Behind the scenes
I love to learn the back story of a movie is actually better than the movie itself. This afternoon I watched a documentary on the making of Family Vacation. The one with Chevy Chase in the gang. The one that spawned a franchise. Turns out the movie may have run for let’s say two hours but the making ran for more than a summer, and came with a whole set of problems. I think that making a movie might be more challenging than most of us believe. We see the finished product after all the edits and we have our own bucket of popcorn. For those on the other side of the camera they deal with the reality. Finding new ways to find the illusion. Dealing with high temperatures in the case of this movie and cast members who had to learn their own ways getting along as in the case of this movie and the simple exercise of dealing with audiences. Imagine the shock when you finish the movie and show it to a test audience and they forget to laugh. And then you try to find out how to remake the end of the movie so that the audience gets on board. I tried to imagine having to hand paint an amusement park scene so that the people in the seats never realize what you’ve done. At least until 1/2 century later. Take it from me I have no intention of making a movie. I may not even go to watch one. But finding out how the magic happens is an easy way to spend an afternoon. Again, given that somebody else has already provided the behind the scenes of that magic. I may have to re watch this movie now that I know so much more about it. A second look as seen through the lens of a lifetime. If I do I will let you know how it goes.
