1
00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:16,553
This is the opening scene of Get Shorty.
This piece of music is by John Lurie.
2
00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:23,318
We shot everything that's supposed to be
in Miami in California, in Los Angeles.
3
00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,757
This is on Wilshire Boulevard
in Santa Monica.
4
00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,035
The second-to-last day of shooting,
5
00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,669
even though it's
the first scene of the movie.
6
00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,194
It's supposed to be cold, which it wasn't,
7
00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:41,673
so we had gigantic Ritter fans outside
blowing people's hair and coats
8
00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,117
and making too much noise,
which was driving everyone crazy.
9
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,037
See the bald guy behind us?
You'll see him again.
10
00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,156
The skinny guy on the right.
11
00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,437
His name actually is Chili Palmer,
12
00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:01,913
and the book was written about this guy.
This guy on the right.
13
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,719
So Elmore Leonard called us,
who wrote the novel,
14
00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,588
and said, "Hey, can we get
the real Chili Palmer into the movie?"
15
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:13,629
Chili Palmer is actually the guy
that Travolta's character is.
16
00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,029
Travolta is Chili Palmer in the movie,
17
00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,396
but it was written about
the skinny guy on the right.
18
00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:25,873
I remember Travolta saying, "I'm glad I
didn't know there was a real Chili Palmer,
19
00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:29,191
"cos I would've flown to Miami,
spent a couple of weeks with him
20
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,956
"and probably ruined my performance
if I had done that."
21
00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,673
Chili's not much of an actor,
but he's a really nice guy.
22
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:49,072
For a while, he was Elmore Leonard's
researcher. I'm not sure what that means.
23
00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,278
This scene was the actual last day
of shooting on the movie.
24
00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,477
Again, it was shot down in Santa Monica.
25
00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:02,235
I remember Mark Gordon came to visit.
He was the producer of Broken Arrow,
26
00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,393
and he came just to hang out
and watch Travolta work.
27
00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:08,516
Kelly, John's wife, was there,
28
00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:14,436
and we were all in a great mood cos it
was the last couple of days of the movie.
29
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:23,910
This scene was longer.
30
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,389
We cut it down by about half.
31
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,156
We all felt we were getting the right idea
and it was time to move on.
32
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,555
Now, check out this shot.
33
00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:38,269
This is shot with a Steadicam,
34
00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,911
and the Steadicam guy
is sitting on the side of the car.
35
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,434
That's why there's this bouncing and flare,
36
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,717
cos it's hard to get all that light
out of the Steadicam.
37
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,475
But you'll notice,
as Travolta opens the door,
38
00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,030
the camera will pull back
and follow him all the way inside.
39
00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,351
See? It's still the same shot
as when they were driving.
40
00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,557
We pan him around, go with him,
and walk all the way inside.
41
00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:07,998
That shot was done with a Steadicam with
the Steadicam operator outside the car,
42
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,756
sitting on a piece of wood that
we had mounted to the side of the car.
43
00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:17,118
This had to become an optical,
cos it was hard to change the f-stop,
44
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,078
the amount of light
from inside the car to the outside.
45
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,676
This is Dennis Farina
who just got punched in the nose.
46
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,274
We did about 30 takes of this.
47
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,352
Farina was a great guy to work with,
he was really funny.
48
00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,319
So, again, this is Los Angeles,
shot as Miami.
49
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:41,349
This was on Abbot Kinney Boulevard
in Venice Beach, California.
50
00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:47,992
And this is a real barbershop
that's used for a lot of Nike commercials.
51
00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:53,632
But we shot it anyway. This is
the back room of that same barbershop.
52
00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,994
This was one of the longest days
of the shoot.
53
00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,150
We worked until about 2, 3am.
54
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,711
It was a Friday night,
and we just had to get out of there.
55
00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:10,550
Yeah, that shot, this next shot,
56
00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,189
that was about two in the morning
when we did that shot.
57
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,432
We just made it look like daytime.
This is in Marina del Rey.
58
00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:24,117
And this guy, this actor,
played Moe Greene in The Godfather,
59
00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:29,718
and he gets shot while being massaged
in The Godfather,
60
00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,109
so I thought it would be
a homage to that.
61
00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:36,591
In fact, he even brought his Moe Greene
glasses, which he has in his hand.
62
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,114
It's the same black-framed, thick glasses
63
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:44,957
that he wore while getting shot
right in the eye in the first Godfather.
64
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,759
So we had a little fun with that.
65
00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:50,229
I don't think anyone noticed it.
66
00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,880
This is Los Angeles for Brooklyn.
67
00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,079
It was downtown Los Angeles.
This scene was also longer.
68
00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,870
The funny thing is,
when we were first editing the film,
69
00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:08,670
this beginning section of the movie
was incredibly slow and boring,
70
00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,593
and for a long time
was the worst part of the film.
71
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:16,754
We did a lot of cutting and had a lot of
great music - this is Booker T & the MG's -
72
00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:20,310
and it really helped the opening a lot.
