I wake to find Justin jumping on the end of our bed. It is Saturday and the weekend has begun for him. My wife is oblivious. She went out with ‘the girls’ the night before and the hangover that is due to arrive in an hour or two is still dormant. I bribe my son with fruit roll-ups and a bag of skittles to stop the infernal wave motion. “We don’t want mommy to throw up in the bed. Because that means daddy will HAVE to do laundry and he doesn’t have time.” I say. Wrong! The kid jumps higher and faster making me have to pull a sumo move on the squirt. Once on the floor and during the morning cartoons he devours the sugar remuneration and I plan my escape back to the film set. This could be grounds for divorce since I am not making any money for being there. I know my wife is thinking that she gets a ‘get outta jail free’ card meaning she doesn’t have to baby-sit after a bender, but this isn’t Kansas, my friends, and Glenda is NOT coming. She’ll have to wait for the rainbow to show up on Monday. I’m gonna catch holy hell for it, I know.
I arrive to find Whit decked out in Ripper guise looking dapper and a bit dangerous. It is the first scene of the day and the set looks amazing. Once again the art department has outdone itself. They have created a tinker’s workshop with bare brick walls in the center of their brownstone parlor. It is outfitted complete with wood burning stove, crappy cot and reels and reels of celluloid, tins, cores, camera equipment, glass plates, camera obscuras, cogs, wheels, metal thingamajiggies and whatchamadoodles. Things you might find in Edison’s Black Maria or Henry Ford’s garage. In the scene Richard has just killed Jules and returns to Jules’ workshop to confiscate any and all film content that might be incriminating. Since he is on the run he does not take the time to look at anything and begins to cram the reels of celluloid into this leather satchel. Thom slates. Pat is behind the camera; Ed is on sound holding the boom. The director sits behind the set walls and watches the monitor. ACTION! I watch as the first take unfolds. Richards enters quickly. He puts down his knife and begins packing his bag with all the film reels he can find. He goes to another pie safe and begins cramming the tins and film into his case. It’s taking a while, I think to myself. It’s taking too long. I notice the director’s shoulders are moving and realize she is laughing uncontrollably. CUT! She says. I hear Thom burst out in laughter. Whit stands there blankly with tentacles of film poking and flowing out of his bag onto the floor. He looks like a stoned Sigmund the Sea monster. Thom and Ed cannot straighten up. “What are you? Ursula the Sea Witch”. Thom chides. That is exactly what he looks like. “Let’s get rid of some of these tins and rolls of film.” Thom says in between breaths. “It’s not too incriminating---waltzing out of Jules’ workshop with evidence trailing behind,” Ed demurs. The art department gets rid of over half the detritus Whit has to gather. Thankfully this speeds up the scene. As we begin our second take Stewart Walker arrives and moves quietly into wardrobe. When we break Whit says, “I thought I was going to lose my ever-lovin’ mind! It seemed like the film tins were multiplying like a virus as I was collecting them. Then I thought ‘keep going until cut’. I knew there was no way in hell I was going to fit all those tins into this bag AND the celluloid.”
“Maybe if you smoke another doob you might get it all crammed in there.” Ed says laughing.
“I’m not high or post-high…today.” Whit confirms. “I don’t do that anymore. I gotta work, man.”
We set up for the next scene. Richard has come upon Jules in the park with a corpse. They hear footsteps and make a run for Jules’ studio. Once inside, Richard is determined to see what Jules has been shooting. Jules accommodates and threads up his zoopraxiscope. The film footage is of Charles in a not very platonic embrace with Vincent in a back alley. This confirms the arranged marriage between Charles and Victoria for the audience. This does not bode well for anyone involved except Jules. Richard is curious as to why Jules has the evidence. Jules explains that he will hold the celluloid for ransom and if the Thorntons won’t pay then he will exhibit the scandalous scene at the World’s Fair. Richard has been known to have sticky fingers and it is referred to in various scenes. He puts them to good use and pinches the priceless footage. Then the sepia toned images of Victoria move across the canvas screen. Richard is moved by her likeness and Jules notices that the sometime dodger he has befriended has a ‘thing’ for her. He uses that information to his advantage. Stewart is the epitome of a professional actor. He has great questions and works toward solving problems on the set in terms of character issues with the director. They have a wonderful rapport and he gives his all in a performance. Because of sound issues the actors must react to non-existent film footage. There is a question about eye-line and the director moves in to adjust. Thom suggests a point of reference whereupon Ed declares.
“Ya know Thom is great for those kinds of recommendations. I call him the actor whisperer because he has great tips.” Ed says. I truly think I am about to pee my pants.
“If I could get you to shut the frig up then I really would be an actor---boom pole man whisperer.” Thom replies a bit miffed.
“You know I’m just joking with you.” Ed says smiling.
“Keep it up.” Thom says growing more ruffled.
“Watch this.” Ed says. “I bet I can make him stomp out to the stoop.” This is what my grandmother would call throwing a turd in the punchbowl.
“Leave him alone.” I say. “We have to go outside later and it is hotter than the hinges of hell outside.” It is true. The humidity is unbearable and Fort Greene Park yawns before us.
“Ya know, Thom. You make sandwiches a lot like you give acting tips. You think you could make me a double decker when we break?” Ed says trying not to laugh. Thom stares at him with seething anger. The murmur of the set diminishes and Thom slowly and dramatically saunters off a la Bette Davis. “I’m going out for a smoke.” He says and sure enough he stomps outside to our wonder and glee.
The newbie of the day arrives. It is Tristan O’connor. She is playing Rose, one of the prostitutes in the film. Stephanie takes her in to make-up and by the time she exits wardrobe it is dark enough outside for us to make our way to the local park. We have a couple of extra crew people to handle the makeshift light boxes courtesy of Patrick. The dew point is so high even at 9Pm that we are all mostly drenched in sweat. We rig up out mechanical SFX apparatus to Tristan. She accepts a pull from an unseen (off camera) stranger. And as she tips it back the knife slides effortlessly across her throat. I’m not sure if I wrote about this is a prior entry but our crew rigged an exterminator can with ever smaller clear plastic hoses affixed behind the latex wound glued to the actress’s throat. Once the knife pulls away the pressure of the can is released creating a spray of fake blood and the subsequent ‘bleeding out’. It looks so real that I find my stomach beginning to turn. That is a direct compliment to Tristan who performed the death throes with great acumen. She falls to the ground and bleeds out. It is gruesome and almost too real. Richard is in the park at the same time. I can’t figure out if he is the killer or just in the vicinity. When he comes upon Jules arranging the corpse for his camera I wonder if HE is the killer, the first snuff film director. I also question why Richard doesn’t go straight to the police with the information and eyewitness account if he is not the killer. Why would he be protecting Jules? I know why Jules would be protecting Richard. Money. It is all so seedy and unsettling and truly makes me wonder what stratagems go on in the mind of a psychopath. I find myself trying to walk in those guys shoes to figure out who dunnit. I know one thing for sure. I don’t like their shoes…
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