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Friday wasn't quite as cold, and we did leave earlier, but I spent most of the night on the edge of the river. My hips literally froze. I had to walk like a toy soldier when we were released because I couldn't move my legs. And I knew if I fell, a hip would break. The jacket I was wearing was warm, but far too short. Lesson: in the winter, if you're going to be out for an extended period of time, make sure your jacket is at least knee length. It's the same basic principle for any movie shoot: dress for the weather. We broke very early on Friday. It had been so cold, that even the Blackhawk
was having mechanical trouble. So we were out at 11:30 PM. A very short,
9 1/2 hour day. The wind funneling through the arches at City Centre,
over the subway, was brutal. Then it was onto the subway and off at Union
Square. As I was walking down E. 14th Street, I was stupified to see two
giggling party girls, arm-in-arm, scurrying down the street, skirts almost
up to their belt buckles, tottering on spike heels; and with smiles on
their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. What dedication to business pursuit
- I Love America! By the way, on set, we all suffered. I saw at least three people being
taken away in ambulances. One even made the TV news. And attrition was remarkable; it takes a hearty soul to do six days under
the Brooklyn Bridge, standing all night, in sub-freezing cold. Having
been in "Spider-Man
3," I knew it wouldn't be a picnic. If more of the extras knew
what they were in for, I think more would have stayed. And there wouldn't
have been as much turmoil. There wouldn't have been new people to process
every night with their "I-9s" (citizenship verification). There
wouldn't have been nightly calls from the agencies for new extras. And
payroll, still not finished after a month, would have been much easier
to handle. In fact, I think it would be worthwhile to bring more extras into SAG.
Call us provisionals, if you will. Make our pay rate higher than the off-the-street
extras, but still less than the regular SAG extras. Swell the ranks. I
think it would build professionalism, and actually give production companies
more flexibility and control. We were off Saturday and Sunday. Probably an overtime issue, but it might also have had something to do with arrangements with the City of New York. Whatever. Saturday morning, I had a great breakfast at Gramercy Restaurant at Third Avenue and E. 17th Street. Then to Union Station. In the station, Peruvian musicians, part of the group Raices, were playing. Very good music, and I picked up a CD. Then to Grand Central Station, and Metro North. I visited two daughters at Yale. Because they were in chem and bio-chem graduate and post-doc programs, I thought they might have an insight into the plague devastating New York City.
I was right! A poster at the entrance to Rachel's lab, in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, said: "Have You Hugged a Mutant Today?" I felt right at home. She showed me her lab bench, and even did a quick "Mary Jane" (from Spider-Man) pose for me. |
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Her group was already on the case, dechiphering the complicated RNA sequences of the zombie plague!
In the Chem Department, Zibby works in solid state NMR methods development. I saw the 800 MHz NMR spectrometer that would be vital in unravelling the secrets of the "Legend" virus. I felt reassured that the virus could be controlled, perhaps even eradicated. If only Rachel and Zibby could unveil its inner workings
in time The weekend was a refreshing break. And Monday picked up. This was to be the first night that production would film the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge. "Boom" roared the director. And we all ducked. There weren't any actual detonations or explosions like over at Washington Square Park. No noise. No big flashes of light. But we started to get our acting chops! This is going to be so neat! One of the best movie sequences
of the year. We shot the scene over and over to get it just right. And
there was more rushing the barge. It still surprises me that no one slipped
under the rail, and into the East River. The pushing and shoving could
get extreme at times. I moved back to the area outside the gates. Assignments were pretty flexible. As I was waiting for the next shot, a PA called for extras. Sometimes this is a trick, and you end up in a spot that is super cold, wet and windy or, worse, out of the shot altogether. This one was good: I got be in a little cameo piece directed
by Jada Pickett Smith. Greg and I were in a group streaming by a TV newscaster
who was interviewing one of the evacuees. The interview will give the
theater viewer an insight into the plague which has hit New York City.
Hopefully, Greg and I will be caught on film in the background. Oh, because he is a bit shorter (Mr. Shorty 2U), I tried to leave space for Greg between me and the camera. It seems to be a general courtesy on any shoot. We did the same thing on a Chris Allen music video that Blue Moon Media shot recently in Cleveland at the Beachland Ballroom. Met more great folks. A gal who was a paralegal (I hope I got it right) at a law firm that handled intellectual property. I wish I'd gotten her name, because she worked with film issues - contracts, waivers, releases, etc. She told me she had been in "War of the Worlds" - the scene where streams of people are escaping the City down a closed-down interstate highway (all of the cars had been disabled by a strange, electromagnetic surge). But she said she couldn't spot herself when the movie was released - a fate which may meet most of us when "Legend" is released.
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