Our Lady Of Victory (Commercial Release: The Mighty Macs )

Yes, it feels like 1972 along Gay Street and High Street, along the heart of the town, where there is a bank that didn’t know of ATMs and electronic transfers and internet bill-paying. We are here to film a scene of independence, as Cathy cashes her first paycheck. It is for the grand total of $19.50, but the significance is priceless. It is her money, earned by her, to do with what she pleases, during the early waves of the female workforce.

To depict the times, we had a scene that we later cut that took place in Puerto Rico, where Cathy asks husband Ed for change to go to the hotel gift shop. Ed hems and haws, saying he had given her a dollar earlier in the day. I remember Cathy telling a story of her summer visits to Puerto Rico with Ed as he refereed a basketball tournament and how she felt out of place with some of the other wives, that she was more interested in discussing hoops instead of hairnets and casseroles.

So it was only fitting that the real-life Cathy Rush portray the bank teller, handing Cathy the money. The real-life Cathy Rush never thought of the women’s movement as her tale unfolded.

Such a surreal moment to see the Carla, dressed nattily in her 70s garb, and the real-life Cathy in a scene together. It was as though Carla was born to play her, a not uncommon for the accomplished actor who becomes a portal for which the character to come to life. Nonetheless, it is startling to Cathy of thirty years ago reappear in Carla, who imparts Cathy’s strength and beauty in such a believable way.
 

You see, Boreanaz, whose claim to fame was a long-running role as Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and currently stars on Fox’s hit drama Bones, grew up in suburban Philadelphia and is an avid sports fan. Yes, he loves his Flyers and Eagles, and much of the downtime chatter surrounded his teams and what they were going to do. Interestingly, Boreanaz’ father, Dave Roberts, remains a beloved weathercaster in the area.

Just because he was named in 1999 among People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People didn’t mean he had an easy time fulfilling his dream. After attending Ithaca College, he moved to Hollywood and became the usual struggling actor, paying the bills by parking cars and handing out towels as a sports club.

Tim Chambers wanted a strong male lead opposite Carla, and he loved the way Boreanaz pushed her when he read for the part. Chemistry is vital in casting married couples, and the actor who played Ed Rush needed to have the same presence as the real Ed Rush, if simply to counteract Cathy and make her struggle to prove to him that she needed to embark on her own journey believable. The real-life Ed Rush, by the way, also makes a cameo in the film
 

In the film, Trish is a gifted basketball player from a poor household with several siblings who struggles with her womanhood amid extreme poverty. In this scene, Trish’s mother sews her beat-up basketball Chuck Taylor sneaks, and she must borrow her brother’s wet workboots to wear. To keep her feet dry, she places her feet in plastic bags – old Wonder Bread bags with the distinct coloring.

Some of the fun of a period movie is researching what was popular in the era. In this case, Wonder Bread was everyone’s household whitebread.

Katie Hayek, a 5-foot-9 stunner, plays the role of Trish. Tim discovered her during an open call to cast the players. A former basketball player for the University of Miami, she stood on the floor among the hundreds of women who attended the tryout and scored even higher during her reading for the part.

The other interesting scene took place in the apartment, where Ed watched NBA game films, only to be constantly interrupted by an eager to learn Cathy. Ed resents Cathy horning in on his world, another display of Ed’s struggle with Cathy’s new vocation as basketball coach. With help from Pat Croce, producer John Rizzo procured actual NBA footage from the times, which helps bring the audience back to the time of short shorts and blossoming afros.
 

In fact, there are two.

The first occurs during Cathy’s drive in her VW Bug along a tree-lined, country road nearing the Immaculata campus for the first time. She is singing the perfect song of the times: the 8 minute, 32-second rock tune by singer/songwriter Don McLean about “the day the music died…”

American Pie: So deliciously fitting for the film, and Cathy’s personality. During our construction of the project, Tim spent hours listening to the songs of the year, and we had both envisioned the song as a staple.

Music is such a powerful tool in storytelling. I recall an interview of famed director Martin Scorcese on the use of popular music to enhance a scene and move the story along, and you can’t help but to think of his genius in Mean Streets. Here is Johnny Boy entering Tony’s bar in slow motion, Heather Weintraub on one arm and Sarah Klein on the other, the Rolling Stones’ “Jumping Jack Flash” thumping, transfixing the viewer into a dizzying state.

Music has always been the great opiate, and when the perfect song is applied to a scene, we are drunk with emotion. I think of Cameron Crow’s Almost Famous, and that scene in the bus, right after Russell Hammond’s night of drug-addled debauchery, and a pall is broken when the inhabitants of the bus begin to sing Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.”

