Two months into the first NFI class, our students were offered an opportunity to intern on the new Mario Van Peebles film "Bailey" filming in Tennessee and Kentucky. Our students got to film the 'behind the scenes' documentary, including conducting interviews with the stars of the film. Here is Tom Wooldridge's daily journal about his experiences on the set:
DAY 1
The first day on set was amazing. When I arrived, I headed straight to the set, which was a music store called the "Rock Block Guitars", where I met up with the Associate Producer who hired us, Alex Afzali. I will never forget how it felt, walking onto the set for the first time. There were so many people rushing around, wires laying all over the ground, and huge lights and equipment hovering over me. We then headed to the base camp, where he showed me the camera equipment I would be using throughout the shoot.. I assembled the camera, plugged in batteries, and set up the camera to the proper settings. Chris Adams then arrived, and we headed back to set so I could begin filming some behind-the-scenes footage. I was intimidated at first, but Chris helped me assert myself and taught me how close I could get to the action without getting in anyone's way.
I was surprised at the freedom I was given, and was able to film from directly off camera. Later that day, we switched locations to a suburban neighborhood where I filmed the main actor, Morgan Simpson, playing guitar between scenes with a younger actor. I also filmed Taryn Manning, who arrived at the set. I also learned about the importance of "Room Tone", where sound is recorded while everyone remains completely silent, in order to put between cuts of the scene in order to have a consistent background sound. They do this for every different scene.
DAY 2
For our second day on set, we drove out to Guthrie, Kentucky, where they filmed several scenes with country-side backdrops. This was the first day we saw Michael Clark Duncan on set. I walked up to him and started filming while they were preparing to shoot a scene of him driving through the country. He talked to my camera for several minutes, joking about how the producers wont let him do his own stunt driving for the film, even though he drove a car in the film "Talladega Nights" and did his own stunts in his most recent film "Street Fighter".. He also said they don't even want him to "show too much skin on set, because people get jealous!". He was a really nice and funny guy.
DAY 3
Alex called us after class and said it would be a good day to come to set. I was able to see the shooting of a scene inside a tiny blues club with the 2 main actors, while a band played and extras danced in the background. It was a fun day, because the set was such a crowded place, it was like a game trying to squeeze into any available space where I could film while still being out of the way. I began to feel more comfortable standing directly by the crew members while shooting the behind-the-scenes footage. I was able to further concentrate on what footage I needed to get, and from what angles, as opposed to being distracted by thinking "Oh, am I in someone's way?".
DAY 4
On the third day, we filmed downtown at the "Printers Alley". There were several scenes shot inside a bar, where a band would be miming a performance while an audience of extras mimed clapping and shouting, because dialogue was being recorded for the main characters in the film. It was very interesting to see how they filmed it. It was really quite funny seeing 50 people moving in complete silence around a band who is performing in complete silence. I had never really given thought to the process of recording dialogue in a loud social setting before actually witnessing it on set.. We filmed our first interviews this day. First we interviewed Mario Van Peebles father, Melvin, who has a small cameo in the film as a quirky bartender. I operated the camera, while Andre held the boom mic, Doug held a light bounce board, and Alex asked the interview questions. Later, we also filmed an interview with Taryn Manning.
DAY 5, 6, 7
For three days in a row, we filmed at the same location. There were multiple scenes shot inside a blues bar downtown. It was amazing to witness such different scenes shot in the same location only hours later. They filmed an intense dramatic scene (which we were asked to briefly leave the set for, in order to give the actors more room to fully indulge into the scene), followed by a hip blues concert that included tons of extras and multiple bands miming performances to audio playback of pre-recorded songs, followed by a fight scene the next day. We were able to film an interview with Luke Perry. Like before, I operated the camera while Andre operated the boom mic and Doug helped with lighting. I noticed throughout the shooting days how close of a relationship the Director of Photography, Matt Irving and the Director, Mario Van Peebles had in order to make the film. In between each camera set up, the two would meet in order to discuss everything that would happen in the frame. I hadn't realized before this experience how important this relationship is in regards to the finished film. I also was able to film more in-depth conversations between Mario and the cast, as he explained aspects of each characters emotions and motivations for each scene.
