THE MIRROR CRACKETH for PERTH (2004)
The script called for a sequence where Harry bashes his head unto the mirror and cracks it. Which again, provided one of the main "problems" the Art Department encountered for this feature.
No one makes breakable glass in Singapore. The Closest we've ever had were waxed-bottles and even then they were unpalatable for the big screen.
Furied inquiries and calls were made overseas, the closest contact we could find (surprisingly not Hong Kong) was in the U.S. One eventful reply and long-distance call later (which I'm thankful for, unfortunately for whom I've forgotten the caller was), I was basically advised to not purchase a coupla breakaway mirrors, because: (A) we couldn't afford it, (B) we couldn't afford it and (C) we couldn't afford it ... you get the drift? The cost would've come up to near 3xtimes my entire props budget.
One of my contractors (bless his soul, Mr. Jay Hammond) suggested we use regular glass (thinest we could make) and putting a industrial-grade "safety-film" over the surface, while at the same time using a chisel or sharpened-end on the back of the glass, hammered in.
We tried it and it worked. But with the angle if the shot, that would mean someone had to be inside of the cupboard to initiate the hammering. And that someone would be me.
After a couple of false tries (I was in fear of hammering Kay Thong, innit?), by the third take I struck with anger (and severe heat! a 5mm-gap as ventilation? no monitor-playback? was "listening" to Harry's lines for the cue), there was silence after the take. I came out of the cupboard and Kay Thong gave me a silent fleeting glare and everyone else was gasping - the chisel had penetrated the mirror by half-an-inch and was held in by the safety film. If Kay Thing had remotely even banged his head unto the mirror, that would have been the last take for the film. (of course I exaggerate .. err ... maybe...).
But it DID have a nice spider-web configuration in the final sequence, didn't it?
(First blogged in 11.28.2006)
