On Location for Coyote Girl: Wednesday 01.14.15

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)

Wednesday 01.14.15

6:55 a.m.– SURPRISE!!! My phone rings a wake-up call just before 7. Good thing my ringer was turned on nice and loud! I’m a pretty heavy sleeper and am still adjusting to these country hours of up and down with the sun. Expecting to not go in to shoot until a bit before noon, I’d set my alarms in a relaxed fashion. But so goes life on a film shoot! The lighting is perfect! The wind is dead! We gotta get this drone shoot now, baby, or it ain’t gonna happen! Adrenaline surges and I hop on out of bed, looking very much forward to the coffee promised at the Home Place.

8:25 a.m.- Turns out that farm air is more fickle than we thought. The conditions aren’t conducive, so we post-pone the drone shot of Riley Ann driving up the road until a later time and decide to scrap the exterior shot of scene 7 that Rick had mapped out and forgotten to get during the long day of shooting yesterday. The guys still have plenty to capture, and to be honest, I don’t mind at all. It’s a real joy being on set, witnessing the commotion and the artistry at hand. Establishing shots and tid-bits are taken care of. In a couple hours we will start work on scene 13, the second Coyote talking scene. I can go ahead and get out of Scene 7 make-up and costume and into our look for scene 13, involving much more weariness, a pair of sweatpants, and a jacket.

10:56 a.m.- Diving right into scene 13, we attempt to figure out how to get a continuous master shot and again run into problems with getting the puppet on and in place in enough time, especially in the tighter corners that we have with this frame. We split the scene in two: A section of Riley Ann carrying a waste bin (…filled with waste) out and in the back door while the Old Man sits as witness to the chaos, and a section of Coyote’s pure frustration, revealing Riley Ann, and ultimately Riley Ann and the Coyote bidding the Old Man farewell.

1:46 p.m.- While I certainly struggle with comprehending the logistics of my shadow in the shots on Biggs during the first half, the rest of the scene is pretty seamless. It’s a bit of an emotional blur, as I attempt to maintain, or go in and out of, the state where Riley Ann has to be to start this fury. But I practice Terry’s advice of staying present only when I need to be as Gail, and protecting my mind, space, senses from the buzz around me inbetween takes. We’ve done a lot of work to get to this place, and the story begins to carry itself just about here. At least for me and Coyote. It’s challenging for Biggs to play this tender moment against Coyote who at times simply cannot make eye contact (even if I could tell where he was looking from below the table) because of the frame needed on the back of Coyote’s head. But the work remains ever poignant and beautiful, and Coyote feels very triumphant with his performance, as well as the new skills he’s picked up on camera.We wrap the scene in good time.

3:15 p.m.- Now’s our golden moment to capture the driving shot. With our last few hours of strong daylight, the gents head out to the field with drone in tow while I get costumed quickly for the first Riley Ann look. With a 21st century walkie-talkie system (iPhones), Sims crouches in the back of the Pick-Up while I master reversing down a semi-frozen dirt road in heels. After about the 8th take, I’m about ready to sign up as a stunt woman for the next Fast & Furious flick. Okay, not really, but it’s a lot of back and forth on about a quarter-mile of turf, I get pretty comfortable. Finally, we get a shot or two that seem useable and get cut for dinner.

6:03 p.m.- Biggs skips the meal as he needs the hour or so we have to apply full body make-up for scene 10 in which the Old Man is caught dreaming, singing, and dancing naked under the full moon (insert full moon pun here). When we get back I settle into my coziest costume, a set of hideous teacup p.j.’s. and lie down on a couch while Josh assembles the most gorgeous artificial moonlight through a lace curtain that I’ve ever experienced. Once settled in and rehearsed, as this scene takes a bit of combat choreography, we begin shooting the incredibly violent and upsetting piece. This scene is TRULY Coyote’s first appearance in the film, and it’s easy to feel how necessary a device the puppet/character is to our emotional little tale. While there are barely any words, very brief action, and a peaceful beginning and end to this moment in the story, it’s emotionally the most wrenching for me, Gail, on this journey. I don’t want to spoil too much, but in scene 10 the essence of the deterioration and redefinition of Father and Daughter is apparent in an instant, as is the necessity of the puppet device for both characters involved. If I were to pick one scene to sum up the story, I think it would be scene 10.

