Janine's Vancouver Tour - Friday, July 28 (Part 3)

Inside the Magic

It was 6:30 pm when Mario ushered us into the studio. But instead of taking us straight to the dojo set - site of the next scenes - he delighted in showing us the loft, first. Out of the three, the loft is my favorite. It was really dark in there, but I got out my camera to take a picture of food on the kitchen counter. Mario then offered to take Kathi's and my picture and suggested we sit at the chest at the foot of Duncan's bed with the tapestry in the background.

We then got another peek into Joe's bar and Mario said, "We'll be in here later and we'll put you in the scene, yes?" and his eyes sparkled with glee. I don't know whether Kathi picked up on what this meant, but my heart skipped a beat and I can't even remember what I answered. I can't say I was totally shocked, 'cos Janine Be-Prepared Shahinian made sure to wear appropriate clothes just in case: darkish colors, no words, suitable for various occasions. Nevertheless, it truly was more than I could ever have hoped for. I had awhile until then to compose myself.

Then it was back in the dojo set and right to business. Everyone was stacked up by those ladder things along the wall and chairs were set up for Mario and Rick Wincenty, the Director of Photography. The little monitor which Mario uses to compose a shot faced his chair and flickered in black and white. How he can judge everything with that is beyond me.

The main sequence was to take place in the dojo office with some dialog between Richie and Duncan, but we'd also see Duncan entering the front door of the gym and walking to the office. Before the lights and camera angles could be set up, however, Mario discussed the scene with Stan and Adrian.

Evidently, it was a lighthearted scene where Duncan would get to tease Richie. Adrian seemed to be suggesting that he should push Richie in the rolling office chair and demonstrated it gleefully several times. While Stan seemed to have fun being pushed around, he nevertheless protested the action in a playful tone, saying, "This isn't Home Improvement, it's Highlander!" (Great one for the folks back home, Stan! <BG>) <Janine whips out notebook>

The easy-going camaraderie continued between director and actors as the actions were loosely plotted out and discussed. Lines were said in different ways and everyone shared how they thought they should sound. Within minutes, the basics were worked out and Mario stepped out of the way to allow the AD's, camera guys and lighting crew to set up.

As soon as Mario settled into his chair he was approached by other staffers to settle some future items. Don Parretta, the Post-Production Manager, came up to tell Mario that, "the [special effect] thing is squared away for six grand." Mario seemed pleased. (*So* pleased that when I asked him about it later, he would only tell me what it *wasn't* and said it was a surprise. <BG> This was just one of many signs that Mario takes great delight in making his episodes special. You'll *love* another one of them!)

Don Parretta's news to Mario was actually, "the levitation thing is squared away for six grand." *Believe* me, the alarm bells went off in my head when I heard that and I made a point of asking Mario about it on Monday (Day 2 of filming). Mario's answer was, "Well, it's not Duncan and it's not the body. But I'm not going to tell you what it is. It's a surprise."

It turns out that he was surprised too. During an on-line chat on Nov. 12th (1995), I asked him about the heavily criticized, house-levitating Quickening scene. It was nice to hear him come right out and say, "OK, this is official, I hated it." Unlike what I was led to believe from comments on the set (and since Mario didn't correct my report, I had no other reason to believe otherwise), Mario never wanted the levitation and had even SHOT A DIFFERENT Quickening! Mario's version was "Very tight, ultra tight CU [close up], square inches on D's face; We hear everything and see nothing! CU of eyebrows, eyes, teeth, etc!"

I'll get to Mario's other surprise below.

Then Lori Marshall from casting told him that his first choice for the little boy role (a non-speaking part) couldn't come on Monday because he had to go to a call-back. Mario looked at the photos of the three other boys and pointed to one. And so little Steve Wasstrom, aged 9 1/2, gets his major break. ;j

During one last quiet moment before he had to attend to things again, Mario slipped in the fact that the gentleman who played Bernardo, the priest in MORTAL SINS, just died. Mario eulogized him by saying that he had been really great to work with.