DAY 8
Alex called us after school this day and said we should come to the set. They filmed exteriors for several different scenes at a blues bar. It was a pretty relaxed afternoon, and Michael Clark Duncan again talked to my camera several times throughout the night. While they were filming one scene, the main actor Morgan Simpson forgot to close a door behind him during the take, so when they called "Cut", Michael walked over to me and began joking about how unprofessional Morgan is as an actor. He said "I mean c'mon, he can't even remember to close a damn door." In the middle of saying that, Morgan snuck up behind him to listen to what he was saying. So of course, Michael turned around and saw that Morgan had been listening, so he tried to act cool by saying "Oh yes, as I was saying, Morgan is an excellent actor!" *WINK, WINK* We were able to film another interview, this time with actor Tom Skerrit.
DAY 9
This was the day on set where we got to witness the talented Michael Clark Duncan line dancing with about 50 extras in a country-style music bar. In between each take, Michael would walk up to me while I was filming and look into the camera and say how this dance routine may look easy, but it's actually pretty intense. He explained, "If you just throw a couple push-ups in there, you would have a full-on workout routine!". I had some issues this day with taking my recorded footage and transferring it to the computer, because when I would run to the camera truck to transfer footage I would be missing some entertaining footage back on set. I found out that there was an easier way to transfer footage, but I had misunderstood Alex earlier in the week when he talked about using a hard-drive to transfer the clips. This was my fault, but at least I was able to learn from my mistake. Later, we filmed an interview with Michael Clark Duncan. The lighting and quality of this interview was poor, because we had to film it outside of Michael's trailer, using a car's headlights to light his face. I should have framed the shot differently as well, but at least the content of what Michael was saying was excellent material.
DAY 10
We traveled out to Columbia, TN to film scenes inside and outside of Kiele Sanchez's character's house. This was an excellent day, because we were able to film interviews with both Kiele and Mario Van Peebles. The multiple interviews with Mario were much more in-depth than our previous interviews, so it was very intriguing to hear how deeply he thought about every aspect of this story before filming a single thing. The transferring of footage to the computer went much smoother this day, after learning the proper way to do it during my previous day on set.
DAY 11
The final day of filming! Scenes were shot inside and outside the News Paper factory where Bailey works. There is a shot where Bailey gets in his car, and when he turns the keys, the engine sputters and gas rises out of the front of the car. It looked great on camera, when in real life there was a grip laying on the street lighting what appeared to be a smoke bomb firework attatched to a long broom stick, then holding it under the cars front tires.. It was interesting to see how they solved a simple FX shot with something so simple. Later, while filming inside the factory, we were able to film interviews with 2 of the film's producers, Rhoades Rader and Charlie Poe (who also has a small role in the film). It was interesting to hear how they became involved with the project. Later that night, they filmed the final scene of the final day. We witnessed a gigantic rain tower rise into the sky, and then proceed to dump tons of water onto the set. To put it in the words of Mario Van Peebles... "This is some REAL movie type shit!". We then scurried to get as many interviews within the last hour of filming as possible.. We filmed a quick interview with the main star, Morgan Simpson, another with producer, Jeff Balis, and some other quick shots with random crew members on the set. Everyone seemed very relaxed on the last
Overall, it was an amazing experience. I was able to further understand each member of the crew's specific tasks, and how each intricate part adds to the finished piece.
Here is some of the terminology I learned throughout the production:
Beaver Board - Thin dry-wall.
Honey Wagon - The mobile toilet. Very important.
Beefy Baby - Light stand
Stinger - An extension cord
Apple Boxes (Half Apple, Quarter Apple) - Used to prop up numerous equipment on the set
Tom Wooldridge, NFI Student