73
00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:26,396
But for the first months of cutting, the first
ten minutes of the movie were the worst.
74
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,353
This is still in a warehouse
in downtown Los Angeles.
75
00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:38,070
In the first version of the script,
Momo got shot.
76
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:44,633
But I thought it would be funnier to do it
this way, which you're about to see.
77
00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,311
Watch when he falls.
All the confetti flies up
78
00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,439
from the stunt pad that he fell onto,
cos all this confetti had fallen onto that.
79
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,316
Now we have two minutes
of opening titles.
80
00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,870
I just wanted it to feel
sort of Miami-like and LA-like,
81
00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,157
cos the movie takes place
in Miami and LA.
82
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,995
So we thought the sort of turquoise
and pink would be good,
83
00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:18,152
but, depending on the screen
you're looking at,
84
00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,390
these might be green,
85
00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:22,516
and the pink might be red.
86
00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:27,958
I've seen it on an airplane
where it went kind of a horrific yellow.
87
00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,509
But the reality is it's turquoise and pink.
88
00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:40,797
This piece of music was written by Us3.
89
00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:46,557
For a long time, when we were screening
the movie in its rough-cut form,
90
00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,473
we had "Cantaloop" by Us3.
91
00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:54,953
We wanted an Us3 song in there,
so I called them, reached them in London,
92
00:06:55,040 --> 00:07:00,910
sent them a tape, and they liked the movie
and agreed to write this song.
93
00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,876
John Lurie also wrote
a really good opening song,
94
00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:16,035
but we decided to use it at the end
instead, which is in about 90 minutes.
95
00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:24,591
The reason I'm the executive producer
on this movie was...
96
00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,114
What had happened was,
I had been on a cruise
97
00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,590
and had read Get Shorty in paperback,
98
00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,070
and when I got back to New York,
I called DeVito.
99
00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,948
I knew Danny because I had shot
Throw Momma from the Train with him.
100
00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,510
I called him and said,
"I've just read a book you should buy."
101
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:48,232
Cos I imagined Danny would be a perfect
Chili Palmer. As it turned out I was wrong,
102
00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,199
and instead we went with Travolta,
who was a perfect Chili Palmer.
103
00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,238
But, anyway, Danny was
on the car phone and said,
104
00:07:55,320 --> 00:08:00,758
"I'll buy the book. You direct it, I'll act in it
and produce it." So that's what happened.
105
00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:14,036
This conversation they're having
about never going to bed so you won't die
106
00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,476
was a story DeVito told me
about a friend of his
107
00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:22,680
that actually believed that as long as
you didn't sleep in bed, you wouldn't die,
108
00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,149
because most people die in their bed.
109
00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,630
So we just incorporated it into the film.
110
00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,912
This guy, his name's Big Daddy Wayne.
He's a really funny guy.
111
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:53,757
He's really enormous, and
he's incredibly shy and kind and sweet.
112
00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,037
He brought his mom to the premiere.
113
00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,070
The way we hired Farina was interesting.
114
00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:14,234
We had a read-through of the script
two years before we made the movie.
115
00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,357
We tried to make the movie
for over three years.
116
00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:22,275
Two years before, we had the script ready
and wanted to hear what it sounded like,
117
00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,114
so we had a read-through
at Danny's office.
118
00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:31,115
Gene Hackman read Harry Zimm,
and he eventually agreed to do the part.
119
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:35,637
Farina was there,
Gary Busey played this guy, Bear,
120
00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,836
DeVito played Chili Palmer,
121
00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,277
Lesley Ann Warren played Karen Flores,
a woman you'll see later.
122
00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:47,957
The reading was great, but the funny thing
was, Farina and Hackman stole the movie.
123
00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:55,796
So we knew we wanted to hire those
two guys in particular to be in the film.
124
00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:17,153
The editor on this film, Jim Miller,
who's edited all four movies I've directed,
125
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,356
is a real filmmaker,
126
00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,989
and he always finds comedy
where I didn't even know I had shot it.
127
00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:29,872
There's a shot we just saw of Farina not
figuring out how much interest $2700 is,
128
00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:35,557
and there's a shot of Tommy Carlo sitting
there, staring up, trying to figure it out,
129
00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,952
which totally was created
in the cutting room by Jim.
130
00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,032
It was never my intention to do that.
131
00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:48,153
This woman, Linda Hart,
actually is a good friend of Bette Midler.
132
00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,277
She was a Harlette,
133
00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:56,434
which were the backup singers
for Bette's old singing group.
134
00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:03,153
Again, this was shot in Los Angeles,
in Culver City.
135
00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:09,236
We added the foliage, painted the house
turquoise, added the pink flamingos.
136
00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:22,314
David Paymer and Linda Hart
in that photograph.
137
00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:26,996
This is a little set we built
on the stage in California.
138
00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,194
This guy's wife makes children's clothing,
139
00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:39,432
and he keeps sending me
really great clothing
140
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,671
for our three-year-old daughter, Chloe.