8:55 p.m.- Our second shadows-on-the-building shot has been scrapped. Rick feels he has enough from yesterday to make the piece work, and we have priorities to complete. Our final bit of filming for today is to get some footage of Coyote in front of a black screen called “Elements” footage which Rick will later lay on top of a shot or two that looks out the window. This will create an effect of Coyote staring into the window from outside. I quickly sew up the poor guy’s crooked mouth for his closeup while the guys set up the next shot.

9:28 p.m.- Blindly led through the most avant-garde element of this entire process, Coyote and I show off his tricks to Rick in front of the screen. By which I mean Rick quickly figures out a directing technique of guiding Coyote’s gaze in a rhythm and various directions to get the image he seeks. It’s pretty weird, wacky, cool stuff. Coyote rocks it, per usual.

10:03 p.m.- The day is a wrap! Wahoo! Final day of shooting is tomorrow. Early shot is planned at 7 a.m. so it’s off to bed I go.

What actually happened at 8 in the morning. Feat. Robert Biggs as the Old Man

On Location for Coyote Girl: Tuesday 01.13.15

Tuesday 01.13.15

9:10 a.m.- I arrive on set this morning at a much more attainable hour for the likes of me: caffeinated, well-rested, and ready to go. Make-up application starts for Scene 7. This is the scene we rehearsed on camera in Lee, MA several weeks ago. Some adjustments have been discussed, but over all, this feels like pretty familiar territory. With a day of shooting under our belts and the rehearsal previously mentioned, I’m feeling fairly confident about approaching this scene. We’ll see how Rick thinks we do once we get down to the living room..

10:18 p.m.- Filming Scene 7 feels like a serious pay-off. To see how our communication and my understanding of the camera has grown in the past few weeks makes me proud and I don’t feel like a total ignorant actor. Although it takes us all morning to nail what we are going for, especially with most of our shots partially lit naturally and a changing sun, I begin to harness a bit of control in my work by recognizing that I have power and control over what is seen in the camera. Sure, the beauty of film is that the camera will pick up everything running through the actor, and there is little “doing” required, but the choice of slight angle and moment-to-moment reactions are, in fact, mine, and the camera will pick up all of those nuances as well. They all matter! Like a painter who is learning how to sketch with pen, the finesse of the instrument is something I am certainly a novice in, but the observation of how they are different has been made clear to me.

1:12 p.m. – So watching rushes after wrapping a scene is always a good idea, and with such a tight filming schedule, we are learning the importance of fitting in the practice more and more. I never thought I’d be one to watch my own dailies, finding too much “watching” of myself to be one of my traps as an actor, but I’m again surprised by the change of medium. It actually is very helpful to see how my action comes across in a shot, sometimes it’s quite different than perceived. Seeing a shot played back also can give me more confidence in my work on film (which I feel I am lacking in spades), and really helps Biggs to communicate with me clear direction for film. It’s a whopping challenge to act and direct in your own film in the first place, but navigating how to translate what you want to see to a seasoned camera crew and to yourself and your fellow stage actor must be a real doozy! So now, although we have the utmost trust in Rick, we try to watch back as much as we can.

Another benefit to the practice is to realize we may not have gotten all the shots in the way they need to be, and so it goes with Scene 5 from yesterday. Rick is missing consistency in the master from the day before, so we will shoot it again before lunch. It takes a little time for me (and quite a bit for Biggs who is aging and un-aging himself) to rewind our make-up and get back in costume. Once we are ready to go, we wrap up the shot rather quickly and head to Terri and David’s for another catered lunch from Richard’s Farms .

