Beaver Creek State Park – Menning Films

May 18, 2016

Gretchen’s Lock | From Inception to Grand Premiere | Part III

Today we are continuing on the behind the scenes of Gretchen’s Lock. In case you missed the other posts you can read them HERE and HERE.

Filming: Day 2

The second day of filming started out with beautiful sunshine. There was a bit of Autumn chill in the air but the sun was warm. The forecast was calling for rain in the night and a 100% chance the following day, which we’ll get into in the next post. The campsite was already set up but we had to unload the equipment and prep everything to film. After the first day we were able to consolidate some equipment and I also wanted to keep things moving quickly since we had a bunch to film.

We smoothly executed Scene 04 where the campers talked about investigating the lock further. We wrapped up around lunchtime and got the drone, vehicles, and jib ready to film the car sequence. The only thing we were missing was the 1923 Dodge Brothers Phaeton Convertible.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was an hour past when the car was supposed to arrive. I wasn’t really worried at this point because we were filming the other cars pulling into the parking lot from the road so we had some more time. We did a couple takes with the drone and jib filming the cars pulling into the parking lot off of Sprucevale Road across from Hambleton Mill.

We were finishing up and everyone started moving the equipment back to the camp. I stopped and looked down at my phone to see that I had a few texts. As I stated before, reception service is a bit spotty where we were filming. I scrolled through them and saw that Robert, the owner and driver of the 1923 Dodge, was having some issues with the car and the tire blew out. Now it was time to panic a little. I then saw that he sent the texts about two hours ago and I never responded because I just received them and he still wasn’t there. The panic level started to raise slightly. At this point everyone was back at camp and I was about to make my way down the drive and suddenly my phone rang…

To my delight it was Robert! I was at the perfect location to get a call and to my surprise he was minutes from the parking lot. How’s that for timing? My panic quickly faded and was overtaken by excitement and relief. I stayed on the phone as he turned into the parking lot. Whew! I happily greeted him and hopped in and he drove us to camp.

After everyone checked out the 1923 Dodge, Jacob (boom mic operator) and I climbed in the trunk of the Monte Carlo to get the scene of Dominic and Jason talking as they pulled into the parking lot by the campsite. There’s probably a picture out there of us snuggled in the back seat with our equipment but who knows where that is. At any rate, we got their dialogue in a couple of takes and moved on.

We began filming the parking lot scene and the clouds started rolling in and the wind picked up. There’s even a blooper of the $100 bill blowing away in the wind.

Here’s a cool still I shot of Tyler (Man in Suit) and the 1923 Dodge before Robert took it back to Cortland (This vehicle and others can be rented for events. Check out BMZ Classics for more info).

After we finished filming in the parking lot we went back camp, ate dinner, and began preparing for the night scenes. The wind was still blowing and it was sprinkling very lightly. We covered up all the gear we could with tarps to prevent it from getting wet.

This area of Beaver Creek is unique in the way the sun sets in October. It quickly goes behind the hills and sets early. Not to mention the clouds aided in the early sunset. Thanks to Pakob and Nick we had a roaring fire and began filming. I love how you can feel the warmth of the fire as the light from the flames danced on the characters faces. Also, the dark woods set the mood on how the rest of the night started to unfold in the film.

As the night continued, the sprinkles started turning into light rain and we each had an umbrella to cover some of the equipment we were using to film. The rain was absolutely perfect! Just as things started to pick up in the film the rain got heavier. It made the scenes in the woods much more creepier and I was extremely pumped to see the raindrops in the beams of the flashlights. A couple of times water droplets fell onto the lens and I left them there because they created a unique look to the footage.

Creepy, right?

We wrapped up the scenes and frantically began loading the equipment into the cars. The tarp coverage wasn’t ideal but we were lucky that none of the equipment got ruined. We were able to leave camp by 10:30 pm. On the ride home this time I couldn’t stop thinking about the weather for the next day. We contemplated a few things at dinner time about rescheduling the next days shoot but it wouldn’t have worked with everyone’s schedule. I arrived home and began to unload the equipment into the garage to dry it out. I checked the forecast that still said there was a 100% chance of rain all day. I looked around for a moment. The rain pounded hard on the roof as I stood there looking at the waterlogged equipment wondering what to do. I thought hard, prayed, and decided to wait until the next day before I made a decision…

April 30, 2016May 1, 2016

Gretchen’s Lock | From Inception to Grand Premiere | Part II

Today we are continuing with the multi-part blog about Gretchen’s Lock. In case you missed the first part you can check it out HERE.

Filming: Day 1

After getting everything prepped and showing everyone the lock, the cast and crew were eager to begin our filming journey. We headed down the Vondergreen Trail that leads to Gretchen’s Lock and decided to shoot with the sun behind the actors. Like I said before, the weather was absolutely perfect for our days of filming. The bright sunshine coincided with the adventure the campers were on and their joking manner. So, we found a section of the trail that seemed like a good place to start. We looked at the trail that went slightly uphill and thought everything was in place.

