Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #140: The Cabin Movie Shoot Day 3

 

1. This was my fifth day in rural North-Central Pennsylvania and the third full day of filming for my feature film The Cabin. The heat and humidity finally broke, leaving us with perfect weather for our last day of shooting in the middle of nowhere at the cabin in Osceola. This day was a bit easier. The weather helped, as did the fact that we had left all of our stuff at the cabin the night before. We really only had to bring ourselves. I began the day as I had all of the other days: a quick energy drink and a protein shake. Then I was flying out the door to drive from Mansfield across to Wellsboro so we could carpool out to the middle of nowhere.

2. I had been meaning for days to stop at a spot near Mark’s house in downtown Wellsboro. It was a beautiful fountain surrounded by flowers on the town green. On this day, I finally left a few minutes early to allow me the chance to grab some photos and videos. It was a classic hurry up and enjoy it later type of shoot. I probably spent three minutes at the fountain before I had to rush off to Mark’s house. Later on, I learned that the fountain is called the Wynken, Blynken & Nod Fountain. They are characters from a Dutch children’s poem, and the sculpture inside the fountain features those characters sailing in a wooden shoe. I would have regretted not stopping to get those photos since I kept saying it every time I passed by it, whether I was alone or with someone.



3. The first thing we saw when we pulled up to the cabin on this day was the carnage I left behind from the night before. The front door had two bloody handprints from where I, as the monster, busted through to attack. Inside the bedroom, in a pile on the floor was the outfit, consisting of clothes from my own closet, that I had worn as the monster. They would be getting another use on this day. We were like a well-oiled machine by this point. The cast entered the cabin, and within ten minutes we were shooting.



4. Laughs were had as we realized an error we had made the previous day. Even though the humidity had broken the previous afternoon, we had wondered why the cabin interior remained like a sauna. We figured it must have been well insulated and retained heat. Now, one walk around the entire cabin would have told us that wasn’t true; still, we believed it. The tradition became that we showed up at the cabin and turned on whatever power we needed from the fuse box next to the front door. This is when we realized that somehow, someone had turned the heat on the previous day. We only figured it out when we spotted the thermostat set at 75. This meant that the previous day, when it was 85 and humid outside, we had the heat on inside anyway. No wonder we were cooking the previous day. Although, to be fair, wearing a huge trench coat inside during the summer would likely have made anyone sweat. During the morning, it was definitely more comfortable inside the cabin than it was the previous day. However, by early afternoon it was starting to get warm inside. This made us question our theory on the heater being turned on. Luckily, this was our final day at the cabin, and as long as we remembered to turn the heat off when we left (we did), then everything would be fine for the owners when they returned.


5. There were a few scenes inside the cabin where the main character was sitting at the dining room table eating. We had brought some food for us to have during downtime, so we figured we’d use that as props for the film. That being said, we did make sure to take the time to explore the kitchen to see if there was anything of use. Anthony and I had fun poking around looking for kitchenware and utensils for props. There were also some interesting choices as far as food left behind. I mentioned previously that the fridge included loads of beer and condiments. In one of the pantry cabinets, there was a stash of canned goods. This was dominated by green beans. I don’t know why we thought it was so funny and odd that this hunting cabin had several cans of green beans. I guess because you looked around and saw an obnoxious amount of deer heads and a month’s worth of beer, and you get one image in your head of a typical hunter, but then they have to have their veggies for health? Besides that, there wasn’t much else of note left in the cabin when we arrived. Well, except for the human-scent masking shampoo and deodorant in the bathroom. That was definitely interesting but also made sense as to how they managed to shoot so many deer.




6. One of the most memorable moments of my entire trip to Pennsylvania happened on this day. We had a scene in the film where a person had been killed and their body needed to be dragged from the cabin outside to be stashed somewhere near the water. The person who originally played that character was unavailable until much later in the day. Not wanting to sit around the cabin for hours, we decided to improvise. We had Anthony stand in, well, his legs did. There was a brief scene inside where Cody grabs Anthony’s legs. It then cuts to outside in the grass. Anthony is a big boy, so we were trying to figure out the minimum amount of movement we’d need to make it look like he was being dragged. We again had Cody grab his legs and then, through movie magic, filmed Cody close up moving backward to simulate dragging a body. I know, so far that’s not very interesting, but oh wait, the best is yet to come. We hadn’t wanted Anthony to have to lie in the wet grass, so I found a pretty grungy white tarp in the basement. A basement that looks to be right out of a Saw movie, by the way. Once he was on the tarp, we figured out that with more movie magic we could have Cody drag Anthony on the tarp with a few of us helping to drag it off camera. So Anthony lay on the tarp while one by one the rest of us pitched in to try to move him. It was an exercise in futility. Not even four of us together could get the tarp to budge. We all were laughing at the scene. Jeff laughed the most, so much so that he had to walk far away to hide how much he was laughing. I had wished there was someone to film this scene, but I had been in charge of the behind-the-scenes footage, and at that time my hands were busy trying to drag Anthony on the tarp. Mark wondered aloud if there was some other way to get the tarp to move. For his part, Anthony said a weight loss program would help. Mark said deadpan that we didn’t have time for that. This entire scene became the main source of laughs for us throughout the rest of the shoot.