3:30 p.m.- Back to the Home Place to capture our shadow sequences as quickly as possible before the sun goes completely down. Although we have significant artificial light as a spot on the house, the ambient light of dusk is essential to our mysterious coyote exterior shots, something we’ve not really been able to rehearse before shooting, and in regards to our budgeted time and the fickle weather must happen tonight. Albeit one of our warmer days on the farm (20-25 degrees instead of the usual single digits) we bundle up good for lying on the frozen ground while we manipulate the two to three person shadow puppet. It’s hard to tell how it looks and to get the sequence of choreography accurate every time. Rick continuously films while Biggs, Terry and I stumble our way through what one might think is a “simple” wandering across the house for Coyote. Just as the sun begins to fall too low, we nail several goes at the full sequence of movement and wrap up the shot for the evening.

5:58 p.m.- Now we move on to our second scene with Coyote on camera, but shooting slightly out of order, the first day of Coyote on set. Rehearsing this scene we discover that it is impossible to capture the whole scene in one take, as transforming from Riley Ann to Coyote simply takes too long. So we figure out the first part of the scene between Riley Ann and the Old Man first. Our biggest challenge is the repetition of ripping off the Old Man’s soiled clothing without spoiling Biggs’ carefully applied age makeup. With some rehearsal we figure it out. Poor guy ends up sitting half-naked in the cold (we have to turn the heat off every time we shoot as the system makes too much noise) while the guys rig each shot and re-set. But hey, he wrote it…. so he might as well lie in it, right? Just kidding. We have blankets.

I’m pretty impressed with how quickly we get the shot after we figure out the specifics of the blocking. But then it’s on to Coyote. There’s a lot to learn about how the puppet works in front of the camera. In the vein of Jim Henson, Rick and Josh rig a monitor for me as I manipulate coyote above my eye level. The monitor is connected to Rick’s camera which is very helpful. While it might be distracting to work with the puppet as a scene partner, potentially staring at god knows what, Biggs slays the first intimate reaction with the inanimate object, and it’s moving to watch from my crouched position under the table. While the rules of puppetry on film are starkly contrasted from those on stage in a lot of surface ways, the essence of keeping the puppet alive through breath remains the same. We navigate through some unchartered challenges, like mic-ing the puppeteer from awkward angles, focus of the eyes of the puppet, and timing of arriving in place, but all in all it goes quite well. My nerves of puppeteering on film are quelled and I look forward to the other scenes starring our little, furry buddy.

8:45 p.m.- A long day of shooting done, we relax for dinner with Terri and David. Tomorrow gets started early, but I won’t be in till noon, so I look forward to a restful morning.

Our previous rehearsal of Scene 7 in Lee, MA.

The magic behind the scenes. There are three of us, can you spot us all?

Just the two of us, goofing around, in between takes.

Coyote's big moment! — Coyote’s big moment! feat. Andy Turrett (Sound) and Gail Shalan (Riley Ann/ Coyote)

On Location for Coyote Girl : Monday 01.12.15

Monday 01.12.15

5:45 a.m.- Principal photography begins today! Up and at ’em nice and early this morning, as I’ll be sprinting through frozen corn fields in about an hour at the Home Place. Nothing like an adrenaline rush to get you out of bed before sunrise.

7:03 a.m.- The day is clear, but still fairly cold. I’ve got my final Riley Ann look on and ready to go: grey sweats, a red long sleeve sweater, and running sneakers. Rick and Terry have the drone out and ready to go. We decide to start with the wide running shot, rather than the establishing shot out the front door, so it’s straight into the fields we go. Sims acts as coat holder, so that I can warm up between takes, and valiantly runs my parka out to me in the middle of the field.
Not only is this one of my first experiences on camera in general, but it is the very first time I’ve ever worked with a drone camera. The set up for each take is slightly complex. Given that the light and temperature are okay to start attempting the shot at all, Rick and Terry determine how to arrange the shot so that the wind won’t knock the camera off-kilter. Having decided on a current location, I step approximately onto my mark, then take a few steps away. Terry then has to maneuver the thing up in the air just so that the wind has no advantage of it, and the shot can remain steady. Then, I slowly step back into place, about a foot and a half away from the buzzing, insect-like machine. Rick determines a point for me to run towards, and upon calling his call of “Action!” I sprint as fast as I can, while maintaining a safe and steady pace amidst the bumpy, frozen ground. Besides the one time my pants almost fall off and I cut the action out of desperation, I’m doing a decent job of giving Rick what he needs in each take, but the first few deal with fickle wind and our path is redetermined. We set up again and do about four or five more takes before we get what we’ll need in the bag.

