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Thursday, August 30, 2007 |
| Chemistry 101 |
Today the set was graced by the presence of our female lead, Caroline Dhavernas, star of films such as “Breach” and “Hollywoodland”. I’m struck by her delicate beauty and fierce intelligence. She and Paul have their first scenes together, and I can’t wait to see whether they have what they call “chemistry”. They look great together and they’re both very attractive (I can vouch for Caroline, and was informed at great length by my female friends as to Paul’s attractiveness) so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the sparks fly. Today they’re acting in scenes that establish their romance, which take place in the rooming house that Paul’s character Michael Dunne is living in. The room is quite small, and it was difficult to find something that looked exactly like what we wanted, so a set was built. From the inside, it looks like a room of the period, with the correct construction materials, furnished with a bed, basin, table and toiletries. The ingenuity of set construction never fails to impress. There are dormer windows that match up with a building exterior in Ft. McLeod, which stands in for 1917 Calgary. Each of the walls can be removed to allow the camera access for different angles.
These scenes are particularly interesting as they demonstrate the importance of lighting. The room is suffused with a beautiful light creating the impression of a warm early morning sunshine that embraces the characters. To achieve this, huge studio lights are placed outside the windows of the room with what are known as gel filters in front. A filter known as “yellow straw” takes the edge off the tungsten light that comes from the bulbs, and another called “loving amber” gives the warm glow in which romance can flourish. Caroline’s character wakes up, and leisurely traces the lines of Dunne’s battle scars with the tip of her finger. The tension is building, to the point I can feel the energy between them. “Would you kiss me if I asked?” she says. I’m thinking, yes, please do. This same thought is on Paul’s character¹s mind, and there it is, a hot smoldering on screen kiss, replete with the magical chemistry that infuses the best on screen romances. Every scene has to be covered from several different angles, and with each shot, the scene has to be repeated in the same way by the actors, which makes it all the more admirable that they can recreate that magic again and again for the camera. I’d be all puckered out by the fifth take, so I’m sort of glad that Carmichael doesn’t have to kiss anyone, although I did offer to stand in while Paul looked through the camera.
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| About the Blogger |
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The motion picture Passchendaele, an epic set amidst the horror of war, was shot in Alberta from August 20th to October 23rd 2007, directed and written by Paul Gross. The film is now in post production and will premiere in Theatres fall 2008, thus culminating a lifelong dream of Paul's, who learned of this extraordinary period in Canadian history from his Grandfather, Michael Joseph Dunne. The Battle of Passchendaele represents a story of determination, commitment and triumph, and this defining chapter in the forging of a nation shall never be forgotten. |
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