Everything’s Eventual On Location

Dinky's House Shot February 16-18

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:45:25 -0800

This location was one of the trickier ones to acquire. Knowing that it would be the central location for the film and the location where the most time would be spent filming, we started scouting for this location far in advance. We looked into empty homes as well as homes for rent but no one seemed willing to allow us to use it for 3 days. Well they were willing but only if we paid the rent for the entire month! After some time and after pleading with family and friends we had a couple offers. One was a home way out in Lavine, AZ which turned out to be too far away for production. The other home was also quite a distance away in North Phoenix but it was more centrally located and was near the airport where we would shoot after we finished with all the house scenes.

After deciding on this home we had little time to make it work for this production. We actually had to build a new set of walls to make the front room into “Dinky’s Office”. This also created the hallway you see in the film at Dinky’s front door. It wasn’t a huge undertaking but it was a very important flourish that adds to the believability and production value of the film that would not be there without it.

This was also or first experience with and HOA and working directly with the Phoenix Film Office. Usually small independent productions can get away with shooting anywhere they want without much risk of getting into trouble. But this production had grown significantly over the course of a few months of pre-production so we could no longer go “unnoticed”. For the shots of the outside of the house (the opening shots of the film) we had to hire a police officer to make sure the garbage man would be able to pick up the trash.

The location was as good as we could get and fit the vision of a “cookie cutter” home that isn’t too big but would be just right for a new Transcorp recruit that is just starting to climb the “fringe benefit” ladder.

Airport & Private Plane Shot February 19

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:49:29 -0800

These were some of the most exciting locations because of the production value they brought to the film. Originally, we (Chad and I) had Dinky escaping the grip of Transcorp by either train or bus. But the problem is that there really aren’t train or bus stations in Phoenix. I remember telling that I could get and airport but that may not make sense (since an airport requires ID which TC could track). But when I mentioned the airport I remember Chad going crazy on the other line yelling all sorts of expletives. Long story short we let the production value of the airport terminal trump the bus station.

I ended up using the Scottsdale Municipal Airport because of it’s location, scale, film friendly attitude and price. SMA was by far the most “production value bang for out buck”! I think the invoice they ended up sending me was for $135 or something like that. We used the terminal for almost 6 hours and that’s all they charged. Awesome!

One of the tricks to this airport is that it has a very small terminal which is about 100 feet long. We had to use some trick photography to make it appear much bigger. The key to that was shooting from the end of one side and then from the end of the other side. This essentially doubled the perceived size of the terminal. The second key was extras. We had 50-75 extras throughout the day and that is what really sell the shots as being in a larger terminal.

The private plane is another story in itself. I had been arranging, through a family contact, the use of a very nice Falcon jet. I worked the negotiations and red tape and after more than 2 months of working on this one location the 4 owners of the plane say no... So we were without a plain and we were only days away from shooting. And knowing that we weren’t going to be able to get another jet in time without paying big money, which we didn’t have, Chad and I started to rewrite the scene so that no plane was needed. We tossed around ideas of having everything happen in a “VIP” terminal and even thought of having the scene on the tarmac with a plan in the background. Either way, the production value of our jet was gone.

Then on the first day of shooting (3 days before we would have needed the plane) the art director comes to me and says that he may have a lead on a plane. So he calls up some guys and I talk to the at lunch. It’s Dillion Precision Products (about a mile up the road) and they have a plane. They say that they will let us use it as long as we pay 2 or 3 mechanics to be there during shooting. The next morning, before shooting, the art director and I go to see the plane and we settle the rate for it. We shot it a day and a half later! It turned out to be the most expensive location but it was still way cheaper than any hollywood production would pay.

So we ended up getting our jet for EE. Another lucky break in what, at the time, was becoming a long line of lucky breaks.

High-rise Shot February 20

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:02:35 -0700

The Highrise was a very exciting prospect and was another high production value location for the film. The search for it began very similarly as the search for the house. We called local buildings/condos/hotels to allow us to film on the roof and/or room/home/balcony. We had a couple leads but they ended up falling through. Then out new location manager, our previous one decided to drop out without telling anyone, showed me a suite room at the Hotel Valley Ho (same location as the pool). He had a contact at the hotel who were willing to give us a killer price to shoot at the pool, roof and room. We decided on the pool and decided to hold off on the roof and room because the view wasn’t ideal and we wanted to try and do better.

