedule or even negotiating hotel room rates. Oriana schooled me in the way of the samurai location scout: film crews are like monkeys, they should never be left unattended or in one location for too long before it is turned to ruin. Cut your losses. Ambiguity is the warm blanket that keeps people alive on film sets. These are but a few gems she lived by, but they came into use almost immediately for me while on set. The locations department has two jobs during shooting; keep the surroundings clear and quite while the camera is rolling and make sure the owners/inhabitants of the property are happy at all times.
Task 3: Putting lessons into action
During the second week of shooting at U of R, I encountered a slight problem with some students. We were filming a scene with Jon Bon Jovi and Julian Morris in a parking lot close to a few student dorms. With all of the disruptions we had on campus life, and internet rumors, the studentsknew that JBJ was going to be around at some point. Since there is no shortage of New Jersey license plates at the university, Jovi’s first appearance caused mass hysteria. Kids were blasting their favorite songs out of their dorm windows or cars, or simply just screaming his name like he was on stage at Shea Stadium. After a couple moments of shooting glares from Jeff, Beau, and the 1st AD, I snapped back to reality and realized it was my job to shut them up. So here I was racing back into a dorm where I had been doing tequila shooters a year before, to politely tell hundreds of rowdy students to turn down their stereos. As I raced from room to room, I was getting peppered with the same questions. “Where is Jon Bon’s trailer? Can I get Jovi’s autograph for cooperating? How long is the Jovi-meister in town? Where is he staying?” etc. As a young jedi I relied on my training. I played dumb. I don’t know how long he will be in town (4 days), or where he is staying (Omni Hotel), or where his trailer is (W Parking Lot) or how to get his autograph (actually true). And then I cut my losses. I said it was cool if they still wanted to listen to music but they had to shut their windows. Or if they wanted to watch the filming, it was ok to come down to the set, but they must be quiet. Eventually, with the help of half of the production department, we got enough of the garden-staters to quiet down for the shot.
CRY WOLF is the first film I have ever worked on. However, working on a small set like this with such skilled people afforded me various experiences. My duties dipped into helping out a lot of different departments, from craft service to grips, but it was all new to me and thus, very exciting. Everyone was willing to pitch in and help to get this movie made no matter what. That’s what made this experience the most memorable for me. Being a part of a community of people that work long hours, with little pay just for the sake of someone’s creative vision is something that I will always cherish. I can’t wait to work on Beau and Jeff’s next project, because I look forward to joining that commune once more.
Clay
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1:19:00 AM EDT
11 days until the movie comes out…
Below you’ll find the rambling musings of Clay Tweel – a recent college grad who started as an intern, was promoted to assistant location manager, moonlighted in the art and editorial departments, and is now an official “go-to guy” for any kind of job where we need someone we can trust. Along with the actors, he was one of the only people on set who could make me and Beau feel old, but the guy could teach a class on how to endear yourself to a film crew in 22 days or less.
When I PA’d on THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, I thought I could have done an awesome commentary track, since I was so low on the totem pole, I saw everything that went right and everything that went wrong. I thought it would be fun to have a commentary from a “man on the ground” on every movie I made, and thought Clay would be perfect. There might not be enough room on the disc (we are busting our butts to include as many extras as possible, like our short films and casting tapes), so Beau thought we should give him a crack at the blog. As is usually the case with Beau (don’t tell him I said so), it was a great idea.
Hope you enjoy – and I hope you’re getting excited (I know I am). The movie is going to hit theaters before we know it.
All the best,
Jeff
-----
Hello everyone. I’m sure if you have been reading this blog that you are probably pretty sick of all the attention the big names are getting. Every time I look it’s some producer talking about “the struggle” or another department head commenting on how much Beau and Jeff “fight.” Whatever happened to the every (wo)man’s struggle, in the fight of his/her life that is simply being part of an indie crew? Well fear not up-and-coming assistants, mailroom clerks, cinema enthusiasts, and studio receptionists, I will let you in a few of my favorite secrets of the making of CRY WOLF.
