DAY 26: Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Watching Connie Thompson of KOMO News with Joel and Jason on the set in this clip will give you a vivid glimpse into how delightfully she interacts with Joel sitting across from him in today’s first scene.

Though a veteran broadcast journalist with polished presentational skills, she is unafraid to loosen up with Joel through improvisation.  In rehearsal, Connie shows her acting chops, becoming flustered and nervous as a response to Joel’s statement.  She ad-libs, wringing her hands and shifting in her chair.

This is far from the scripted reaction, and Joel is impressed.  “That was great!” he laughs.  “Why weren’t we rolling on that one?!”

Wardrobe sage Ron Leamon doesn’t let the on-set antics distract him from making the actors’ apparel fit the movie’s time frame.  He’s quick to confiscate audio tech/cameraman Owen’s Live Strong band, circa 2004, three years after the movie takes place.

Steve Pool runs an entire scene and almost shoots it without his microphone.  “Steve forgot his mike!  He’s never done that before!” a KOMO employee exclaims sarcastically.  He says Steve Pool checks his mike every time he gets on camera.

But then Steve gets the scene done in one take, so natural and relaxed I feel like he’s talking to me in someone’s living room, and I can’t blame him for forgetting the mike.  Dave Schnuckel of Operations helps Stephen frame the shots to look like actual KOMO news broadcasts.

The end of the day is back at the Stranger with the rain towers, getting another angle of the shot we did on Day 22.  Jason learns an important lesson:  “I should have peed before I did the rain scene.”

A photo double wears a poncho on the street to stay dry, taking the place of an actor playing a homeless man while feeding Jason lines.  Real broadcast journalists playing fictional versions of themselves, creating fake rain in a city known for being rainy, and pushing a man doubling for an actor playing a homeless man out in that rain – “art within art” taken to a whole other level.