141
00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,834
I think he's a great actor.
142
00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,358
So, coming up is the longest day we had.
143
00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:04,798
That plane wasn't actually in that shot.
We added that in postproduction optically.
144
00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,792
This rain is all created
with big rain towers.
145
00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:13,034
This was a really long day. We started
the day in the airport on another scene,
146
00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,590
and this was a 17-hour day.
See this woman?
147
00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:21,439
Her real name is Carlease,
her last name is Carlease.
148
00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:23,829
So we decided we needed to hire her
149
00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,196
because her name went
with what she did.
150
00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,914
Anyway, this was
a horrible, cold, rainy night.
151
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:42,916
It was about 3am, nothing was working
properly. The lighting took forever.
152
00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,320
But now we're out of that scene.
153
00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:53,675
This was a house in Malibu.
That's Hackman. That's Rene Russo.
154
00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,958
And we were in a house in Malibu
for about two weeks.
155
00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,715
This scene is very much like it was
in the Elmore Leonard novel.
156
00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:11,430
It's pretty much shot in one shot.
We wouldn't have cut into it at all,
157
00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,671
except Hackman is incredibly funny
in his close-up,
158
00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,354
which you'll see in a minute.
159
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,438
Here it comes. Here comes comedy.
160
00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,469
You don't?
What happened to Muffy?
161
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,553
So let me talk to you
about Gene Hackman's goatee.
162
00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:51,234
When I first met Gene in preproduction,
he said,
163
00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,995
"I'm thinking about growing a goatee.
What do you think about that?"
164
00:13:55,080 --> 00:14:00,279
And I said, "Well..." Cos I needed to see
what he looked like with facial hair,
165
00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:02,828
I wanted to look
at some of his older movies
166
00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,879
to see if I would like it or not,
so I needed some stalling time, and I said,
167
00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:12,830
"Why don't you grow the beard and then
if we don't like it you can shave it off?"
168
00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,959
He said, "I'm not gonna waste my time
growing a beard if you won't use it."
169
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,190
So I said, "OK, fine, Gene. I'm sorry."
170
00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,635
So we let Gene grow the beard,
171
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:27,989
and I saw a picture of Robert Altman
in Premiere and thought it looked great.
172
00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:33,837
And Gene loved it cos he thought
it made his character look like an artist.
173
00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:39,950
Here's this really cheesy producer
of movies like Grotesque
174
00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,634
and these sort of sexy horror movies,
175
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,269
yet he still felt he needed
to feel like he was an artist.
176
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:48,749
So we let Gene grow his beard.
177
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:53,072
We gave him capped teeth
that were too white, which we loved.
178
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:58,188
And we gave him a little Jewish chai,
which is a symbol around his neck.
179
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,671
You can't see it in this shot,
but you'll see it in some others.
180
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,630
There it is, there's that chai.
181
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,269
This scene is very much like it was
in the Elmore Leonard novel
182
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,069
in terms of dialogue
and setup and location.
183
00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,277
It was incredibly hard
finding this location,
184
00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,113
because we needed
specific architectural things.
185
00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:24,558
We needed a staircase that could
then look down over a living room,
186
00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:26,995
which plays a role throughout the movie.
187
00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:32,473
I wanted it to be open and feel like a part
of California we hadn't seen in the movie.
188
00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:36,758
We looked at a lot of houses in Malibu.
Looked at Senator Gene Tunney's house.
189
00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:41,118
We thought we had that,
and then they changed their mind.
190
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:47,799
This house is owned
by another film director.
191
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,310
This scene was also much longer,
but we cut it down.
192
00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:02,316
The problem is there's so much
exposition in some of these early scenes,
193
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,837
to set up Leo Devoe,
and what happened with the gambling,
194
00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:08,990
and Gene Hackman's gambling.
195
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,356
You needed to get through it quickly
to get into some action.
196
00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:19,198
So this was all much longer. We cut down
about four, five minutes out of this scene.
197
00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,558
I love Gene's teeth,
which were totally his idea.
198
00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:35,794
Again, he felt it would be great
if his character was very vain.
199
00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:43,878
Here's Rene. Rene was a joy to work with.
She's just a wonderful, special woman.
200
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,555
She's really funny.
She's incredibly normal.
201
00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,477
She has a great husband, a great kid.
202
00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:53,915
Great body.
203
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:02,554
So, again, this was all on location
in Malibu, this wasn't a set.
204
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,710
It was all shot during the day
205
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:09,669
and we just blacked out the windows
and made it look like night.
206
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,396
This scene is also very much like
it was in the novel,
207
00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,268
in that Elmore writes about
it all taking place in flashback.
208
00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:58,992
The guy in the middle is David Paymer.
The woman two rows back is my wife.
209
00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:04,108
Can't really see her. There she is
for a second. Now she's gone.
210
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,829
This was shot against bluescreen,
on a stage,
211
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:13,869
and then we added all the airplanes
and that airplane crashing at the end,
212
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,633
in postproduction.
