Short Takes Short Takes (June 15, 2005)

Here's looking at blue

Mix some "Titanic" with a helping of "Casablanca" and a dash of "Misery," and you have a short movie being created by Menlo Park filmmaker Jerry Anderson.

Mr. Anderson, an Adobe Systems software engineer who makes movies on digital video as a hobby, has written "Cinema Nightmares," a story about a young couple getting the jitters before moving in together. The two have angst-filled dreams about being in scenes from classic movies.

Filming began last weekend in Mr. Anderson's home. But that doesn't mean the movie will have a Midpeninsula look.

"Some of the scenes will be filmed ... against 'blue-screen' so the actors can be placed into 3D models I have created of the original films' sets," Mr. Anderson said.

To land one of the roles, South Bay actor Steve Shapiro had to draw on a particular skill.

"I needed someone to do a good Humphrey Bogart impersonation," Mr. Anderson said. "I was very impressed."

People of the world, join hands

And form a love train. ... If there's more than diesel fuel in the air Tuesday night, it could be emanations from the "Romance on the Rails" train running from San Francisco to Menlo Park. Singles are set to board a special Caltrain car for getting-to-know-you activities and appetizers. Upon arrival, the festivities will continue at the British Bankers Club next to Kepler's.

After survey results showed that nearly 60 percent of Caltrain passengers were men between the ages of 25 and 45 and fewer than half were married, Caltrain staffers realized that the train could be good way to meet guys.

"It came up a couple of years ago as a joke amongst us girls," says Caltrain spokeswoman Jayme Kunz. "Those are some pretty eligible bachelors. After making jokes for several years, we decided to do something about it."

The "romance" train is a first for Caltrain, and it's cohosted by the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance and Table for Six dating service. Details are at www.commute.org.

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