Here, we come meet Cathy’s spirit. We are inside her soul, as she sings a little off-key, unabashed by the way she sounds. It is also where you will fall in love with Carla Gugino, if you haven’t already, a difficult proposition after that part as Vinny Chase’s new agent in this past season of HBO’s Entourage.
 

As the players peer aimlessly out of the window, Sister Sunday says, “Anyone feel like a song?”

Cathy shrugs, and obliges. The deal is that Sister Sunday picks it and Cathy must begin to sing.

“Joy To The World” is the song, and Cathy, resigned, begins singing the religious song, only to be interrupted by Sister Sunday.

“I was thinking Three Dog Night,” she says. “You know, ‘Jeremiah was a bullfrog.’”

The old van erupts in song, with the players joining in, bopping to the music. There is a wonderful close-up of Sister Sunday singing the line, “…he always had some mighty fine wine.”

Here, we see the wonderful connection between actresses, Carla Gugino and Marley Shelton. The two are very close friends off-screen, all of which cements the journey of Cathy and Sister Sunday as partners in crime.
 

Sister Sunday: But you believe?

Cathy: Above all else.

Sister Sunday: Then we are Sisters.

Carla and Marley pull of this scene magically.
 

Here, Tim illustrates the team becoming close knit, the middle part of the journey for a team that will make history.

So we are at the Bellafonte Motor Inn, the girls crowded together in the room, lounging as college girls will do. Jen Galentino – the city girl with all attitude – stands out among her peers. Jen is a fascinating character. Born to an Old World father who thinks she is volunteering at Immaculata on her way to becoming a nun, Jen must find the courage to tell her father she is actually attending class and playing on the basketball team.

Her father is played by local Philadelphia sandwich king/actor Tony Luke, and the two share a wonderful storyarc, beginning with a scene when he tells Jen to pour her brother some orange juice. I had wanted that scene because it was so illustrative of Old World views. I remember growing up, my grandmother ordering my sister – much to her dismay – to get my male cousin and I glasses of water. “What? The boys’ legs are broken?” my mother would say to my grandmother.
 

I must say, Ms. Burstyn in a nun’s habit looks quite imposing. In fact, she looks like many a nun who would run Catholic elementary school, petrifying youngsters like myself and Timmy back in the day.

There is something regal about Ellen Burstyn, as though you are in the presence of greatness, an aura that travels beyond her vast resume.
 

However, we found gold in the basement basketball with the low cropping ceilings. Yes, they played basketball here long ago, and you had to keep your jump shot low on a line to miss scraping the ceiling. There are old trophies and religious statues and huge boxes, and the only thing the crew must do to recreate the scene for the gymless Mighty Macs is paint the IHM insignia on a few of the pillars.

The story has truly come to life here, with Cathy practicing her rag-tag girls in the dust, explaining how to play the game and win. She uses a variety of tactics in her practices, whether it’s passing the ball with the players wearing oven mitts or attaching paper towels to the players’ back to force them to get low on defense, that will surely be swiped by youth coaches all across America.
 

Well, Mark Ellis and his assistant coach make sure that doesn’t occur. Ellis, a former college football player at Applachian State brimming with energy, is a president of a company called ReelSports that works in consortium with the director choreographing sports scenes for movies. He has been Second Unit Director or Sports Coordinator for more than two dozen films, including We Are Marshall, Invicible, The Rookie, Coach Carter, The Longest Yard and Any Given Sunday.

Tim first met Ellis on the set of Miracle and just he had to have him for this project. You see his slave to detail working with Marley in a scene where she must pass the ball back to one of the girls and show she was a ballplayer. Ellis orders Marley to step into her pass and deliver a textbook chest pass with arms thrusting outward in the perfect follow-through.
 

The success of a film is all on the execution of the team, with the director playing quarterback/coach. And so it is here that you need your right-hand man, and perhaps the most important player on the field – the DP, Director of Photography. Here, Tim is fortunate, because he has one of the elite when it comes to sports movies in cinematographer Chuck Cohen.

Cohen is part artist, part football freak (he’s from Milwaukee so it’s of course the Packers). Imagine Brett Favre meets Larry David.

Cohen began his shooting career as a freelance sports cameraman, filming 16mm game action and player profiles for NFL Films and other sports production companies around the world. He operated on Little Giants, Everybody’s All- American, The Last Boyscout and then shot second unit for Jerry Maguire, The Program, and The Waterboy was the perfect extension for me. It gave him a great opportunity to further his understanding of the strategy of shooting multi- camera sports action for the movies. It also enabled him to incorporate many visual ideas he had, but couldn’t utilize filming real sports-action events.

