So I slept an extra hour, threw on some clothes, and took the girls for an hour long walk around Coconut Grove. We were so close to the set that we would loop it each morning on our walk. Although today, we started to recognize members of the crew as they were arriving and they recognized me and Seven. I was unshowered....and I had not even washed my face or brushed my teeth yet. We hurried along!
We really loved our hotel this time. It had an elaborate, continental breakfast available each morning and I indulged in a fresh waffle each morning (Campers, we might need a waffle maker!).
The hounds, my sister, and I left the hotel at 10:28 AM for an on-time arrival of 10:30 AM. This time they had blocked our parking spot under the awning with giant, portable air conditioning units, cameras, and Bay's black Escalade. I personally thought having the SUV sitting there was a waste, but the crew was not about to have the driver move it. I pulled up onto the curb perpendicular to the building. "Perfect", I thought... "I cannot let you park up here. It is a fire hazard."... "Well, then start moving stuff out of my parking spot." The cameras were moved and we cozied in under the awning once again.
We waited around for hours. During that time, we watched the stars come and go, chatted with extras, and watched scenes on the monitors. The Rock usually walked over from his trailer and always said "Hi Ladies" as he passed by. Mark was always driven in a white Escalade and never said hi unless we were almost blocking his path. Anthony always waved. We frequently spoke to Michael Rispoli when he came outside to smoke. I told him I would like to get a picture, but lets just say he was not looking so good on Tuesday or Wednesday. He agreed he would rather not appear so frightening. Each day, he always asked how Seven and Riley were doing.
I wish I could tell you more about the scenes we witnessed, but I cannot. However, it was really interesting to see how a scene would be broken down into many parts due to the different angles that need to be seen or because a stunt guy had to be brought in place of an actor at some point. It was all so fascinating and amazing how a 5 minute scene might take all day to film.
A Monitor
There was also a scene that required a gun shot. They would yell out "fire in the hole" prior to any scene with gun fire. The girls were still outside in the van so no worries.
Lunchtime was usually at 2 PM. Snacks and drinks were available at all times, but lunch was awesome. Everyone would walk over to canopies to treat themselves to an elaborate buffet lunch. You could find all sorts of vegetables, pastas, meats, and desserts. You might find roasted chicken, grilled fish, steak strips, and coconut shrimp, for example. I was starting to run low on dog treats so I scored a box full of steak strips for Seven.
Anthony is the only actor that would eat outside with the crew... although later I found out he did not have an assistant so that is probably why. The other stars would have their assistants take pictures of the food and then have the assistant bring back what they found appealing. As we left, I pointed out Seven's to go box to Anthony since he had already complained that she ate better than he did.... I just wanted to confirm that.
Unfortunately, afternoon thunderstorms started to roll in and we had to choose between thunder or gun shots. Neither hound has a problem with noises, but I want to keep that way. I chose gun shots since they were predictable and I could have treats ready. You can hear "fire in the hole" right at the beginning of this video and then screaming around 20 seconds and then the gun shot follows soon after. Seven and Riley had no problems.