They had to do quite a number of takes on this scene to get it so it would look right for Mario. Sometimes the camera didn't move right or a line got flubbed, but what was even more subtle was the "flow" that Mario was looking for. As we watched the monitor along with him, Kathi and I began to see what he was getting at. It wasn't just those key "marks" that made the final composition of the picture come out right, but all the movements in between. I know that sounds obvious, but seeing it in action gave me a deeper appreciation for what a director does.

On about the fifth take, Adrian asked if cameras were panning while he walked through the dojo. Mario confirmed this and Adrian got an impish grin, as though a light bulb lit up in his head. He then added motions during his walk - turning a barbell weight or looking at himself in the mirror or giving the punching bag a slight turn - but it was different each time.

On the 12th take, after we hear "sound" and "frame," Mario shouted "lot's of energy!" Adrian *leaped* from off camera (the so-called outer dojo door) and made like Superman across the dojo foyer. A call of "still rolling," Adrian quickly returned to his beginning spot, continued with the scene, and it was a perfect take.

When it was over, someone commented, "Twelve takes Mario? This is Highlander, not some movie." ;j

*Then* came all of the additional shots from opposite angles to get the close ups of Duncan and Richie. Never take those pieces of light and shadow on faces for granted boys and girls. They are not some accidental side-effects of objects in the room, but are carefully *put* there by the lighting crew and Director of Photography. Daylight and nighttime are all artificial creations on a set, after all, and if the light doesn't lay just right on an actor's face as he moves around for a particular scene, they move various reflectors around to redirect the light. I later learned that these same techniques are used outside as well as inside.

When that scene was done, Adrian was finished for the day and he took off. So did Krystmas and Jimmi.

There was one extra, tiny scene they had to shoot with Richie getting a buzz and they got it in one take. One thing notable about this is that a buzz is the one time that someone - Mario - shouts off camera while film and sound are rolling. We hear "sound," "frame," "Action!" - Richie acts his part and when Mario shouts "Buzz!", *that's* how the actor knows just when to change their expression. I suppose the director's shout gets cut out when the buzz sound effect goes in. Neat! <BG> Didn't you always wonder how Stan and Adrian knew to change their faces at exactly the same time? ;j

The moment the director signals that they're done with a scene, there is a whirlwind of activity as each member of the crew attends to their equipment to get it ready to transport to the next spot. I had thought I would have had time to take a picture of the crossed axes, but the tide of preparations swept me into the next set.

We entered Joe's bar (by the back door past the counter) and I was a bit confused about where we should stand. My first thought was that I should ditch the large bag I had been carrying somewhere out of the way. Behind Joe's cigarette machine seemed a likely place, since even the area outside the set seemed too busy. A moment later, however, the prop guys said that they have to move the machine into the corner, so I quickly ducked down to grab the bag back. When I straightened up, I banged my head on a breaker box (part of the set). Immediately, four crew members were asking if I was ok. The incident seemed silly to me, but I sensed that they take safety very seriously. When I demonstrated that I was fine, they joked about sending me the bill for damages to the set.

[Two other observations during our stay emphasized the concern for safety. One is the inclusion of the closest hospital written in big, bold letters right on the front of the call sheet for the day. The other came from a conversation with one of the crew about the radios they wear. He related some embarrassing moments when folks have said things when they didn't know their button was pushed. But he got real serious to say that there would be trouble if someone tied up the radio during a medical emergency. Time is of the essence with a show like this, but everything comes to a stop if someone is hurt.]

Another safety fact: In the same on-line chat with Mario (11/12/95), I also got a confirmation that a stunt double was used when the (stunt double!) dogs attacked Duncan - and that this is done because of insurance reasons which prohibits an actor from being exposed no matter how much an actor wants to do a stunt.

Crew members who didn't need to do something just then - like the make-up and wardrobe people - were sitting in places against the wall opposite from the bar. Kathi and I settled ourselves on the edge of the stage. The tables already held a couple of beer mugs containing a yellowish liquid. "You wouldn't want to drink that," we were told.

