The Indonesian Job - Day 1 - Greetings, Blessings - and Where's the Grip Truck?

"Camera truck's comin' in....We're about two blocks away...Where do we park?...Excuse me, where do we park?...Anybody know where the camera truck can park?...No."
-Opening of Living In Oblivion

Crew Call for Day 1 on Terjebak Nostalgia* was 5:30AM. Neither Brian, my AD, nor I have a fondness for unnecessarily early call times, but there was a dawn scene included, and we needed to get there early to get it.

I got there a half hour early, at production call, and the Indonesian crew and Brian were already there. I emerged from my cab with gifts for our Indonesian counterparts.

Reza, the producer, was a huge New York Knicks' fan. Earlier in the week, I contacted the Knicks' PR department and told them I had a guest from Indonesia who was a big fan. They immediately (and kindly) sent over a large bag of swag that I presented, last, to Reza when we met.

My first gift, for all of the Indonesian cast and crew, were NY Mets' baseball caps. My beloved Mets had made it to the playoffs, and I thought it was a timely and slightly different gift. The result: a number of Indonesian crew (not to mention Brian and I) wearing Mets' caps.  (see pic above)

We had some fun with that, especially when a passerby, after being told they were from Indonesia, said she didn't realize Indonesians were Mets' fans. At least temporarily, they were.

What wasn't fun was the grip truck, which had camera as well, being 55 minutes late. We had hired a PA who we did not know very well to drive it (none of our regulars were available). When I confronted him with why he was late, and had not even bothered to contact anyone, his answer was "Hey, it was a long drive from the parking garage."

I let him go on the spot. Things can happen. Alarms can be missed. But simply ignoring the amount of time the trip would take (it was a Saturday morning with no traffic) and then having no remorse for not at least calling to inform us was inexcusable.

My company was the production company in New York, and after going out of my way to greet them properly, and after my team had done an amazing job of putting it all together, this was a total embarrassment. Fortunately, the Indonesians were very understanding.

Due to Reza's quick thinking and Brian's usual ability to make things happen, we got the opening dawn scene, but not before Rako and Reza offered a brief prayer for good fortune with all of us gathered around. It was a very touching moment.

Although they had originally said we would not need a hair person in addition to our makeup artist, I thought it would be best to have one first day to make sure we could establish Raisa's look here, and further, to make a woman who was a pop star in her country feel comfortable here. Rachel, that stylist, is pictured far right above, in front of Monda, a PA we hired who spoke both English and Indonesian as well as an additional translator. He wound up being crucial to the camera department and is now working with them on their next feature!

I was relieved when we made the day. The notes on the production report are below.

G&E Truck 55 minutes Late, PK (name deleted) the driver did not inform anyone he would be late, he was let go.
STJ (name deleted) was hired as PA but informed us at call that he is no longer on this production and did not show up.
Breakfast was 30 minutes late to set up due to us not being let into the location until 5:20am.
Sound reported Walkie frequencies are interfering with sound.

*Pictured above, from left to right, are Eric, our glidecam operator, and Hani and Reza (DP and Director, respectively) with Brian behind them in his own Mets' cap, and their AC in front of him. Reza, the producer, is wearing the Knicks' scarf.

**While I referred to it previously as Letters for Raisa, which is what we called it, the Indonesian name for it  was always Terjebak Nostagia. One is not a translation for the other. As it has now been released with the Indonesian name, that is what I will use.

The Unattainable - Part 4 - Groundhog's Day

"I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank pina coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. Why couldn't I get that day over and over and over...?"
-Phil (Bill Murray, Groundhog's Day)

What's exciting about making movies is that every one is different. What is enervating about producing or line producing indie films is that you answer so many of the same questions, and see so many of the same things over and over and over.

None, I assure you, involve pina coladas or making love like sea otters.

Every department thinks that you are giving money to every other department except theirs.

DP: "But look how many people you have in the art department."

Art Department: "I saw that camera package. Now I know where all the money is going."

Gaffer: "Those curtains alone must cost you $5000."

Costume Designer (looking at back of G/E truck): "I never saw so much equipment on an indie film"

Key Grip: "Those costumes must cost a fortune."

Probably why I like sound and makeup. Sound recordists are usually quiet with dry senses of humor. Makeup folks are love and hugs.

At the end of the day, every department head fights for their department to have the resources to make the director happy, to make a good movie. As my gaffer one day told me when I was waiting on lighting, "We're making pretty pictures."

As if I didn't care about pretty pictures. It's all about getting the money on the screen, but everyone's idea of what part of the screen needs to look good is slanted by their department.

