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) :
Wednesday 01.07.15
10:00 a.m.- Biggs and I meet at the Home Place for our first rehearsal on location with Rick Sands, the road warrior. He and Terry Holland got on the road at 3 a.m. that morning and drove straight to Westfield with all sorts of equipment, including the much anticipated drones. We figure out and feel out where each scene takes place on set and begin to discuss what we might see from the camera’s POV. The process of transitioning from stage to screen is an acting challenge for all three of us (including COYOTE), but Rick is very patient and we all begin to learn how to communicate with each other. We’re glad to have Terry on board who has experience both behind and in front of the camera, and has an amazing eye! What a great team we have. I can tell I’m going to learn so much even now.
2:15 p.m.- We break for lunch, but the guys push on. Setting up their equipment and figuring out their shots. I go back to David and Terri’s with COYOTE, so that we can work more on the COYOTE scenes.
6:25 p.m.- Biggs and I drive to Charleston, a nearby college town, to meet Sims, Rick, and Terry for dinner at the historic Roc’s Blackfront restaurant: home to the original gambling Chicago gangsters at the turn of the last century. When Biggs was just out of school and moved back into town, this is where he used to go out on the weekends. It stands still with a happening bar on the floor above. After dinner we bundle up and head back to Westfield to escape the cold under our blankets.