Sound and cameras were rolling, “ACTION.” As myself, the three members running audio, and Danielle started trekking backwards the terrain proved to be challenging. A couple of steps into the take the boom mics were hitting branches I was tripping over rocks and roots and everything was going a little too fast. Side note, operating the Glidecam is an art form itself which I have not mastered by far. We decided to move a little slower and Danielle guided me by holding onto my belt and tugging to warn me if there was a step up, a rock, a root, a squirrel, whatever I couldn’t see behind me. After a couple of takes we began to find a rhythm and finished out the opening scene.

As we arrived to the trail offshoot that leads to Gretchen’s Lock the sun was still brightly shinning. However, as soon as we walked down to the lock the sun went behind the hill on the other side of the creek leaving Gretchen’s Lock in a shadow. I think the geography of the area and the bend in the creek set up Gretchen’s Lock to be dark, cold, and quiet which adds to its mystery. We quickly executed the takes and finished up before dinner time. Scene 1 was in the bag and we made the 15 minute hike back to the parking lot.

As pizza arrived the cast and crew quickly bonded and we gathered around the fire talking about filming the first scene. This group of people seemed to click instantly as we began setting things up for the night scenes.

Because the area we were filming is primitive, there was no access to electricity. We set up a generator for the lights we used for the campfire scenes. We placed the generator back in the woods and ran a couple of 100 ft extension cords. After running cords and setting up the lights we started the generator. Immediately the noise was quite prevalent and was going to be an issue with the audio. We covered the generator with a box that had ventilation and carpet to absorb the sound. This seemed to eliminate a lot of noise.

We position the actors and cameras and began to film. Right after the first take the lights faded out and the generator stopped. I looked up from my camera with concern. We walked to the generator and heard it making a hissing sound. I removed the box and felt the heat coming from the generator. Obviously we didn’t have adequate ventilation and it was overheated. We needed to relieve the pressure so it didn’t blow up (we joked about doing another film with pyrotechnics to calm everyone’s nerves. Gretchen’s Lock II: Gretchen’s Out for Blood). I was able to unscrew the gas cap and to release the pressure and we let the generator cool down for a few minutes. We started it back up and continued filming and decided we’ll deal with the noise in post production. As we finished with the campfire scene we headed into the tent.

The cast was super ornery at this time as they snuggled up in their sleeping bags and blankets. One of my regrets was not filming some of the antics that were happening in between the takes. After the cast got comfortable inside the tent four of us crew members went in to film the scene. Huddled in the corner was Danielle, Jacob, Amy, and myself. We knocked out that scene in a couple of takes and we moved outside to finish up the day 1 of filming.

At this point I decided we weren’t going to use the generator anymore because it was becoming a hassle. With the help of white foam boards we were able to light the actors as they walked through the woods. The story seemed to get more real as we ventured into the woods with flashlights, a camera, and a crew of foam board holders. The woods were very dark even though there was a full moon each night we filmed. At one point there were no flashlights on and the only light you could see was the moon in the distance and the glow of the campfire. We finished out and were done by 10:30 pm. We gathered all the equipment and loaded it into the cars and left the campsite.

On my way home I finally had sometime to think since Danielle drove separately. I was still in disbelief that this was actually happening and amazed that everything went as smooth as it did for the first day. I quickly grounded myself and began to plan things out in my head for the next day’s shoot which was jam packed…

April 26, 2016

Gretchen’s Lock | From Inception to Grand Premiere | Part I

Inception

Gretchen’s Lock was our first independent film. Both Danielle and I spent a lot of time visiting Beaver Creek State Park with family as we grew up not knowing each other. Five and a half years ago, before we got into photography and way before video, we went to explore Gretchen’s Lock for the first time together with our pug, Norris. It was an early Autumn day and there was a chill in there air. Of course, that was heightened as we approached the lock.

After exploring we made our way back to the parking lot. Jokingly we said, “Someone should make a movie about this place.” Like I said before, this is way before we even got into the industry and we didn’t remember that we talked about it until just before we started to film. Digging in the Facebook archives today we found this post that blew our mind! Seriously, this is CRAZY!!

Fast forward to last July, after photographing over 100 weddings and dabbling in a few promotional videos, I had the idea of making an independent film. I wanted to make a film about something local, something outdoors, and something relatively low budget. Beaver Creek came to mind because of its beauty and wonder. As I started to develop ideas, Gretchen’s Lock popped into my head. I began research and found out even more legends in the area that I’ve heard in passing but had never connected.