The same "what about me" mentality takes place during the production meeting. Every department needs more time for their answers; every department gets bored when you are taking that time with another department.

Except for production, of course. We just carry the water and try to make sure everyone else gets what they need, if not, necessarily, what they want.

Then there is the schedule.

As a guy who has been AD on more than my share of projects, I respect the hard work that goes into the schedule. For most others, it's a piece of cake.

Locations wants to know why you can't shoot this great location on the day it is available. Casting wants to know why hiring an actor with conflicts is a problem. Art department can't see why you would be silly enough to put two hard sets to dress together.

People look at the one-liner and say, "Why can't this go there?" as if they were doing a crossword puzzle that was a few levels too easy.

It is the AD who knows that each move has consequences, and if you saw something simple, they probably did, too - as well as why there was a conflict you didn't see.

These are some of the big issues. Then, there are the annoying little things.

Water bottles.

Here's the thing: no matter what you do, you have a lot of half-water bottles. Logic would say to buy the smaller water bottles.

Except people then drink half of the smaller water bottles.

I'm not exactly sure why. Every shoot starts with a lot of people putting initials on their caps. By the end of the first week ,reality sinks in.

There are going to be a lot of half-full water bottles, and that is not some glass-half-empty-glass-half-full analogy. It just is.

While we are in the kitchen, there is catering. I did a long post on the subject; suffice to say here that crew will tire of the best caterer, and will have bigger issues with most. Personally, I did not drink one cup of coffee on this set that I didn't bring myself from outside, and that is the case with so many caterers. The world of food allergies, moral choices, religious restrictions and the dreaded gluten-free has meant that the simple act of providing meals to the crew now requires endless attention.

On almost every project, I insist that we have multiple copies of the keys to the vehicles. On a Teamster shoot, of course, this is not an issue - there is a transportation captain. On small indie shoot, there is usually that dreaded moment - usually when one of the crew vans is going home at the end of an overtime day, when someone says, "Who has the keys to the van?"

It's one of the many reasons I love Living in Oblivion. It had me from "Who has the keys to the grip truck?"

On this shoot, the streak was broken. We never had to wait a moment on keys. A first for everything.

No department has enough walkies. If there is an intern to the intern in the department, somehow, it is crucial that person has a walkie.

As a production person, I understand the need for walkies. I also understand that I always have to save somewhere, so if  the grip department's intern doesn't have a walkie, they will live.

Then, there are the call sheets. Everyone needs them, and half barely look at them. Sides are done and distributed, and most get lost or discarded after the first shot. We all know that these things are important, but the truth is, most don't look at them or look so quickly that it hardly matters.

There are other truths.

No matter how well Day One goes, Day Two will have issues. Everyone is geared up for Day One. Everyone is on the alert for problems.

Our Day Two was completed as scheduled, but without the extra time I thought we would have for voice overs.

The person dealing directly with Screen Actors Guild (now SAG-AFTRA) will be exasperated. It's not the money. It's the paperwork, and the penchant reps have for losing paperwork. They just do.

On one shoot, my producer's assistant, who I normally have compile and handle the paperwork, was an all-smiles, sweet Southern gal. One day, she walks into my office in full Tourettes mode. She had faxed/sent/scanned something like her third copy of something, and the rep said they could not find it.

To paraphrase the advice the detective gets at the end of Chinatown: "Forget it, Emily. It's SAG."

We all love and appreciate ambitious and alert PAs. There seems to always be one, however, who tries a little too hard, and gets on people's nerves. I usually forgive these folks. They do the hardest work for the least pay.  They work silly hours and no one notices them unless they make a mistake. Still, sometimes I have had to suggest they tone it down a bit.

The above are examples from this and other shoots, and, as previously stated,  I get that people's intentions are good, to do the best job possible, even if that sometimes is not the way production sees it.

Whenever anything goes wrong, it is always production. My oft-used quote from Christine Vachon, "It's all my fault. Now, can we just move on?" is still my mantra.

People will bring the most ludicrous requests and problems, and expect production to solve it. It doesn't matter who caused the question. We need to have the answer.

People who are perfectly capable of dealing with simple problems at home will ask production to do things that they can simply solve themselves.

That is part of the job, whether you go the AD path or the UPM or line producer path. If that bothers you, find a different department.In the end, it doesn't matter if it was your fault - it's your responsibility.

Again, from Groundhog's Day, as Phil realizes he is experiencing the surreal and living the same day every day, he approaches Rita.