213
00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,951
The funny thing is,
when it's shown on airplanes,
214
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,113
instead of it being an airplane crash,
it's a train crash.
215
00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:30,196
And throughout the movie, every time we
mention "plane", we change it to "train".
216
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,874
This was shot at LAX.
217
00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,394
That's supposed to be
the outline of an airplane.
218
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,550
We had some really great inserts.
219
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,234
A burning book of Fear of Flying.
220
00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:46,598
But, again, we just tried to shorten
the film as much as possible.
221
00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,993
That was done with a Technocrane,
which lets you boom up very quickly.
222
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,196
We shot this twice. We shot it once -
that shot of her getting the cheque -
223
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:09,149
once inside, which we used, and also
outside with her surrounded by flamingos.
224
00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,755
And I had those two guys on a swing,
swinging back and forth.
225
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:14,876
But it was just too darn funny.
226
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,269
This was shot much later in the movie.
227
00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:20,477
We felt we needed some more back story,
228
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:24,473
so we actually went to Vegas
and did that shot.
229
00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:27,755
That actress who slapped Leo was great,
230
00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,593
but she was so afraid
of actually slapping him
231
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,559
that we had to do about 20, 25, 30 takes.
232
00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:58,156
John's always dressed in these dark suits
and wool shirts, and he just looks great.
233
00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:03,109
We wanted him to look very specific, but
didn't want him to look like a gangster,
234
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,316
yet didn't want to give him, like, a tie.
235
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,392
So the costume designer, Betsy Haimann,
236
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,393
came up with this idea with
these dark shirts buttoned up to the top.
237
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:18,350
We have charcoal and purple.
He looks great in the film, Travolta does.
238
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:43,077
Here comes a little sexy music cue
that John Lurie came up with on his own.
239
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:45,515
I didn't think we needed music here.
240
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,353
Here it comes.
241
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:55,917
But John said, "Come on, I'm a sax player.
Let me just have this little riff."
242
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,276
I think it's really cute. It also helps John.
243
00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:04,309
John's character is supposed to be a great
lover of movies, he knows all about them,
244
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:10,032
and I thought it would feel more like a
movie moment for him, for his character,
245
00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:13,430
if we just gave it a little music cue there.
246
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:29,958
One of my favourite shots,
247
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,636
where it looks like the plane's upside
down and then rights itself up again.
248
00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,951
We shot this the day before
the movie started,
249
00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:42,397
and it wasn't until I went out
two days earlier with a video camera
250
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,711
to design this shot
and show the cameraman
251
00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,156
that I realised that doing a shot
the way I wanted to
252
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,277
meant that the plane
would look upside down.
253
00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:56,797
So everyone thinks I did it on purpose,
but it was just a happy accident.
254
00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,673
This actor is Delroy Lindo,
who's really great.
255
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,433
He's been in a lot of Spike Lee movies.
256
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:08,548
He's in Broken Arrow. He's doing a movie
with Ron Howard called Ransom,
257
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,473
where he plays an FBI agent.
258
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,676
This was all shot at LAX.
259
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,832
I could not believe
how cooperative the city was,
260
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,835
Los Angeles Airport officials
were, on this movie.
261
00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:30,876
We shot here for eight days. We owned
the terminal, stopped announcements.
262
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:35,715
We did a lot of big Steadicam shots.
They were just great.
263
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,598
Delroy's got a great wardrobe.
264
00:22:56,120 --> 00:23:00,989
Check out the bulge in his pants
near his ankle.
265
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,756
We tried to make the ankle big enough
to look like there was something there,
266
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,400
but not so big that it looked ridiculous.
267
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,677
I'm not sure we pulled it off very well.
268
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,828
This was a really difficult shot.
It was incredibly dark.
269
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:57,357
It was raining. It was dreary.
270
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,159
Yet we had to make it look
like it was sunny.
271
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:04,518
Don't you think the guy in the back with
the funny hat looks like Marty Feldman?
272
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,559
He used to be on a TV show
about 20 years ago. It's not.
273
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:13,919
This is a Steadicam shot here,
going down into Delroy in the car.
274
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:19,199
It was really noisy. It was a horrible day.
275
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,118
Danny DeVito agreed to let us
have him play Napoleon
276
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,749
in this fake movie, Napoleon,
which was just great.
277
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,150
So we had that billboard on Sunset
for a couple of days,
278
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,791
and people were calling DeVito
and finding out who Martin Weir is,
279
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,599
cos that's his name in the movie.
280
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,195
These, in many ways,
were the worst two days of the shoot,
281
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,874
the two days it took to do this scene.
282
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:52,476
John had recently been nominated for
the Academy Award when we shot this,
283
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,918
so people were screaming,
"Hey, John. John rules! John's great!"
284
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,151
And ruining many, many, many takes.
285
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,835
Hackman used to joke
that people were driving by and saying,
286
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,118
"Who's the old guy that's driving John
around everywhere?"
