Compromising
The Making of "Where Truth
Lies"
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John Savage stars as Dr. Ian Lazarre, a deeply troubled psychotherapist
who tumbles into a deep depression of drinking and despair
after learning his wife Wendy dies in an auto accident His
second wife and his best friend have him committed to the Blackhurst
Institute, a rehab clinic operated by Dr. Vernon Renquist (Malcolm
McDowell) and the equally enigmatic Nurse Chambers (Kim Cattrall).
That of course, is when Lazarre's troubles really begin. Also
stars Candice Daly, Eric Pierpoint, Sam Jones and Denis Forest.
Directed by William H. Molina (Color/97 min. /Rated R)
The producers mandated a twenty day shooting
schedule with no less than ten locations, twenty two sets and eight
leading characters. Talent schedules did not coincide with locations.
Locations did not coincide with budget. The below the line budget
was slated around half a million. The math was simply not adding
up.
Every production undoubtedly has its share of
problems and compromises. The making of "Where Truth Lies" was
no exception. From the beginning a number of problems plagued the
project. The original hundred and twenty page script penned by
Ted Perkins had been titled "Hysteria." Production
embraced it as an omen.
After several rewrites, the newly titled and
unfinished ninety-seven page screenplay was hastily deemed ready
for principal photography. With countless production hurdles and
less than four weeks of preproduction, the project was already
suffering from numerous compromises.
Compromise is defined as a settlement of differences
in which each side makes concessions. Unfortunately, more often
than not, it is the filmmaker and ultimately the film itself that
end up making those detrimental concessions. For the record, compromise
is part of making films in Hollywood.
"I'll be the first to admit, compromise
(expletive). It's disheartening and unwarranted but somehow very
much a part of the job," DP Bill Molina relates. "By
all accounts, filmmaking is a collaborative process. There is no
such thing as being independent. Whether it's the screenplay, the
producers, the financing, the distributor, the actors, the crew,
the weather, whatever; the fact is you are dependent. Something
or someone will eventually and perhaps inadvertently compromise
your vision. It is as though filmmaking is a by-product of compromise.
The final outcome is adversely affected and dependent on the process
itself."
Having a total of thirty two locations and only
twenty days in which to shoot the film, one of the most critical
budgetary concerns and challenges was to eliminate as many company
moves as possible.
Logistically, with page counts varying from
five to ten pages a day and locations and sets widely ranging from
mountain roads to corridors of a mental institution, there was
no way possible production could execute two or more company moves
a day and still meet the shooting schedule.
And the mere mention of building sets on a sound
stage or warehouse, much less twenty-two of them, was simply out
of the question.
Director/cinematographer Molina (Treasurer of
the SOC as of this writing) along with production designer Scott
Plauche decided to compromise by selecting and consolidating as
many sets and locations as possible.
Existing standing sets were chosen for their
adaptability, then dressed and lit accordingly to meet the picture's
criteria. Out of the twenty-two sets, only Lazarre's room was specifically
built for the film.
Other locations doubled for the remaining sets.
Consequently, the choice of using preexisting sets dictated and
forced the visual look of the film. "Had there been no compromises,
the film would have, for better or worse, taken an entirely different
direction. Compromise forces one to ultimately improvise, which
in itself can be a good or bad thing."
Principal photography got underway at an abandoned
hospital in East Los Angeles. The location served as an architect
studio, a morgue, an actual working hospital, the dark corridors
of Blackhurst Institute and Renquist's laboratory. The first day
started with the usual delays including a generator not running
crystal-sync. But the company managed to make its first day somewhat
unscathed.
The second day of shooting was simply hysteria.
A principal actor became severely ill and was unable to perform.
Just as the shooting schedule was being revised, there was another "slight" problem
with the location agreement. Production was temporarily evicted
from the building. Afternoon shooting was abruptly canceled. Consequently,
scenes had to be omitted in order to make up for the lost time.
On day three of production, the page count skyrocketed
to nine. Because of the inadvertent halt in production the previous
day, turn around and call times were pushed accordingly, putting
the company into night shoots.
This factor alone changed the entire complexity
of the film. It altered the performance of the actors and the performance
of the crew. Having to shoot intense scenes and closeups at five
o'clock in the morning was not a matter of choice or convenience.
The physical and emotional wear and tear of shooting
nights was starting to affect everyone on the set, especially the
actors. For camera, everything was starting to look out of focus.
Turning around the schedule without sacrificing another day was
not feasible. Consequently, the actors and crew had to cope and
battle with pre-dawn fatigue. Ironically, such solemn performances
actually enhanced the dark mood of the film.
Certain scenes were photographed with a VHS camcorder
to create a non-broadcast quality image. The transferred 24-frame
video would then be rephotographed on 35mm film through a nine-inch
black and white monitor to simulate Lazarre's room security camera.
The Arriflex 535 camera supplied by Otto Nemenz
International made for excellent shooting opportunities. Not only
for its built-in electronic features, but its clear viewing system.
This was extremely important to the director who was also serving
as the cinematographer and camera operator.
Molina also relied heavily on the camera's capability
to do in-camera effects such as speed/aperture changes. The only
drawback to this feature was that the shutter angle could only
go down to 11 degrees, thus eliminating the choice of doing in
camera fades and dissolves.
