by Sean Donnelly
Trying to find an empty beach at the end of August in New York City is like trying to find water on the moon, maybe even harder. A cold front has graced the production during the night so the wind is brisk and dry at 6:00AM. A swath of Far Rockaway Beach is the intended location this morning. Waking up in the dark before my son seems incredibly unnatural. The hour defies the correct order of things. It is not natural to be up at that time unless you’re drunk and still drinking from the night before. I head for the A train and meet the cast and crew at the designated area.
When I get there I see the director talking to Keith and Rebecca. Thom greets me with a cup of coffee. Eddie, Patrick and the rest of the wonderful team are setting up for the first shot. They are shooting with the Canon XL-2. One of the reasons is for the changeable lenses. The other is that it shoots 24p and the picture looks closer to film than any of the other cameras. I ask Patrick why they didn’t go with an HD camera and shoot Hi Def. He explained that the current budget could not afford the HD deck, the storage and the drive space or the Final Cut Pro upgrade. “Besides, we shot My Brother’s War on the XL-1 and a trailer for its sequel, UNION on the XL-2. We like the way it looks and know the features inside and out. It gives our ultra-low/no-budget projects a great look” My Brother’s War is Bjornquist Films first feature film www.mybrotherswar.com and available on DVD at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Netflix and VOD from Vanguard Cinema. It is an incredibly intimate portrait of two people trying to survive the American Civil War. When I saw it I was amazed at what the producers could do for a mere $30,000 dollars complete with Civil War battle scenes.
The scene today takes place towards the end of the story. One of my favorite actors, Keith Herron, is in costume as Charles Thornton. Charles has whisked Victoria away from London and asks her if New York has made her happy. His devotion to his wife and his life is so compelling that I shudder at the thought of him finding out that Victoria is with child. Her face resounds with unbearable internal conflict. Her gaze directed outward over the horizon of the Atlantic. It is clear that there is no place on earth that could make her happy. While the scene is underway Thom and Eddie quietly take their leave and I am informed that they are on their way with an entire art dept. crew to the day’s second location on a friend’s private property complete with a lake. Apparently the scene is supposed to be in late autumn. A friend of a friend got their hands on many bags filled with yellow confetti. The art department was able to come up with their own bags of fake yellow ginko leaves...New Yorkers are quite familiar with the stink these trees give off in the Fall. Something akin to cat piss magnified a thousand times over. Thank God! We won’t have to wade through actual ginko berries and leaves.
I hop the costume van and hitch a ride with Ashley, Stephanie and Rebecca. By mid-morning we arrive somewhere outside of New Paltz. A huge cowboy named Earl waves us through the front gate. He is wearing a ten-gallon hat like in the old westerns and rawhide chaps as if he has just wrestled a bull from his quarterhorse and I wonder if he’s just eccentric or the art dept. has punked us.
“Jesus is working miracles today in the backfield!” He exclaims in a Willie Nelson drawl, “Praise the Lord!”
“Oh, is Hey-Suess part of the art department?” I inquire. The girls roll their eyes and I’m not sure if it’s because of me or Earl.
“Sweet tea, sweet butter milk biscuits and sweet corn and butter beans are the elixir of the Lord and may we have a blessed day and a glorious lunch!”
“Oh God.” I hear Ashley whisper exasperated. Suddenly there is a piercing whistle and a saddled horse comes galloping out of nowhere stopping suddenly just in front of the van. Earl mounts the animal and then yells, “C’mon y’all, Follow me!” We move carefully through the woods following Earl and Trigger. When suddenly we see a huge area covered in golden yellow leaves. Thom is perched atop a ladder gluing leaves to a stripped tree. Eddie is raking and over-raking and re-raking and trying to get the area just right. “Eddie! We’re never going to see that. It looks fine.” Pat orders. Thom is gluing and twisting and adjusting like Horton hears a ‘Who’. Pat turns and yells, “Thom! It looks fine---we’re never going to get that close. Leave it alone. Let’s get this scene going.”
A group of five people I have yet to meet have created this autumnal wonderland. Two guys are sent to the other side of the lake in the camera’s view to pepper more yellow leaves on the banks. I see Patrick and ask, “Who’s the cat in the hat?”
“Earl. He’s a friend of ours---an old rodeo star turned preacher turned YouTube warbler of country music turned self-proclaimed new age yogi.” More like Yogi Bear I think to myself.
I watch Earl move toward a gaggle of excited geese. He waves his hat and yells, “Get the fuck outta here ya dirty bastards. Go on! Git!” I wander back to the costume van. The girls have placed the cooler of food outside while they dress Rebecca for the scene. I nibble on a wrap. Earl has disappeared. Thom stops to eat. “I wanted it to look real. I hate when Pat crushes my enthusiasm.” He says. Eddie wanders over.
“I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.” He recites. Pause. “Yeats.” He punctuates.
“Yeah, we know, Eddie.” Thom says impatiently.
“You know what, you’re already steppin’ on my thought---“ Eddie warns.
Earl comes riding up quickly and we can see Whit hanging on for dear life in back.