287
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:15,558
This was John's second Academy Award
nomination, for Pulp Fiction,
288
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:17,835
and I remember John saying to Gene,
289
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,639
"So, how many times
have you been nominated?"
290
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,349
And Gene said, "Well, I won twice.
I've been nominated six times."
291
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,716
That sort of was a funny moment for John.
292
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,997
This is a restaurant called Caf� Med
that we're about to look at.
293
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,152
DeVito, when we shot this,
was about three weeks away
294
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,438
from shooting his own movie
that he was directing, called Matilda.
295
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,830
We'd call him and say, "We need you
here in an hour. Come down."
296
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:48,118
And he'd race down here, because
we got ahead of schedule on this day.
297
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:53,274
Raced down, sat down there, and I just
would yell at him as we were shooting:
298
00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:57,239
"Look at that girl! Smile!
Yell at the waiter!"
299
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,356
And he was incredibly great.
300
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:06,190
But this was the most difficult shooting.
It was incredibly hot.
301
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:12,435
It's noisy. You want to shoot as little
of a movie on a moving car as possible.
302
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:18,550
It's always the worst part of any shoot.
You can't direct the actors,
303
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,952
can't hear what they're saying. You're
on another car yelling, "Do it again."
304
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,237
"Back up. Don't go there.
Wait. Give him that other line."
305
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:30,154
Cos you never want to stop
the camera and go back to the beginning,
306
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,392
cos you've got to make a U-turn,
the cops have gotta stop the traffic,
307
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,199
the truck's too big to turn around.
308
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:42,400
See, we're pulling this car
from another truck called the camera car.
309
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,677
It's just a horrible way of working.
310
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,397
There's Angelyne.
311
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:53,110
We thought about hiring her for a part in
the movie and then decided, "Maybe not."
312
00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,715
These were all stills
that we shot for the movie.
313
00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:02,272
His office, Harry Zimm's office, is a set
designed by a guy named Peter Larkin,
314
00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:05,352
who's a great production designer.
315
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,195
This is called the cover set.
316
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,990
You go to a cover set cos you're supposed
to be shooting outside and it's raining.
317
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:20,676
So we actually shot this
over two rainy days.
318
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:26,355
We were on the set,
and it was rainy and cold,
319
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:32,515
and the water was dripping cos it
wasn't a real stage, it was a warehouse.
320
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,593
It was a horrible thing,
except it was also Travolta's birthday,
321
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,752
so we had a nice birthday cake for him.
322
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,630
This is one of my favourite scenes
in the movie.
323
00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:01,873
I really like all the camera angles
we used. It's very visual.
324
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:07,717
The guys coming in are Delroy and a guy
named Jonathan Gries, who's very good.
325
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,480
Here they come.
326
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:37,433
I love this shot. It just sets up Travolta's
relationship with Delroy right away,
327
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,193
that push-in on him.
328
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,158
The idea for Hackman's office was that
329
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,518
I just thought that his character was
a guy who never threw anything away,
330
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,716
so it's incredibly cluttered.
331
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,395
It's got gaffer's tape everywhere,
and props from old movies.
332
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,473
I remember I showed these dailies
to Elmore Leonard,
333
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,120
and he didn't like them,
and I said, "Why not?"
334
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:16,193
He said, "Well, the performances
are great, but it's too messy."
335
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,750
And the reason he said that was
he was basing this character
336
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:24,595
on a specific producer he had worked
with once who didn't have a messy office.
337
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,035
But he came around to liking it.
338
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,715
There's that chai
on Hackman's neck again.
339
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,997
For me, in many ways,
this is where the movie begins.
340
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:51,313
It really sets Travolta's character up as a
guy who doesn't talk more than he has to,
341
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:53,470
has total self-confidence.
342
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:59,032
In fact, the reason I wanted to hire DeVito
to play the role that Travolta played
343
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:04,240
is because, for me, the movie
isn't so much about Hollywood
344
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,357
as it is an exploration of self-confidence.
345
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:12,514
And how, if you're self-confident, you can
get whatever you want and be successful.
346
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,513
DeVito's the singular most
self-confident person I've ever met.
347
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,114
That's why I wanted Danny to play him.
348
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,069
Watch Gene's reaction.
See, he shows us all his teeth.
349
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:34,119
Delroy said, "I've seen better film
on teeth", and Gene gives us a big grin
350
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,316
just to show us his teeth.
351
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:55,954
The editor didn't like this shot where
I pull back to reveal this guy, Ronnie.
352
00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:01,797
He felt it was too self-conscious.
But I made him put it back cos I liked it.
353
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,677
This was a last-minute idea, when I
panned around, to continue panning
354
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,274
and reveal Gene.
355
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,158
Most of the time
I design the shots ahead of time.
356
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,198
The Sunday every week
before that week's work
357
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,909
I sit down and spend Sunday
designing all the shots for the week.
358
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:29,996
But that's one shot that I just thought
about on the set right then and there.
359
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,953
I think it ended up taking three days
to shoot this whole scene.
