Behind The Scenes

 I was really torn about the title this week... I was thinking of calling it  A Man And A Woman And Me or Un Homme Et Une Femme et Moi! I have spent much of my life in a darkened movie theatre lost in other worlds and alternate realities on adventures and sometimes to escape.... perhaps one of the earliest films that had biggest impact on my life was Claude Lelouch's film A Man And A Woman starring Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignat--- I became utterly obsessed with it (I have seen the french and english version and loved both however the adults who dubbed the children's voices were a bit shrill and a titch annoying)... first of all I fell in love with Anouk Aimee and spent the late part of my childhood and early adulthood trying to be just like Jean-Louis Trintignat ( when I finally stopped trying to be him I eventually allowed myself to have a crush on him too) On top of the dramatic romantic story line (I still sometimes hear the music in my head when I am doing everyday activities) I became obsessed with owning a black turtleneck sweater not an overly popular item in Hawaii or LA.... but eventually I found the perfect one ( I still have it ) I also became dead set on owning  a 1966 Ford Mustang and driving it in the Monte Carlo Grand Prix (Had the car but never raced it in Europe although I was a spectator several times)

One of my best friends from college looked exactly like mlle Aimee and I was driving my red Mustang around town... Life could not have possibly been better in spite of the fact that I looked nothing like Jean-Louis Trintigant and I was in West LA and not Paris.

The biggest obsession was...In the movie her character Ann Gauthier was a Continuity Script Girl the title as such no longer exists; now the people who do this job are called the Script Supervisor or Continuity Director--- it's more or less this persons job to make sure that the continuity of film from scene to scene is shot accurately and also to research  and make sure that there are no technical or logistic errors--- I  become obsessed with continuity and ultimately production values to the point where a few people hate going to the movies with me.

Making a movie is a big job and it's not easy. I've been on location, on a set and on a soundstage and on a stage... there are sometimes hundreds of people involved in any given production but it's easy to spot the Script Supervisor... It's the person holding a large notebook and clipboard with a stopwatch around their neck and they are usually only a step or two away from the director. ... to do this job well you have to have an uncanny eye for details for the sets, costumes, props, makeup and hair of the actors to keep the logical continuity of the film accurate... keep in mind that films are rarely shot in progressive page to page script sequence. You have to watch everything from the length of beard stubble to the length a partially smoked cigarette. Above all else it helps if you have done some research on the script prior to filming especially if you are doing a period piece.

There are films that are shot partially on location and part on a soundstage at a movie studio... you would be amazed at the attention to detail that goes into a replication... Two such movies that immediately spring to mind are Murder On The Orient Express and The Other Side Of Midnight... I adored both of these movies for different reasons but I was in awe of the detail that went into filming the scenery that was projected to show in the window of the train as if it were actually traveling from Istanbul instead of being shot in a studio north of London.... on the other hand in The Other Side Of Midnight when they projected the background scenes onto the window frames... the  projection plates got switched during filming and one sequence you see mountains from a bedroom window and in another  scene you see the ocean from the same window.... A few more continuity issues from different movies are...

In George Cukor's last movie in 1981 was Rich And Famous... there is a beach party scene being shot in the late 60's time frame and on the beach is a boat with a sail on the mast that was not created until the late 70's.

In a scene from Bonfire Of The Vanities  Melanie Griffith exits through a door  and reemerges in the same scene having had breast implant surgery (How did her boobs get so big in just a few seconds) I'm only guessing they filmed the remainder of the scene on a Monday after completeing the first sequence on Friday.... but seriously I'm the only one who noticed?

During the filming of The Wizard Of Oz  the length of Dorothy's hair changes three times.

When Kevin Bacon is riding his bicycle in New York City in Quicksilver you might actually notice it's San Francisco  especially when you see a city bus with a California radio station ad  plastered on it's side.

When Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra in the 60's during filming she passes under  a triumphal arch on her way to town... it was actually not built until after the real Cleopatra died.

In The Sound Of Music set in the 30's there are orange crates in the town with lettering  Jaffa Oranges--- Product Of Israel.... Israel was not founded until 1948.

In Foul Play Goldie Hawn is eating lunch with a friend on a park bench and during the sequence of the scene the sandwich goes from whole, to half eaten, to not touched  then just one bite taken and then disappears completely.

During a scene in The Great Gatsby set in the 20's a 1934 Packard is used as one of the automobiles.

Remember the movie Krakatoa East Of Java? Did you know that Krakatoa is actually west of Java?

I could go on and on with this but one of my biggest issues that I just can't  let go of is where the ladies managed to buy false eyelashes (not to mention the glue) in the old west is beyond--- me but seriously where did Raquel Welch find them One Million Years BC?.... OK one more...

