The near month that has lapsed since my last blog entry coincides perfectly with my latest job as voice coach on DrimTim‘s latest film The Lost. Not entirely different than my last experience with them on Clean Break, I’ve been a busy little beaver for the past four weeks with absolutely no time to blog. Allow me to attempt a recap:
As opposed to DrimTim’s normal output of action-thrillers, The Lost takes more of a dramatic turn being a psychological-thriller in which we find an American psychologist turned bestselling writer who is forced to return to Barcelona by the sister of one of his old patients whom he, at one point, diagnosed with multiple personality disorder.
As in all the other DrimTim films, the main characters are American and they fly over to Barcelona and mess the place up. So naturally, all of the secondary characters are Spanish. That’s where I come in. Someone has to make sure that their spoken English is understandable. That someone was me.
I knew what I was in for after having done this once before, but I guess a month and a half vacation is enough to make you forget exactly how grueling a filming schedule can be. The standard day consists of 12 hours on set – we often did overtime. These 12 hours don’t include travel time to and from the set and some of our locations were an hour and a half out of town! If I wanted to shower, eat, and sleep while at home, that would normally leave me enough free time to brush my teeth – on a good day. Luckily, I only had to work a couple Saturdays. Hopefully you’re starting to understand why I haven’t been blogging this past month. Did I mention that most work days started at 3pm?
I said that some filming locations were way out of town. 70% of the time, though, we were right here in the city center. The vast array of shooting locations was one of the most interesting parts of the project. Over the course of the month, we shot in a cemetery, a dilapidated old hospital, a cavernous salt mine, a police station, the Catalunya History Museum, an underground parking lot, and the penthouse of a four star hotel. We also got to crash a car, burn down a mansion, and play with an electro-shock therapy machine. All in the name of entertainment.
The script was great. Of course, the script for Clean Break was good, too, but then they added Ms. Tara Reid to the equation and it all went to hell in a hand basket. But of the last six films that they have made, this was easily the strongest script. Now, let’s add the actors:
Armand Assante played Kevin, the psychiatrist. You may have seen Armand in such films as Hoffa and The Mambo Kings (also Judge Dredd and Striptease). Known for playing tough guys and mafiosos, I watched the director spend a lot of time trying to soften Armand’s portrayal of the kind doctor. This was a meaty role and he had a lot to work with (and sort out). Armand is a really nice guy and very interesting to talk to, but his inclination to rewrite every scene just minutes before we shot them coupled with his low mumble of a speaking voice conflicted directly with my job of preparing the Spanish actors for their on camera performance. Every single one of my actors came up to me at one time or another and asked, “What is he saying?”. Armand’s on camera improvisations were met by anything ranging from awkward Spanglish improv to a vacant stare. “Cut!” Though I worked directly with Armand very little, no other actor caused me more headaches. But through it all, I must admit that it was a pleasure working with him.
Dina Meyer played Mira, the mental patient’s sister. You may have seen Dina in such films as Starship Troopers and Saw (1, 2, and 3). Dina is hyperactive, fidgety, and a bit of a control freak, but she is also a very talented actress. The crew was a bit intimidated by her mile-a-minute monologues (in a language that they barely understood) and nobody’s life was made easier by her insistence that her pet chihuahua be on set with her at all times, but that girl knew how to control the camera with her natural demeanor and penetrating glare. I don’t think Dina had the time of her life on this film, but I can safely say that having her around always made things “interesting”.
Lacey Chabert played Jane, the mental patient with multiple personality disorder. Probably first seen on Party Of Five (where she appeared for seven years), Lacey has gone on to provide voices for Family Guy, Rugrats, and The Wild Thornberrys. Let me first say that, besides being one of the most talented young actresses I’ve ever seen, Lacey is one of the absolute sweetest, kindest, and most humble people I’ve ever met. Her “multi-faceted” role in the film had her speaking Spanish, French, and Chinese. So even though my job was to help the Spanish actors with their English, I was also there to help Lacey with her accents and pronunciation. Everyone thought it was adorable watching this cute little girl venomously spit out Spanish curse words. She got so into one of her scenes as a violent mental patient that she actually ended up fracturing three ribs! Now that’s dedication. It was a pleasure getting to know her and working with her – and I’m sure the entire cast and crew would say the same.
And what a great crew it was. Half of the people had returned from the last film and the new people were every bit as great. Just like in the last film, I spent most of my time between rehearsing with the actors, hanging out with the costume girls, practicing my Catalan, monitoring the filming, and frequenting the catering table.
It was probably one of the longest months of my life, but now that I look back on it, it seems to have flown by so quickly. Funny, that is. The producers have already dropped the hint to me that they’ll be shooting their next film around January. I told them that I’ll have to wait and see how fatherhood treats me before I sign any contracts, but I’ll definitely be there at the casting. Did I mention that I also landed a cameo role in this last film? Three credits at the end of the film, baby!
