Kevin Hart / Fatherhood
A short story describing my experience on the film set of the Netflix film, Fatherhood:
Film sets have roles, I learn. On set, I’m to play the part of Xylophone Guy.
First, I befriend the Prop Master. He leads a friendly, but brief introduction with the director. My nickname precedes me. Prop Master will be my ally. He can relay messages up the food chain. Kevin Hart and Melody Hurd walk over to the fence. Raindrops. The crew rushes the equipment out of the rain, like the grounds crew covering Fenway Park during a rain delay. If it keeps raining, they’ll skip the fence and move to another location. Real weather affects fictional films.
Twenty Minutes. Free snacks inside. Prop Master tells me enthralling stories of his career. He taught Madonna to play baseball for A League of Their Own. He invented fake beer cans for the underage protagonist of Almost Famous – Apple Juice played the role of Budweiser.
Clouds part. Sunshine. Cameras roll back out.
I tell Prop Master that Kevin and Melody were preparing to film on the wrong musical fence. That fence was too tall for Melody. The other fence stands at a height meant for kids. I have him mallets, and he relays my advice to the Director. They switch to the kids fence. It frames the shot perfectly.
“Here, Daddy, Daddy, follow me” Melody improvises.
Beat. Chime. Beat-Beat chime.
Beat. Chime. Beat-Beat chime.
A loop. A melody from Melody. Smiles from the crew. Smiles from the director. Impromptu music.
Pickup Music.
“Lemme take a solo I’m gonna take a solo.” Kevin rings ‘em all.
Applause. One more take. Done.
Kevin, Dewanda, and Melody improvised a fictional scene I’d seen play out in “real life” several times on that real boardwalk in front of the real Boston Children's Museum.
A child runs to play the chimes of the fence. A parent joins in. Smiles. They make music together. It becomes hard to tell who’s having more fun playing music. Parent, or child?
Xylophone Guy...it has a certain ring to it, I guess.