SAW 2: Diary #4

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

SAW 2 PRODUCTION
JOURNAL
VOLUME #4

NOTE: You can now e-mail Producer Gregg Hoffman with your
feedback  directly  by
clicking on his name in the top right of this box!

Week 3 of 5 is in the can and we’ve passed
the halfway point of production. I’ve decided that I’m going
to let Darren Bousman off the hook a little bit in my column
this week. My only commentary about his love life will be as
follows – the Hungarian strippers changed their cell phone
numbers. As if suffering that indignity wasn’t enough, Bousman
also sent me a text message at about 10:42 PM last Friday night
after leaving a bar with two fine young, nubile Torontonians.
The message (below on pic) pretty much sums it all up.

The week was certainly an eventful one. We
shot the ending of the film on Wednesday and Thursday. Going
in, we knew it was going to be really hard to top the ending of
the first SAW. We also knew that audiences are going to be
paying a lot more attention and looking for clues a lot more
carefully this time around. Leigh Whannell was summoned back to
Toronto from his vacation with the young boys we gave him
several weeks ago to do some additional work on SILENCE, James
Wan’s new film, which is now 5 weeks away from shooting.

While he was here, we took the opportunity
late one night to rewrite a number of scenes and retool the
ending a bit. The idea had come from a suggestion by Peter
Block and Jason Constantine at Lion’s Gate, who I have to admit
are two of the smartest and best executives I’ve worked with
anywhere. It would have been nice if they had thought of the
idea oh, say, maybe BEFORE WE STARTED SHOOTING! But, a good
idea is a good idea and we had to run with it.

There’s nothing quite like issuing brand
new pages to your crew two weeks into shooting to the get
everyone’s blood pumping. As if our production design team
didn’t have enough to do already, there were a few new items
that needed to be built. The actors had to sign off and feel
comfortable. Tobin Bell gave the pages the Jigsaw seal of
approval. Even Donnie Wahlberg, who arrived just this week,
jumped into the thick of things and made a suggestion on set, in
the heat of the moment, that was one of the single best ideas of
the show. I am quite hopeful that we’re going to surprise and
delight the SAW faithful once again.

With all of the last minute changes, it’s
only fair that I take a moment to give thanks to one of the
unsung heroes of the SAW universe. As you all may have
noticed, there’s usually a LOT of different producers on any
given film. Executive Producers, Co-Producers, Associate
Producers, and just plain old Producers like yours truly. Every
one of the producers has helped get the project on its feet in
some way — be it financially or creatively.

But one of the Co-Producers, Dan Heffner,
or Daniel Jason Heffner as he likes to be credited, has the
thankless task of being what’s known in the industry as the Line
Producer. The Line Producer’s job is, in the briefest possible
description, to make sure the film gets shot on schedule and on
budget. He deals with all of the crap that I don’t want to know
about, so I can be free to flirt with the female members of the
cast and crew at my leisure. When we’re running behind, it’s
his job to push the crew to make the day.

Every Line Producer has a different
technique for moving the crew along. Having now made three
movies with Dan, I have to say that his is the most unique.
It’s a ritualistic dance of sorts, that involves walking onto
set, pacing in circles while looking at his watch, sighing
deeply and loudly, and rubbing the top of his bald head. He
might also take a moment to hug one of the younger female
members of our crew, but I’ve come to suspect that the hugging
has nothing to do with actually making the crew go faster, but
is more just one of Dan’s guilty pleasures.

By virtue of his job, Dan and the director
often clash. Dan’s job is to make the day on schedule, while
the director only cares about getting the most shots and the
best performances. Below, you can see the expression Dan wears
most days while watching Darren work (see below).

Have I mentioned that I HATE Air Canada’s
airplanes? The seats are so uncomfortable I think they may be
causing me irreversible rectal damage. I am contemplating a
law-suit. Sorry, just had to vent for a moment.

I close this week by giving you small
selection of nicknames Darren Bousman has been given over the
course of the show –

Noser (In
reference to some personal issues with the inside of his nose)

The Closer (this one
should be obvious)

Forrest (as in “Run, Forrest,
Run!)

Dookie (Donnie Wahlberg’s pet
name for him)

More coming your way next week.

READ
PART 3 OF THE SAW 2 CHRONICLES HERE

READ
PART 2 OF THE SAW 2 CHRONICLES HERE

READ
PART 1 OF THE SAW 2 CHRONICLES HERE