A board fell from the overhang of the grand porch and bounced off the steps. It barely missed clobbering one of the demolition workers walking back through the arch past the missing front doors to continue the work.

The producer, a tall, thin guy with blond hair and hipster circular-lensed glasses said, "Oh, crap. I wish we had been rolling. That close call would have been golden."

The camera man next to the producer brought the camera lazily up onto his shoulder without starting to film. He ...