Mario was already in conversation with Jim and Stan about the scene. I heard Stan say something about a line not making sense and his suggestion for changing it. Jim would have to find something to do to make him move from one position behind the bar to another one, and Jim offered something dealing with the glassware. As with the dojo scene, the give and take between Mario and the actors continued for several minutes and then they ran through their parts a couple of times.

This done, the actors could move out of the way and the crew set about doing their respective jobs. The camera crew had the biggest task of setting up the camera on the railings of the loft. Cross bars were laid across a spot (check out BLACKMAIL) where the railings come close together, and the camera mounting rested on that. Don, a prop guy, was busy behind the bar pouring real, canned beer into brown beer bottles. (Gotta have that foam *inside* the bottle for us picky viewers! ;j) Craig, a set decorator, moved unneeded tables further back and arranged the chairs nicely around those that would be in the picture. "There, the set's decorated," he said, shrugging off the minor accomplishment, and he came and sat down next to me. He proved to be quite knowledgeable about several of the preparations I was witnessing and I enjoyed chatting with him.

While Patrick and Allix stood glued to the actors' marks on opposite sides of the bar, Allix looked directly at me a couple of times and seemed to be talking about me. I was about to get paranoid, when she suddenly asked me if I'd like to "stand in" for awhile in her place. Was she kidding? *Me* a stand-in for Stan Kirsch? "Sure!" <BG>

Allix announced that if anyone wanted her, she'd be outside getting a cigarette. And so I got to hang out at the bar and stare at Patrick for the next five minutes and vice versa. He made sure I was standing with my feet straddling the T-mark made with tape on the floor, and I proudly told him that I was, feeling very full of myself. ;j

I asked him if he was on his mark, and Patrick said, "Of course!" That's the difference he has noticed the most between his work here and on "Wiseguys." This show, he explained, is "much more choreographed." Alot goes into getting the actors to hit their mark.

While Patrick and I talked, Rick (Wincenty - DoP) held up a light meter close to me a few times and that let me feel like I was actually doing something. Correction on the light and shadows thing: if you can't move the light, try moving the actor a bit to the side. He moved me to my left by about an inch.

My moment in the limelight was over in a flash <EG> and Jim and Stan resumed their positions to get ready for filming. First came rehearsal which is treated almost like an actual take, with an AD calling "Rehearsal, please! Quiet on the set!"

Stan's preparations to get in character seemed very intense. He would pace a bit and say his lines out loud to himself, giving emphasis to the part he just added (no ad lib in this scene). Jim, on the other hand, went from mellow and laid back - a guy you would feel very comfortable sitting next to (and we did ;j) - right into the commanding presence of Joe Dawson. Unlike the dojo scene where we could barely see past the camera crew into the office where the action was taking place, Jim and Stan were just a few, unblocked feet in front of us and I felt very privileged to witness this transformation of actor into character at such close range.

At the end of this scene, Richie walked out to the front door. But Stan, the actor, was blocked by a huge reflector sheet besides the stairs, so he froze in position while staying in character until Mario yelled, "cut!" Only then did Stan relax his position and fall back out of character. Jim, meanwhile, was looking after him with an expression which spoke *volumes*, and I got goosebumps from the feeling of being in the same room with Joe Dawson who stood there, supposedly alone, with such strong and overwhelming feelings.

The exchange between Joe and Richie in the quiet bar became my favorite scene out of all of them to watch - perhaps because I got to watch it from only a few feet away. Of the scenes we got to see in-the-making, it was also the most emotion-laden one. So I was a bit disappointed, later, when this scene was cut into to make room for the flashback to BROTHERS IN ARMS to explain Joe's rift with MacLeod.

At the time of the filming, the flashback was not in the script. There were more lines between Richie and Joe wherein Richie was trying to elicit some reaction from Joe about finding Mark Roszca. At the end, when Richie walks out in disappointment, we got to see Joe's expression which showed just how much the rift was hurting him. The flashback was a powerful moment as well, but Jim Brynes was able to add something to that past feeling to show how this was still affecting Joe.