360
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,156
Maybe two.
361
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,715
This scene coming up here
was Rene's hardest scene.
362
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:32,909
But the idea of her being dressed
as if she was in a B-movie
363
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:37,232
was totally her idea. Rene came to me
in preproduction and said,
364
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,676
"What if I come in
dressed like a real bimbo?"
365
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,274
It was written for
a different way of playing it,
366
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:47,558
and I really liked the idea,
and it was totally hers.
367
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,079
This scene was supposed to be
half inside the house and half outside.
368
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,277
It was pouring with rain,
so I redesigned it this way
369
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:14,069
so that she would stay in the house
instead of them going outside.
370
00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:16,549
And it actually works much better.
371
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:19,393
When we did this shot,
she was in a hurry to get out
372
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:23,758
because the premiere for Outbreak
was that evening,
373
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:28,356
and you can see the sun setting
in the background of the shot.
374
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,955
And she was doing this
and desperately trying to get out,
375
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:35,157
cos she had an hour to get changed,
look glamorous,
376
00:34:35,240 --> 00:34:39,119
and be at the premiere of Outbreak
in Westwood.
377
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:43,310
I like this, cos it feels like
Romeo and Juliet.
378
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,989
So I got lucky. Because it rained,
I moved everything inside,
379
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:54,679
and I think it really helps the romance
to play it this way with her on the balcony.
380
00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:09,315
This is, in many ways, the most
controversial scene in the movie,
381
00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:14,190
because this guy, Ray Bones,
hits Linda Hart.
382
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,589
Fay Devoe's her name.
383
00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:21,188
Whenever we had previews,
you would say,
384
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:24,750
"What's your least favourite scene?"
and they'd say this scene.
385
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:29,152
"You have to take it out. You shouldn't
show someone hitting a woman."
386
00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:32,596
My feeling was, first of all,
it's OK not to like this scene.
387
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:37,196
You're not supposed to hit a woman,
but there'd been no action for 20 minutes,
388
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,397
and I thought it would help
to just wake up the audience.
389
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:43,552
So I thought, "Well, let him hit her."
390
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:47,599
It also makes him a more horrible guy.
391
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:49,716
A real guy, and not just a clown.
392
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:54,430
Cos up till then he's just been beaten up
time and time again by Travolta.
393
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,830
And later on in the movie
he has to feel really threatening.
394
00:35:57,920 --> 00:35:59,911
So I left this scene in,
395
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,310
but it's not my intention
to say that it's correct to hit women.
396
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:08,314
Hey, look. This is me.
That's me being a doorman.
397
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:13,677
Although I also look
like I could be on a bottle of gin.
398
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,399
I look like the gin label.
399
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,836
This was shot at the Century Plaza Hotel.
400
00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:22,832
I love David Paymer,
I think he's a great actor.
401
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,514
We shot this over two days
402
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:31,756
in a real room at the Century Plaza
in Los Angeles.
403
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,832
There's John in the background.
404
00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:44,076
That insert was shot on a stage three
months after we were done shooting.
405
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:58,158
We had many levels of performance
from David Paymer,
406
00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:01,835
but the one that interested me the most
was the most whiny.
407
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:06,038
So I kept asking David
to be whinier and whinier.
408
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,793
He was afraid he was getting too whiny.
409
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,838
But we pretty much
used all the whiny stuff.
410
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,472
This is my favourite part
of the scene coming up.
411
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:16,588
I could've ended it here, but I had this
funny idea when I was reading the script
412
00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:19,877
about doing this interesting thing
with the camera,
413
00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:24,875
where I was pulling back further
and further and further away from him,
414
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,554
as if it was John's back's point of view.
415
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:30,632
Then when John turns around...
416
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,155
it frightens him and he runs inside.
417
00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:38,357
It just sort of allows the camera
418
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:40,875
to make John seem even more powerful.
419
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,758
So I just always liked this scene.
420
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:51,113
This is at Hollywood and Vine
or something, in LA.
421
00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,350
And now, that's the real exterior,
422
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:57,274
but when we go inside
we're back on that set we built.
423
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:01,430
You want to have Travolta walk in a movie
as much as possible.
424
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:06,355
He has a very specific, wonderful walk
in every movie he does.
425
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:11,953
We shot this whole scene in one night.
426
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:26,793
I really like this scene a lot. It's the most
sort of Hollywood scene, in a lot of ways,
427
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:30,555
cos these two guys
that know nothing about film
428
00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:32,870
are not only discussing film,
429
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:36,157
but think they know
how to fix films and write films.
430
00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:41,519
Everyone thinks they can write a script.
Everyone's an expert.
431
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:12,232
I wonder, would that work? You know
who I see for the part of Al Roxy?
432
00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:16,791
- Harvey Keitel could play it in his sleep.
- He was pretty good in "Fingers".
433
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,839
There was just something
about Harvey Keitel in Fingers.
434
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:26,070
Keep paying attention to Harvey Keitel,
435
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:30,950
because he may show up later on
in the movie - uncredited.