7. When people weren’t needed on the set, they tended to venture off to be out of the way. Anthony and Michael had a few times when they went for walks or went exploring. I mentioned before that this cabin was probably a mile from any other house. The dirt road that passed the cabin saw at most three vehicles pass on any day that we were out there. So you could imagine my surprise when I saw an ATV slow down at the end of the driveway. We were shooting inside. Anthony and Michael were at the end of the driveway. A guy on an ATV slowed down, then stopped briefly, and continued on his way. A few minutes later, he returned and stopped for a little longer next to Anthony and Michael. Then he was gone again. I went over to help Mark and the crew any way I could. A few minutes later I looked back out the window and noticed Anthony and Michael were gone. My common sense said that they had gone for a short walk and probably weren’t far away. A small part of my brain wondered if that guy on the ATV had lured them back to his house of horrors with promises of candy, or beer, or something else. Maybe Anthony and Michael were being turned into skin suits as we spoke? After a few minutes of finishing up a scene, we decided to find out. Cody went out on the deck and shouted for them like he was a parent calling their kids home for dinner in the 1980s. Cody’s voice echoed, and then moments later we heard the callback. They were fine. We did make sure to tell them what we thought might have happened. Just in case they got the itch to wander off into the rural abyss. Oh, and as far as that ATV guy went? He lived on that road and knew the owners of the cabin. He had stopped to ask if one of them was there. Anthony told him they’d be back in the next few days, although he said he actually wanted to tell the guy we were robbing the place.

Deserted, until it wasn't

8. As we got closer to wrapping the shoot at the cabin, it was time for me to get back into costume as the monster. The outfit, coated in fake blood, was sticky and a bit cold. I had to be doused in the blood again. These scenes were part of the big climax of the film. There was lots of running and fighting. I loved the mask that Anthony had made, but there was a problem; it didn’t offer much in the way of vision. In fact, I had less than a quarter-sized hole’s worth of sight and only in my right eye. The rest of my vision was blocked. That meant I needed assistance when it came to movement. For my chase scenes, I asked that any rocks and roots be moved, and I would run in a straight line. I still went for it, though. I’d run, and scream and growl like I was trying to scare any nearby animals away. Of course, after nearly every scene I needed the mask removed since the only air coming in was from that tiny hole of a right eye. We had fight scenes where I had to do some stunt work, like taking a flat back bump (that’s a pro wrestling term). When swinging at people, whether with fists or weapons, I did my best to hold back since I couldn’t see well. I am happy to say I didn’t really hit anyone. In one scene, Cody had to hit me with a weapon. We chose a shovel. The mask provided a bit of cushioning, and I told Cody to give a good swing, not full-force but more than a love tap. In all of the takes of that scene, I barely felt anything but reacted like I was really hurt. Without revealing any major spoilers, I will say I got to have my Michael Myers moment in this film.


9. Once my scenes were wrapped, I was able to get out of the blood-soaked clothes and clean up. There was a problem, though. We had been keeping the water pump off because it seemed to be having trouble pulling water from the well. It was counting down to the end of the shoot at the cabin, and we didn’t want to break anything, so we thought it might be better to leave the water off and use the woods as a bathroom if needed. This was not helpful when it came to cleaning fake blood. We had to improvise. Anthony grabbed a few bottles of the ice-cold water from the fridge that we had brought. I lathered up with dish soap first, and then he started pouring. It was not a pleasant experience. I tried to hold it together but ended up shouting and cursing from the cold. This got us yelled at by Mark, who was filming a scene right outside. We finally broke down and put the water pump back on. Thankfully, it ended up working because I wasn’t looking forward to cleaning the rest of the blood off my neck and chest with ice-cold water. The costume and mask were kept as potential props for future films Mark might do. I told him he should make a comedy where it’s the same monster, but he’s just doing everyday things like laundry and mowing the lawn. Maybe that will be coming to a theater near you in the future.