The scene was then reshot from Richie's and Joe's perspectives. To focus on Stan as he stood on the outer side of the bar, the camera goes behind the shelves on the wall behind the bar where a removable panel allows the camera to peek through.

Between these takes, Kathi and I got to chat with Jim Byrnes who casually came over to sit in a chair next to us. I asked him about whether his part in this would have to be looped later, since he sounded so quiet. He pointed out that there is a mike mounted on the back side of the tall beer tap. But even if he winds up having to loop his voice in later, he still has to say the lines naturally.

The next scene also centered on Joe and Richie in the bar, but this one included a roomful of bar patrons and employees as well. The script originally called for Joe and Richie to be standing back on opposite sides of the bar, again. As Jim, Stan and Mario discussed the new scene, a decision was reached to move the actors to one of the bar tables. Mario just needed reassurance, not knowing the background details of the bar, that folks would know that Joe is the owner even if he's sitting at a table. This settled, they then had to improvise a new set of movements to fit with the lines.

The actors could then take a break while the crew set to work to prepare for the scene. The hired extras, who had been sitting in the dark, swing-set area for the past two-and-a-half hours, were finally able to come in and find out what they should be doing. Mario drew Kathi and I away with a delighted, "Now we put *you* in the scene," and turned us over to various crew members to get us ready.

[What followed was, for me, a chapter in itself. If folks really want to hear it, I'll tell it closer to when the episode airs. Just know that another fellow who was visiting that day was also put in the scene and they tried to find Krystmas and Jimmi, as well, but they had left an hour and a half earlier. On the one hand, the way that Mario set up Kathi's and my movements was very special, but Mario is not the kind of person to slight anyone.]

My nanosecond of anonymity <g>: The white flash transition to this scene (from Kanis's bonfire) is laid right on top of my walk across the screen behind Richie's chair. But since Kathi was walking behind me, you can see her for a second walking off the left. She has short blond hair and was given a black pull-over sweater to put on top of her white t-shirt. The sleeves are pushed up. Then Kathi's and my (headless) backs can be seen after Joe's line, "He doesn't want my help," and during Richie's comeback, "All right, then *I'm* asking. Where can I find this psycho?" That's me with the black vest and tan t-shirt. My dark hair can be seen past my shoulders. There's hardly anything there, so don't ruin your tape trying to spot me.

I guess it goes without saying, though, that I had such a blast getting to be part of the action of a scene. Make-up did us over. We rehearsed our movements quite a number of times as Mario kept adjusting things to try to get Kathi and I to stay in the picture and not on the cutting room floor (by timing our cuts across the camera with Stan's lines). We were given cues and bar patron actions (so it felt like real acting ;j). And Stan smiled at us the whole time and said how we were doing a great job. <VBG>

I mentioned a close-up of two hired extras in my report, but that shot got cut entirely. When you realize that even professionals get cut, getting a split second of your back in the picture is still pretty special. :) Heck, it was bliss when Mario started us off just sitting at the far table - where we definitely would have gotten cut. Not only did I get to visit the Highlander *set*, but my alter-ego has actually visited Joe's Bar in Seacouver in the fictional world of Highlander. My very own Alice In Wonderland experience.

As the AD's arranged and rearranged both the hired and freebie extras, Rick (DoP) pointed out to Mario that the air in the room wouldn't be so clean with so many people in it. So they radioed to Michael Blacklock to bring the smoke machine. No more than two minutes later, a bunch of mist was shot into the room and - voila! - it looked smokey.

They only needed a forward and reverse of this scene in order to get Richie and Joe talking. Most of the stuff with the extras is seen while the camera (there were two, actually - the other getting a close up of two hired extras) faces Stan from the stage area.

