Held-up at Henry’s
Friday, 3:34 AM
“There is a man here with a gun, and I don’t think he is with the movie.”
Phillip, our dead-pan script supervisor’s voice echoed my worst fears; a simple mishap of logistics has led to the imminent death or bodily harm by an ACTUAL gun to a member of our team.
Phillip (pictured above) continued on the phone by saying “I am going to park up the street, you can come and talk to the crazy man with the gun”. If it wasn’t for the slight quiver in his voice I would of assumed that they were playing a joke on me (not an uncommon thing this week).We made a few phone calls, and were able to notify the ‘crazy man with the gun’ (pictured below w/out gun) that we had permission to be on the premises and we were able to set up for the tricky, but very entertaining gas station scene.
Earlier on in the week Taylor the First AC had made a joke about having a studio audience for our movie… well perhaps he is prophetic, because while we were shooting this film, it seemed that half of the rural Powhatan County good ol’boys were watching us work. Enthralled by the lights and cameras and fake blood I think that the Ivory Film Company’s visit to Henry’s Store was the biggest thing to happen to this sleepy town in a long time.I gave out lots of business cards and talked and joked with the locals while Bryce and the gang worked their magic. The very talented David Carter (pictured below) joined us to play the gas station attendant and did a spectacular job.
Despite the fact that we were all working with two hours of sleep this scene turned out really well, and everyone did an excellent job. In the end, we all got t-shirts and had a great time. Here are a few more pictures from the shoot.
-Paul Shanks
(Executive Producer)
January 13, 2008 at 10:32 am
If “half of the rural Powhatan County good ol’ boys” had actually shown up at Henry’s, that would have numbered in the thousands. And don’t get excited about someone happening to have a gun in Powhatan–that’s not typical, but it’s not highly unusual either.
January 31, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Sorry it’s taken so long to post, but I want to say that the shoot was pretty cool. As I drove away from Henry’s, I wanted to turn around and say, “Take me with you, I don’t want this to end!” But alas, I have a list of people as long as your arm (the list, not the people) who would take my gallivanting off with your merry band with some measure of chagrin. So I leave a piece of me with you, and I get this bloody shirt in return. Thank you for your passion, which is contagious, and the unfeigned camaraderie, which makes me smile. I look forward to working with you ALL again…pretty please? I LOVE YOU GUYS! GROUP HUG! See you at the premiere (should I wear the shirt?)
grace and peace
david