Mr. Wonderful Makes a Movie

March 19, 2002
A couple of weeks ago Miriam Goodman emailed me about a possible role in a student movie. I got in touch with Tova Goodman(link added in 2019), a student at Boston University, who let me know that they were looking for someone who could be “professorial”.

Hmmm, I thought, just the role for the Great Pontificator, Mr. Wonderful.

But, not wanting to lead the young’uns astray, I sent along my “head shots” .

Karen created this array!

If these didn’t scare them off…….

One email later and the Director, Chris Zatta(link added in 2019), signed me up to play the role of Professor Connel with a script called “Forensics”.

Dir. of Photography Rachel Cushing and Sound Boom man, James Kolowich, get set up.

Discussions between Dir. Chris Zatta (center) and actors Christian Chandler (left) and Michael Makowski.

The Saturday shooting began with the scenes in a park in Malden and abutting woods (good place for corpses).

Dir. Chris Zatta (in gray coat center rear) watches as actors practice getting the body out of the rear seat.

Sound and camera at the ready.

What is the clacking of the board on the slate at the beginning of a scene all about?

We all have heard dialogue like this:

“Scene 12, Take 3…..

sound, roll camera…..(clack)…(pause)

Action!”

So, what is the clack about when the assistant smacks the hinged top down on the slate. I asked the Director of Photography, Rachel Cushing, exactly this question.

The answer is instructive about the technologies of movie making:

The sound recording system and the camera are independent. So, the sound of the hinged top smacking down right in front of the rolling camera makes it possible for the editor to later synchronize the visible signal with the sound signal to merge these elements together.

Indoor Shoots

Since Professor Connel only appears in about a third of scenes in the movie, I only had to hold out in the raw weather for half the day. The indoor shooting for the “lab” scenes began in early evening on the eighteenth floor of a Boston University dormitory.

All around miracle worker and gaffer Hero Ngauv sets up for the lab scenes. Director of Photography Rachel Cushing helps out.

Repairs are made.

Preparation for gore. By the way, the stage blood here included peanut butter and chocolate syrup among its ingredients.

Tova Goodman loading film into cartridges for the camera.

More Indoor Shooting

Sunday brought more shooting indoors at several locations. Other scenes took place in Prof. Connel’s classroom. Four actors get ready to rehearse.

(from left, Christian Chandler, Michael Cuddire, Michael Makowski, Anastasia Barnes)

Sound boom operator, James Kolowich, holds for a sound check in the classroom.

A run through of action at the back of the class.

Prof. Connel (Mr. Wonderful in costume) in this office scene. Director Chris Zatta (head at top left) making a point about the scene.

Director Chris Zatta begging Mr. Wonderful,

“Mark, this is Take 19!

Can’t you say your one line, “Oh”, without making it sound like a question!!”

A Management Aside

This photo symbolizes for me how well the students in the production demonstrated well-developed leadership and team skills.

Notice that Chris Zatta, has gotten down on his knees so that his face is at my level. Instead of standing over me giving directions, he is conferring with me, a very different experience.

I saw him handle a whole range of situations with actors and others with such sophistication.

At points, members of the crew would proffer suggestions for how to interpret a scene or overcome a technical barrier. All of this happened in a collegial fashion. No one hesitated to ask others on the team for suggestions and help.

At every point, everyone, regardless of role, tossed in readily to move equipment and tussle with trash and pick up. No prima donnas here.

It has been my experience in industry that this sort of team work comes hard, and, not infrequently, only after some explicit training on team work.

Perhaps we should send managers to film school??

In the Can

So, its in the can.

I can only hope that most of Mr. Wonderful’s gaffes end up on the cutting room floor….

See The Movie

Come to the screening of the movie (and a bunch of other student-made movies) on Friday, May 17, 2002 at 7pm at the BU Photonics Center, 8 St. Mary Street.

(St Mary Street is off Comm. Ave on BU’s campus. Directly across from St. Mary
Street on Comm. Ave is the Marsh Chapel. There is a Radio Shack store on the
corner.)

Seating is free and open to anyone, but it is limited so you’ll have to get
there early enough to make sure you can get in.

Each of the movies will be 10 – 15 minutes in length. Contact me for details.