MORGAN'S CAKE ––more IMPROV thinking/doing as the story structure got built around unexpected scheduling (like painting Rachel's bathroom!). But invited to a surprise steak luncheon; w/great dialogue.
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/morganscake (TRAILER here)
(Excerpted from book, THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CAKE––Production Secrets of a $15,000 IMPROV Sundance Feature").
Around 9:00 AM the following morning, we were at Morgan and Rachel’s bathroom jobsite -- now that was tight quarters! They were squeezed into a tiny room the width of the shower stall, applying white paint to an already off-white background. Every appliance in there, the sink and toilet, mirror, was fully taped off to avoid paint drips, so the scene looked like a Christo artwork. With a minimum of lights aimed in their direction (a soft-light), the already mostly-white scene vibrated with an increased luminosity.
Rick Schmidt shooting MORGAN’S CAKE. Photo by Peter O'halligan.
Rachel’s parents were warm, friendly people, her step-father immediately letting me know how much he appreciated me giving his daughter the experience of being in a movie, supplying her with a healthy activity and summer income. This was positive to hear, of course. Before he left our area of the apartment, he offered to cook us steaks for lunch out on their patio. Bingo! My immediate response was, Yes, of course we’d be happy to join the family meal. But beyond that, since I considered “steaks” a big-budget item, I saw the possibility of using the picnic activity for another scene. So I asked if he, Rachel’s mother and younger sister, would be game to appear as her family in a shot with Morgan, “the boyfriend.” He thought for a second and then agreed. The movie was taking advantage of every offering that fate was providing – layer upon layer of coincidences, plus a continuous flow of ideas.
But now it was time to slip into high gear. Before committing expensive film, I needed to make some quick decisions about what and how to shoot a cohesive scene with what I was handed. Rachel and Morgan were already working inside the bathroom, she standing up on the toilet to paint the ceiling while Morgan finished up the drawers and cabinet area below the sink. Yes, I thought, just keep doing those exact things when I start filming. Rachel could be up high, mostly out of the shot except for her legs and shoes, while the camera framed on Morgan. I’d have him look directly into the lens again, like he’d done in the first shot back at the office above Jumbo’s. As Kathleen set up the lights, I silently considered what Morgan should talk about. After all, this was unexpected, no scripting preparation of any kind.
I prayed that Kathleen or Nick (Nagra on shoulder, boom in hand to record sound) didn’t ask me what the scene contained before I could figure it out! So, what should I shoot in Rachel's bathroom? I was still pondering that as Kathleen adjusted the soft light near the bathroom ceiling, while Nick rummaged around in his “sound incidentals” bag. Finally something came to mind. What if Morgan described his and Rachel’s relationship. He could begin (Part-1) by explaining how they met. Then (Part-2), he could describe her in physical terms, and then to finish things up (Part-3), Morgan would give a forecast of their future together, tell the camera what he imagined their fate would be as a couple. Would they marry? Have children? Were they soul-mates in the spiritual sense? Had they lived together before in a past life?
As usual, I told Morgan that if he forgot any one of the sections of dialogue to just keep quiet, say nothing, and I’d feed him the next subject of discussion with a voice command. And I warned Rachel that I might command her to stoop down at some point while Morgan talked about her, but that she shouldn't act like she could hear anything Morgan said. He would talk about her to the camera but she would remain as though oblivious. And, first and foremost, they were to keep on painting.
NOTE: When making an improvisational movie, shooting on the fly, you may often have only 5-10 minutes of setup time (while sound, camera, lights are getting readied) to think up a scene and describe its contents to cast and crew. That’s the speed at which you need to work. And that extreme demand on your creative powers will actually help to keep you focused. (Now get back to work!).
After shooting Morgan for 20 seconds, filming him brushing white paint onto the primed wood of the cabinet (Rachel’s legs moved slightly in the background as she painted the ceiling), I gave the first quick voice command; How you met Rachel. Morgan then looked toward the camera and talked about meeting her when she had her tonsils out and couldn’t talk. He explained how they had communicated with just facial expressions for a couple of weeks After he finished talking, went silent, I fired off the second topic: Describe her. It was during the middle of this stretch of the discussion that I voice-commanded, Rachel, bend down and keep painting. So while the shot remained static, Rachel’s entry into the frame added a welcome visual, allowing the audience to see a pretty girl at the other end of the long legs. Then, at Morgan’s next verbal pause, I ordered, Rachel stand up again. As soon as she was upright I commanded Morgan, Your future with Rachel.
I wrapped up part-3 with a pan up to Rachel, her head and paint brush just inches from the ceiling, then filmed another 30-seconds of that static shot before calling, “Cut.” I had no idea how that long bathroom scene would fit into an edit, but I felt I’d made some good decisions about the direction of Morgan’s monologue.
NOTE: Don’t cut your camera too soon at the end of takes. You never know when an extra long tail to a shot can come in handy later in editing, to either incorporate a narration or add a long, dramatic fade out or dissolve. If you like what you see, have hit upon a good composition which has some magic, then shoot an extra twenty seconds. In some cases, you might even rack up a couple extra minutes of a static shot. You won’t regret this excessive roll-off of footage when it saves your cut.
Vital “Nothing” Shots
Before lunch, I grabbed a shot of Morgan and Rachel in her bedroom, lying on the bed together, kidding around and laughing really hard about something. Their youthful faces,s o bright and hopeful as all youth should be, gave the movie a special moment of reflection and sweetness. This is one of those occasions where no direction was given, when a director functions as just a cinematographer, recording a real-life moment instead of manipulating it in some way. These “nothing shots” are what you want to pay particular attention to as the shoot proceeds.
