50 Firsts Dates | Page 7

many opportunities for scope and naturalness. In addition, this story has such
charm and sweetness. There is a very comedic feel about it, but it also deals with
serious issues.”

Green, who had never filmed in Hawaii before, confesses that the challenges of
shooting on location were “killer in terms of continuity. As pretty as Oahu is, the clouds
keep coming and going. It’s bright one minute and shadowed and dark the next. When
the background is bright, the foreground is dark. It keeps you on your toes because it
changes so quickly. Also, I had many conversations with Alan Au regarding the sets
because we had to blend the interiors with the exteriors. We had perfect control when

15we were on stage but absolutely zero control in Hawaii. It was in other hands,” he
laughs.

Green was in charge of shooting the giant translight (a photographic print that is lit from
the back) used outside the Hukilau Café set in Los Angeles. “We had to build the set in
Hawaii, then photograph the surroundings to make a plate in order to build this huge
translight. Then we lit the translight so that it always felt like we were on location.
Though it’s a static image, we managed to make it look as if the water in the fish pond
was rippling and clouds were rolling by.”

In addition, because of the many scenes in the Hukilau Café “we had to find ways to
make the audience believe that it was a completely different day. Peter, Alan and I
worked very hard to choose different angles to photograph the Café that would help us
hide the fact that we were using two different locations: one on stage in Los Angeles,
one in Hawaii. We added skylights to the café to make it light and airy as it would be in
Hawaii where many homes and businesses have courtyards that are open to the sky.”

Costume designer Ellen Lutter is another regular member of the Happy Madison family
who came on board for 50 First Dates. "Making a film is a completely collaborative
affair," she comments. "Before I began to put together the costumes for this film, I had
meetings with both Jack Green and Alan Au to ensure that we were all in synch. And
because we do have quite a bit of visual effects work using a blue screen, you have to
be careful about what colors you use. We had to keep the communication lines open,
because it wasn't always decided in pre-production just how we were going to handle a
certain gimmick or gag. You had to be aware that a scene might turn into something
that required a special or visual effect, which reduces the numbers of colors you can
use, so our palette was pretty tightly controlled."

Lutter also had several conversations with the film’s director about the color scheme for
the costumes. “Peter wanted the clothes to look 'islandy,' but also realistic and rich in

16color. When you come to Hawaii, in your head you think 'bright colors,’” says Lutter. “But
the reality is that people wear fairly simple clothing with not particularly bright colors.
We decided to pump up the colors a bit to achieve a rich, old-school Hawaiian feel, like
in the 40s when they wore burnished jewel tones, maroons, mints and golden yellows.
That's a far more attractive look than what is currently popular.”

In addition, Lutter was attentive to the nature of the characters she was dressing.
"Adam's character is a veterinarian, basically a scientist. But he's got a little bit of the
'Hawkeye Pierce' in him in that he's not a buttoned-down version of a scientist,’ says
Lutter. “We used some of the elements of what a scientist and explorer might wear, but
we jazzed it up a bit with the surf influence - which is impossible to resist in Hawaii. So,
in a weird way, I think this character is actually the closest to Adam himself. He's
intense and he's smart, but he also likes to have fun. He can take things seriously and
his work is very important to him, but he also wants to enjoy himself.”

Costumes also play a significant role in Barrymore’s creation of character, notes Lutter.
“One of the biggest challenges Drew had on this movie was that she was coming
directly from making Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, where every day she was in a
different, frequently exotic, costume. But throughout most of 50 First Dates she thinks
it’s a certain day in October, so she wears the same exact costume for several weeks,”
observes Lutter.