Take One (Jul-Aug 1971)

of research to establish whether or not what we were proposing was possible. The script in its new form was at that time submitted to 20th Century-Fox, namely David Brown and Dick Zanuck, who decided to make the picture. It then fell to me to determine how we could go about shooting this sequence, which we always considered to be the most important element in the film. First, we had to contact the Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York City. This was done by our associate producer, Kenny Utt, together with production manager Paul Ganapoler. They had a series of meetings with Jules Garfield, the public relations representative for the Transit Authority, who agreed in principle to our concept, but told us that there were numerous inaccuracies involved in what we were proposing. He said that everything having to do with the operation of the elevated train was inaccurate. We were suggesting that the runaway train crash into a stationary train that was just Outside the station, but it was not possible for such a crash to occur because of safety precautions. He said that if we would agree to more accurate details, he would allow us to use the facilities of the Transit Authority. Utt, Ganapoler and | met, together with representatives of the Transit Authority Engineering, Safety and other departments, all of whom criticized the sequence as written. They indicated to us what would be more accurate. Happily, their suggestions were more exciting than what we had conceived. For instance, | discovered that it was impossible for an elevated train to screech to a sudden halt. If the motorman, when threatened by a gunman, had a heart attack and took his hands off the forward mechanism, it would Operate as a kind of safety brake, or deadman’s brake, and would cause the train to come slowly toa stop. | also learned of a device called a trip-lock, which is placed at intervals along the tracks. This is a small yellow hammer that lowers to allow the smooth passage of a train when the signal light is green. If the signal is red, the triplock is in an upraised position. If a train goes through a red light, the trip-lock raises and strikes the wheels and causes them to gradually slow down. This makes the train come to a gradual stop, rather than a sudden brake. One thing the Transit Authority people were adamant about: There would be no crashing of the two trains. We agreed to this. We ultimately came up with a suggestion of a Crash, not one that is graphically presented. | worked with the TA people for several weeks. Then | went ahead and wrote a new sequence that was considerably longer than the first and more accurate in terms of what would actually happen, given the fictional circumstances that we devised. This sequence was approved by the Transit Authority and we had a go-ahead. EXECUTION As everyone knows, most films are not shot in sequence. Our chase scene was shot entirely out of sequence, and over a period of about five weeks. It did not involve solid day-to-day shooting. One reason was that we were given permission to use only one particular Brooklyn line, the Stillwell Avenue, running from Coney Island into Manhattan. After numerous location scouting trips with Utt and Ganapoler, we found a section of the Stillwell Line that we thought would be ideal, stretching from Bay 50th Street to 62nd Street. It seemed right because the Marlboro housing project was located just two blocks from the entrance to the Bay ragactoge 26 sO0th Street Station. The project was perfect for Doyle's apartment building, and it stood directly across the street from the Stillwell tracks. Together with Utt, Ganapoler, my cameraman, Owen Roizman, and the First Assistant Director, Terry Donnelly, | proceeded to plan a shooting sequence. We knew that in shooting in the middle of winter, we might run into a number of unforeseen problems. But no one could have guessed at some of the ones we were eventually hit with. | decided to divide the shooting into two logical segments: The train and the car. They had to be shot separately, of course, but at times we had to have both for tie-in shots. | had hoped for bad weather because it would help the look and the excitement. But, of course, | also hoped for consistent light. We told ourselves that even if the light was not consistent, we had to shoot anyway; our schedule and our budget demanded it. | would try to accommodate the cameraman if the light was radically different from day to day. If we had a weather report saying the light was going to be different on one day from what it was on the preceding day, we would try to schedule something else. This occurred on a number of occasions. As it happened, the New York winter of 1970-71 was not a mild one. Although there was little snow or rain, there was a great deal of bright sunlight. It was painfully cold through most of December and January, when the chase was filmed. Very often it was so cold — sometimes five degrees above zero — that our camera equipment froze, or: the train froze and couldn't start. One day, the special effects spark machine didn’t work, again because of the cold. Once the equipment rental truck froze. We seldom had four good hours of shooting a day while inside the train. One day, after-having filmed for six consecutive days with bright sunlight, there was a time when we had to shoot a sequence with the car running underneath the tracks. In the morning, after everyone had arrived at location, a massive snowstorm began. Needless to say, we didn’t shoot any chase that day. A part of our concept was that the pursuit should be happening during a normal day in Brooklyn. It was important that we tie in the day-to-day activity of people working, shopping, crossing the street, walking along, whatever. This meant that while the staging had to be exciting, we had to exercise great caution because we'd be involving innocent pedestrians. The Transit Authority allowed us one section of express track on the Stillwell Avenue Line from Bay 50th Street to 62nd Street, a total of eight local stops and about 26 blocks. But there was a catch: We could only shoot between the hours of ten in the morning and three in the afternoon! This was the time between the rush hours. Quitting at three o’clock was a hardship, because it meant we would only have half a day to shoot with the train. Starting at ten was also a problem, because we had to break by one p.m. for a one-hour lunch. This meant, in effect, that we had really less than five good hours of shooting each day. It also meant that we would have to be so well planned that every actor, every stuntman, and every member of the crew knew exactly what was expected of him. It meant that | would have to lay out a detailed shot-by-shot description of what was going to wind up on the screen, before | had shot it. THE BEST-LAID PLANS Some days we planned to film under a section of ele aS...