436
00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:24,192
The problem with these kinds of scenes
is you got two people in a room talking,
437
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:29,274
and you better have good dialogue cos
there's nothing going on with the camera.
438
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:33,069
Over singles, it's exactly the way
I don't like to shoot movies.
439
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,720
But this movie was really talky.
440
00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,678
I moved the camera less in this film
441
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,958
than probably I have
in any of the other films.
442
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:44,793
This is Touch of Evil.
443
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:48,873
When I first met John and tried
to convince him to do this film,
444
00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:52,077
his initial reaction was to turn it down,
and one reason was
445
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:58,679
cos he didn't feel we really believe that
Chili Palmer was a film buff, his character.
446
00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:02,036
So we wrote this scene
and put it in the movie
447
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:08,832
to show that John's character
was really legitimately in love with films,
448
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:14,040
and not just a sycophant
or someone who just talked about movies.
449
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:16,190
I love John's performance here.
450
00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:20,910
There's a great moment coming up
when he just laughs to himself.
451
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:23,309
It's also a great scene for the movie,
452
00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:27,109
because it lets
Rene Russo's character see
453
00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:31,432
that Chili isn't just coming on to her,
454
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:34,751
using this movie thing,
but he really truly loves movies.
455
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:41,234
And I think she finds that really attractive,
his sort of boyish innocence in this scene.
456
00:42:46,240 --> 00:42:49,198
Here we go. Now he's gonna laugh.
457
00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:55,518
Basically, that's what I do
when I watch Dr Strangelove.
458
00:42:55,600 --> 00:43:01,948
I'm always saying the lines before Peter
Sellers or Sterling Hayden say their lines.
459
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,157
I'm, like, one step ahead.
It's my favourite movie.
460
00:43:05,240 --> 00:43:10,109
I drive everyone crazy
when I watch Strangelove with them.
461
00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:17,153
I love...
462
00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:22,598
Coming up you're gonna see
John tapping this guy in front of him.
463
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:27,518
He's such a kid in this scene. I love it.
464
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,675
There's the DeVito poster
for Napoleon again.
465
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:55,279
This was a walk-and-talk we did on
Wilshire Boulevard and about 14th street.
466
00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:00,911
While we were lighting this whole scene,
which took about three hours,
467
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:03,594
John was in his camper,
468
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:09,638
meeting tailors
from Armani, Hugo Boss, agn�s b,
469
00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:14,748
cos he was getting a free tuxedo
for his Academy Award appearance.
470
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:19,992
So he was in his camper,
torturing various tailors,
471
00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:23,595
trying to decide
which company to go with.
472
00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:29,152
I don't know where he went. He may have
gone Hugo Boss, I'm not sure.
473
00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:42,873
I like this location, because
I was living two blocks away at the time.
474
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:47,078
I live back east, but we shot this in LA,
so I brought my family out
475
00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:52,632
and we were living on 12th, then Carlyle,
and this was 14th and Wilshire.
476
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:56,793
So it's why we picked that particular
movie theatre for the exterior.
477
00:44:56,880 --> 00:44:59,792
The interior was
somewhere in Hollywood,
478
00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:03,111
but the exterior was in Santa Monica.
479
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:19,075
All right, there's a shot coming up
called a dolly zoom.
480
00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:24,075
This shot here. You see how he stays the
same size but the background changes?
481
00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:28,711
The way you do that
is, you're on a dolly with a zoom lens,
482
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,076
and you start the camera
at 100mm, faraway,
483
00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:37,280
and then you dolly towards him
and widen out the lens at the same time.
484
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:41,911
So at the end you're then on a 17 mm
only a couple of feet away from him.
485
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:45,117
So his head remains the same size.
486
00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:48,431
This was the very last shot we did.
The last night.
487
00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:53,913
Those women are totally naked, but you
wouldn't know it cos we're so far away.
488
00:45:54,000 --> 00:46:00,269
That was shot in Santa Monica, and
this shot was shot in the Hollywood Hills.
489
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:07,029
That actor back there, his name
is Jacob Vargas. He's really funny.
490
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:26,072
I think this was shot the actual night
491
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:30,153
that the Academy Award nominations
were announced at 5am,
492
00:46:30,240 --> 00:46:32,549
so John, in fact, wasn't here
493
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:37,509
cos he was down on our other set,
494
00:46:37,600 --> 00:46:40,512
the Harry Zimm set,
with Good Morning America,
495
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:43,478
waiting to see if he got nominated.
496
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:54,990
So he's on a little platform, Yayo is,
about four feet above.
497
00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:57,749
He's just falling down onto the floor.
498
00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:00,877
And then that shot was done
with a stunt man
499
00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,838
with something called the de-accelerator.
500
00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:08,516
So he's on a cable and is actually
free-falling until the last two feet,
501
00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:11,194
and then he slows down.
502
00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:25,397
See this part of the scene?
I took this out, I put it back in, I took it out.
