Up at 4, we had a convoy of three vehicles on the road by 5, heading for Petersburg, West Virginia, a small town filled with beautiful people and scenery. There we met Tom Hencke, who grew up in Lanham, MD, but who heads up the
newspaper in Petersburg. He opened the Old Grant County Courthouse for us, a big brick building with white pillars, and a jail around the back.Soon, we had a small group of local residents who were joining our cast for the day. Directors Mie and Sun Jae assigned them various roles. Within minutes, they were on camera, as the "witnesses" in the trial of the four main characters.
It was amazing how perfectly each one filled his or her role. We were astounded by the discipline of both the more experienced cast and those entering that day. The 94-degree heat was bearable when the fans and window air conditioner were blowing, but during the actual filming, all those noise-producing elements were turned off, and the strong lights were fierce. Inside the
courthouse, the temperatures were probably 20 degrees higher than the shaded portico outside, so we had quite a time keeping people hydrated, iced down, and some had to keep a towel nearby to blot the beads of perspiration between takes!
courthouse, the temperatures were probably 20 degrees higher than the shaded portico outside, so we had quite a time keeping people hydrated, iced down, and some had to keep a towel nearby to blot the beads of perspiration between takes!Somehow, we managed to film some 21 pages of the script during the daylight hours, finishing by around 7 p.m. Breakfast and lunch were ordered for cast and crew: dollar menu from McDonalds was all our slimming pocketbooks could handle, and we ordered a bunch of pizzas from Pizza Hut for the evening meal before we all got back on the road.
To link to the Grant County Press website page inviting people to become part of our ca
st and crew, check outhttp://www.grantcountypress.com/7-15/movie.htm
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