Double exposure was used to show Lazarre witness
himself walk into the morgue. Rather than do the effect as an optical,
the film was reversed in the camera, then re-exposed with Lazarre
now standing behind his own reflection.
Other creative shots included speed/aperture
changes which started in slow motion and ended in sync dialogue.
The effects were used with subtlety in an effort to not call too
much attention to them.
Molina selected Eastman 5298 not only for its
high-speed capability, but its versatility as well. Film stocks
were exposed as rated and processed normal by CFI. Tiffen Black
Pro-Mist filters were used to enhance and soften the image slightly.
Different lighting styles were employed throughout
the production, but soft keys and fills were the norm. At times,
a fog machine was used to accentuate and diffuse the lighting.
Molina relied heavily on Kino-Flo fluorescent
lighting for the laboratory and morgue scenes. "The great
thing about Kino's is you can get a quick confined soft light without
building and rigging huge soft boxes."
Larger sets such as the main corridor, the courtroom
and the cafeteria were lit conventionally with an array of tungsten
units and chicken coops. A 7000 watt Xenon was used to create the
dramatic shaft of light both in the furnace room and the Blackhurst
Institute corridor.
HMI's were also used extensively on location
and in the maximum security cell. Since the observation room and
Lazarre's bedroom were nowhere remotely close in proximity as called
for in the script, two things were done to tie the sets together.
First, a black and white security camera was
introduced to bridge the gap between the actors and the room. And
secondly, a window plug was used to shoot the reverses at a completely
different location.
Obviously, the juxtaposition of the two sets
would eventually tie the separate locations together. But during
shooting, a certain amount of cheating had to be accomplished.
Actors had to pretend the other room and performer were actually
standing before them.
On day six, the company relocated to Dos Carlos
Stages located in downtown Los Angeles. The city hall set doubled
for the main entrance to Blackhurst Institute. In midst of a major
set-up, an actor's three hour makeover and hair change did not
conform to the earlier camera tests of the director's instructions
and specifications. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no time
to correct the problem and the actor had to be shot as presented.
Continuity was established and ultimately the director had to compromise
his vision.
The second week of shooting brought on a whole
new set of problems. Payroll was delayed forcing the crew to understandably
walk, leaving the director to fend for himself. Rather than lose
yet another day of shooting, the director had no choice but to
shoot several scenes with an empathetic and voluntary crew of five. "Without
a proper crew, you have no choice but to compromise. It's near
damn impossible to highhandedly push your own dolly, float a flag,
pull focus and operate camera."
Third week of shooting ushered in several critical
scenes. Namely, Teresa's discovery of the truth and her unfortunate
rape scene. Murphy's Law struck again. Transportation had not been
paid; therefore, the generator was not refueled. The set fell to
complete darkness as cameras got ready to roll. Production lost
several critical hours.
"It's hard enough shooting a film in twenty
days, but creating these kinds of unnecessary problems does not
make the process any easier," Molina declared. Coverage was
sacrificed in order to make up for lost time.
Just when everyone thought things couldn't get
any worse, the company turned to shooting night exteriors. Griffith
Park doubled for an abandoned mountain road. The scene involved
a semi truck skidding past Wendy's oncoming car.
The night exterior was keyed from high above
using two 12K HMI's from a Hi-Lite truck. Having access to this
truck saved enormous time with lighting set-up. In addition to
the stunt, Wendy's rape scene needed to be shot out. But as luck
would have it, Wendy's picture vehicle accidentally backed over
the main distribution box, knocking out all ground power to the
set.
Several hours later, picture finally got underway.
But by the time the rape scene rolled around, the sky had started
to glow with morning light. As a matter of necessity, Molina went
handheld with the 535 camera in order to get the essential shots.
This of course altered the shooting dynamics, which in this case
actually worked for the scene.
The following night, the company set up to shoot
Wendy's car plummet down a sheer cliff and blow up. But of course,
as the car made its one way trip over the slope, it got entrenched
high above the rocks. After several failed attempts, the car was
finally dislodged and pushed down the cliff. In order to allow
the effects team sufficient time to rig the car with explosives,
scheduled shots within the disabled vehicle were obviously dismissed.
Turn-around finally put the company back into
days. A private mansion located in Pasadena doubled for the exterior
of Blackhurst Institute. Being late in the year, daylight was rather
limited and critical. So it was no surprise when the honey wagonhappened
to break down in the middle of a crane shot.
The last day of principal photography came to
a close at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. This location
doubled for a restaurant, a bar and Teresa's bedroom. A few weeks
later, Molina flew to San Francisco to photograph the remaining
establishing shots.
In the end, the film was finally completed, but
not without several more editorial and post-production compromises.
One can only speculate what the outcome of the film could have
been if there had been no compromises…
"Director William H. Molina, who also served
as cinematographer and editor, develops a suitably spooky atmosphere.
Savage is angry and anguished in just the right measures, while
McDowell and Cattrall have some sly fun with the ambiguities
of their characters. Other performances are as good as they
have to be.
William Molina's moody cinematography is pic's strongest
tech credit.
—Variety Weekly Film Review
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