Day 1 -- March 13, 1992
I'm sitting in my car after a 14-hour day and I'm blocked in by the cars around me. The problem is that I'm done, but everyone else on the crew has clean-up and planning to deal with before they can go home. So I'm stuck. Until... Nage, the production coordinator, passed my car with some bags full of stuff. So, I let him know I was here. "Is there any way I can get out of here?" I light-heartedly inquired. He quickly surveyed the cars amd saw it was hopeless. I offered my polite acquiescence: "That's OK. I can wait. There's no need to make someone come down here." To which he returned, "Of course there is. You're the actor." Now there's treatment I could get used to.
One day down, three to go and we're already weeks behind schedule. One scene was scheduled to be covered in 20 shots. As the evening wore on, that number dwindled to "as few as you need to do the scene," which was found to be about 7. We also postponed an entire scene until Monday, the last day of shooting, and the one day I have to leave at a specific, early time. And when Tracy was asked about shooting on Tuesday, she gave a big "Oh no, no way" reaction to all those around her. So, there may be a problem Monday as the day wears on.
The folks are an interesting collection of people. From Phillippa, the bubbly South African make-up artist, to Gabor, the demanding, meticulous director of photography, to an entire crew of about 25 people working for free. The problems arise from a combination of a lack of communication and a lack of organization and a lack of foresight and an absence of definitive leadership. OK, that's a big combo, but from a planning point-of-view, the schedule was way too ambitious. Too many set-ups and shots and angles in too few days. From a leadership standpoint, the triumvirate of director - a.d. - d.p. is becoming very strained. Tracy had her ambitious shotlist and wants to go with it. Allen knows it can't be done and wants to get whatever is necessary, and then Gabor wants to make every shot so delicately precise that each set-up takes over an hour and then is only good for a line or two. So the next three days are up in the air. What is going to give? Precision? Certain shots? Certain scenes? Or will we self-destruct?
Go on to Day 2.