Fort Lee’s Own Thriller: On the Set of 'Junction'

For the past month, Fort Lee has been the filming location for the upcoming thriller Junction, written and directed by Tony Glazer. Filming has been taking place on Jassamine Way and has been generating a lot of interest among locals. Patch spent one chilly night on the set and got an in-depth look at the daily process that takes the film from idea to completion.

The cast and crew of Junction is like one big, unusually functional family. Many of the cast and crew have known Glazer and his wife Summer Crockette Moore for years. A number of people are performing multiple functions for the film. Moore is  acting in the film, and she and Glazer manage one of the film's production companies, Choice Films. The three production companies, Choice, Movie Ranch and Pâté Productions have all collaborated on a series of shorts before. Pat Patterson of Pâté Productions also has a part in the film.

The story follows four meth addicts who discover dark secrets about the homeowner of the house they are burglarizing. The Junction cast includes Anthony Rapp (Rent), David Zayas (Michael Clayton, "Dexter"), Michael O'Keefe (The Great Santini) and two time Emmy winner Tom Pelphrey ("Guiding Light"). Both Glazer and Moore said they felt lucky to have found such a wonderful cast. On the set for the big finale night were Zayas, who plays a lieutenant, O'Keefe as a police officer and Pelphrey, one of the meth addicts involved in a hostage situation.

The set was swarming with activity, and on such a cold night, everything was moving with purpose. Most of the film is shot inside one house, and next door the crew has their own house to eat, prep, get into costume and makeup and watch the filming live on large TV monitors. 

The cast of Junction has had a lot of time to get to know each other and grow into the "family" they say they have become. In addition to the month of shooting, Glazer insisted on holding rehearsals for the film, something almost unheard of in the film industry. Moore said that when she first read her part it was difficult to imagine how she would be able to play a strung-out meth addict, but once she met up with the cast, it instantly began to fall into place. On the night we met, Moore was excited not be acting and to be free from her "meth face," so she could show off her lovely smile and glycerin-free hair.

"It's so much fun to come to work, " Moore said. "There's this warm, controlled energy that keeps us all on schedule, and it's nice to be close to home."

On the tour, Patch was taken through the amazing world of costumes and makeup, which have spilled over into the upper level of the prep house. The makeup is essential to the actor's performance and to the reality of the film. Makeup artist Amy Forsythe was excited by the challenge of creating the look for the meth addicts. The looks grow increasingly more disheveled as the storyline moves forward and the action increases, so Forsythe is very careful to document all of her work and compare the photographs both during shooting and when she has actors in her chair. I watched her transform the handsome Tom Pelphrey's face into a strung-out nightmare. Forsythe uses airbrushing, and a type of prosthetic glue to create darkening of the face and dried out lips. There's also an ample amount of glycerin applied to the hair and face to replicate sweat. Amazingly she has the entire makeup process down to only twenty minutes per person. The airbrush is surprisingly comfortable, according to Pelphrey, but the dried out lips are much less so.

When asked how the makeup affects his ability to get into character, Pelphrey said, "The makeup is so great, I actually feel like I have to act up to the makeup."

As actors are prepped in makeup, there are touch-ups being added to costumes several feet away and people bustling in and out grabbing hats and badges. Everyone on set is operating at full capacity as crews is move light fixtures, rearrange cameras and set up equipment. Except for a few actors waiting for their scene, no one is standing still.

Junction is the realization of a long process for Glazer.

"It's been great. This is the end of a four-year process, and even your worst days coming in to film are still the best. It's coming together even better than I could have expected," Glazer said.

The production of 'Junction' will be wrapping up soon, and then the film is off to post-production and a series of film festivals in the autumn before being released in early 2012.