Recently I watched Far From Heaven on Turner Classic Movies. It brought back memories of the time they spent a week filming the art gallery scene at the Bloomfield Public Library (for a three minute scene). At the time I didn't know Todd Haynes, Julianne Moore, Viola Davis or even Dennis Haysbert from Adam. Still it was exciting when the library director said the library had been offered a nice sum of money and new ceiling lights in the reference area in exchange for allowing them to film in the library. Actually, I was not supposed to be there at all as I had long planned a trip to Scandinavia and whenever the library director asked me a question I would say, "I'm sorry but I'll be in Copenhagen".
I did disconnect the public Internet computers and safely stored them but I was gone on the day the film crew arrived. Coming home after my trip I first noticed something unexpected on the windowsill. It was a six-foot-long submarine sandwich with the label of a 9th Avenue shop. Oh yes, I was reminded, "must be from the film crew".
I went out to lunch and coming back I walked behind two ladies and overheard them. One lady asked, "Where have you been?"
The other lady replied, "I had to take care of a few things. I'm pregnant."
The first lady said, "Congratulations!" The second lady was Julianne Moore. The filming had been delayed because their lead had maternity issues.
From the harried maintenance man I learned that Julianne Moore only drank coffee from Starbucks and he had the job of keeping her and the crew supplied with coffee from the Montclair store on Bloomfield Avenue.
There was this man seated who spoke in a very soft voice. That man was Todd Haynes. Once we were scolded because we were talking too loud, presumably from the esteemed director. The library was kept open at this time and I sat at the reference desk. One actress put her pocketbook on the desk and I warned her the desk was not secure. "Don't put anything on this desk or it might be stolen," I admonished.
The sound man complained that he could detect a hum. This did not stop production. After the crew had left I noticed that the microfilm printer had been left on, probably accounting for the hum.
On the penultimate day, the library director whispered to me that a few of us could watch them film a scene from the balcony. We sat up there quiet as mice.
On the last day, as a reward for our cooperation, the staff of the library was invited to a lunch at a nearby church where we ate the leftovers from the crew. All the California and New York cars left the area. Life was returning to normal.
Early the next morning, before 9am, I reconnected all the Internet computers so the public could have at em when the day began. A workman from the town asked me if I was getting overtime. "Yes I'm getting overtime, Chinese overtime."
Editor's note: The orange orb is a lamp filter which the crew threw out and I retrieved. My souvenir from Far From Heaven.