9:10 a.m.- After warming up with some hot water and lemon, the makeup application begins. I refer to notes and photos from our earlier meeting with Karen Eisenhour and apply Riley Ann’s Scene 3 look. We decide it best to begin and the beginning and shoot everything as chronologically as possible. Our goal, before lunch, is to get all of Scene 3 wrapped, including what we are calling 2/3, a moment where Riley Ann arrives at the Home Place in her Pick-Up Truck and enters the house with an armful of groceries.
With heels on and grocery props set, I hop in the black truck and drive back and forth down the driveway, walking into the side door to the kitchen. We shoot the scene, or at least parts of it, from four, maybe five different angles. By lunch, we’ve gotten what we need in regards to this scene.

1:12 p.m.- Terri and David host the cast for lunch, letting us take over their dining room with a pile of chicken salad sandwiches and the best potato chips any of us have ever tasted courtesy of Richard Farms.

2:15 p.m.- Fed and nourished we head back to the Home Place. Our plans for shooting this afternoon have been disrupted by unpredictable weather and light, so we move straight on to the next Principal scene, Scene 5. Still in the kitchen, and essentially in the same costume and make-up, we film a rather tight scene of Riley Ann cleaning out the fridge. The Old Man gets in the way, so she finds a way to distract him.

5:54 p.m.- Also captured from several angles, and with some complicated sound coordination in addition to some serious schooling on how much of my shoulder or face there might be in a close-up shot, we wrap the day with this scene and get on to dinner rather early. My lotion comes in handy after all the cold weather and make-up the day has contained. A cozy family-style meal is a great way to wrap up the first day of shooting. We share stories and cookies and get on to bed with the sunset. Tomorrow we’ll hope for good light for our shadow puppet scenes.

The Schedule as of 7 a.m. on Monday.... not the same as of 8 a.m. — The Schedule as of 7 a.m. on Monday…. not the same as of 8 a.m.

Applying a generous amount of makeup for Riley Ann

On Location for Coyote Girl: Sunday 01.11.15

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.

On Location For Coyote Girl: Saturday 01.10.15

Saturday 01.10.15

12:25 p.m.- While Josh starts to unload and set up lighting equipment throughout the house, Biggs and I run through the rest of the screenplay for Rick and Sims, finishing our Camera Rehearsal with scenes 11-20. The second half of our screen play brings up some interesting questions, and differing opinions, on whether or not (and how) Riley Ann is revealed as the puppeteer of Coyote. It takes a couple tries and a bit of discussion, but we come to a conclusion. I won’t say what it is: you’ll have to wait for the release to find out.
2:20 p.m.- Our fantastic hosts, Terri and David Biggs, show up to check out the rehearsal process, the changing topography of the Home Place, and (of course) the drone.

3:50 p.m.- I get more time to relax and prepare myself for the week of shooting before the cast and crew head back to Roc’s for the Chicken Pot Pie special. I go for “Too Much Wall Eye”, and it’s a lot… but it’s delicious!

What's to become of our fate? How will we be revealed? — What’s to become of our fate? How will we be revealed?

