More stories from the sets of TV and motion pictures.

Just like in the real world, not everything goes smoothly. One of my mottos is “stuff happens.” (I am paraphrasing my own words since this is a family newspaper.)

When things go wrong on a film set, it’s often terrifying (to the crew), but I have to say the screw ups are at least interesting.

You have hundreds of very specialized people usually moving at break neck speed. No way to avoid it… something is going to go south.

I was working on a low budget local movie on location near a city park.

We had spent all day getting the set ready and the scene depicted a “farmers market” with hundreds of fruits, vegetables and flowers in carts and other items.

Just as the cameras were rolling, someone’s golden retriever broke free in the park and came bounding through the set. Carts, actors and lots of produce went flying, then the pup emerged from the wreckage with bananas gripped in his mouth. Chaos was everywhere as he tore through the crew catering area where the smell of meat wafted through the air.

The director decided to leave him in the scene and rewrote the script to fit!

The film had no permanent name, just a “working title/” I suggested, to no one listening, that they call it “Dog Day Afternoon 2.”

The James Caan football movie “The Program” had a stadium crowd scene and a certain large university allowed for the use of theirs.

In those days, there was no CGI (Computer Generated Imaging). And hiring that amount of extras was considered too expensive.

So we made cardboard cutouts starting at the waist line. LOTS and lots of them. When taped to the seats it looked like people from a long distance.

Many hours were spent painting the “shirts”, “faces” and “hair” with water based paints. Then an entire day into the night attaching them to the stadium seats. We made it just in time because the shooting started at 7 a.m. the next day.

Then in the middle of the night, an unforecasted rain storm came through. Wilted sections of droopy cardboard everywhere.

My boss, the well known production designer Carol Winstead Wood, had to round up every warm body available to frantically duct tape our work in the hot and humid stadium. A day with no joy for anyone.

The movie “Prefontaine” was about the famous Olympic runner centered around the 1972 Olympics. For some reason, a lot of exterior buildings used were not the color that was wanted. When art directors pick colors they are pathologically obsessed with the right chip.

My friend and often co-worker Randy Groves was given the task of leading paint crews who had to change the color of several large buildings. A large paint shop was set up, about the size of a Home Depot paint department.

Hundreds of five gallon cans of base and computerized chip matching.

The order for the first building, which started out a dirty gray, came with a chip I would classify as “beige.” Chip number 01928, not 01929!

Using huge amounts of paint and many work hours, the building was done.

The art director came to see. “No! I don’t like it!” and picked another chip which I would call… “beige.” Again. The walls were painted one more time.

Another inspection trip. “It’s just not right! No!” And picked yet another chip. Another round of painting for the worn out crew.

I guess the third time was the charm. “Yes! Perfect!”

As the shop was being packed up to take to the next building, a foreman with a very red face was seen staring at an empty paint can.

Someone had accidentally attached the wrong chip to the last work order.

Paint job number 3 was done using the chip from number one. The finished structure was the same beige as the first.

Of course we immediately reported the mistake. (Not.)

Thom Caraccio ([email protected]) is a retired musician and retired motion picture scenic artist living in West Palm Beach, Florida who hails from Columbus. He graduated from S.D. Lee High in 1968 and still considers Columbus his real hometown.