Everybody Loves Ray Lewis (or else)

Last night we hung out at bar in Old Town for Halloween. There were about 10 of us, mostly my girlfriend's crew. Of course I kept watching the clock, waiting for 9PM. Because then I could expect that spine-tingling decension tof the greatest four chords in football, "Da-da-da-daaa!"

I speak, of course, of Monday Night Football. And tonight it's the Ravens at Pittbsurgh. Neither is exactly my favorite team, but what I'm looking forward to is the bumper, that little 90-second minifilm that always starts off a MNF show. This one especially held my interest as I was the propmaster for the segment. Well, half of it... you see, it was a crossover between MNF and Disney's new film, Chicken Little. The Disney folks shot the first half out in LA, on a set especially created to look (sort of) like a Ravens locker room. This was in August I believe; and it consisted of shots with no actors, as Chicken Little and his friends would later be drawn in. Due to a scheduling conflict, Ray Lewis was unable to go to LA to shoot the other half. So, they packed up the set, trucked it to Baltimore, and we re-assembled it at the Raven's training facility.

Working with continuity stills, I carefully laid out each sock, jersey, and helmet, to match the shots from LA. We assembled the faux cinderblock wall, put the clock and the fire alarm and all the other stuff, and set up the projector. Ray came in, and was a champ -- hit his lines perfectly. And of course he's talking to foamcore cutouts of Chicken Little et al, drawn quickly by the production designer. It was a textbook shoot, we wrapped earlier, and Ray was great to work with.

So, a few months later, it was fun to see the final product, with the animated characters drawn in. The spot seemed a bit shorter than the original script, and of course Ray was not even suited up for the game. But it was still a hoot, and my friends at the crowd pounded my back and bought me beers. They said "Hey -- it looked like a locker room!"

My work here is done.