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BEHIND THE SCENES Remembering Woody By Kelly McCarthy
"I took a directing course with Jack Garfein says Chapin. "He was about to shoot a movie with his wife Carol Baker called Something Wild (1961). I asked if I could work for him as a production secretary and he said yes. I got the job. I got a chance to see what the script supervisor did on that movie and then I got to meet other script supervisors and they trained me. I took the exam for the union, and was accepted in 1962." Her experience as a stage manager gave her a good background; that, coupled with filmmaking and directing courses gave her solid footing as a script supervisor. While she cut her teeth on such films as The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), The Seven-Ups (1973), Network (1976) and Taxi Driver (1976) her big break was yet to come. "I knew the script supervisor who had done Bananas (1971) with Woody Allen and on his next film she decided to do something else," says Chapin. "I phoned the producer and said I was available. They phoned the producer of Network and got a recommendation and then they just hired me. I didn't even interview with Woody. I just appeared on the first day of shooting." The film was Annie Hall (1977). For Chapin the move was career defining. She became an integral part of Allen's production team. Now, with twenty-nine of Allen's films to her credit she decided it was time to retire with the release of Anything Else (2003). Chapin leaves her mark on the industry and specifically in Allen's oeuvre that will go down in film journals. As Anything Else was in post production, Reelwriter.net spoke with Chapin about her memories working with Woody Allen. Kelly McCarthy: For our readers that don't know, what is the role of the script supervisor? Kay Chapin: It's the continuity. Since movies are shot out of order and each shot goes at a different place in the script, the script supervisor has to make sure that all of those pieces will cut together. I'd keep track of all the dialogue changes and all of the matching of the action. If an actor walks into an apartment with a briefcase in his right hand, three weeks later when we shoot the continued action I have to make sure the briefcase is there and it's in the same hand. I have to make sure that he looks the same, his clothes are the same so there's continuity between the scenes. You also have to know what the shot is. Another part of the job is writing all of the script notes, describing each shot and how long it is, the angle and the action, how many takes, what was printed, what the lens was and how long. And then what that shot covers in the script. There's a lot of detail that you have to notice, when an actor gets up and when they sit down. What hand they hold a drink in, plus listening to all of the dialogue. So you just have to know exactly what the shot is and what the field size is and what shows. McCarthy: Your first film with Woody Allen was Annie Hall. What was your learning curve like? Chapin: I had already done a couple of films. So, I'd done movies before I'd gotten to Woody. And the only thing working with Woody that was different from anyone else is that he improvises. He doesn't follow the script that he's written. So I have to record everything, especially the scenes that he's in because he does all of the improvising. I record those scenes and then I have to transcribe them and type them. McCarthy: After all of these years working with Allen do you have an easy, comfortable relationship with him? Chapin: Yeah. It's friendly enough. I wouldn't say he's a big buddy. But he's not too friendly with anybody really. He's not outgoing. He doesn't make friends easily. And he keeps the working relationship separate from his personal relationships. McCarthy: What's his relationship with the actors on the set? Chapin: Very easy going. There's no tension. There's no anxiety. There's no fear. There's no ego. On most movies you have very long hours. But with Woody you don't have any of that. If we worked twelve hours that was a long day. Most films it is fourteen to sixteen hours, very long, very arduous, and very difficult. McCarthy: It seems like Allen likes to keep using a lot of the same crew on his films. Chapin: In the beginning we had the same crew for every movie and that went on for many years. Then there was a shake up (around 1992 or 1993). The money dwindled and he got another producer. A lot of people had been making over scale so the new production people said we're cutting back on salaries and some people didn't come back. These days you have to make $200 million. And his movies, they're lucky if they break even. But when he was with United Artists and Orion he had total cart blanche. He could do anything and spend any amount of money he wanted. But that sort of dwindled away. He still does whatever he wants but he doesn't have the luxury of all those retakes. He used to fire people left and right if he didn't think they were right and he'd have to pay them off. That used to happen a lot, but not anymore. McCarthy: What was your decision to stay? Chapin: I was making enough money. Scale was all right with me. I stayed on. But he does like to use the same people. He likes familiar people around. He doesn't like a lot of new faces. McCarthy: What sets Allen apart from other directors? Chapin: Woody doesn't shoot like anyone else. He works with one master shot. He'll choreograph the shot in such a way that the important dialogue is said in the close-up. The dialogue that doesn't really matter is maybe over someone's shoulder. But he'll choreograph the shots to play in one set up so there's not a lot of cutting. There's not a lot of insertion of close ups. The editorial process is just stringing together his master shots and he's always shot