503
00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,268
I finally left it in
and then we got a big laugh.
504
00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:36,588
This was shot in Beverly Hills.
505
00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:40,592
You'll notice something
very important in this scene.
506
00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:43,797
When the car pulls up,
see the way it's heading?
507
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:47,031
At the end of the scene,
when they leave the house,
508
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:51,432
the cars will both be pointed
in the other direction, aimed downhill.
509
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,751
But I didn't think anyone would notice.
510
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:57,752
This was a Steadicam on a crane.
511
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,877
It started high and then
as the crane gets to the bottom,
512
00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:03,758
the Steadicam operator, Steve St John,
513
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:09,551
walks off the crane and then walks
into the shot. See, it's all one shot?
514
00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:12,632
That girl's name is Renee Props.
515
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:19,470
Which is a problem, cos you can't
call her "Renee" cos of Rene Russo,
516
00:48:19,560 --> 00:48:23,189
and you can't call her "Props"
because all the prop people show up.
517
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:29,717
So this is a Steadicam shot,
sort of pushing down the staircase.
518
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:37,994
In the novel, this took place
in the basement of a club,
519
00:48:38,080 --> 00:48:42,392
but, again, I wanted to show
as much of Beverly Hills, Malibu...
520
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:46,951
I wanted to show
as much Hollywood as I could.
521
00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:50,635
This is Danny DeVito playing Martin Weir.
522
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:58,117
Sort of a pompous, self-important actor.
523
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:09,113
Coming up is one of the biggest laughs
in the movie, totally accidental.
524
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:13,512
You see how Danny has got his face
sort of twisted right? Like that?
525
00:49:14,280 --> 00:49:19,149
We cut to this painting,
which was done by the set dresser.
526
00:49:19,240 --> 00:49:24,234
The painting was eight grand. We thought,
"OK. We'll do it, but it's a lot of money."
527
00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:27,471
You put it in, next thing you know
it's one of the biggest laughs,
528
00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:31,030
and everyone thinks
you did it on purpose.
529
00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:41,750
So when we shot this scene, it was
one week from Danny starting Matilda.
530
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,400
He was a week
from directing his own movie.
531
00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:49,315
This was an eight-page scene, which
you would normally do over four days.
532
00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:53,439
And we did all of Danny's coverage
in one day,
533
00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:56,114
and all of John and Rene's in one day.
534
00:49:56,200 --> 00:49:59,431
We ended up doing it in two days.
535
00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:03,593
I love Rene in this scene, because
she doesn't do anything except react.
536
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:07,389
And all the big laughs
are off of her reactions.
537
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:30,956
When were shooting this scene, Elmore
Leonard, who wrote the novel, visited.
538
00:50:31,040 --> 00:50:33,190
So that made me very nervous,
539
00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:37,432
because I was sitting there the whole time
thinking, "What would Elmore do?"
540
00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:42,719
"Does Elmore feel that Danny's talking
too fast, or should Rene stand up?"
541
00:50:42,800 --> 00:50:45,872
And, of course, he didn't care at all.
542
00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:01,156
One of the secrets to directing
is never to say "Cut",
543
00:51:01,240 --> 00:51:04,789
cos the only time a director
actually has control over a scene
544
00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:08,793
is when the actors are actually talking
and the film is rolling.
545
00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:12,759
Once you say "Cut", everyone comes in
with combs and brushes
546
00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:18,312
and starts playing with people's hair, and
the cameraman puts a different light up.
547
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:21,278
Danny, because he's also a director,
knows that,
548
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:25,399
so whenever Danny would screw up
a line, instead of me calling "Cut",
549
00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:27,914
Danny would say,
"Sorry, I'm gonna back up."
550
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:31,310
"John, give me that other line,
because I'm gonna say..."'
551
00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:33,868
We would keep rolling
and never call "Cut",
552
00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:38,954
and that's the reason we got through it all
in a day on Danny's angles.
553
00:51:49,240 --> 00:51:54,030
We have great outtakes from this scene
of Danny doing all this stuff,
554
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:56,509
playing his Shylock.
555
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:27,115
This is one of my favourite scenes.
556
00:52:27,200 --> 00:52:30,954
I love working with Danny.
He's incredibly funny.
557
00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:14,510
Because we were shooting
in Beverly Hills, everyone would visit us
558
00:53:14,600 --> 00:53:16,750
cos it was near their offices.
559
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:21,391
When we were shooting this,
Gabriel Byrne showed up.
560
00:53:21,480 --> 00:53:26,508
Lots of agents would show up,
Danny's agent, my agent.
561
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:30,991
Tom Laughlin,
who played Billy Jack, showed up.
562
00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:41,680
This was shot in a restaurant
called Abiquiu on 5th and Santa Monica.
563
00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:45,435
Which is also a great restaurant,
by the way.
564
00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:47,795
It's Santa Fe.
565
00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:53,671
The secret here was we needed
a restaurant with a long, public staircase,
566
00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:56,479
as you'll see later in the film.