THE LETTER: Holly Tan Log

Dear Heather, Hey cutie! How're you doing? There's not much going on here in India.believe it or not, this has all become pretty boring, after I got used to how hot Paris was, and how famous some of the lead actors are. Holy cow, Elizabeth Rustland, the woman who plays Mrs. Stuart, you know?...she's like the Julia Roberts of England. Her trailer is HUGE! It's almost as big as John Conway's. Oh, also, the other day, these two stalker girls from Japan came.all the way out in the middle of India.to meet Gary Roy and Paris. I couldn't BELIEVE it, I only wish my mom would let me fly out of the country to visit someone like Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise or whoever.

Anyway.describe a typical day, you said in your last letter, so here goes nothing.

HOLLY TAN LOG: JULY 17th

5:15 a.m. Woke up by to the sounds of Babbling Brook, one of the alarm options on the super high-tech CD/special effects clock that Paris lent me for fun. (There is also Fog Horn, City Nights, Waterfall, etc.) Got dressed by pulling on a white Old Navy T-shirt and gray sweatpants.there really is no point in doing make-up, since when you go in for pre-filming they (the make- up people) take whatever you had on off anyway.

5:45 a.m. Arrive at "school" late, but no one notices. I actually am the first person there, the tutor included.

9:00 a.m. Finish required three hours of school, followed up by an hour of dialect lessons.

10:30 a.m. Grab brunch (bacon, "kippers," and a pear) and then go down to the director's trailer to receive directions about the filming of the Ballroom Scene today. The Ballroom Scene is the biggest scene in the movie, hundreds of extras have been flown out to the set.thus, the production sight is absolutely overflowing with people. I was practically walking shoulder-shoulder around the set. Noah Joslin (the executive producer's son) and the rest of the assistants are running around like crazy, trying to direct people where to go and stuff. The boys (Adam Jackson, Josh Ackland, and Greg Atim) find it amusing to purposely give extras bad directions, we (me, Susanne Wallace, Paris Tan, and the rest of the more mature cast) try to correct the poor, puzzled little people.

In the director's trailer, John Conway shows all of us a diagram and explains that for the most part, the extras will either be standing around chatting or doing the waltz. He says that he has already marked the spots and pathways that the leads are going to take. I feel fully prepared and up for this, as I have already practiced ballroom dancing with the person on the set for many a-days and feel like I might be able to do this gracefully.

11:00 a.m. Get out of director's trailer and get directly on a van. The entire crew is driven to the mansion that is serving as the place of the ball. Cameras are already set up; John Conway goes over the blocking. It is a lot more complicated than following X's marked on the ground (which is how we usually do it), since there are more than two hundred people present. John Conway has to direct the extras how to dance their way around the cameras, how to react and interact with each other. The whole thing feels like Wizard of Oz in the eighth grade spring musical again (the director made everyone in the ensemble write an essay about their particular character.so I ended up spending half a night thinking up a jitterbug story).

12:15 p.m. Practice the ballroom scene. Gary and I don't even say lines, John Conway is trying to get the cameras through the extras for what he wants.

1:30 p.m. Make-up time. My costume is gorgeous, the fanciest dress I've ever worn. It's a dark burgundy, made out of velvet and another smooth material that I can't identify because I failed Clothing I freshman year. Anyway, there is a blood red giant sash that winds around the front and is tied in a huge bow in the small of my waist. It's very gorgeous, I promise you, even though my description of it is totally bull. The shoes, however, are another story. I even get contacts; they're clear, but they're supposed to put an extra "gleam" in my eye, whatever that means. My hair's all twisted up and pinned with one of those horn clips that look like a weapon. Anyway, long story short.I think I found my prom outfit.

3:43 p.m. Two hours of sheer torture. My knees feel weak wearing those horrid shoes. Gary and I haven't even spoken yet; all John Conway has done is take shots of all the extras, and then some of the dialogue between Joseph and Clark about Rosaline.

7:44 p.m. Have finally gotten to the part where Clark Stuart asks Rosaline to dance. He approaches me, and I look stunned, and then he says, "Would you like to dance?" and holds out his hand, and I don't say anything (being still stunned) and just take his hand. It has taken six hours to get to this point.

8:32 p.m. Dinner break. The kitchens have brought all the food out to the mansion. But the food isn't all that satisfactory, since they are all "safe" food, to make sure that we can't dirty up our costumes while eating. Thus, Safe food is pretty much water and saltine crackers.

12:01 a.m. First actual take of me and Gary Roy talking. Cut short, because one of the extras dancing within camera sight couldn't stifle a yawn. The poor woman looked absolutely harassed and embarrassed that she'd ruined the first take of the Rosaline and Clark meeting scene.

12:26 a.m. Get as far as Gary Roy asking for my name, before I trip and break the heel of my shoe. I made a joke that since Rosaline is supposedly free-spirited, I should just go shoeless for the rest of the takes, but it doesn't go over well with the tired and haggard costume and make-up people. I end up switching shoes with an extra who is mainly in a corner, and thus less conspicuous.

3:49 a.m. Thirteen takes later, John Conway is finally satisfied with the Rosaline and Clark waltz. However, that doesn't mean the ballroom scene is over. We go on for about an hour more, merely filming extra shots of the (ha!) extras. Finally get back to the trailer at four in the morning. Fall into bed.

There, you see Heather? It isn't all laughs and cheers on a movie set. Anyway, got to go, bye!
Holly

I didn't put this in Heather's letter, but the ballroom scene actually took three whole days to film, owing that there were lots more segments in there than just Clark and Rosaline meeting. Fortunately, there were some parts that I didn't have to be present at (one of them the one where all the girls stand around and gossip about Rosaline). Also, I purposely didn't mention Adam or Paris even once, since all Heather thinks I do is hang around with them.but I'm telling you, film acting isn't just a bag of chuckles.