Manfrotto – Menning Films

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…

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…

Tag: Manfrotto

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

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