Love Is Blue, Part Two, or Up, Up and Away...

Shot today at Chelsea Piers. Chelsea Piers is many things. Shops. Restaurants. Piers. But also it is sound stages. LAW & ORDER shoots here. Clumb-Clumb...! Not sure which one. There's 17 of them now, you know. Clumb-Clumb...! That's the sound LAW & ORDER makes. Clumb-Clumb...!


When in New York, it's not uncommon to hear someone say, "Meet me at 23rd and 'Law & Order'".

Not really. But it could happen.

So yesterday we shot on the ice rink at Chelsea Piers and in a stage at Chelsea Piers.


Above is 1st AD David Cluck. He's thinking something. I don't know what he's thinking. I look psychic to you?

The movie follows the romantic misadventures of three couples. Today's shooting revolved around Igor and Nastia, which is a Russian diminutive for Anastasia. As you know, in Russia diminutives are everything. They're like currency. I was once at dinner with friends in Moscow, and this guy made me a list, right there at the table of - no kidding - over forty possible diminutives for the name Yulia, which is kind of like Julia to us. More than forty!


So in an effort to woo Nastia, Igor takes his object of affection on a hot air balloon ride over NYC. I'm not sure that's legal. You know, air space restrictions and all. But it's a romantic comedy so he does it.

So since shooting a lovely hot air balloon ride over New York is out of the question, the only way to do it is with VFX. So we're on the blue screen stage.



DP Irek Hartowicz is a master at shooting VFX plates. In HITLER KAPUT! his blue screen/green screen elements bonded with the backgrounds as though the entire thing were shot live and in-camera.


It truly is an art. In this case, Irek has to create lighting that looks like it's actually outdoors one lovely afternoon high over New York. Try it sometime. It's not easy.

Anyhoo, here's Marius and script supervisor Oleynka looking at the monitors:


And here's a guy shooting the hot air balloon basket from a high perch:


And here again are Igor and Nastia in the basket:


And here's Marion Douglas all tired and Irek not:


And now I have to go to work. No picture for that.