We finished that scene at 10 pm and Jim and Stan were done for the day. Stan offered a really warm farewell which triggered a babbling reaction in me. <sheepish grin> I snapped out of it by deciding I had better catch up to where everyone was moving to, and said a hasty good-bye. (No lingering around for *this* crew! When there is another scene to be done, things move *fast*!) I passed Jim on the way out and shook his hand good-bye. Neither Jim or Stan were on call for Monday, so this would be the last time we would see them.

The last scene for the "day" was a night scene with the villain-of-the-week (VOTW), Justin Louis. It took place in the fenced-off lot behind the studio.

The wind was really whipping and almost everyone felt chilled. Kathi still had the sweater on from wardrobe and a wardrobe lady said I could fetch something from the wardrobe trailer to keep me warm since I was only wearing a t-shirt. But for some reason, I felt comfortable, like I'd been dunked in ice water and emerged into just plain cold air - another effect of the adrenaline pumping through me.

Don came up behind Kathi with the prop dog (which we had seen earlier) and pretended that the dog was attacking her. <BG> Yes, ladies and gentlemen, no live animals were harmed for this episode. (In fact, the *live* ones got lots of doggie treats. ;j)

Here I need to gloss over Justin's part in all this to avoid giving away any of the plot. (We got to know Justin better on Monday, so further descriptions of him are included in that part.) But, for the most part, this was a special effects sequence which would use fire, so we could hang back, talk and keep an eye on how things were done.

I talked with Craig, the set decorator, for awhile and then went over to join Kathi with Tish (this is an earlier shot of Tish, from lunch - Kevin), who, we learned, is an Assistant Director Trainee. We enjoyed hearing all about how she got where she is: starting out as an actor, accepting work as a stand-in (for the grueling project of "Adventures of Yellow Dog") and finding that she picked up alot of information on the job and had a knack for all the production side of things. I got the sense that, in order to do this kind of work, you've got to have this crazy love for the business. The work is very hard, but, thanks to a great cast and crew, it is also very rewarding.

I pulled myself away from the set to make a dash to the wardrobe trailer since the cold was finally getting through to me. Inside, I saw lots of pullovers, coats of all kinds - essentially a well-stocked wardrobe - but I just needed to throw something light over my arms. I grabbed a man's denim shirt and dashed back to the set.

The action was first filmed *without* fire and *with* the fake dog. They were free to do several takes with this as needed. But when it came time for the fire, it would be a one-shot deal.

Some liquid fuel was poured to supply the initial flames, however Michael Blacklock was crouched off to the side with two propane tanks to add to the spectacle. By shaking the cans, he made the flames jump up and down. Just then, an emergency vehicle - sirens blaring - started to cross the nearby bridge. Someone asked, "Did anyone remember to contact the fire department?" It turned out to be an ambulance.

Michael ended with a powerful, long shake and the flames - fanned by the same wind which was getting us chilly - nearly reached the equipment manned by the camera and lights crew. Mario yelled "cut" just as I thought sparks would catch on something.

Justin went up to Mario and exclaimed how hot it was next to the flames, saying, jokingly, that he was sure he'd get heat blisters. Well, if it was that hot for him, Michael must have been *scalding*. What a job.

Stan came back over in his regular clothes and went around to crew members saying warm farewells. I, again, was included in the hugs and kisses and, this time, so was Kathi (who was off in wardrobe last time). Stan said he'd see us next week and I said we'd be here only on Monday when he wasn't on set. He said, "Well, I guess I'll see you in Denver." (He's going to *try*, folks.) (G2 - He did! - Kevin)

Mario got ready to leave and Kathi and I caught up with him to ask where Monday's location was. He asked for a "call sheet" with the information, then suggested that we could meet him at his hotel at 6:30 am and get a ride in with him. Tish approached us and said if we were free Sunday night, some of the crew were getting together at some pub for a "Caribbean Night". I trusted Kathi to remember the name of the pub, but told Tish that our Vancouver friend would be showing us around on that day. She said she'd look out for us just in case.

We detoured by the wardrobe trailer to return our shirt and sweater, and then walked briskly back to our hotel. Parting is such sweet sorrow - but we'd be back on Monday! <BG>