Once again, through family ties, a source of assistance revealed itself. An old family friend had a very nice home on a hill in north phoenix. The view was good, though still a little far from the city, and it would definitely work for the film. I contacted this family friend who was more than willing to allow us to use his home for filming. Then, while on the phone with him, he mentioned that I should also think about looking at the 20th floor condo he had in downtown Pheonix...

After pulling my jaw from off the floor I told him that I would definitely be interested in seeing the condo, already knowing that that was going to be the one. visiting the high-rise was only a formality and seeing the view only solidified it as the number one choice for the film. Like I said before, another lucky break... We ended up using the condo for many scenes in the film. The finder scene/investigation scene, Sharpton’s kitchen and Sharpton’s bedroom.

If you are a Stephen King fan then you are aware of his fascination and constant use of the number “19”. Well I remember riding the elevator in this high-rise, don’t remember if it was the day of shooting or a scout, and I noticed what floor the elevator stopped on (you didn’t push buttons here because the front desk sent you to the residence you required) an guess what floor the condo was on? 19...

Metal Works Shot February 21

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:03:44 -0700

The metal works plant was one of the easiest locations to acquire. My grandfather happens to own a steal and wire manufactory complete with the big yellow behemoth Dinky uses in the scene. That particular machine is called a press bend and it does waht it says. It presses steal and bends it to a 90 degree bend. It will do similar things to limbs too! So we made sure to be extra safe at this location because pretty much every machine there can kill you.

We had no accidents and everything went off pretty well. The biggest challenge of the location was actually its size. The plant was about 200 yards long and 100 yards across maybe more. But it was a challenge for moving to different locations/scenes because it wasn’t quite close enough for us to walk all the equipment. So we had to essentially pack up everything every time we moved because of the distance. This made things run a little behind schedule and we ended up having one of our longest days. Thank God we didn’t have a shoot the next day.

This location provided another great production value piece. It required no set dressing other than tape on the locker room doors because it was a working set. The big yellow machine was the diamond of the location. The sound alone was worth it.

Library and Exteriors Shot February 23

Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:03:48 -0700

We had several exterior scenes that we needed to find locations for. The Noble Library at ASU ended up provided for almost all of them. Originally we were planning to shoot at ASU’s main library which we had, after much work, acquired permission for. But about a month before shooting I got a call saying that the library would be under construction and that we would not be able to film because we would get in the way.

Luckily ASU has multiple libraries and we ended up scoring on the Noble Sciences Library. The staff were really cool about the shoot and did’t care if we were a bit of a bother. The library also happened to have areas right for 4 more scenes in the film! The Finder at the cafe, Dinky on a park bench, Dinky and the newspaper, and Dinky outside the library all were shot within 100 feet of the library walls.

I was anticipating, since the campus authorities were not notified of the shoot, a good deal of trouble with the ASU security/police. We had permission to shoot in an around the Library but the areas where we were shooting a couple scenes were beyond the libraries jurisdiction. But the confrontation did not occur. This is due to the fact that I had a wonderful and professional crew as well as a lot of great equipment. Because we “looked” like a pro crew (we were a pro crew) every security guard that passed or stopped by to chat and watch never asked for a permit. They just assumed that we had one just because we looked so good. It was quite an experience, while shooting outside, to have a crowd of people gather behind the camera to watch us shoot a scene.

Like it was said before, the library staff were very easy going with our production and pretty much let us do whatever we wanted. One of the notable shots of the film (which is not CGI) was the letter drop from the top balcony on the third floor. Believe it or not the first take of this is what made it in the film. We figured it would require a good number of takes to accomplish this shot. We needed a letter to be dropped from the top floor and land on or near Dinky on the computer below. We set up the camera and dropped the letter and it pretty much landed in Dinky’s (Michael’s) lap. We dropped a few more just because we could but we knew we had got the shot. One of the cooler shots in the film.

Resort Pool & Motel Shot February 24

Sat, 11 Sep 2004 13:03:51 -0700

As mentioned in the “High-rise” section, we used the pool of the Hotel Valley Ho. This was set up by our location manager who had a contact at the hotel. It was another big production value piece and it is a beautiful site. There really weren’t any challenges with this location besides the usual production stuff. The biggest issue was a lack of extras to fill the scene. It was underestimated how many people we needed for the scene and then many of the people that we supposed to come ended up cancelling. But, as you hopefully DON’T see, we shot and worked around it and what we have in the film works well.