A pile of (fake) bloody clothing

 
10. It was mid-afternoon when we wrapped filming at the cabin. We had worked so hard, with few breaks, and ended up far ahead of schedule. We honestly thought we’d have been at the cabin until well after sunset. Instead, we were cleaning up around 3pm. This was an arduous process. We all had to go room by room and put everything back the way it was. In reality, we left that place cleaner and better organized than we had found it. All of the kitchen utensils went back. We remembered to snag the black sheet off the bedroom window. It would have been interesting for the cabin owners to come back and see that setup, though. They might have wondered what kind of movie we had made. Everything was packed up, and we were ready to go. I sat at the dining room table taking one last look through my belongings. It wasn’t like if I forgot something, it was an easy trip back to the remote cabin. While I was sitting, thankfully, I noticed something. There was a big bloody handprint on the side of one of the chairs. We likely would have missed it if I hadn’t sat down. I’m sure Mark would have gotten a call about blood, even fake, left on their furniture. We cleaned it up, shut down all of the power, and headed out. We took one last look at the property before leaving down the quiet country road back to civilization. In total, we had spent something like 20 hours filming at the cabin. It was a fun time.


11. With the cabin scenes wrapped, and with there being time left in the day, we decided to celebrate. Mark said there was a local restaurant where he liked to go with the crew anytime he finished a film. Now we weren’t done, but we were close. The next day would be the finale. Since I was planning on heading back to Cape Cod right after filming wrapped, there was no other time for us to enjoy a celebratory meal than right then. The place was Harland’s Family Style Restaurant on Pearl Street in Wellsboro. Anthony said he was there a few times a week. He wasn’t kidding. When we all walked in, he got a reception like he was Norm entering the bar on Cheers. The restaurant was quiet, as it was 4pm on a Saturday. We got a big table. It only took me a few seconds to see what I wanted. On the first Saturday of each month, they did a meatloaf special. Since it was the first Saturday of the month, I knew what I was getting. What arrived was a gigantic slab of meatloaf and a healthy pile of French fries. The ultimate irony is that the veggie that came with the meal was green beans. Anthony and I laughed about how there had been so many cans of them at the cabin, and here I was having them with my dinner. We all ate and talked about what we had filmed and what was still to come. It had been an amazing adventure thus far, but it wasn’t over yet. Naturally, we retold the story of Anthony and the tarp a few times, mostly to see how much we could get Jeff to laugh. He is very quiet and reserved, at least that’s how I saw him, so seeing him get so animated, laughing at the tarp story, was great. The food was excellent. When I went up to pay for my meal, I explained to the woman that I was visiting from Cape Cod. She went on about how she’s always wanted to visit the Cape. I had debated giving her my number, but I didn’t want to seem like a creep, so I just thanked her for the food and walked away.




12. The shooting day wasn’t done, though. We went back to Mark’s house because we needed some scenes of his large shed that doubled as another cabin in the film. The only issue was that these scenes were at night. We all sat around on his porch waiting for sunset. It was fun to just hang out and chat for a few hours on a quiet street. I tried to make sure to remain present throughout the entire trip. Sitting in the front yard on a perfect summer evening was an unexpected but welcome part of the whole experience. I passed the time by doing a few cast interviews in Mark’s backyard. These will be a part of the bonus features on the future DVD release. Finally, it got dark enough to film. We needed longer to set up the lighting than we needed to actually shoot. It was a few simple yet creepy shots that will go nicely in the film. As producer, I tried to make my job being available to help in any way I could. I hauled equipment, handled the script, and even acted in a few roles. I figured I’d learn as much as I could in my debut as a producer so that when the second film comes around I’d have way more knowledge and could be more helpful.


13. By the time I left Mark’s to head back to the motel in Mansfield, the next town over, it was almost 9pm. We had eaten a little after 4, so I was feeling hungry again. I decided to stop at Weis supermarket, which was on the way. There I grabbed stuff for the morning and also decided on what I’d do for second dinner. I had become too familiar with the Mansfield McDonald’s. Running out of ideas as I drove, I figured I’d hit up the Sheetz near the motel. I’d grab something quick and easy I could toss in the microwave. Little did I know what the scene was like at Sheetz. I pulled into the parking lot and was shocked by how busy it was. There were cars and people everywhere. I guess Sheetz is the late-night summertime hangout for a lot of younger people in Pennsylvania. I couldn’t imagine hanging out at a Cumberland Farms on Cape Cod on a Saturday night. Once I found a parking spot, I ventured inside. I tried to make it a point to eat as many things on the trip that I couldn’t find on Cape Cod. McDonald’s aside, I think I succeeded. At Sheetz I had a big ol’ chicken sandwich which felt pretty dense. I also grabbed Herr’s chips and a sugar cookie-flavored whoopee pie. Healthy? No way. Tasty? Absolutely. I ate my second dinner at about 9:30pm. What was amazing about this trip in general was that no matter how much my adrenaline was pumping during the day, my body knew to shut it down by 10:30pm so I could get close to a full night’s sleep. I finished eating, had a short time to decompress, and then my body began to shut down. It was time for bed. There was one last day to come, as far as filming and my trip in general. It would end up being one of the longest driving days I’d had in my life.

Apparently the place to be on weekend nights.