In Jaws set during the summer...  The trees in town are practically bare... it was actually shot in May before the leaves had opened on the trees in Martha's Vineyard... OK just one more... (I promise)   when Cybill Shepherd is chasing the train in The Lady Vanishes  her high heels become running shoes as if by magic.

OK so maybe continuity may not be your thing... here are a few other jobs that you may have wondered about when you watch the credits roll at the end of a movie...

Best Boy the Assistant  chief electrician.

Gaffer the chief electrician on a film set.

Grip is someone who does the physical labor during a shoot... similar to a stagehand in the theatre. (The Key Grip is the supervisor of all the other grips)... not to confuse you but sometimes there is also a Best Boy Grip who is the assistant to the Key Grip.

Producer think of this person as the CEO of a film in charge of hiring, firing and financing.  The Executive Producer is often someone in the cast who was given a  bigger piece of the pie as a financial incentive. 

There are so many people on a film project from the writers and wardrobe and makeup people to the catering staff and the people who are responsible for transportation to the men and woman who do stunt work  but before you decide you want a career in film just remember that most are governed by a union and it's hard work with long hours... here are a few more things you might find handy to know...

• Action... the events that happen in front of the camera.
• Dailies or Rushes... the film that is shot on one day is usually viewed the next day by key  people involved in the production (this is when continuity errors are best caught and deemed necessary for re-filming or shrugged off hoping I won't catch them).
• Dolly a wheeled platform holding the camera and camera operator so the camera can move forward and backward and side to side (the person who moves it is  the Dolly Grip)

       

• Establishing A Shot is a wide angle shot of the set or setting often called a long shot
• Flashback a backward jump in time sequence.
• Hot Set a set that is being used for filming or is ready to be used. (Lighting a scene can be very complicated... and the lights make the set hot) ... but the term is related to continuity precautions; signs or banners are posted on a set to warn against moving, removing or touching anything on the set so that the shot can be set up the same as it was when shooting resumes.
• Location is a site for shooting away from the studio.

• Master Shot similar to establishing a shot and  is used to set the scene and  before close ups and dialogue that is shot in one shots and two shots that are done separately using the same dialogue and action as the master shot and are often spliced together during editing to create continuity. (Sometimes these shots can be very complicated and tedious to film--- what turns into 5-10 minutes of a movies actual running time can take 8 hours or more to film)... to help put this into perspective sometimes a miniature set is made before shooting on location was more common and/or when it would be nearly impossible or too costly to to shoot it at life size scale... Superman, Lord Of The Rings and most of the action adventure movies where cities or buildings get blown to pieces.

 

Rear Window  Miniature

Rear Window  Studio

Russian Village Goldeneye

Sometimes it's more cost effective and safer in the long run to shoot in miniature.

• MOS shooting without the accompanying soundtrack; legend has it that it translates to "mit out sound". (for years I thought it meant Music Off Sequence)
• Over The Shoulder is a shot taken over the shoulder of one actor toward another actor or of an object in scene to establish a point of view. (POV) Seen through the eyes of the actor.
• Prop is any movable item other than furniture that  is used on a set... hand props are the things carried by actors.. a gun, flowers etc.
• Production Values  the sum total of the mostly intangible factors that lead to the overall quality of a film from the budget to the range in quality of the people who work on the project.
• Projection Plate is usually a slide which is projected  on to a background to create a scene like exterior windows (see The Other Side Of Midnight above)
• Reverse is a shot taken at about 180 degree angle from the preceding shot.
• Scene is a division of the films action that can take place in a single location or a series of shots.
• Wrap as in "It's a wrap" when the filming is completed... (usually there is a wrap party)

Kuhio Theatre

Before we wrap for the week let me just say I love the movies... I have loved being involved with the filming and I loved spending  part of my childhood in a  theatre and later when I got older at a drive in... I have some of my favorites on DVD that I can watch at my whim but I do miss some of the places that no longer exist where the magic of the films I watched sparked my imagination and fueled me with the drive to visit some of the far off and far out places that I discovered in a dark movie house eating Junior Mints and Jujubes ( Jujube was my nickname until I was well into my 20's) Next week I'm going to revisit some of the people, and places and things that don't exist anymore.

Kailua Drive In

So... let's all go to the movies and have fun and be entertained but  find some inspiration in the talent, beauty and artistry but  believe in the magic even though we now know that... it's only a paper moon sailing over a cardboard sea.

PS after I finished writing I was thinking about the movie Day For Night 
It's a brilliant movie by  Francois Truffaut with a brilliant cast that offers a rare view behind the scenes while filming a movie.