I was fresh out of college when I heard that a small film was coming to Virginia. When I heard that Jeff Wadlow was directing my ears perked up, as I knew he was from my hometown of Charlottesville; and when I heard that they were going to film primarily at the University of Richmond, my recent alma mater, I knew it was destiny for me to work on this movie. The Virginia Film Office gave me the number for Jeff and some local crew, and I pestered the hell out of them until they gave me a job.
Task 1: Setting up the Production Office
The production office for CRY WOLF was set up entirely by three people: Jeff Anderson the production coordinator, Oriana Robertson the UPM/location manager and my eventual boss, and myself. Unfortunately, independent films do not usually delegate much money for their production offices and this film was no different. In a matter of three days, we turned a shutdown meat packing plant that smelled of asbestos, rotten meat and death into a fully functional networked production office that smelled of citrus death. PETA is right, you can never get rid of the smell of tortured souls. I’m sure it provided Jeff and Beau great inspiration for their last minute re-writes. Once we were up and running, Oriana decided to officially hire me as the assistant locations manager for the rest of pre-production and principal photography. I guess she figured that whatever I had inhaled at AAA Meats was probably going to kill me in a few weeks anyway, so she could afford to pay me until then.
Task 2: Learning Locations
I am highly unorganized. This meant I had a lot to learn about working in a production office. What am I saying? I had everything to learn. I had never dealt with answering multiple phone lines, filing, shrinking script pages on a copy machine to make “sides”, reading a one liner schedule or even negotiating hotel room rates. Oriana schooled me in the way of the samurai location scout: film crews are like monkeys, they should never be left unattended or in one location for too long before it is turned to ruin. Cut your losses. Ambiguity is the warm blanket that keeps people alive on film sets. These are but a few gems she lived by, but they came into use almost immediately for me while on set. The locations department has two jobs during shooting; keep the surroundings clear and quite while the camera is rolling and make sure the owners/inhabitants of the property are happy at all times.
Task 3: Putting lessons into action
During the second week of shooting at U of R, I encountered a slight problem with some students. We were filming a scene with Jon Bon Jovi and Julian Morris in a parking lot close to a few student dorms. With all of the disruptions we had on campus life, and internet rumors, the studentsknew that JBJ was going to be around at some point. Since there is no shortage of New Jersey license plates at the university, Jovi’s first appearance caused mass hysteria. Kids were blasting their favorite songs out of their dorm windows or cars, or simply just screaming his name like he was on stage at Shea Stadium. After a couple moments of shooting glares from Jeff, Beau, and the 1st AD, I snapped back to reality and realized it was my job to shut them up. So here I was racing back into a dorm where I had been doing tequila shooters a year before, to politely tell hundreds of rowdy students to turn down their stereos. As I raced from room to room, I was getting peppered with the same questions. “Where is Jon Bon’s trailer? Can I get Jovi’s autograph for cooperating? How long is the Jovi-meister in town? Where is he staying?” etc. As a young jedi I relied on my training. I played dumb. I don’t know how long he will be in town (4 days), or where he is staying (Omni Hotel), or where his trailer is (W Parking Lot) or how to get his autograph (actually true). And then I cut my losses. I said it was cool if they still wanted to listen to music but they had to shut their windows. Or if they wanted to watch the filming, it was ok to come down to the set, but they must be quiet. Eventually, with the help of half of the production department, we got enough of the garden-staters to quiet down for the shot.
CRY WOLF is the first film I have ever worked on. However, working on a small set like this with such skilled people afforded me various experiences. My duties dipped into helping out a lot of different departments, from craft service to grips, but it was all new to me and thus, very exciting. Everyone was willing to pitch in and help to get this movie made no matter what. That’s what made this experience the most memorable for me. Being a part of a community of people that work long hours, with little pay just for the sake of someone’s creative vision is something that I will always cherish. I can’t wait to work on Beau and Jeff’s next project, because I look forward to joining that commune once more.
Clay
Written by wadlowwolf Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
10/2/05 3:59 PM
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