A Tale of "Wuv, Twue, Wuv"

I was First AD-ing a TVC for Film Construction last month when a funny thing happened at our final location. We were making a commercial which started off shooting in downtown Auckland’s Fort Street; we then relocated up to Swanson Street. After lunch we relocated once again to the St Lukes shopping mall car park.

At this point we were on schedule and the shoot was going to plan. I don’t know if it was the extreme heat and the glare off the rooftop car park (the one beside the top cinema entrance) or the post-lunch effect, but gradually we started to lose time. We ended up moving to our last location almost two hours down.

The “Astra Bridal” shop is just down from the famous “Gina’s” Italian restaurant on Symonds Street. We had three shots to complete at this location – a wide shot of a bride trying on a wedding dress while her mother and friend look on, a close-up of the bride, and a close-up of the mother looking at a pair of shoes. We were really up against it with the wide shot. The background of the shot was looking out the front shop window onto Symonds Street and we were losing light fast. I had 2nd AD/Coordinator Arjen Stienstra and Production Runner Reuben King outside the window holding foot traffic when we were shooting.

The wide shot had a number of timing, technical and performance issues which meant it was not straightforward and required several takes to get all the variables just right. During one of the takes I saw two people approach the front of the shop. They put their hands up on the window and started staring in and around at the shop. I was not amused, as it ruined that take - the best one we had so far. Arjen reported that he and Reuben had tried to stop the couple but they busted straight on through and ignored any requests to stop.

Rueben and Arjen escorted the couple out of the way and we continued shooting. After another couple of takes we completed the wide shot to everybody’s satisfaction.

It was now approaching seven hours from the first meal break, so the crew stepped out the back to have a rest and enjoy some fantastic pizzas from Gina’s.

As we were going to the break, Arjen asked me if the rogue couple could come into the bridal shop with the owner. I said yes, as long as it was okay with Gavin Dennis, our location manager, and the shop owner. He then passed on to me what Reuben had found out about the couple.

The reason they broke through the cordon was that they were desperately seeking a wedding dress. They were from Melbourne, Australia, had flown over here that day, and were going to get married at 9 am the following morning. After the couple had arrived in Auckland late that afternoon, the bride had tried on her Australian dress and decided that she didn’t like it! The groom, being gallant and chivalrous, declared that she couldn’t get married in a dress she didn’t like, and the couple immediately headed out on to the streets of Auckland to find another dress. The couple told Reuben that they had been all over Auckland and hadn’t been able to find any bridal shops that were still open - it was by then after 7 pm. They were driving down Symonds Street, noticed Astra Bridal with all the lights and activity, and hoped that the shop might be open.

After retrieving the couple from the background of our shot and finding out their story, Reuben and Arjen introduced the couple to the bridal shop owner and assistant, who were enjoying a vino next door at Gina’s. During our second meal break, they all rushed in and the bride-to-be started trying on dresses. Our meal break finished and the crew went back to work setting up the next close-up, while the couple continued trying on dresses.

By the time we had completed our on-set bride’s close-up, the real bride had found a dress she loved and the real shop assistant was busy making alterations. By the time we finished our martini shot, the mother’s close-up, the couple were paying at the counter. After Bryce Swainson had checked the gate and I called “That’s a wrap”, I went over to the couple, wished them all the best. They thanked the film crew for being in the shop in the first place and letting them come in.

The couple headed out the door with huge smiles on their faces; and the shop owner was equally happy, as she had just tripled her location fee for the evening! Later I heard that, despite the overtime, the shoot came in under budget. If we hadn’t been running behind we would have wrapped out of the shop before the couple had arrived, and the bride would have been unhappy with her dress on her wedding day.

So I guess the moral of the story is that not all overtime is bad!