“For example, in one scene of The Waterboy, there is a dramatic moment where the hero runs and then drop-kicks a player into the end zone,” Cohen said in a published interview. “It was here that I tried a shot that has never been used in filming football before. I brought in the Century Precision periscope, put on a 17.5mm lens, and attached it to a hi-hat on a skateboard dolly. This allowed the lens to skim the grass.”
 

There is something about Pat that makes things happen, however, in lieu of simple capital. Whether it was the Philadelphia 76ers making the NBA Finals when he was co-owner or his empire of Physical Therapy Centers that revolutionized the business and built his fortune, Pat is the embodiment of Do. It’s not a coincidence that he is on the panel of American Inventor. When you’re around him, you simply want to succeed and all of your dreams seem plausible. Croce is the great tonic for a Friday after a long week of shooting, the cast and crew tired.
 

The final day of shooting begins on the afternoon of a gorgeous sunsplashed day, cool for late June, with low humidity. We are outside at the quad filming a scene where Rosemary tracks down Sister Sunday. She is thinking of joining the Order.

This is important in the character arc of Sister Sunday. She had been questioning her own path as a nun, and found no solace in the harsh Mother Superior. She is carrying a suitcase on this day and the encounter with Rosemary makes her rethink the decision to leave.

Following dinner break, we gear up for the big final scene at OLD STONE BRIDGE. It will take two hours for the crew to set up, and because the scene takes place at night we need to wait until darkness. At dusk, Tim shoots Cathy finding the tunnel at Old Stone Bridge. Cathy is jogging over the bridge when she suddenly stops, and looks down over a crick. She darts down the embankment studying the pipe/tunnel. We see she is struck by the idea -- just like Tim was -- but we don't know her application of it.

By 9:30, darkness has fallen, and we will find out. The crew is excited to nail this final big scene. The end is near, and the second-wind has swept upon everyone.

That, and about $150 worth of Starbucks coffee. Needing a jolt to everyone deep into the night, trays of regular and soy lattes are delivered to the set.

It's quite chilly for a late June evening in the sprawling Philadelphia suburbs, temperatures dipping into the 50s. The chill is perfect, because the scene takes place in the winter and you can see your breath. The crane is in place for the first of many shot angles through the narrow pipe. The lights from the blow-up light bubble hover above casting a glow over the densely wooded area.

In the scene, a disgusted Cathy stop the van at the base of the bridge and orders the players to follow her down the embankment, guiding them with a simple flashlight. A stream of water rushes through the pipe, as the girls stand at the base of the tunnel.

Cathy illuminates the tunnel, and barks, "Let's go! Defensive slide drills."

Sister Sunday and the girls eye Cathy suspiciously, and Cathy responds, "Or would you prefer oven mitts and paper towels?"

Struck by the comment, two of the girls -- both reserves -- immediately climb back up the hill and quit.

"Anyone else?" Cathy shoots back, then continues to snap orders.

"Stay low and be quick. Move! Move! Move!"

One by one, the girls enter the pipe tenatively. They splash through, crouching down in defensive posture.

Again and again, back and forth, Cathy keeps it up. The girls bang their heads and scrape their shoulders. Lizanne slips and falls. She begins to cry but gets up and keeps moving. Little by little, the girls are gaining toughness.

Sister Sunday objects at the harshness of the drill.

"These girls were sent here for an education!" she says.

Cathy retorts: "In what...historic preservation?"

Cathy blows an extended whistle, then climbs the hill, leaving the others behind.

Carla is absolutely brilliant in the scene. The girls are even better, because they have to trudge through the water countless times for each of the shots. They are given blankets and fresh socks and sneakers during breaks, and huddle in a heated tent. But their uniforms are soaked. Still, the girls are having a blast. The water is not terribly cold, despite the chill in the air.

Shortly after 2 a.m., Pat Peach calls for a dinner break while the equipment is shifted to the other side to get the reverse angle shot. The crew scarfs down salmon and vegetable lasagna while readying for the homestretch.

Tim does his mock running in place and jumping rope, the way we all used to run up the stands alone well after football practice, signifying the will to get it done.

By 3:30, Tim yells, "Check the gate!"

The scene at Old Stone Bridge is finished. All that's left is the final shot where Cathy is stopped by a security guard entering campus. Carla has no dialogue in the scene so it's a quick one. At 4:02 a.m. EST, the final cut is called. "That's a wrap for the film!"

Deep in this country setting, the cheers ring out. Hugs and handshakes abound. Carla and Marley and all of the girls on the team swarm over Tim. It took almost twenty years for Tim to reach this pinnacle, and he is aglow in accomplishment.

Everyone agrees, particularly those who have worked on major studio projects, Tim shot one helluva film.

Now it's on to editing and post-production.