Lag Time

There's no question I'm way behind here.  I've been working on set every day, and while there I take more photos, but there's no time to process them so that puts me even farther behind.  Frustrating.

Ann, you'll appreciate this.

We've been shooting at Vorontsovky Palace here in Yalta.  Lovely place.

Churchill stayed here during the Yalta Conference, when he and FDR and Stalin were dividing up the world.  Richie told me that this morning.

The views from the palace are stunning.

Used to be the days would start out sunny and beautiful then turn rainy and drizzly as the afternoon wore on.

Now it doesn't even pretend.  Now it seems like rainy and drizzly is the default setting.

You can't really see the rain and/or drizzle above but believe me, it's there.  Or it's threatening to be there.

So back to the thing Ann will appreciate.  Really, I just wanted to show you the room at the top of this posting.  We shot Napoleon's bedroom in the Kremlin in this room.

Rzhevskaya and Napoleon are hanging out watching TV.  But I won't tell you what that means in 1812 terms because that would ruin the gag.

Anyway, Ann, I thought you might find the room interesting.  The white patterns on the blue walls are not prints.  It's like sculpted plaster, although I certainly don't claim to have any idea how it was actually made.

Alright, almost time for the cars to leave for set.  Gotta go.  More from Yalta soon.

It Doesn't Work

Training Day

A good collection of the crew was trundled to Yalta by train.

Production basically bought out an entire car and we peopled it.  The cabins were the four-bunk arrangement.  In my cabin was Simon, Conrad and Alex.  Ksusha was good enough to go to the store and procure me a can of Pringles and a couple of bags of M&Ms.

Cause, you know, 14 hours on a train and you gotta have something to snack on.

For the most part, people were happy to pass the voyage by indulging in an assortment of refreshing beverages.  But I've never been much the Richard Burton type, so I ended up watching 'Lords of Dogtown' with Ksusha and Yulia.  Eventually, I claimed an upper bunk and grabbed some rolling stock sack time.

Dawn found us making our way across the plains of Crimea.  Most of us seemed no worse for wear after the previous evening's festivities (although Alex clinged to his orange juice like a life raft).

The porter brought tea to those who wanted it.

I wanted it.

Eventually, we pulled into Simferopol, clamored out and boarded a big bus.  It was another two hours to Yalta.

The hotel is modest but clean, but right on the water, so it's nice.  And since the rooms face more or less east, the sunrises are great.

Service Interruption

Here's the issue.  The internet service at our hotel here in Yalta is rather on the sad side.  I'm sitting in what amounts to a glorified stairwell after a long day on set.  It's only here that I can seem to get enough bandwidth to actually get online.  Even so, the service is intermittent at best, non-existent at worse.

This means that doing a full-on posting, robust with photos is next to impossible.  So it's likely that I won't be doing any meaningful posting again until I get back to Kiev.

The management apologizes for this inconvenience.  Refunds will be honored but only with receipt.

Coming Soon: Life In Car 23

Rzhevskaya vs. Van Damme

You may recall back in the 15th post of this blog we observed a wall full of casting photos.  We dived in towards one shot in particular until landing on a particular actor known for his martial arts prowess and a particular splits move rendered in a Peter Hyams movie.  Well, tonight, JCVD is here.

I'm not going to describe the scene because to do so would be to ruin the joke.  But it's funny.  Real funny. And Jean-Claude is hilarious in it.

It was a rainy night here in Kiev.  The leaves are starting to turn.  I think the city is about to become extra beautiful.

Jean-Claude's set call was something like 2:30am.  But through the magic of... of... movie magic the interior set makes it look like it's a bright day outside.

First, Marius and the actors gather on the set to block out the scene. Irek, Pepe and other key people observe so that they know how things are going to work.

Then the actors leave, headed back for hair/MU and wardrobe, while Marius and Irek finesse the camera and lighting part of it.

Richie works on the camera move...

...while Pepe listens intently.

Parenthetically, scuttlebutt is that Richie got a hold of some bad cheese and had to be taken to the hospital last night.  Let's all raise a saltine cracker and a ginger ale for Richie's speedy return to action.

And let's all contemplate good gastrointestinal health while we gaze up at the ceiling of this beautiful room...

Right, Ksusha?

Aw, you don't care.

Anyway, we're in so many of these palaces and estates on this show that it's real easy to take these locations for granted.  But it's all really stunning.  That's what I'm saying.

Eventually, the actors return to set and the machine cranks to life. Jean-Claude's presence generates a crowd around video village.

The scene is so funny I thought I was going to plotz.  And I don't even know what that means.

Pasha and Jean-Claude were both way on top of their game.  I think Pasha was a little star-struck and was channeling all this extra energy because of it.  He was luminous.  And Jean-Claude was the picture of calm professionalism but still so willing to play.  He's also made enough movies to know how to do it so that his scenes cut.

For example, after Marius declared take three of the master to be the best take, Jean-Claude wanted to study the playback video so that he could make sure he matched his performance in his close-ups to what he was doing in the master.  Now, that's just something I appreciate.

Right, Ksusha?

Aw, you don't care.

In any case, if this whole action star thing doesn't work out, I think Jean-Claude has a career playing Beethoven.

Crimea River

The reason I haven't posted in a couple of days is because the unit moves to Crimea tomorrow.  More specifically, Yalta.  Forty of us are on the evening train that takes a hearty 14 hours to get down to Yalta from up here in Kiev.  The balance of cast and crew are flying.  Production bought out one whole car (carriage) for those of us training it.  Each sleeper cabin has four bunks.  Should be quite a scene, man.

So what does this have to do with why I haven't posted in a couple of days?  Well, I've been busy.  Editorial moves down there, as well, so organizing the move as well as continuing to cut has been quite a time hog.  Even so, I promised you some little bit of naughtiness and I intend to deliver on that promise.  Sara Krulwich, eat your heart out.

Something happens which leads to something else....

Which leads to something else...

And you know, on and on like that.  It's all part of the big soccer game scene and required a few all-nighters to shoot.

Here's the thing.  I've said it before and I'll say it again -- acting is hard. In lots of cases the shooting is only part of the actors' work day.  A lot more than once, the actors would put in a full day on set then have to go for, say, dance rehearsal for an upcoming scene.  Their call times are often earlier than most everyone else's because of make-up.

Why does make-up involve so much stuff?

Then there's the on-set blocking and the rehearsals of practical action that has to look effortless.  Okay, so I pull on your corset and you spin out at the same time you release the snaps on my jacket...

And it may be absolutely freezing outside but they have to perform as though it's a balmy night in costumes that may or may not be seasonally appropriate.

So, you know, support your local movie star.

By the way, I love the cheerleaders' hair.

Elements for the cheerleaders' costumes were borrowed from a dress concept for Natasha Rostova that ended up not being used.

Oh, and the Russian and French soccer teams are made up of famous people from the countries' assorted historical and historically adjacent mythologies.  For example, look at this guy...

500 Ukrainian Grivnas to whoever can tell me who this Russian soccer player is.  This contest is open to everyone except Rzhevsky vs. Napoleon cast and crew.  Yeah, Ksusha, that's what I said.

Oh, and look at this.  This is kind of weird.

Totally un-Photoshopped photo.  But kinda optical illusiony, huh?

Alright, I'm exhausted.  I'm going to bed.