It is a hot Saturday August morning and I pass thru the front room as my son sits watching cartoons and munching on a bowl of cereal. I can see my wife getting dressed in the next room.
“Are those organic fruit loops?” I ask, as I’m about to make a clean getaway.
“Where are you going?” She says.
“Um, I’m helping the guys that are making the Londinium film…you know, that Victorian movie.” I reply as I slither out the front door.
“Excuse me! What about your son?” She says and there is a hint of resentment in her voice.
“Hey Buddy! Get your jeans and sneaks on---we’re going to the park!” I say cheerfully. “These are my favorite cartoons.” Justin says rooted to his spot on the rug, but the wife is still glaring.
I finally make my way to Prospect Park at about 11:00 AM. I’ve completely missed the first scene of the day. When I get there I see Eddie and a few crew people waiting for the carriage to pass by. They have a second unit to cover a few exterior shots as the horse and carriage go by. Thom gets me up to speed on the scene. In A Kiss is a Kiss is a Kiss (an earlier entry) I describe the moment when Victoria and Richard have their first kiss. Overwhelmed by her feelings and propriety of the day Victoria asks Richard to leave. He does. After a few days Victoria is in a funk. She can’t stop thinking about him, she won’t eat, she can’t concentrate, etc. Charles suggests she find good company and take a carriage ride. Alas, she invites her cousin Catherine Burroughs who is responsible for introducing (or rather, re-introducing) them in the first place. Catherine is a grand dame of the English theatre on par with the likes of Ellen Terry or Sarah Bernhardt just not as famous. Catherine and Richard are what are known as ‘friends with benefits’, however their relationship plays out more like the war of the roses. Thom’s cell phone buzzes. He jumps off the path out of mic range to take the call. Apparently the handful of extras that were scheduled for today got the date wrong through a miscommunication with the 2nd AD. Thom whistles for Eddie Joe. Another phone call is made and Eddie is gone in a flash.
Finally the carriage comes clopping up the road. Ms. Damon is sitting with another woman, Judy Krause who is playing Catherine Burroughs. She is an absolute knockout! And I swear I’ve seen her before. I know she’s done some commercials and most likely other Independent films. I try and IMDB her on my crackberry but I am immediately needed to help move equipment. We set up for the second scene near a Victorian fountain on the south side of the park. The ladies look like they’ve just walked onto the set of The Age of Innocence. Stunning! As the women stroll through their scene Thom lends me a pair of cans so I can hear the dialogue. Catherine tries to finesse the secret to Victoria’s discontent from her by implying she should have an affair. Finally Victoria opens up and admits that she is smitten. When Catherine asks who it is Victoria replies, “A Painter.” The look on Catherine’s face is priceless and moves effortlessly from concern to disdain to jealousy and impending cruelty. Judy’s character is something of an Annette Benning role. Conniving and ruthless but with refined meanness and cold-hearted resolve. Ms. Krause does it better, though. She will steal this movie. I know it. The camera loves her. She is luminous in the light. Just then Eddie Joe shows up in a Victorian morning suit and bowler ready for his close-up. On his arm is Pat Sullivan’s mother, Mary, dressed in Victorian finery and ready to be in pictures. There are a few other people that Eddie rounded up spontaneously to fill in this park scene. As Thom helps the AD choreograph how the extras move and when to cue whom, the director works with the actors. Eddie turns and says, “Thom, was that good? I need a few pointers.” Ahhh, the art of ball busting.
“Yeah, Eddie keep your face turned toward the actresses because the back of your head is your best side.” Thom replies.
“ Do me a favor, Thom, don’t give me line readings on this scene, please.” Ed adds.
“What are you talking about---you don’t have any lines! You’re a friggin’ extra!” Thom counters. Eddie just laughs as Thom, exasperated once again, resets the extras and waits for action from the AD. Once we get the scene in the can we haul ourselves back to the Fort Greene apartment for lunch. Judy is shot out for the day and the next scheduled scene is between Richard and Victoria.
Whit shows up in John Lennon blue tinted glasses, three days of stubble and his hair in a braid. Stephanie is about to have a fit. “Why did you put your hair in a braid!?”
“Because it’s hot and I wanted it off my neck.” He says.
“We’re going to have to wash and blow it out.” She adds as she grabs his arm and leads him off to the bathroom more than a little peeved.
“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Whit replies.
“ Did Sandy do this?” Thom asks.
Whit sheepishly nods his head.
“Why can’t you tell your girlfriend to keep her friggin’ hands out of your hair, man!”
“What can I say? She likes it.” Whit says just as Stephanie shuts the bathroom door.
“Grow a set and tell her ‘no’ next time.” Thom adds.
“You tell him, Thom.” Ed chuckles.
“Don’t you have a sandwich to eat?” Thom says.
“I can’t. The soda’s flat. Someone forgot to put the cap on.” Eddie says as saunters off back to the lunch table.
The bedroom of the apartment has been dressed and set as Richard’s East End art studio. Impressionist-type paintings in various degrees of completion are set up and stacked against the walls and mantle. The wonderful aroma of oil paint and medium mix and remind me of my days in college in the art department or my days spent at the MoMA studying great works by the modernists. Whit comes out of make-up looking completely different than when he went in. Stephanie is a miracle worker. And may I say his hair looks great. I ask him if he’s tried the organic fruit loops. “No, man. Where do you get ‘em? Dean and Deluca?” Rebecca starts to laugh.
I tell him they’re organic because the grain is grown without pesticides and they are sweetened by that new brownish Sugar in the Raw. Now Rebecca can’t stop laughing because everyone knows how processed fruit loops are and I can’t believe how gullible he can be sometimes. They’re all different colors and filled with loads of bleached sugar.
“Sean, you need to leave him alone. He’s trying to be Richard. No fair with the fruit loops.” Rebecca says giggling as she disappears into make-up. As the scene begins this is the first time Victoria has been to Richard’s studio and she has a secret. When she is ushered in she is greeted not by one portrait of herself but half a dozen. She is overwhelmed. In an effort to show the love of his life that he is operating on her wavelength and interested in her vocation he presents her with the prototype of the first motion picture camera demonstrating how it works. She is mesmerized by the images that flash by particularly because they are of her when she first met Richard in the street on that snowy night. Jules had hidden away and recorded their meeting not because he knew anything, he just happened to be there documenting the street life. And that is how Richard poses it to Victoria, that this new invention if used properly could help bring about badly needed reform by recording the astounding poverty and showing it to the upper classes. If she wasn’t sure she was in love with him before she is absolutely and hopelessly in love with him now. He asks her to stay and not go to New York as she mentioned in an earlier scene. Upset, she tells him she must go and silently leaves taking her secret with her. He is devastated but his resolve remains intact. Stay tuned for more….
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