The motel is another story. This is one of the locations that gave me some grief to find. This was due to the first location manager saying he had a motel and then he left without telling anyone or passing on the information of the locations he had. Turned out he didn’t have the info because he didn’t do the work. I called the motel that he had “confirmed” and they had never heard of us. As it turned out, there were a lot of shootings in that area and one that happened on a different film shoot so I didn’t want to film there anyway.

So the hunt was on. This brings me to on of the more interesting phone conversations that I’ve had. I was calling local non-chain motels and hotels to try and get someone to let us rent a room and film. I got on the phone with a manager (at doubt it and kinda hope not) of a certain motel and I gave my talk:

So this guy I’m talking to apparently thinks that I’m trying to rip him off somehow. So I explain further that we were a fully insured production and that we were a professional crew, cast, equipment etc. He’s still not convinced and tell’s me that “it sounds pretty fishy”. I ask what’s fishy about a Stephen King adaptation? I explain that I can fax over the insurance policy as well as the contract from Stephen King. “Stephen King?” The guy asks. I tell em “Yes, Stephen King... Stephen King the master of horror? Stephen King the most prolific author of our time?”. After a slight pause the guy comes back with “Oh, I don’t read...”

Needless to say we didn’t film there. We ended up shooting at a motel in way north phoenix. It was as easy as saying we would pay for a few rooms. Another very cheap location (I think 30 bucks a room, we used 3) in relation to it’s production value. But I must say that the floors were so dirty that after Dinky, who had to kneel on the floor, did a scene a couple times his pants we black at the knees. We ended up getting him another pair because it was so bad.

The Bar Shot February 25

Fri, 12 Sep 2003 09:56:54 -0700

The bar was the only location that the original location manager came through on. And it was a perfect fit for the production. They were a larger sports bar which had two separate sections. The first section was open for the whole day while the second half was only opened for the second half of the day. Like I said this worked perfectly for us because we were able to use the empty par of the bar without being disturbed or disturbing the business of the bar. We also have a good amount of extras and the final product has turned out very nicely.

One of the notable events for this location was the fight scene between Pug and Dinky. We had rehearsed the move over and over and then we set up to shoot. We shot the scene and when the hit came we were all convinced. It looked great and Pug (Cavin) really looked like he was hurt, a great bit of acting. Only he wasn’t acting. He actually got it square in the lip and was bleeding. We immediately got ice on his lip to avoid as much swelling as possible but only so much could be done. His lip was about double in size. It was the very first shot of the day...

So take a look and see if you can tell that Pug’s lower lip looks more voluptuous in some shots than others. We actually used the shot though in the film as it was the most convincing acting for Pug for that scene (maybe it was because he just got punched in the face?).

The Dog's House Shot February 26-27

Wed, 11 Sep 2002 13:04:00 -0700

If you are familiar with the story by King then you know about the dog and how it’s supposed to kill itself. We had to slightly adjust the way the dog died by having him run, with his chain around his neck, as fast as he could and have the abrupt stop when the end of the chain was reached break his neck. We obviously didn’t really do this and the dog we used was trained and not harmed. In fact the dog had a blast on set.

But the search for Mrs. Bukowski’s dog wasn’t that easy. I had never had to work with animals so finding them was a first for me. But fortunately we held auditions for the film far in advance and one of the child actor’s parents was the owner of an animal talent company. So I contacted her and set up a meeting/audition with some dogs.

We ended up using a young pup named Obi. Obi Wan Kenobi. Obi performed very well and,as you can see in the film, the scene sells pretty well.

The house was another fruit of the original locations managers’s work. Kinda. We were actually out together in the neighbourhood and he was showing me homes for the dog scene. The homes were within and 1/8th of a mile from this house, within eye shot, and the location manager didn’t even know it was there. It was perfect! The look is ominous all by itself and the pointed steal fence and brickwork only added to its personality.

Young Dinky House

Tue, 11 Sep 2001 13:04:05 -0700

Peoria Training Labs

Mon, 11 Sep 2000 13:06:08 -0700