And think of all the time you save when adding footage in this spontaneous way. Because you didn’t script, storyboard, dress the set, rehearse or prepare in any way, such catch-as-catch-can shots are the freebees you’ll get to add to your editing arsenal with hardly missing a beat. All it requires is clicking the camera on, (after setting exposure and focus...), aiming and shooting.
NOTE: Never second-guess yourself when you have an impulse to shoot some extra footage of an interesting person or thing in the midst of your serious scene-building activities. Just follow your intuition, take a few moments out to shoot some nothing shots, which will add important moments to a movie.
Multiple Voice Commands
Stage-one of the “Barbecue” scene began with Rachel’s family signing their Actor's Releases, which stated that they would permit their images and sounds to be incorporated into the movie, used for exhibition and advertising. What a nice, hopeful thought, that the results could ultimately be exhibited! All I had to do was keep on shooting for the next seven days!
As the preparations for the steak lunch progressed, I focused in on various activities and started making decisions about what to include. There would be no retakes as far as the cooking went. It was obvious I’d have to marry my timetable to the schedule for meal preparation. First I shot Rachel’s younger sister walking up to Morgan and insisting, hand out, that he return the portable hairdryer he was presently using to stir up coals in the barbecue pit (This was real. Her mother did want the dryer for her hair!). Then came the steaks. I shot them as they arrived at the side of the grill and as Rachel’s stepfather forked them on one at a time, while he and Morgan chatted about the stock yard smells along California Route 5. The cooked meat came off the fire twenty minutes later, and I got a series of super-close-up views of people chewing and drinking beverages. I figured that those nothing shots would take the pressure off me actually trying to cover the eating part of the scene later. The idea of shooting all the close-up munching probably also came from thinking about the cows eating along the highway, waiting their turn for the slaughter house. When you’re on a moviemaking roll you're taking in influences at a mile a minute, and just have to trust your instincts.
Once the family had eaten their fill (crew would eat their steaks afterwards) it was time to attempt a big, real-life family discussion. I realized that the most central topic I could tap with the camera had to be what Rachel’s parents thought of their 16-year-old daughter having a relationship with Morgan (almost 18). What followed was a scene that I’m immensely proud of, mostly because I took the chance of laying in nine voice commands over the duration of one long, continual, 10+ minute take.
If I had said any one of the voice commands at the same moment someone inadvertently spoke on-camera, crossing their dialogue with mine, I would have ruined the scene. I picked out nine tiny pauses in conversation and gave quick voice commands to alter the direction of the overall scene. It is a huge risk to give a voice command after seven minute of successful voice commands, because you can still potentially ruin the entire sequence, perhaps lose a desirable ending before it has been created. So it takes guts to keep going. This was my “Everest” of using this particular voice command technique, supplying dialogue on the fly, changing direction of a scene midstream.
Framed in a locked-down, static shot of the whole group, five people circling the table, I decided the two control factors I’d instigate before I shooting were; (1) that Morgan would say that Rachel was going to move in with him. And (2), that since the water fountain on the patio was a loud disruption for achieving clean, clear sound recording, I would at some point give a voice command to Rachel’s step-dad; Turn it off. That’s all I started with. With the first voice command, Rachel's sister looked back at the camera and said, What? We started again, with everyone having a better awareness of the technique – when a director gives a voice command the actors have to pretend they didn’t hear it.
Once again I started filming, and just let the action happen; people eating for about half a minute. Then I gave a quick command, Morgan speak. He spoke the first line of dialogue we’d secretly agreed upon, Rachel’s moving in. There was an immediate response. Are you really? said the surprised step-dad. When Rachel didn’t immediately answer, I next commanded, Mother respond. Mrs. Pond said emphatically, Over my dead body! The sister piped up too, Into that hovel? (referring to Morgan and his Dad’s tiny office/living quarters she’d obviously heard about).” I commanded, Rachel respond. Being practical, Rachel said evenly, I don’t think so, followed by, Don’t worry Mom, I won’t.
Things simmered down a bit, and that’s when I tossed in the plot point, Morgan, she’s pregnant. Thank God no one reacted like they heard what I said, because it would have ruined the shot. Morgan broke out with a grin and said, Rachel’s pregnant.
Suddenly the entire table came alive, protests and accusations. Rachel’s eyes were darting back and forth, taking in the various reactions of her family. Her reasonable step-father spoke up after I commanded him, Father speak. He said softly, You’re pretty young to start a family. The sister said, Are you really pregnant? Around this point I gave my second pre-planned voice command (voice command #6), Father turn off fountain, it’s driving you crazy. And he got up and did just that, With the fountain off, our recorded on-location, sync sound quality cleared up noticeably after that.
After I commanded, Mother speak, Mrs. Pond asked the critical question, How pregnant are you? Rachel didn’t really know how to answer the question. Mrs. Pond tried again. How many months has it been? Rachel still couldn’t answer. Fortunately I had taught her to not panic while on-camera, to just await my help. As she stalled there, silent, I quickly considered everything, and finally said, Four. Rachel repeated, Four, and her mother hit the roof. FOUR! And again, Rachel’s whole family chimed in. Her mother asked how she’d finish high school, adding, Who’s Albert Schweitzer? Rachel didn’t know, fully helping to make her mother’s point.
SO MUCH FUN to read about your director's process: voice commands, going with your "on the fly" instincts, knowing what the camera can do, etc.. Loving this. (But, given my current interest in what's beyond/behind "The Veil" between this World and The Other Dimension(s), this was my favorite sentence: "Were they soul-mates in the spiritual sense? Had they lived together before in a past life?" At this point in my present life, I now recognize those as meaningful questions. :-) )