“I found this here scraggly lookin’ varmint trespassin’ on the property. He belong to you?”
“Yes! He’s one of the actors!” Thom says. Whit slides down missing one of his Indian sandals looking windblown and in slight pain.
“AWWW Shit! You know I’m just kiddin’!” And he rides off in a cloud of dust.
“Um. Is that the only mode of transportation in and out of here?” Whit says before he is called into the costume van with Ashley and Stephanie. Rebecca in black cape and hat meanders to an adjoining field looking fragile and pensive. The Director has a brief tête à tête to make sure she is okay. As the crew sets the camera, silks and videotap I keep my eye on that other field. Whit walks over to Rebecca and the two look like an old daguerreotype. They are engaged in deep conversation. I can only guess they are rehearsing by my untrained eyes, but somehow it feels like something real is going on. Whit puts his arms around her as if to shield her from view. They stand there for quite some time. There is some kind of consoling and comforting happening. She seems upset. He tenderly tames a stray hair caught in the wind tucking it behind her ear. After a few minutes Stephanie is called over to freshen up Rebecca’s make-up. Then Whit does a half-baked Chaplin impression that seems to bring a little levity to the situation. This is one of the last scenes of the story. Richard has made his way by merchant ship to New York to find Victoria. She tells him she has chosen to be with him and leave her familiar life. They are together at last. Richard has no dialogue but his reaction to her words speaks volumes about who he was and the man he has become. We can see the physical and emotional pain Victoria has endured in his absence. She, in turn, has grown through him experiencing true intimacy, the palpable certainty of motherhood and a life brimming with fulfillment. The Director yells CUT! The actors are quickly rushed into the costume van. And they disappear to the third location back in the city down in the West Village. The almost silent field is abuzz with the sound of two large wet-vacs sucking up the golden carpet of ginko leaves. Thom is perched on a ladder systematically dismantling Whoville from the sprigs of branches. Eddie is trying to re-bag the ginko leaves. “What are you doing?” Thom asks bewildered.
“We might need these for something else.” Eddie replies.
“Are you out of your friggin’ mind? What could we possibly need these for?” Thom replies.
“Ya know, you’re stepping on my ideas again, Thom.” Eddie adds.
Then Pat chimes in and says, “We can take ‘em to the recycle place. It’s all paper.”
Earl comes riding up playing Happy Trails on a harmonica. “Where did Jesus and the sad little lady go?” He asks. “They’re gonna miss some down home cookin’.”
I think to myself that perhaps Whit does look a little like Jesus if he had succumbed to the temptations in the desert…well no…he looks more like Hey-Suess.
“Well come on, y’all!” Earls says and rides off playing Yippee-I-oh, Cow Patty on his mouth harp. I wonder what awaits us at the house. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a bison on a spit cooking slowly.
When I get there I see the director talking to Keith and Rebecca. Thom greets me with a cup of coffee. Eddie, Patrick and the rest of the wonderful team are setting up for the first shot. They are shooting with the Canon XL-2. One of the reasons is for the changeable lenses. The other is that it shoots 24p and the picture looks closer to film than any of the other cameras. I ask Patrick why they didn’t go with an HD camera and shoot Hi Def. He explained that the current budget could not afford the HD deck, the storage and the drive space or the Final Cut Pro upgrade. “Besides, we shot My Brother’s War on the XL-1 and a trailer for its sequel, UNION on the XL-2. We like the way it looks and know the features inside and out. It gives our ultra-low/no-budget projects a great look” My Brother’s War is Bjornquist Films first feature film www.mybrotherswar.com and available on DVD at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Netflix and VOD from Vanguard Cinema. It is an incredibly intimate portrait of two people trying to survive the American Civil War. When I saw it I was amazed at what the producers could do for a mere $30,000 dollars complete with Civil War battle scenes.
The scene today takes place towards the end of the story. One of my favorite actors, Keith Herron, is in costume as Charles Thornton. Charles has whisked Victoria away from London and asks her if New York has made her happy. His devotion to his wife and his life is so compelling that I shudder at the thought of him finding out that Victoria is with child. Her face resounds with unbearable internal conflict. Her gaze directed outward over the horizon of the Atlantic. It is clear that there is no place on earth that could make her happy. While the scene is underway Thom and Eddie quietly take their leave and I am informed that they are on their way with an entire art dept. crew to the day’s second location on a friend’s private property complete with a lake. Apparently the scene is supposed to be in late autumn. A friend of a friend got their hands on many bags filled with yellow confetti. The art department was able to come up with their own bags of fake yellow ginko leaves...New Yorkers are quite familiar with the stink these trees give off in the Fall. Something akin to cat piss magnified a thousand times over. Thank God! We won’t have to wade through actual ginko berries and leaves.
I hop the costume van and hitch a ride with Ashley, Stephanie and Rebecca. By mid-morning we arrive somewhere outside of New Paltz. A huge cowboy named Earl waves us through the front gate. He is wearing a ten-gallon hat like in the old westerns and rawhide chaps as if he has just wrestled a bull from his quarterhorse and I wonder if he’s just eccentric or the art dept. has punked us.
