Happy #tbt (Throw Back Thursday) everyone! Can’t believe our shoot of Coyote Girl is becoming a memory. Keeping the sweet memories fresh with another exciting sneak peek of a still from our short film. To keep you all up to date, our movie is currently being authored in Santa Cruz, CA. Looking forward to having those mastered discs very soon! Keep your eyes out at your local film festivals and we’ll release info about our circuit for Coyote Girl A.S.A.P:
Westfield
Coyote Girl Sneak Peek!
We’re very excited to announce that we are now on the way to getting Coyote Girl out into the world. Sims and Biggs are hard at work completing the Withoutabox application for submission to a handful of national and international film festivals this upcoming year. Meanwhile, Rick and Biggs peruse the film on the big screen for any final edits or adjustments. For your viewing pleasure, here is another gorgeous still from our short film. I think it might be my favorite:
On Location for Coyote Girl: Thursday 01.15.15.
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):
Thursday 01.15.15
9:03 a.m.- Despite the promise of an early morning again today, the weather forbids our last effort to capture the drone shot in scene 7. Rick is awesome and emails me the night before, so I get a couple extra hours before our final day of shooting begins. Some sun salutations and serious journaling are in order.
11:13 a.m.- With the morning off and no plans to get going until after lunch, Biggs takes the opportunity to give me a further glimpse at the geography which makes up the history of our little tale. We plow through muddy roads that cut across fields and fields of ghosted corn. It’s sunny and warmer than it has been. Golden light floods the truck. In the usual fashion, each time we pass a certain piece of acreage, I get a detailed backstory of how the land came into, or passed from, Biggs’ possession. We go all the way to the far corners of the South Place, opposite on the property from David’s house, loop around through the land that lays so low it floods most of the year. We actually drive straight over a semi-frozen river and onto a special plot of land preserved by the government as a graveyard and conservation landmark. Here I hear the charming account of the time my dearest childhood friend, Robert and Deborah’s daughter Emma, was brought here in her youth and asked in wonder:”So… do we own dead people?”… perhaps, in a way. And on a more serious note, it’s the spirits evoked by this tour of the Biggs Farm, those who’s remains are buried in the graveyard, or the native people’s who may be in the fields, as well as the stories those who’ve moved on have left behind, which bring a reverence to the last day of my participation in this particular iteration of our tale of life and death. I’m glad to bid farewell to this understated character of our story. The magic of filming “on location” is not to be belittled on a project like this. It’s a memorable morning for sure.
2:34 p.m.- We meet the others at the smokehouse again for lunch and somewhat tragic news. This morning, while attempting to capture a drone shot for scene 3 in which the drone flies perilously close to the side of the house, an self-inflicted draft caused a crash landing. Being rather new technology, and quite expensive, the machine has had it’s run on the shoot and must be shipped out to Japan (I believe) to undergo repair. We toast to the drone, enjoy our last proper pulled pork, discuss travel to the airport tomorrow and head back to the Home Place to begin our final work day.
4:06 p.m.- First scene of the day features only the Old Man, so I settle up in the “green room” with my moving playlist I’ve made titled “Coyote Girl” and relax into the zone of Riley Ann’s final stretch. The goal for me, is to keep the energy level and focus clear until we begin scene 15 around 6 p.m.
6:30 p.m.- Scene 15 is gorgeous. I love working on this. It’s all close-ups. I feel like I’m finally understanding what part of me is framed in what shot and how to make the slight adjustments which give me control over my performance without damaging the organic experience of the moment. Day 4 is off to a good start. We capture several different options to chose from in post and Rick seems quite happy with the results of my work, which feels very validating, knowing he’ll be making those final cuts.
8:48 p.m. – Time to film the death scene… duh, duh, duh. While there is a bit of extensive choreography, the first few takes of the master go very well. When we sit down to watch them played back for a lighting or sound adjustment, however, we notice a major problem: The issue with what started as a play and has been made into a film (and this is not the first time we’ve worked our way through this challenge) is that sometimes simple, physical choices that work for the stage without a doubt, we just can’t get away with on film. In the continuous shot, from the Old Man’s last breath through Riley Ann’s long farewell, it is very challenging for Biggs to hold his breath, especially with the irregular nature of the “dying breath”… and it’s entirely impossible to mask the blinking of his lids, as the necessary lighting shines right into his eyes. We spend a lot of time trouble shooting this problem, and eventually, I believe we come up with a combination of distorted light and cutting the shot.
11:39 p.m.- While, technically, the former scene took a while to capture, the good streak of artistic work continued. I’m feeling confident, and yet, remaining in a very heightened emotional state for the character. Or rather, flowing in and out of it repeatedly, attempting to preserve energy, but not being able to hang onto much. I figure we’re good, though. When we rehearsed the scene last week, we ran the entire screenplay through, or as much as possible. This, in turn, created the pattern that Riley Ann gets up from her dead father’s body and takes her Coyote boy to the window with her, staring out into the abyss in what, at the time, was fairly extensive and very fresh sorrow and loss. Knowing I needed to be in such a tender state, I revved myself up and remained incredibly emotional throughout the process of our first several takes. But something wasn’t working. The shot was coming off as incredibly theatrical. It felt too heavy. It just wasn’t right. Biggs came in and out of the door, trying to give me sensitive and delicate directional nudges, but it wasn’t fixing the problem. Not sure if it was the bright lights and entire crew staring at me and my puppet in a somewhat unrehearsed moment that made me feel like I was failing, or the fact that I’d made Riley Ann completely frenetic and out of sorts, but I just wasn’t moving in the right direction for what the scene needed. I found myself confused, frustrated, feeling unprofessional and like I was wasting everyone’s time…. It was 1 a.m. on our last day of shooting, which thus far had been a roaring success for me, and I couldn’t get my shit together.
After a mini conference with my directors, Biggs and Rick, which yielded some useful conversation about what we determined earlier that week; what remained useful, and what we should scrap; and some other options to try, I took some very, very deep breaths and we began again. It’s quite possible that the scene had morphed, that the story had taken a turn none of us had foreseen, that Riley Ann actually had earned to come out the other side of her struggle and into the unknown. Beneath the dense wave of embarrassing emotion, and the thick wall of struggling communication, we had some how excavated a beautiful, truthful, and completely surprising final moment for our film and for our shoot. It was the epitome of the gigantic learning curve this entire process had been.
Wednesday, February 11th, 11:41 p.m.
I’m not sure I’m conveying the moment in an articulate manner, but when I woke up in the morning, with a few hours of deep sleep and a promising plane ride home to my beloved, I felt utterly proud, excited, and revelatory of a new chapter of my own work as an actor, as well as a large accomplishment for the company. Now, I move on to new projects, and tell you readers about fond memories, while our talented team puts together a gorgeous, potent, relevant short film called “Coyote Girl”.
Thank you for reading our log of the on location film shoot last month. If you would like to keep up to date on Coyote Girl‘s process, please check in with this blog frequently and follow us on twitter and instagram: @outcastcafe
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.
On Location for Coyote Girl : Monday 01.12.15
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) :
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.
On Location for Coyote Girl: Wednesday 01.07.15
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 01.07.15
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.
On Location for Coyote Girl: Tuesday 01.06.15
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) :
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.