On Location for Coyote Girl: Sunday 01.11.15

January has been an amazing month for Outcast Café! We have spent the past two and a half weeks officially entering the production phase of making our second short film, Coyote Girl, the poetic version of the 90 minute play script Riley Ann Visits the Outcast Cafe. After spending about two weeks on location in Westfield, Illinois the team has dispersed and continues to work on post-production for the film as well as upcoming projects for the company. Here is the next installment of our adventures on location from the perspective of company member Gail Shalan (Riley Ann, Coyote:

Sunday 01.11.15

7:33 a.m.-  It’s our last day before shooting begins (although, the crew is set to go. Our final addition to the team: Andy Turrett is out Location Sound man arrives today) so I start the day off with relaxing, refreshing yoga overlooking another brilliant, Mid-Western sunrise.

11:32 a.m.- Sunday is God’s proclaimed day of rest, and we are certainly in God’s country here in Westfield. A Biggs’ family tradition is to meet up after church, along with the rest of the town, at Richard’s Farm (our first culinary stop, remember?) where we sit down in the vast dining room for a proper Mid-Western buffet brunch. All types of fried chicken, barbecued ribs, and farm starches of every kind are plentiful. David and Terri’s 4 year old granddaughter, Chloe, just “looooves” the bacon. And of course, the cream pies and sweet treats are plentiful.

Despite the temptation to feast, I’ve been informed just before we brunch, that Rick and Terry are thinking of shooting a scene with the drone today. All work with this delicate piece of equipment is highly weather sensitive, as is any type of out door shooting due to the fickleness of natural light, so we have to grab the opportunities we have over the next, short, five days. Today, the thought is that we will shoot a scene we have planned in which Riley Ann sprints across the vast, stark cornfields. So as not to hurl more than my self across the fields, I stick to a small plate.

2:24 p.m.- Turns out conditions are not as prime as  we thought. The running shot is cancelled. With everything else in line for shooting bright and early tomorrow a.m. , I head home to prepare with Coyote just a bit more.

5:00 p.m.- For a little Sunday night treat, I enjoy the Golden Globe Awards on Central Time, an hour earlier than I would get in Massachusetts. It’s very inspiring and exciting to watch artists who have achieved greatness in the field I am currently working in, celebrate each other.

8:50 p.m. –  A little later into the evening, and with a much expanding must-watch list, I find out some great news of my own. I have been fortunate enough to be cast in a collection of five short plays with a brand new fringe theatre company in Boston. This March I will play multiple roles in the premiere production of the new Boston fringe theatre company, Exiled Theatre, in the series of short plays, Strange Days by James Wilkinson.

11:34 p.m.- With the actor’s mojo rising, rising, I head off to bed to get a wink of sleep before our first, EARLY, morning of shooting. We will go ahead and film the aforementioned running scene at 7 a.m., requiring a 6 a.m. call. It’s the actor’s life for me, hey ho!

The oil fields outside the Home Place. i.e. our set.
The oil fields outside the Home Place. i.e. our set.
Looking forward to beginning our shoot.
Looking forward to beginning our shoot.

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