NEWS
"Majestic" set report - 1st day at Ferndale!
20 Mar 2001 You can't find this anywhere else, folks--JCO's Anonymous reporter at Ferndale describes Jim Carrey's first day of filming at Ferndale, right as it unfolds:
«It's 9:35AM PST and Jim Carrey has arrived on Main Street in Ferndale---he's wearing a ragged looking whitish outfit, a jumpsuit maybe, getting ready for the first shot of the day. He looks pale. Around him are about a hundred crew members, busy setting up the shot: Main Street has been closed to traffic, and all modern cars have been removed, replaced with 1951 period automobiles. The stand-ins (one of them with a big stuffed toy dog) have gone through their paces as all the tech work was checked and completed. Behind the camera are director's chairs with names of actors, among them Martin Landau who was seen in town the day before yesterday.»
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«So far [12:19PM PST] they have gone through one set up: a very short sequence with Jim and James Whitmore walking about twenty five feet up Main Street. This took about an hour, taking about six or seven takes: Jim is wearing saggy tan pants, a cream shirt crumpled and muddy and muddy shoes. He looks pale, and bewildered, with uncombed hair. James Whitmore is wearing a plaid outdoor coat and old hat, big rubber boots and a bowtie, and they are followed by a very nice dog, a golden retriever I think, who is handled from off camera by a trainer giving signals. They just broke up a few minutes ago, Jim was whisked away in a sport vehicle with tinted windows, and they are going on to set up the next shot. A small crowd of local extras are being herded to and from Main Street, all dressed in 40's and 50's clothes: among these are some well known local actors and business people, Curley Tait, Edward Olson and Denise Ryles among them. Other local actors are being considered for small speaking roles, too---more as it becomes available.»
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«It's now 5:10PM PST, and they are still taking this same shot, in the same spot on Main Street. They set up a different angle on the sidewalk this afternoon, and are now using what looks like a Steadicam--but it's the same walk, the same shot, the same scene, now maybe on its thirtieth take! They have been at this since 8:30 AM. They said something about moving down to the diner set later this afternoon, but the sun will be down in another ninety minutes and there may not be time for that.
The whole street was blocked off the entire day: all deliveries and other business traffic has been diverted to side streets: parking in town is difficult: the usual street noise from Main Street is gone---just an eerie silence, despite the fact that a couple of hundred people have been around on the crew, or watching all day: when the cameras roll, all the assistants and workers duck into alleys and around corners to stay out of the shot--- when you see this shot in the movie it will look as if Jim and James Whitmore are alone on Main Street. Just the magic of movies.»
Editor's Note: Our correspondent told us later that the scene finally wrapped at 5:45PM after several more takes.
-- With lots of Spank Yous to Anonymous for the übercool scoop. Click to comment this article.
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