On The Set Of First Sunday…And A Little More.

As some of you may know, Ice Cube’s new film, “First Sunday,” is filming directly outside my place. Combined with the fact that Jayson Storicks was in town for a few days…there was sure to be some trouble caused.

“First Sunday” stars Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan and Katt Williams, and is being directed by David Talbert. The story is set in Baltimore, MD. In case you missed it, Randall and I took a few shots on the first night of filming and they can be found here.

The following are production photos and accompanying commentary, come courtesy of Jayson Storicks and Kyle Davidson. Click on any picture to get a larger view.

Late Wednesday afternoon, I headed out to get a few daytime shots on the set of “First Sunday.”

One of the many replica Baltimore Police Department squad cars currently residing on our street.

Daytime shot of the apartment building across the street from the Church. The entire facade of the building has been altered to include a liquor store, Chinese restaurant, bail bondsman’s and a psychic.

The Pacer…complete with dice on the mirror, home stereo speakers in the back seats and, of course, a Mercedes Benz hood ornament. More shots of this later.

Right around 9:30, Ice Cube rolled up, got out of his car and yelled out “WWWWEEEEESSSSSSTTTTTTSSSSSSIIIIDDDDDDEEE,” to a crowd of a couple hundred people. It was truly an incredible moment. More on Cube later.

Here’s a shot down the street. No, that’s actually not how our neighborhood looks. The production design includes all of the posted bills, graffiti, murals on the wall, and yes, even the homeless people and accompanying shopping carts are all part of the set. Here are some more shots of walls.

You’ll note the Baltimore, MD style “Snow Route” sign put up behind the car. You’ll also probably note the dual “HONK IF YOU LIKE WEED” bumper stickers.

Here’s a wide shot of the front of the Church which is the centerpiece of the plot line.

A tighter shot of the Church door as they are setting up to shoot a scene where the Police first arrive at the Church to investigate suspicious activity. At this point I was being asked by everyone in the crowd if I was Paparazzi. Partly to get them to stop asking questions and partly because I thought it might dissuade them from stealing my camera, I told them that I was indeed and achieved instant celeb status.

Clifton Powell (and another actor whose name currently escapes me, sorry!) approaching the front of the Church during a scene.

You’ll just see Katt Williams poking his head out of the door from inside the Church during the same scene.

Here’s a shot of the director, David Talbert, talking to Clifton Powell in between takes. David seems to be very well liked by everyone on the set and he works extremely quick. Jay noted how he never had to even raise his voice to get command of the set.

The man himself, Ice Cube, poking his head out of the door in between takes.

Exterior wide shot of the transformed apartment building across the street from the Church.

At this point, Jay and I headed out with our “glass glasses” full of The Passion of the Kyle and were in for a long night of fun on the set.

A few of the guys on the Baltimore SWAT team in full gear, waiting for their scene to set up. These three guys were awesome, I’m sorry I didn’t get their names. The one on the left was especially funny. When we asked if we could take some pictures with them he said, “What’s it for?” We replied, “I live right up the street. It’s just us,” as if he knew who we were. He finally replied with “That’s probably what they told Lindsay Lohan too.”

Jayson Storicks, giving the two gun salute with the SWAT guys.

Me, giving my best Popeye impression with the SWAT team.

The SWAT guys had to go work, so we decided to make our way over to the other side of the street and take some more shots.

Jayson standing in front of the “Liquor Store.”

Striking his best pose…even at 4am.

A great shot of me resting one of our “glass glasses,” comfortably on the streetside furniture.

One of my favourite shots of the night.

As we were taking these photos, one of the members of the production team came over to us and said the following…

“Look, I know you guys are smashed, but you see that over there? That’s the camera…and yr in our shot.”

Surprisingly, he just asked us politely to move back a few steps. I really can’t emphasize how cool everyone has been on set thus far.

Not wanting to push our luck, we moved way over to the other side of the shot and went to sit down with some of the background actors. Namely, the (fake) homeless background guys.

We debated whether these guys were part of the movie for a while before we just went over and talked to them.

Jayson, showing off some of the deluxe shopping carts.

Jay(son)-Z

Kay-Z

The SWAT team looked ready to strike, so we positioned ourselves for a better view of the assault on the church.

One of the cruisers bolts to the front of the Church. They did this shot about 6 or 7 times.

Between takes, we decided to take a few more shots to give an idea of the kind of access to the set we had.

Assault.

We talked sports with one of the PA’s for what seemed like an hour while we watched take after take. I can’t say I remember who these guys were:

The night was really a blur at this point, but I believe it was around 5am when we were approached by a member of the Long Beach Police Department.

“You guys been drinking alcohol tonight?” he said to us, “glass glasses” full of redish liquid and limes.

“No, just cranberry juice,” Jay replied confidently.

“Well, I think it’s time for you guys to head home,” said the officer.

Not wanting to end up like this, we complied and scampered home.

More pictures are soon to follow after the jump…and by the jump, I mean Monday…after I get home from San Diego.

Hope you enjoyed them and I’ll be keeping up to date production photos coming as “First Sunday” will be filming here through most of June.

~ by Kyle Davidson on May 31, 2007.