It was quite the drive up, as we were filming on location in the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu. The call time wasn't until early afternoon, but I knew we would probably go into the night...so I brought a jacket and scarf as I knew it was going to get cold! I realize I get zero sympathy from my Swedish-Norwegian-Irish-German-Polish brethren back in Minnesota, but to my credit, I could see my breath.
The location was on a ranch in the mountains, which must be owned by a studio, as it was almost too picturesque. I wasn't able to take any pictures on the shuttle ride out to set, but believe me when I tell you, the scenery was like being in any Tim Burton film.
The grounds were very colorful...filled with flowers, the grass was indeed greener, but on both sides...there was an old time Ferris wheel, an antique carousel that without a doubt put numerous smiles on youngsters back in the 19th century, "Milky" the cow, who is actually a cow/model/actor and is on pretty much every milk commercial or print ad in the country...and lastly, do you remember the American Pie movie where a certain someone played a certain instrument in a certain area? "And this one time...in band camp" Yep, filmed here.
The scene we were filming was a wedding, unfortunately for us...it was an outdoor wedding, and it was almost midnight. Up to this point, I had not recognized a single name actor, which I guess isn't surprising for a Hallmark movie, but still...I had high hopes I would at least get to see a Kirk Cameron or Patrick Duffy appearance. As I about to give up hope, the director called for 1st team (principle actors) to come on set and lo and behold, Marion Ross aka 'Mrs. C' (as the Fonz liked to call her) came and sat down at her mark. She is 80 years old, still working...and looked great. I think that deserves an Arthur Fonzarelli double thumbs up, Ayyyy!
On a side note, we were in a valley within the mountains and late in the evening the fog had rolled in, giving the outdoor set a very eerie but gorgeous backdrop. I was able to capture a pic with my phone...see below.
Moving on to the last shot of the night...we were now at the reception, and the child actor in this shot was instructed to run by the main table where the lead actors were giving their lines, and bump into one of the guys at the table, so as to stop him mid sentence so he could give the line "...and THAT'S why I hate kids!"
Well, all this happened and went off without a hitch...except for when the guy gave his line, it must have been too believable as the child froze like a deer in headlights staring at the guy, his eyes started to tear up, his lips started pouting and shaking...he was about to lose it!
I felt so bad for the little boy, as did the whole crew...the director ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek and tried to explain that this is all make believe and that this was his line. Fortunately, that pep talk got him through one more take and we were able to call it a night.
No comments:
Post a Comment