On Location for Coyote Girl: Friday 01.09.15

Friday 01.09.15

10:04 a.m.- Today has been scheduled for the crew to get some other work done. Our Gaffer, Josh Schneiderman, arrives in addition to the gigantic semi filled with equipment from Hammer Lighting & Grip in Indianapolis. This means that bright and early in the morning, Terry and Rick hit the road with our hero, David, to pick up the truck. Biggs and I have our own rehearsal and check in. It’s been a lot of hubbub around what is usually a quiet and intimate acting process for the two of us. There’s a lot to discuss. We make sure we’re on the same page as actors and actor/director in regards to the story, arc, timeline, and each little moment we might see on film. We prepare the best we know how, and acknowledge that there’s also an element of trust and confidence in this process for which we cannot rehearse or prepare, but simply embrace.

1:33 p.m.- Biggs is not only an incredibly sensitive and articulate poet in his artistry, but also a strong and gentle mentor for my own work. I feel empowered and well taken care of. The space in my heart and soul, and the quiet in my mind, that this process allows has stirred up some pretty disturbing nightmares (of course, involving Coyotes) but I’m surprised by my lack of desire to wake myself up from them. I want to play within them. There is a sense of artistic freedom and curiosity in these dreams. I think of my late professor from Boston University, the genius Jon Lipsky, and his work connecting acting and our dreams. I head back to David and Terri’s to do some reading, reminiscing and processing. It’s a day of digesting.

2:45 p.m.- I take a quick road trip to Charleston to get some moisturizer for my face. This cold weather and the make-up that I don’t normally wear is taking it’s toll. Gotta get this face camera ready.

4:50 p.m.- Time for a little yoga before I cook my own dinner for one. A bit of quiet before the storm of shooting begins.

A helpful quote from Jon Lipksy's Dreaming Together. — A helpful quote from Jon Lipksy’s Dreaming Together.

My mentor and I in performance. A sneak-peek still from COYOTE GIRL (!!)

On Location for Coyote Girl: Thursday 01.08.15

Thursday 01.08.15

8:01 a.m.- This morning, at the Home Place, the cast and crew meets with the make-up and costume consultant for the film, Karen Eisenhour. Karen is a professor in the theatre department at Eastern Illinois University (in Charleston) teaching make-up and costume design as well as building puppets herself! Karen brings along a bright and eager student named Jason, who is an actor, writer and director, looking to produce his first feature film soon. For the next couple hours Karen and Jason teach Biggs and myself how to properly apply a makeup base and then age/ exhaust ourselves appropriately using shadowing techniques, exaggerated heavily for black and white film. In color we sort of look like a zombie-horror flick, but in color, we are spectacular! After consulting with Rick and Terry on our various progressions (or regressions), we move on to costumes.

11:48 a.m.- We break quickly for lunch. Chatting with Karen and Jason about their work and time at the University is a blast. Rick grills Karen on her film syllabus, and Jason grills Rick on making a movie. Turns out Karen is a bit of a neighbor to us Berkshire folk as she hails from our neighbor, Connecticut.

12:40 p.m.- Biggs and I change in and out of our many costume options and with the help of all our useful eyes (Rick, Terry, Karen, Jason, and Sims), we narrow down our costumes, scene by scene.

2:15 p.m.- Having made it through all of our looks, Karen makes an organized list and closet set-up. We move on to beginning a camera rehearsal with Rick (scenes 2/3, 5, 7, and 10) for blocking of the various shots in a more particular sense than our rehearsal yesterday. It’s been a long day. Make-up mysteriously takes an aggressive toll, but we feel good about powering through the first half of the film rehearsal and then finishing the rest up another day.

6:11 p.m.- The five of us head out to an amazing smokehouse in Charelston for dinner. This little recovering vegetarian is officially on a Chicken kick these two weeks. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!

The lovely Jason and Karen. Thanks for the help!

We settle on jewelry for RILEY ANN. Kind of crazy what ends up looking good in greyscale.

An utterly exhausted RILEY ANN. What looks like a black eye in color actually comes across as extremely weary in black and white.

RILEY ANN for scene 7. Here we see her fully made up, but having trouble hiding the bags of exhaustion.