that way. He doesn't like doing things from many angles. Also because he improvises it would be very hard to cut in a close up. McCarthy: Have you ever had an experience where there was no deviating from the script? Chapin: Paddy Chayefsky wrote Network (1976). And he was there all during the shooting. He insisted that every word be exactly as he wrote it. He perfects every sentence and every word is there for a reason. So he doesn't want the actors changing it. That's the exact opposite of the way Woody works. They use different concepts. McCarthy: Are you critical of your work, of the continuity when you first see the film in the screening room? Chapin: Sometimes. But usually I'm looking at the story when I finally see the finished product. I look for how it hangs together because when you're shooting it and you're doing all of these little pieces out of sequence you don't know how it's all going to look together. That's interesting. I also am interested to see what they cut out, and how the addition of the music works. With Woody's movies the music is always very important. And that's always a revelation, how the music enhances the script. McCarthy: Which were your favorites of the Woody Allen films? Chapin: I've always liked The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985). And I liked Stardust Memories (1980). I had a good time on that one. McCarthy: What sets and or directors have you found difficult over the years? Chapin: Let's see, I did a thing with Bruce Willis called the Broadway Brawler and that never came out. It only shot for three weeks and the whole thing shut down. There were a lot of people from Philadelphia in the cast. It was shot near Baltimore. He (Willis) made a lot of promises, but I don't know why he agreed to do it in the first place. He was late in starting. He always had something else he had to do and couldn't work a full day or he didn't appear at all. Lee Grant was the director and they were personal friends. And she had been doing fine. But then he took over directing. He came in and sort of bamboozled her and just did everything his way. I didn't know he was one of the producers so I sided with the director (Grant), and told him (Willis) things that were needed, shots that we needed to get to try and make some sense out of it. She (Grant) would shoot one thing and then he (Willis) would come in and shoot something else so eventually it all fell apart and she was fired. I was fired and then the whole thing shut down. So that was a very unpleasant experience. McCarthy: Were there other trying experiences? Chapin: In Heartburn (1986), Mike Nichols was directing and he was not an easy person to work for. He wanted every word exactly as written. He was difficult. McCarthy: Other than Woody Allen, what other directors were good to work with? Chapin: One of the best directors I've worked with is Sidney Lumet who knows everything about filmmaking, what everyone's job is and he's very fast. If he has ten weeks to shoot a film he likes to finish in eight. He challenges himself to finish early. And there is never any overtime on his jobs because he goes so fast. He rehearses for two weeks before production. So he gets the actors all rehearsed and he knows all of the shots before he goes into production. He doesn't do many takes. He's so knowledgeable. He knows what he's doing so it's just a question of trying to keep up with him. McCarthy: What are some of the acting styles you've admired up close? Chapin: I liked Robert De Niro early on. I don't care so much what he's doing now. But he was always fun to watch because he was very committed and very involved in his character and always did a lot of research on his roles. I liked Paul Newman. He was interesting. I also liked Dudley Moore and John Gielgud in Arthur (1981). McCarthy: Who is an actor or director you would have liked to work with? Chapin: I would like to work with Pacino. I think he would be interesting. But directors, I don't really like directors these days. I think I had the best of it in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But now films are not about people, to work on them it's very boring. It's mechanical. It's not fun at all. McCarthy: When is filmmaking fun? Chapin: When it's good acting and a good story. And when on the set there's an involvement with everyone pitching in and liking the project. It's very much a team effort. But it's hard to find those situations. McCarthy: Anything Else (2003) was your last job as a script supervisor. It seems fitting that it's a Woody Allen film. Why the decision to retire? Chapin: I'm ready to do something else. I want to travel. I'm doing some weaving, a lot of reading and we have a country house so I'm doing a lot of gardening. I have two dwellings to keep up. I figured it was time now. McCarthy: Did you have a send off from Woody Allen? Chapin: It was very nice. At the wrap they gave me a party. I had a cake and everyone came and wished me well. They gave me some very nice luggage. Woody kept saying to me 'Well what are you going to do now?' And I said, 'Well, I want to travel. I'm going to France.' And he said, 'You've been to France.' And I said, 'I'm going to Sicily.' And he said, 'You've been to Sicily.' I went to both places with him on various movies. So he was sorry to see me go. © Reelwriter.net 2004 |
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In 1980 John Lennon sang, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Those prophetic words can be said for the film career of script supervisor Kay Chapin. As a theater trained actress who studied under famed teacher Jasper Deeter at Hedgerow Theater in Moylan, Pennsylvania, Chapin had planned for a career in the footlights. But after moving to New York City her path took another turn. |
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