I began writing a screenplay in mid-July and finished the bulk of it sitting on the porch of a cabin in Amish country near Sugarcreek while we were on vacation in August. As soon as we returned home I quickly wanted to get things underway. I drove down to the park, hiked to Gretchen’s Lock, snapped a few photos of the lock and Hambleton’s Mill before I left and put a poster for a cast & crew call. Danielle and I joked in the evenings saying, “Who do you think we can pull into this production?” We thought maybe some family friends and perhaps a handful of people could be dragged in. After posting the cast and crew call poster our phone, email, and social media blew up with interest of people wanting to be a part of the production. I think my phone rang nonstop for 3 or 4 days! The reach of the poster was over 67,000 people! Yikes!

After sending out hundreds of emails and receiving information forms from those who were interested we narrowed down the crew members and the potential actors we’d be auditioning. We set up the auditions for September 20th, 2015 and got things moving at Beaver Creek by applying for a permit to film there and reserved the Group 3 campsite. We were blown away by some of the auditions and started to assemble the cast.

After reaching out to fill in a couple of the roles we had our team! I finished tweaking the script and we had one and only production meeting and table read. Due to the quick nature of wanting to film at the end of October, a good handful of cast and crew couldn’t make it to the meeting. Despite that fact, after the meeting I felt energized and ready to get more things rolling.

October is usually the busiest time of the year for our photography business. From weddings to family sessions to high school seniors our schedule was jam packed. What a great idea to schedule films dates in the busiest month of the year, NOT! Danielle sometimes looked at me like I was crazy. We were running around from all of the sessions, taking care of our 8 month old, and gathering equipment, supplies, and working around everyone’s schedule to come up with a solid film schedule for the three days we filmed in October. October was surely a whirlwind of chaos, but things started falling into place.

The week before filming we had photo sessions almost every evening, a wedding on Saturday, and another session on Sunday before we began filming on Monday, October 26th. That Friday, the 23rd, I got up at 3:30 am, went to Walmart to get supplies, went to a few hardware stores when they opened, hit up Hobby Lobby to get some other supplies, and then, of course, stopped at Chick-Fil-A for an early lunch.

I sped my way back home to begin working on things. As the day quickly faded away I realized there were some things that just weren’t going to get completed. We packed up and headed to our wedding the next day and then to our session Sunday evening (our session was in Bethany, WV so it took an hour and twenty minutes to get there). After arriving home late, we got everything we could together.

As the restless night ensued, I got up at the crack of dawn to load everything up for filming. I was quite tired, very anxious, and hoping everything would go as planned. Everything was loaded up, I headed down to the park, met up with Joe, and we began unloading. It was a beautiful Fall day. The leaves were so colorful, the sun was golden and warm, and there was an Autumn chill in the air. If there was any day to be representative of an ideal Fall day, this was it.

Butterflies were still fluttering away in my stomach as other crew and cast members arrived. When I saw most of the cast coming out of the shuttle, it hit me. This is actually going to happen.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be directing and filming a screenplay that I wrote and that there would be so many people willing to commit most of their time for three days to make it possible. After I met a few for the first time it was back to reality.

We began setting up the cameras and getting the audio equipment ready to go. The cast prepped for the day as the crew gathered equipment to hike to Gretchen’s Lock, which was about a 15 minute walk from the parking lot. I lead the pack with my camera on the glidecam attached to the stabilizing arm and vest still in disbelief that this was actually happening.

I wanted to show everyone Gretchen’s Lock before we began filming to set the tone. After a brief overview it was time….

April 23, 2016April 23, 2016

Gretchen’s Lock Cast & Crew

Gretchen’s Lock; a machine. Cast; the fuel. Film Crew; the moving parts grinding away to make the machine move efficiently. There were so many incredible people that we got to work with to produce Gretchen’s Lock. Without them this production would have completely fallen apart. They were dedicated, imperative, knowledgeable, and willing to do anything it took. Even those with no experience jumped in, got their hands dirty (literally), and turned into pros 5 minutes into filming. It was fantastic to have worked with such a great group of people. Maybe it was being out in the woods, in the rain, in the mud, or sharing a part of ourselves and pouring it into the production, and there will forever be a bond between us. This cast and crew came together and created something special to say the least. We will be forever grateful for the hard work everyone has put in and will cherish the friendships that were forged while filming.

Here’s the amazing cast & crew of Gretchen’s Lock. We wish everyone was here in this photo, but unfortunately schedules don’t always align.

Here are some other photos from the filming of Gretchen’s Lock:

Thank you to everyone who was involved in the making of the Gretchen’s Lock film! Without you none of this could have been possible! We feel truly honored to have gotten the chance to work with every single one of you. We look forward to future productions with you all!

For more information about the Gretchen’s Lock film & for tickets to the showing in Columbiana, go HERE. We’re thrilled to bring you a locally made independent film production featuring local legends and made in Beaver Creek State Park! Thank you for your support in our endeavors & we hope to see you at the Grand Premiere of Gretchen’s Lock TODAY, April 23. The 6:30 pm showing is SOLD OUT and the 8:00 pm showing is getting close to selling out, as well. Get them while you still can!