Phil:      "I am not making it up. I'm asking you for help."
Rita:      "Okay, what do you want me to do?"
Phil:      "I don't know. You're a producer. Come up with something."






N.B. I'm sure every department feels they have to deal with the same things every shoot. Please, leave a comment as to your "Groundhog's Day" experiences.

Floating: A Swim in the Woods: Come, Feel the Noise

"Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment"
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

We were shooting just miles from Walden Pond, on another pond, and the image above, and Thoreau's commentary on it, are what comes to people's mind when they think of that part of the woods.

Nature. Beauty. Listen closely, and what will you hear?

A distant bird's chirp? The crack of a branch as some small critter crosses it?  A breeze rippling along a pond? Maybe.

An airplane flying overhead? Dogs howling? Construction? Music blaring from a neighbors party? More likely on our shoot.

We were about 10 miles from Hanscom Air Force Base. Most residents owned at least one, if not more, dogs. It was Fall, and most of the local residents were doing repairs and additions to their homes before Winter took over, and also getting in their last chance to hold parties in their backyards.

Added together, we had about as much chance of getting a quiet take as one would in Times Square.

I particularly remember one touching scene between Van (Norman) and his father (Will). Their relationship was contentious, but this was that special moment when they really connected, when they felt each others' pain, when they put the past behind them and moved forward.

It's not a scene you want to do twenty times; there are only so many "special moments" in them. Sure, we could get coverage, but we wanted one. nice, beautiful master shot, which meant we would need quiet for at least 3 and a half minutes.

By that point, we had a rather complex system in place of PAs stationed by folks homes, where they would bring in their dogs during takes as well as hold on use of construction equipment while we shot. For the most part, they were very polite, friendly and accommodating.

The Air Force, needless to say, was not about to work around our shooting schedule, nor were they about to give us a timetable of flights.

We were about 45 seconds into a take when I heard a dog barking. Was it loud enough to ruin our take? Could we fix it in post? All of my senses were alive, my "spidey-senses" kicked in, as I watched the take and listened to this dog, wondering if this was a good one.

When the director called cut, I immediately sought out the sound mixer, who was not in my line of sight during the take, a take that was absolutely perfect and heart-wrenching.

"Was the dog a problem in that shot?" I anxiously inquired of our sound mixer.

"No, the dog wasn't a problem," he said in the calmest of voices. "The plane drowned him out."

We had been dealing with these sound issues all along, and our mixer had long ago come to accept that this was just the way it was going to be.  Meanwhile, I was so fixated on the dog barking that I had completely missed, well, the airplane. "Spidey-senses," indeed!

Yes, we had to shoot it again. It worked out great in the final scene (which I don't want to show here, as it will be lost when you see the movie - and you should see the movie).

What it does remind me of is this, from Living in Oblivion, the Tom DiCillo film that inspired the title for this blog. Somehow, on that one perfect take, something affects the shot....




Sound was not our only struggle, and in the next post, too much time in the water, and a scene too close too home.

Priorities - Feed the Beast (Catering and Craft Services)

There are points in the chronicles of the films I've worked on that I think it's appropriate to address a production issue at greater length, or expand on a point made in one of the production posts. This will be one of those posts.  I refer to these posts as "Priorities," the things we need to focus on in production.

Napoleon said that an army marches on it's stomach. A film crew is nothing if not a small army.

My "priorities" series has covered serious subjects like script supervisor coverage and set safety. At first glance, the issue of feeding cast and crew does not rise to the same level of importance.

Or does it?

Of all the things I have seen go badly or be mishandled on a set, what should be the simplest, feeding the crew, seems to often be one of the biggest causes of grief.

Let us start with some basics.

On union crew sets, or sets with reasonable budget, catering and craft services should not be an issue. In this article, I will address problems on low-budget film sets.

This entire blog is named after the wonderful film satire on low-budget films, Living in Oblivion, which appropriately opens at dawn. After the issue of 'where to park the grip truck' is addressed, the next question that comes up is about the age of the milk being used for coffee, a question that later impacts a crucial scene when the DP gets sick.

In the digital era, where many of the things we took for granted on a film set are no longer true, the following has become a laughable addendum to many a Craigslist or Mandy notice for crew where pay is minimal or non-existent.

"Food and transportation provided." Variations tell of great food being offered.

All of these notices miss a basic point, which is that providing meals on a film set is not a courtesy, it is an obligation.

Let me repeat this.

Providing meals on a film set is not a courtesy, it is an obligation.

What newbie producers fail to understand is that unlike your traditional nine-to-five office job, the cast and crew on a film set cannot decide that they prefer a noon lunch to a one-o'clock lunch, or whether they should go fast food or brown bag it. A film cast and crew is hostage to the production schedule; they eat when and where production decides.