On Location for Coyote Girl: Wednesday 01.07.15

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.

Rick sets up an office in the Living Room of the Home Place.

On Location for Coyote Girl: Tuesday 01.06.15

Tuesday 01.06.15

11:55 a.m.- After waking at 8 and realizing I’m the last one down for coffee, I observe that we are now on “farm time”. We rise, and sometimes set, with the sun here. Sims, Biggs, and I (joined by David) head out to the neighboring Casey (pronounced “KAY-zee”), home of “Big things in a small town” for a few errands and lunch at the Whitling Whimsey Cafe.

1:05 p.m. – Officially small town living, David and Robert know everyone in the cafe we ate lunch at. Being a Berkshire bean myself, I am well versed in such familiarity. The Whitling Whimsey is home to not only “over 100 items that begin with ‘W’ “, but also the World’s Largest Wind Chime. The town also holds the World’s Largest Knitting Needles, Golf Tee and soon to be Rocking Chair as it’s claim to fame. After playing tourist, we stop by the Dollar General and some other locations in desperate search of a flash drive, amidst other last minute necessities.

1:36 p.m.- We fail our Mission Flash Drive and decide to try Walmart in Charleston later on. Biggs stops in one of the many local banks to transfer funds. I follow. Did you know that Riley Ann works in a bank? Character research!

3:31 p.m.- As Sims and Biggs head out for Walmart and Terri begins to cook us a lovely feast, I get some down time to journal about my experience so far. I also take COYOTE out of the suitcase and we work on our scenes a bit.

5:45 p.m- We all sit down for a wonderful family meal at Terri and David’s, enjoy each other’s company and conversation, and retire fairly early. Although we were expecting Rick Sands (Director of Photography) and Terry Holland (Art Director) to arrive at the Home Place tonight, they’ve been held up on their long drive and will arrive in the morning.

Coyote Rehearses and a Picture of The World’s Largest Wind Chime

On Location for Coyote Girl : Monday 01.05.15

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 a daily log of our adventures on location from the perspective of company member Gail Shalan (Riley Ann, Coyote) :

Monday 01.05.15

4:16 a.m. – Dropped off at Logan airport. COYOTE lays comfortably amidst many sweaters (brrrr, mid-west in January) and will be checked for the flight to Indianapolis. I carry on a copy of the Coyote Girl screenplay, a pillow, and a big pair of headphones attached to an audiobook version of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, read by Jim Dale.

8:40 a.m.– Southwest Airlines delivers me safely in Baltimore for my transfer, while COYOTE coasts somewhere amidst many suitcases. See you in Indy, COYOTE!

10:55 a.m.– We have arrived! Biggs and Sims meet me in the lobby of the Indianapolis Airport. We head to baggage claim to pick up COYOTE and all those sweaters and hop on the highway for the last leg of the trip to Westfield.

11:58 a.m.– Having driven two hours to Westfield, we gained one back with the entrance into the Central Time Zone. For me, it’s like driving through a new country. My first venture to the Mid-West is alien. Flat land and ghosts of cornfields for miles and miles. Mostly semis on the road with us. We passed a coyote that had been hit on the side of the road. A good omen? We stop to get some gas and look across the the road to see a Fireworks Emporium. Interesting placement. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

12:16 p.m.- We meet our generous hosts, Terri and David Biggs, for lunch at a family owned establishment, Richard Farms right outside of Westfield in Casey, Illinois. Richard Farms is a traditional mid-western restaurant build of re-pourposed barn wood. They will cater our shoot and we are happy to be on the ground and eating well.

1:48 p.m.- After swinging by the Home Place, our location for shooting and where half of our cast and crew is living for the shoot, Biggs brings me back to Terri and David’s house for some much needed rest and relaxation before we depart. I check on COYOTE, who is doing well, clean up and settle in. Tomorrow our adventures begin.

Gail and COYOTE get ready for their big adventure in film. All packed up and ready to go.