Your job is to get the film in the can and when you've got 40, 80, or more people on location it doesn't take much to upset the plans. Especially not on "Three Kings" where shooting desert scenes got especially heated.
"The reports that we nearly came to blows are true," actor George Clooney told The Times about working with writer/director David O Russell. "I have a lot of respect for David as a director... but he was overwhelmed at times by the size of the operation he was running."
Communicating his plans to a huge crew on an expensive shoot made David O Russell get tough when time got short: "As the end of the day was coming, this hysteria would descend on the set," he says. "You've heard this expression, when a film is shooting, it's "Gone with the Wind" in the morning and "The Dukes of Hazzard" in the afternoon. Meaning you start the day and you take forever to shoot this insert of this cup on this table, to get the light just right. And then suddenly by the end of the day you have no time left and you just shooting everything like it's "Cops" [the TV documentary series]. You're shooting everything rough and hand-held to just get the day done."
By the time you get to shooting you would expect that the pressures are entirely on the set - but not a day goes by without the studio peering down your neck. On "Three Kings", one thing vetoed by them was a key sequence with an exploding cow.
And despite his confrontations on set, it was Clooney who saved the cow. "I was the guy who had to go to the studio when they said we couldn't blow the cow up because it would cost too much money. And I'd say to them, 'All right, take it out of my salary and let's figure out a way to do it...' "
Clooney also says that though the problems were intense, they weren't unusual: "When you're making a $50 million movie, there's incredible pressure on you to get the shots in the can and move to the next camera position."
Go to Factory Line - Part 5: We're Paying You, Aren't We? Where's the Movie? Get Shooting!
Go to Factory Line - Part 6: You've Done the Filming, Now Do the Work.
Sources:
"Under the Bunker: On the Set of 'Three Kings' ", "Three Kings" DVD, 2000.
"King George", interview with George Clooney, Martyn Palmer, The Times, 19 February 2000.
