She truly disliked me as her cinematographer.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
I was desperate to be hired as the cinematographer onBig.
If I could get in his good graces, maybe I could work in my hometown more often.
Greenhut had a wicked sense of humor.
I had been the cinematographer on two low-budget Coen films Blood SimpleandRaising Arizona when I went for an interview.
Sitting behind Penny was a man who smiled at me but neither introduced himself nor spoke.
He was dressed in blue New York Giants football gear down to his blue sneakers.
He looked like a Smurf.
When he is transformed into an adult, the camera should be higher and more sophisticated.
I listened and tried not to interrupt.
I really wanted the job.
This is what I knew: steadfast rules of cinematography never work.
And I wasnt sure how to manifest a cameras naivete or sophistication.
Penny put out one last cigarette and mumbled, Well, whaddaya think?
Heres what I said: Would it be okay if I just make it look nice?
Well be in touch.
Nice meeting you, too.
Bobby Greenhut, Greenhut chuckled as he led me out the door.
I had blown my interview.
Would it be okay if I just made it look nice?
doesnt inspire confidence, although truthfully, most films fall short.
I was working on a SONY industrial for Howie Meltzer and Jon Klee.
We were prelighting the stage for tomorrows puppet work when my cell phone rang.
Ya know, Bobby.
Thank you very much, but I dont want to be hired on those terms.
What are you talking about?
Im offering you the job.
Not as that idiot Sonnenfeld.
I want another interview.
You know, Ba, youre a little nuts.
Can you come up to the office right now?
They said hire the cheapest cameraman it’s possible for you to find.
That I can do.
As long as Im not the idiot Sonnenfeld.
Youre hired, Not Idiot Sonnenfeld.
A few weeks later, 20th Century Fox shut downBig.
He wanted to wait for Tom Hanks, who had just started another film.
I went to L.A. and shotThrow Momma From the Trainwith Danny DeVito while Hanks fulfilled his previous commitment.
After finishingThrow Momma, I was back in New York, starting to work onBig.
Penny and I liked each other as people, but she truly disliked me as her cinematographer.
We came from very different ways of working.
Her expertise was acting and comedy.
My strength was visual storytelling.
It could have been a dynamic partnership, but thats not what happened.
Penny didnt like to make decisions and wanted as many options as possible.
We were filming in the summer, and our nights were relatively short.
The scene involved Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins.
The evening before our first day of filming, Greenhut called Penny and me into his office.
We start filming tomorrow night.
Whats it going to be?
I dont know, Penny whined.
Barry didnt do a good job shooting the tests.
Youre going to have to decide, smiled Greenhut.
Okay, Penny mumbled.
Well film it both ways.
During the filming ofBigI discovered how Depends adult diapers worked.
I rarely leave the set, and I dont think any crew member should either.
and some crew member would say, In the bathroom, sir.
Sir is crew code for asshole, by the way.
Making the crew wear diapers might be the solution.
Thats when I discovered what Depends dont do.
It turns out theyre not designed for fullon urination, so much as an occasional dribble.
The night of filming there were three grip and electric crews rigging three different cars with lights and cameras.
Youve had all of preproduction and eight weeks of shooting to decide.
Is it the Subaru, the Corvette, or the limo?
Greenhut asked, as he pointed at three cars lined up in a row.
Penny had liked the Subaru XT because it had a colorful dashboard.
And, finally, we had the limo.
What does Barry think?
The limo, Penny mumbled.
Then she added:
Just remember.
I said it was a bad idear.
Which would you prefer?
You said the limo.
Im just saying its a bad idear.
Stop rigging the Vette and other thing.
Penny really knew where a joke was.
She just didnt like making hard decisions and didnt like my visual style.
Penny and I got very little sleep.
Greenhut had a party-size red cup of Dewars handed to him at the screening room door.
Who wouldnt, Pen?
Who wouldnt let you fire me?
Pen, you should have any cameraman you want.
If you dont want me, you should get someone else.
They said I cant fia you.
Im sorry, Pen.
He says youre good, but I dont think so.
Danny was a friend of Pennys, so it made sense she would have given him a call.
I dont know what to tell ya, Pen.
Its just that youre not very good.
Somehow, we got through another eleven weeks of filming.
There are dozens of stories too painful to tell, so Ill only give a few more.
Hankss character works at a toy company.
Robert Loggias character was the president of the firm.
The camera pulls Elizabeth and Robert down a hallway as they chat.
Then the crane starts to pull away, booming up higher and higher.
At the intersection they crash into each other.
Loggia falls, Perkinss papers fly everywhere, and the romance is on.
The shot plays out as one continuous piece of acting.
If anything goes wrong before the crash, call cut, because you cant use the take.
Penny, as was her want, was on take fifteen.
Loggia limps up to Penny and says, Pen.
And Ill do whatever you need.
But Im an old man.
I cant keep crashing into Tom.
Ill give you one more take, then we have to move on.
Amy was seven at the time.
We all had headsets fed from the sound department so we could listen to the acting.
We rolled film, and the actors started the scene.
Almost immediately, Elizabeth screwed up a line.
The take is no good.
It cant be used in the movie.
Loggia has said he wont fall again.
Obviously, we should cut and start a new take.
But Penny doesnt call cut.
Penny, I whispered.
Perkins messed up her line.
You have no coverage.
We cant use this take.
Loggia said he wouldnt fall …
I dont know what youre saying.
Shouldnt she call cut?
The actors continue to walk down the corridor toward the inevitable crash.
Amy whispers to Sweetie, Mom!
Tell Barry to tell that lady to call cut.
The tension is palpable.
The three actors are about to crash into each other.
CUT, I yell.
No one, ever, for any reason, is allowed to call cut except the director.
Pen looked at me confused.
A light went out, I said.
We did another take.
Its in the movie.
But you picked a nice film stock.
There was a knock at Toms door.
Were ready for you, Tom, said the production assistant.
Are there a lot of good actors out there?
Im not coming out unless Im surrounded by them.
Excerpted fromBARRY SONNENFELD CALL YOUR MOTHER: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmakerby Barry Sonnenfeld.
Available from Hachette Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
