Production diary: Thursday, June 22, 2006
We start this shoot off with a bang: the lions den scenes. Because our production schedules need to run at a fairly brisk pace, we typically allow about half a day to shoot a song. Sometimes less. Seldom more. There are two and a half songs that take place in the lions den. We knew in the planning stages that getting the lions to look the way they do would be a painstaking process, starting ridiculously early in the morning (I think call time started at about 4 a.m. for some of them). So we wanted to do our best to not to have to bring everybody back for a second day. But we also knew that to get it done in a day would make for a long, long day.
The lions den looks amazing. Ken Eklof (set designer) and his team have created the immense structure out of this foam material sprayed over a structure of plywood and 2 by 4s. Tom Larsen (props manager) and his team have likewise done an incredible job decorating the place with cobwebs and bones.
Our cast of lions is a delight to work with. Most of them are Liken veterans. We decided it would be fun to give the lions distinct characters. Rex, the lions’ alpha male, is played by our good pal Dan Beck. Max, the gluttonous over-sized lion, is played by Dave Larsen, who played a wicked priest in Vol. 4 and a Philistine soldier in Vol. 3. His counterpart was Priscilla, the vain and prissy lion, played by a newcomer to the series, Valerie Walker. We found Valerie only a few days before we started shooting (by the way, her husband, Cody Walker, plays the angel that appears to shut the lion’s snouts).
Another Larsen, Levi, plays the role of Chill, the laid-back lion from California. Levi played Moron in Vol. 2 and was the puppeteer behind the jaguars in Vol. 4. Chill’s counterpart was Nell, the nervous lioness, played by Erin Sacks, who played Chanel, the perfume-obsessed maiden in Vol. 6. Then there was Norm, the depressed lion, played by our very own Josh Tenney, who has been in maybe more Likens than we’ve even made. Norm’s opposite was Ray, the optimistic lion, played by another Liken newcomer, Bryan Madsen. Bryan was a last-minute fill-in for an actor who had to drop out at the last minute. He was cast as a prince for his dancing skills. We subsequently discovered that he had an amazing voice as well. I’ve since discovered that a number of our dancing princes were not just amazing dancers, they are excellent singers as well. All around performers.
But today is about the lions, and not only are they talented performers, they are true troopers. In addition to enduring a long day, they spend it in huge wigs and fur. We can’t run the A/C at full strength, because we’ve filled the studio with atmosphere to create cool-looking shafts of light slicing through the cave.
Aaron’s songs for these scenes are terrific. “Meat’s on the Menu Tonight” is the song the lions sing when we first meet them, as they anticipate the arrival of Daniel. It’s an a cappella piece, and we have some very expressive performers who willingly give it their all. The second song, “I’m a Vegetarian Now,” is a hoot. Aaron came up with the idea that the way the angel might shut the lions’ mouths was to turn their carnivorous ways to vegetarian ways.
Pretty fun day, but by the time it is done, our lions are pretty much dead. (Maybe they should eat more meat.) They can pretty much wring out their costumes, which is another good reason why going to a second day might have been unpleasant for our actors.
Can’t wrap up today’s write-up without giving kudos to Janna Larsen (key hair and make-up) and Carla Summers (costume designer). Thought we might have tested their limits with the maiden scene from “Esther,” but I think this might have topped that.
No comments:
Post a Comment