This may mean they are in the middle of a remote area, or breaking for lunch at 3AM. Lunch on non-union sets is often a half-hour from last man (crew, not production) through the line, and rarely a full hour.

If properly arranged, this meal happens no later than six hours from the end of breakfast, or whatever passes as the meal when cast and crew arrives on set.

This means that production is, and should be, responsible for the meals provided. That includes deference to food allergies and dietary concerns, including vegetarians.

Let us get this straight. Salad, alone, does not constitute a vegetarian option, and if your other "vegetarian" option is a dairy-based pasta, you are failing to realize that dairy-based foods are heavy and poor choices for an intermediary meal; that many people beyond childhood are lactose-intolerant, and that dairy is an animal product, not appropriate for vegans.

Again, if you were on most traditional jobs where an hour lunch of the employee's choosing were the norm, this would be the problem of the employee. Because you are determining the where and when of meals, this is your responsibility.

First meal, or "lunch," which can happen at some very un-lunch-like times, must be a hot meal. That excludes cold cuts and tuna sandwiches. Again, folks, remember that the crew, especially those folks carrying that heavy equipment, are expending a good deal of energy, and that needs to be replenished.

The tradition also states that while Chinese take-out and pizza are acceptable as second meal (the meal owed if crew is still being asked to work six hours past the end of first meal), it should not be considered acceptable lunch fare.

As with many of my posts, this is the point at which veterans roll their eyes and ask, "Why do you have to explain this? We all know it."

In fact, many of the up-and-coming producers do not know these basics. For the rest of you, go to the Cliff notes.

Having addressed lunch, lets talk about breakfast and craft services.

I cannot tell you how often I have seen producers get craft services wrong. On The Rook, my wonderful Assistant Director, Van, and I would go out at the end of a long day to replenish the craft service table because our PAs in charge of craft services kept failing to provide basics.

What are the basics?

Coffee. Caffeine is needed for people who do not get the proper rest. which is all of us in film. Tea for those who do not drink coffee.

Again, where budget permits, you should be hiring a craft service person, someone who does this regularly and will devote their time to getting it right. If that is not an option, then at least have a dedicated PA, or rotate PAs for that position.

In the last few years, I have often gotten this reply when a PA was faced with a large coffee pot and a can of coffee: "I buy my coffee at Starbucks. I don't make it." Here is a hint. The only variables involved are a pot, probably a filter, coffee and water. You have mastered Avid color correction in film school and calculus in high school. You can change lenses on a RED blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back. You can write code for your webpage.

In short, you can do this. Go on your Ipad and Google the instructions from the coffee pot manufacturer if the internet assist makes you more comfortable. If need be, I will even take the time to show you - the first time.

DO NOT depend on those boxes from Dunkin' Donuts or even Starbucks. An hour or less after they hit set, they will be cold, people will stop drinking it and you will be tossing it. Not good for the crew and not cost efficient. Everyone loses.

Cold Water bottles for crew is a must. Raise your hands if you need a lesson on how the body needs to be hydrated to function properly.

Healthy alternative. One of my contemporaries, who came up old-school, always stressed having donuts and various offerings with sugar to keep people going. The health nut in me rebelled, but I have no problem offering this to those who will not come around to a healthier life-style. For the rest, there needs to be fruit, legumes (nuts and such) and veggies on the craft service table.

One of my favorites for crafty is miso soup. Yes. it has a high sodium content not good for those of us, like me, who have high-blood pressure. However, it is an inexpensive snack that serves as a valued part of breakfast in much of the Asian world because of its restorative properties. and it offers energy without the crash that accompanies sugar.

One of my fondest shoot memories was of a film we did in Massachusetts where crafty was done by an aging hippie couple. Once the wife discovered that I loved her homemade miso soup, she made a point of bringing it to me on set (I was an AD on the shoot and often did not make it to the craft service table).

Which reminds me: if you are a PA, when you decide to go to crafty, remember the folks on first team and stuck by camera like the DP, operator, AC, not to mention talent, scripty, the director, and, if you like getting hired on the next shoot, the First AD. We remember.

All of the helpful tips I offer here do not need to cost production anything beyond what bad catering and crafty offers. No, three-day old bagels do not constitute a reasonable breakfast offering, but alternatives that do not cost much more are available.

If catering and crafty are taken seriously, there is no reason why this needs to be a problem. If they are not, watch out.

As with all of my posts, I welcome suggestions and creative solutions others have found.