I’d been dreading the Jerry / Erin scene. Having seen it so many times in casting read by so many different actors I had lost sight of the lines and could only hear them one way. I also felt the actors were having the same problem. I used an old trick that Judy, my acting teacher, uses all the time. I made Erin say “But I’ve just cooked dinner” before every line. I made Jerry say “I want to go to Orlando” before every line. And the scene worked great. (You can learn many neat tricks like this from Judy – if you want to check out her class leave a message in the guest book or read her book “Directing Actors.”)
By the time we’d got back into the Spelling Bee everyone was in a holiday mood: it was Friday afternoon. We have acheived an enormous amount this week, have shot all of Act V and something from Acts I, II, III, VI & VIII and have managed to stay almost completely on schedule shooting mostly 12 hour days. It’s only rained about half of the time and we’ve all been to Chilliwack and back. I also feel I have connected with Marc (my DP) and Kevin (my AD) – I am touched by the quiet patience and unchecked enthusiasm they both show when I present them with my huge storyboards every day. Thank-god they both found me. My first night nerves are over now and I have to be on my guard to see that complacency doesn’t set in.
It’s Saturday night and the band are eating dinner over at QT’s place. I have stayed at the hotel to work: I felt the pressure of my shot-list bearing down on me and I needed to get that pencil moving again.
Passed Hilary Swank in the hotel lobby this morning – very serene and quietly beautiful. We also keep seeing vans for the guys from Spinal Tap waiting outside our hotel. They’re making a dog movie called “Best In Show.” I wonder if their movie will look wet like ours does?