B.J. Novak answers ‘Chair Model’ questions
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008Q. How long did it take to film Jim’s fake-out proposal/shoelace scene? The light was so beautiful and natural there, I can’t imagine it would have lasted long. | Michelle
A. The light was very pretty that night. I wondered if it might be too pretty at the time, but I think the contrast of their chain link fence and the rest of that stretch of the block brought the beauty down to earth.
Q. When Michael was giving his speech about dating, was it intentional that the camera crew zoomed in on Toby when Michael was talking about getting laid, Kelly when he was talking about having babies, and Pam when he was talking about being in love? | Catherine
A. Nice observation. I hadn’t noticed that. It’s possible Jeff Blitz or Dean Holland or Greg Daniels put that together consciously in the editing room. Certainly, the cut to Toby was because Michael had just veered into inappropriate territory, and it’s Toby’s job to take note of that (his talking head about it in the deleted scenes, available online, was originally intended to follow this scene). As for Kelly and Pam, I don’t know the intent behind those editing choices, in terms of who made them or whether they were intuitive or intentional, but I like them.
Q. Did y’all fake Jenna out with Jim getting down on his knee? Like filming it normally with the script without the knee and then the final take, having John do the knee thing. | sorano916
A. No, they’re just really good actors.
Q. Was there any moment cut out of the final version of the episode that you really wished had been included? | DrunkBiking
A. You know, we had a thirty-eight minute cut that was amazing that Dean Holland did; and then Jeff Blitz did a thirty-two cut that was amazing as well; and we had no idea how it would ever get down to show length. Somehow, Dean and Greg found a balance in the end. It’s really an exceptional final edit; even though I loved the longer cuts, nothing feels “missing” to me in this version. Those guys are great editors. Also, knowing that deleted scenes get to survive on the web and DVD always makes it less painful to cut stuff out.
Q. What is your favorite line(s) in the episode? | Grace
A. Michael’s line “I don’t want to be the one who got away” is a great Michael Scott line. I think Greg wrote that. It’s such an elegant joke that is so revealing about his character. Other favorite moments are Steve’s delivery of “She’s crazy” to Kevin.
I like Andy’s monologue about “I did this for Joe Sixpack,” of which several takes were improvised. I was laughing so hard that I had to leave the room as they shot it. In several of his scenarios, he mentioned “waking up in a four-hundred-dollar-a-month apartment” and then “milking the cows” before going to his job at the factory.
Q. What was it like working with Jeffrey Blitz? Was the the first time he’s directed an Office episode or have you worked with him previously? | what’s the dealio?
A. This is his third “Office” episode; he’s also done “The Convict” and “The Negotiation,” both of which I think were expertly directed. (He also directed “Spellbound,” an actual documentary with lots of wonderful comic moments.) He contributed a lot to this episode.
One contribution of his that stands out in my mind is the composition of the scene in Michael’s office as he contemplates “closure” with Dwight, with Michael’s feet on the desk and the camera shooting from the doorway. It looked great, felt natural, and yet somehow we had never thought to stage a scene that way before.
Wow! I love all these tidbits! They let me appreciate this great ep even more! Thanks BJ
72 | Jill Fri. Apr. 25, 2008 at 11:46amI agree, these are great! Please make them a regular!!
71 | In2TheRoses Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 6:44pm66 - I doubt it was in a real cemetery. They had to have made that gravestone, and most cemeteries have visitors and ceremonies each day. They can’t just shut one down because a show has to film.
70 | Sara in Philly Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 3:55pmThis is so cool because it shows you just how down to earth the Office people are. They sound like they’d be so fun to hang out with.
69 | Dwigt Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 3:36pmAwesome!!! I LOVE this site!!
68 | I like beets Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 2:54pmThank you B.J. for providing such great answers and thank you Tan Monster for setting this up!
67 | Sticious Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 2:46pmI didn’t think about the cemetery angle until it was brought up here, but yea, it would seem kinda strange to take a small film crew into a real cemetery to film a comedy where a guy dances on a grave.
66 | absolutely I do Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 1:15pmIn tanster’s set blog there was a pic of fake Schrute headstones in the prop dept. It’s plausible it’s either a fake cemetery or real with fake headstones(esp those Dwight jumped on.)
Thanks a bunch! These were great!
65 | Pam Scherbatsky Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 12:58pmJust as brilliant as last time. Thank you so much BJ and Tanster. Our writers are the best. Hope to hear from Mindy as well. This is sort of, kind of a regular column now, yes? :) Once again thanks.
64 | eb Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 11:46amThanks Tanster and BJ! It is really great to have these Q&As! Just another reason (the graciousness of everyone involved) why The Office is my favorite show!
63 | my my my turn Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 11:18amI concur with everyone above…great to have a Q&A feature with guest responders! Really appreciate the time BJ took to answer questions and of course Jennie for setting it up.
I love any behind-the-scenes insight like this. It proves that the fans are sharp (like picking up that Kevin was using his footbath) and the writers for making these characters so real and remembering their histories (even though we didn’t see the footbath in the broadcast version, the writers put it there and we noticed).
LOVED the Paul Faust story - how he got cast, using his real name, and how he connected his real website to his character. Just brilliant!
62 | Stapler Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 11:03amThanks B.J. and Tanster…I love these Q&A’s!!
61 | Extra Awesome Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 10:14amWow… this is not your ordinary blog. You have the connects!
60 | UNSHUN Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 9:59amlol, I seriously saw that Reddi Whip commercial with Pam’s landlady like 10 minutes after I watched this episode and I was completely thrown off!
Thanks BJ and tanster :-)
59 | kelley Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 8:42amI would have died to see Michael and Dwight singing ‘Legs’ about the chair model. But, it ended pretty well anyway.
58 | the zoppity Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 8:16amSo informative! PLEASE have these for every episode, they greatly add!
57 | Ben Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 7:34amThanks for using my question, Tanster (and thanks for answering BJ)!
I hope this continues…it’s really cool to get the background behind these episodes so soon after watching them!
56 | Ashley Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 7:25amThank you so much for giving us this extra insight into the show we all love so much! What other show has writers/actors/producers/directors who are so giving of their time and talent to their fans??? And what other fan website has such an awesome administrator who thinks up great ideas like this Q&A segment and then has the connections to pull it off? Thanks Tanster! And thanks to B.J. and Gene and Lee for taking the time to answer. I really hope to hear from Mindy too!!!
55 | Kristin Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 6:50amAh! I wish I would have submitted a question on time…but maybe i’ll just ask you tallyheads what you think? do you think that they shot the cemetery scene on a fake cemetery? I mean it would be sooo disrespectful to be dancing around and being so silly like that in a real cemetery, no?
54 | jenn mark Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 6:00amThis is just awesome. Many thanks to B.J. for taking the time to do this. And many corresponding thanks to tanster for hooking us up!
53 | NathanTheTemp Thu. Apr. 24, 2008 at 5:45am