“Jesus is working miracles today in the backfield!” He exclaims in a Willie Nelson drawl, “Praise the Lord!”
“Oh, is Hey-Suess part of the art department?” I inquire. The girls roll their eyes and I’m not sure if it’s because of me or Earl.
“Sweet tea, sweet butter milk biscuits and sweet corn and butter beans are the elixir of the Lord and may we have a blessed day and a glorious lunch!”
“Oh God.” I hear Ashley whisper exasperated. Suddenly there is a piercing whistle and a saddled horse comes galloping out of nowhere stopping suddenly just in front of the van. Earl mounts the animal and then yells, “C’mon y’all, Follow me!” We move carefully through the woods following Earl and Trigger. When suddenly we see a huge area covered in golden yellow leaves. Thom is perched atop a ladder gluing leaves to a stripped tree. Eddie is raking and over-raking and re-raking and trying to get the area just right. “Eddie! We’re never going to see that. It looks fine.” Pat orders. Thom is gluing and twisting and adjusting like Horton hears a ‘Who’. Pat turns and yells, “Thom! It looks fine---we’re never going to get that close. Leave it alone. Let’s get this scene going.”
A group of five people I have yet to meet have created this autumnal wonderland. Two guys are sent to the other side of the lake in the camera’s view to pepper more yellow leaves on the banks. I see Patrick and ask, “Who’s the cat in the hat?”
“Earl. He’s a friend of ours---an old rodeo star turned preacher turned YouTube warbler of country music turned self-proclaimed new age yogi.” More like Yogi Bear I think to myself.
I watch Earl move toward a gaggle of excited geese. He waves his hat and yells, “Get the fuck outta here ya dirty bastards. Go on! Git!” I wander back to the costume van. The girls have placed the cooler of food outside while they dress Rebecca for the scene. I nibble on a wrap. Earl has disappeared. Thom stops to eat. “I wanted it to look real. I hate when Pat crushes my enthusiasm.” He says. Eddie wanders over.
“I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.” He recites. Pause. “Yeats.” He punctuates.
“Yeah, we know, Eddie.” Thom says impatiently.
“You know what, you’re already steppin’ on my thought---“ Eddie warns.
Earl comes riding up quickly and we can see Whit hanging on for dear life in back.
“I found this here scraggly lookin’ varmint trespassin’ on the property. He belong to you?”
“Yes! He’s one of the actors!” Thom says. Whit slides down missing one of his Indian sandals looking windblown and in slight pain.
“AWWW Shit! You know I’m just kiddin’!” And he rides off in a cloud of dust.
“Um. Is that the only mode of transportation in and out of here?” Whit says before he is called into the costume van with Ashley and Stephanie. Rebecca in black cape and hat meanders to an adjoining field looking fragile and pensive. The Director has a brief tête à tête to make sure she is okay. As the crew sets the camera, silks and videotap I keep my eye on that other field. Whit walks over to Rebecca and the two look like an old daguerreotype. They are engaged in deep conversation. I can only guess they are rehearsing by my untrained eyes, but somehow it feels like something real is going on. Whit puts his arms around her as if to shield her from view. They stand there for quite some time. There is some kind of consoling and comforting happening. She seems upset. He tenderly tames a stray hair caught in the wind tucking it behind her ear. After a few minutes Stephanie is called over to freshen up Rebecca’s make-up. Then Whit does a half-baked Chaplin impression that seems to bring a little levity to the situation. This is one of the last scenes of the story. Richard has made his way by merchant ship to New York to find Victoria. She tells him she has chosen to be with him and leave her familiar life. They are together at last. Richard has no dialogue but his reaction to her words speaks volumes about who he was and the man he has become. We can see the physical and emotional pain Victoria has endured in his absence. She, in turn, has grown through him experiencing true intimacy, the palpable certainty of motherhood and a life brimming with fulfillment. The Director yells CUT! The actors are quickly rushed into the costume van. And they disappear to the third location back in the city down in the West Village. The almost silent field is abuzz with the sound of two large wet-vacs sucking up the golden carpet of ginko leaves. Thom is perched on a ladder systematically dismantling Whoville from the sprigs of branches. Eddie is trying to re-bag the ginko leaves. “What are you doing?” Thom asks bewildered.
“We might need these for something else.” Eddie replies.
“Are you out of your friggin’ mind? What could we possibly need these for?” Thom replies.
“Ya know, you’re stepping on my ideas again, Thom.” Eddie adds.
Then Pat chimes in and says, “We can take ‘em to the recycle place. It’s all paper.”
Earl comes riding up playing Happy Trails on a harmonica. “Where did Jesus and the sad little lady go?” He asks. “They’re gonna miss some down home cookin’.”
I think to myself that perhaps Whit does look a little like Jesus if he had succumbed to the temptations in the desert…well no…he looks more like Hey-Suess.
“Well come on, y’all!” Earls says and rides off playing Yippee-I-oh, Cow Patty on his mouth harp. I wonder what awaits us at the house. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a bison on a spit cooking slowly.
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