DAY 8: Thursday, July 8, 2010

The vast difference between how Jason and Joel behave on-camera versus off-camera provides additional entertainment for the crew today. On camera, Jason plays a man who’s just been fired insecurely beginning the endeavor of fulfilling his best friend’s dream. Joel plays an inspired candidate, but his passion is greater than his resume; he uses unconventional devices in his speech that I’ll let you discover on screen.

Off camera, these two are no newbies at public speaking. Their director keeps the mood light by telling Joel to make the twenty or so extras in the audience laugh. Joel appeals to basketball fans. “Who thinks LeBron James is staying in Cleveland?” I could not see how many hands were raised, because I was crouching beneath the bar in an attempt to be invisible in the shot; I wish I could give the survey results. “Who thinks he’s going to New York? Who thinks he is going to (expletive) Miami with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade, which would just be an (expletive) monopoly, which is illegal in the United States of America?!”

Jason is attracted to Joel’s passion. He tries to kiss Joel. Joel pulls away. Jason realizes he may be taking this scene too far. “The scene in Stand By Me where the audience starts throwing up all over each other? That’s what’s going to happen here.”

The stand-up routine is a welcome distraction from the temperature, since this was the warmest day so far on the shoot. Mist blowing over the audience to give the scene a softer look on camera meant we were even wetter than our sweat made us.

The discomfort helped with the mood of the scene, rife with the tension of an underdog just beginning on a formidable mission. But I’m going to wash the day off now.