God Is Good

Perfectionism is a disease. But blanking out in the face of a desire for perfection is a disorder.

Perfection itself is fabulous.

Okay, all this to say I didn't hit perfection with the shooting of Robot Secretary #3 but it went well. When I stood gnawing on a bagel-and-cream-cheese and sucking on a coffee at 10 am in Times Square, waiting for the cameraman/sound guy who miraculously materialized at 10 pm the night before, I felt like Andy Roddick at the U.S. Open. I'd done everything I could. I'd scouted locations and even written out the shots (I haven't done that before). I'd tried to figure out where to film what and when but I still felt scared, like I was facing the Federer of filming (street scenes). But when this affable guy with long hair and a camera mounted on his shoulder arrived, and I started telling him I wanted him to film my robot and her cowboy companion coming up the 49th St. subway station stairs, 'cause it looked neat, that shot, and he nodded like that was totally cool, he got it, he was ready, and then I said, "Have you seen Midnight Cowboy?" and he's like, "Of course!" then I knew everything was going to work out.

It was even overcast, like it was in that movie. And the city performed like a dream. Everything that's irritating and too much on a daily basis looked cool and poetic in the camera's viewfinder. Taxis swishing past us. Sirens screaming. Crowds, always crowds, milling through the shots in exactly the way we'd want them to anyway. Even the grey sidewalks of midtown, with those ancient blotches of discarded gum dotting them everywhere, looked poetic.

I had to concentrate but once in a while it hit me, I am making a movie in New York City. Did I ever in a million years think I'd do that?

My actors were very committed. At one point they had to be filmed walking down a crowded street with steel pots on their heads, and forks for hands. People stared at them, but they were both fearless. At the end, it was just me, the cameraman and Joleen, the robot secretary. I didn't want to make her walk too many times through the crowd at the base of the Empire State Building dressed as a prostitute, but with a pot on her head. I told her if anyone bothered her, she should bag the whole thing. But she marched through the crowd on 5-inch heels, totally impervious. She did it several times. The cameraman suggested one more take. I said, "no, that's probably enough" but Joleen said, "Oh, come on. Who's going to do anything?" At the cameraman's suggestion, she tried a sexy walk. Now that's guts. I had a feeling he would have filmed her doing this for the rest of the day, but he was thorough in other scenes too, so really, it was just a perfect end to the day.