01:12 PM EDT on Wednesday, June 7, 2006

BY MICHAEL JANUSONIS
Journal Arts Writer

PROVIDENCE -- It was pandemonium yesterday morning at Providence City Hall as the doors to the City Council Chamber suddenly flung open and 160 terrified people ran out in panic, having just heard that there might be a bomb in the room.

No cause for alarm, though. It was just the Disney movie crew in the middle of a three-day stand at City Hall shooting scenes for Underdog.

The 160 people running in fright were movie extras playing the citizens of Capitol City. So were the imposing looking SWAT team members who moved against the crush of people, guns drawn.

The mayor, whose press conference is interrupted by the bomb scare, is really Broadway stage actor John Slattery, recently lauded for his performance in the play Rabbit Hole. Police Chief Hammond, with his five-star epaulets, is Trinity Rep mainstay Timothy Crowe, pausing to lead the police force of Capitol City before heading for Louisville to star in a stage production of My Fair Lady.

This will be the opening sequence in Underdog, based on the '60s animated TV series about a crimefighting dog with super powers. Although it's being shot in City Hall, with a huge Capitol City plaque hung behind the mayor, on screen the room will appear to be inside the Rhode Island State House several blocks away. In the movie, the State House will play the capitol of Capitol City, an imposing building that was one of the main reasons the filmmakers chose to shoot in Providence.

It certainly wasn't the weather. Executive producer Todd Arnow said that although Underdog, which passed its halfway filming mark last Friday, is "on schedule and on budget, the biggest challenge that makes me lose my hair is the weather." He would have preferred to have begun shooting "probably a month later" than early April. But at the time, that date was imperative because Underdog had a May 2007 release date. "That's why we chose April. But just before we started, the date changed, to early August 2007." By that time, however, the crew had been hired, contracts had been signed and it was too late to push back filming. "What's unique about this film is that we're here in this part of the country at this time of year," said Arnow.

Rainy weather in May played havoc with the shooting schedule, which had to be rearranged, often on a day's notice, to move to indoor locations. That included scenes on the laboratory set which had been built inside the Cranston Street Armory, where the experiments of the sinister Dr. Barsinister, played by Peter Dinklage, turn a beagle into Underdog, a canine who can speak to humans and fly.

"We have an 80-day schedule," continued Arnow, "and 60 of them are location days; only 20 are at the armory. And of those 60 location days, roughly 45 are exteriors. So on those 45 days you have to battle the weather, then factor in actor availability because all the actors aren't working all the time." Jim Belushi, who plays the security guard who rescues Underdog near the start of the film, did a few days of work in mid-May, but then left town and won't be back until the middle of this month. "I'm constantly juggling," added Arnow.

As he was speaking, Leo, a lemon beagle, wandered by on a leash. Leo, called a "lemon beagle" because he has few dark spots save for his mahogany-colored ears, is the lead Underdog in the film. He's used for close-ups and most of the acting. But there are other beagles, made up to look like Leo as well. They perform special stunts or double for Leo when he's tired, provided no close-up is involved. Leo is in some of the scenes set in the Council Chamber, along with German shepherds. Disconcertingly enough, tossed unceremoniously atop some movie equipment was a life-sized fake German shepherd. It's used, said unit production manager Donna Bloom, as a stand-in for the real dog when the crew is adjusting lights before a scene is shot. There are beagle dummies, too.

Bloom has been a production manager "for about 12 years," working on such films as Something's Gotta Give with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, National Treasure with Nicolas Cage and the Showtime series The Brotherhood, which recently filmed extensively in Providence. Because of that latter experience and her knowledge of the area, she was chosen to manage Underdog, which involves "overseeing every department's budget, their needs, personnel. I see how much we've spent and how much is left in which department."

She's on the set for 12- to 14-hour days, she said, working closely with the producer and accountant "to make it work."

Nearby, on a hallway floor, Michael LoCicero of Providence, one of the visual-effects people, was typing on his laptop on his lap. Although he's on hand to gauge how the visual effects will later fit into the film, he does double duty as the on-site "voice" for Underdog, reading the animal's lines when the dog is supposed to be reacting to the human actors. All the dogs will be able to speak to each other in the film, but only Underdog will have the ability to speak to humans. His voice, recorded by actor Jason Lee, will be added in later, along with computer-generated mouth movements for the dogs.

Between takes, Crowe sat reading a paperback on the third floor stairwell. Police Chief Hammond, he said, is always being called on the carpet by the mayor for the crime spree that's escalating in Capitol City. He's also upset with Belushi's character, who he believes abandoned the force in its darkest hour. In the current scene, the chief is at the mayor's press conference to discuss the crime problem.

Although this scene is confined to the Council Chamber and is relatively brief, it's taking three days to shoot -- from the first crew call at 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 or 8 at night -- because it's being covered from many camera angles. There are shots of the press conference audience, shots of the mayor in close-up, shots over the mayor's shoulder as he addresses the crowd. Each scene may be filmed several times to get exactly what director Frederick Du Chau wants.

The extras had already raced from the room several times yesterday morning, but then were called back to flee in panic again and then, after the camera and lighting had been readjusted, again. Moviemaking has been described as sometimes being as exciting as watching paint dry. At least in this scene, however, the extras got their exercise.

mjanuson@projo.com / (401) 277-7276