Day 2 -- March 14, 1992
It's after 4:30pm on day two. Even if I left now I wouldn't be able to pick up Emily at the airport on time. The schedule for the day was to finish the "drinks" scene from yesterday, then shoot the outside stuff, then do staircase steadicams, and then after lunch, shoot the bedroom flashback. The "after-lunch-bedroom-flashback" is the one scene that I'm not in, so as far as the schedule was concerned, I would have had ample time to get to LAX for Em. You have probably guessed that I am not on my way to the airport, but instead entering my sixth hour of inactivity while I wait for them to get to the staircase steadicam. The shots going on now are, in fact, flashback shots. So I've been trapped here by the shooting sequence.
As far as today's adventures go, nothing has improved. The tension between Gabor and Tracy gets worse every moment, and I really know very little about the power set-up, so I don't who's more to blame. And then there's Allen who tries to forge ahead and upsets both of them, not only because he is compromising what they're trying to do, but also because he's right. Time is being wasted and no one is taking any steps toward hustling things along. Instead, the majority of the leadership's energy is being spent on bickering.
As far as the crew goes, everyone seems to be doing their jobs effectively and efficiently. The sound is going smoothly. Lights and equipment are set-up and taken down at a good pace, but then under-rehearsed and under-planned scenes start banging heads with Gabor's artistic efforts, and the whole production begins to grind to a halt, and most everyone ends up sitting around while lights are tweaked and chairs are moved two inches and certain movements become infeasible because of Gabor's artistic vision. Also, Tracy does not command the authority necessary to put Gabor in his place. That, plus Tracy's seemingly inexperienced status with high-level productions leaves no one at the helm as we shoot down the rapids.
One glimmer of hope today was provided by Chris, the steadicam operator, who shot a couple of outdoor shots this morning. They went relatively smoothly and painlessly. We even got a chance to watch them on playback and it's very cool.
Go on to Day 3.