In this 2nd of 2 posts, I want to begin by quoting director Renny Harlin’s comments from the DVD about filming this scene:
Quote:
“Here you are facing one of those hardships of being a director. Imagine casting the girl whose dress flies up. It sounds easy, but in reality, you *do* have to cast this kind of a part very carefully, because the script calls for a girl who has a very attractive body and whose skirt is going to fly up, and there’s no agency where you can just call and order one of those things. You actually have to cast it, and it was one of the most bizarre days of my career. I spent a day in my office with about 40 girls coming in and acting that little part where they pretend to be reaching for something over the bar and then lifting their skirt up. I felt very embarrassed, but I knew at the same time I’d feel much more embarrassed if I made a movie where, when the studio first sees it and you first see it, you say, “What’s up with this scene? Why is this girl here who just looks like crap?” So, I did my duty and found a girl who fit the part, and I hope you agree with me that she did a really good job.”
|
In an earlier part of the commentary, Harlin said they rented out a bar for the night, did some redecorating, and hired a crew of extras to act as the bar’s staff and patrons. Our barmaid is one of them, and if you look in the background shots about 30 seconds before her big reveal, you’ll actually see her doing waitressing. (See the attachments BarmaidPreBlow1 and 2). This is a nice touch of realism because it establishes her in the back of your mind as “the hot waitress at that place”. Every guy in real life has, at some point in his visits to bars or restaurants, seen a hot waitress that he’s fantasized about. That makes the payoff that little bit more thrilling, because it is she, the hot one, who gets the Marilyn Moment as opposed to some other less attractive waitress.
Now, the scene itself is slightly different from the trailer. Notice how in the film, when her skirt flips up, she seems to quickly cover herself without looking. Only after she’s covered her ass does she quickly glance around to see if anyone has noticed. (See attachments CovenantMovie 1-6)
In a final touch, about 30 seconds of screen time later, we see her in the background again, back at her job as if nothing had happened. (See attachment BarmaidPostBlow)
The movie reaction seems consistent with a waitress who’s had her skirt blown up more than once. It’s a reaction more like “Shit! Another draft! Cover myself! No one saw anything, did they?”, as if it’s a nuisance that does happen from time to time. Of course, if the guys really were blowing up her dress on a regular basis, you’d think they would know she doesn’t normally wear panties…
By contrast, the trailer reaction is more like “Wait, what? Eek! Why is my skirt blowing up in the middle of an indoor bar?? Down! Down, skirt, down!” This scene gives us a brief instant longer to savor her distress and embarrassment. Despite the absurd digital panties, I think the actress’s reaction here is sexier than it is in the film itself.
There’s an opportunity here for someone will some video editing skills (someone who would not be me), to combine these clips into something really nice. Maybe someone could even remove the digital panties from the trailer images. I can, and did, combine them with Windows Movie Maker. I am a rank amateur at such things, so my video is very rough, but may it serve as a guide for someone with more talent and better editing software. (See the CovenantBarmaidCombo attachment). This scene well deserves it.