The blog of In My Footsteps Podcast host and author Christopher Setterlund. It contains a buffet of topics. The wackiness of daily life with Initial Impressions 2.0. There is a link to the weekly In My Footsteps Podcast. Poetry collections, life topics, some history, and more. There is something for everyone here much like with the podcast.
1. This was the final shooting day for my feature film The Cabin. It ended up being the tale of two halves. The first half was an exciting last filming location, while the second half was driving - lots and lots of driving. It might have been the most I'd ever driven in a single day, at least in terms of time.
2. It was a Sunday. I needed to take care of everything at the motel I had called home for the previous five days in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. This consisted of packing thoroughly and carefully. If I forgot anything, there was little to no chance of me getting it back. I had a little more room in one of my bags because some of the clothing I had brought with me was used as the costume for the creature. Since it had been sliced up and coated with blood, there was no need for me to take it back home. I made sure to rearrange the furniture back to the way it was. I had moved a table to give me a setup similar to my desk at home. Everything was cleaned, the bed was made, and after checking for maybe the fifth time, I grabbed the room key and headed out. The manager wasn’t in the office, but he was at the top of the stairs, which led to his apartment on the premises. I made sure to get his attention as I dropped the key into the box. I didn’t receive any sort of negative email in the days after, so I assume I left the room looking fine. I sat in my rented Honda Accord and took a few breaths; the trip was almost over. I felt like I had lived a month in a week, and although there was still one shooting day to go, I already felt the dopamine crash that comes after you have an exciting experience and then have to get back to ‘reality.’ I pulled out onto the quiet Main Street as I had every other day that week, and made the drive to Mark’s house in the neighboring town of Wellsboro. I tried to soak in every hill and every curve, every shop and billboard, anything that might make a good entry in the blogs that would follow. Who knows if I will ever see that area again? If not, both Mansfield and Wellsboro were fine places to stay and spend a week.
Thank you, Mansfield Inn, it was a fun time.
3. I knew this final day was going to be something different from the moment I arrived at Mark’s house. On previous days, when I arrived, I parked my car in the grass next to his driveway. This let me leave at the end of the filming day without being blocked in or blocking someone else in. When I pulled up on this day, I hadn’t been there for more than a minute or two when Mark gave me the location where we were going on location to shoot. He said I could leave ahead of the rest of them to get some photos and videos. I enjoyed carpooling and connecting with the rest of the crew, but I was really craving some alone time, driving and playing the music I wanted while soaking in the new scenery. I took that chance. I punched in the location: Morgan Marine, Penn Yan, New York. Slowly, I pulled away and left Mark and his house in the rearview. It was time for our final rendezvous for The Cabin.
4. Each morning, when driving from Mansfield to Wellsboro, it was roughly 15-20 minutes of driving. I began this day with that drive. Getting from Wellsboro to Morgan Marine was about an hour and a half north. We were to be filming the final scenes of the movie on Mark’s boat and at a marina located on Keuka Lake, part of the Finger Lakes in New York. Things looked rough within the first half hour of the drive as the skies clouded up and it began to sprinkle. It was brief, though. The majority of the drive was beautiful, peaceful, and sunny. It made me wish I had some sort of GoPro, or other camera that I could have filmed the trek with. It was rolling green hills, small lakes, and good music, at least in my opinion. I wanted to make sure I had a little while at Morgan Marine by myself, so I was testing my luck with my speed. I was lucky in that I never had any sort of close encounter with police. Considering how much I drove on highways, I was a little surprised. Later on, though, I got to see someone else have an issue with the cops, but we’ll get to that. During my 90-minute drive north, things felt relaxed. I was thinking of all of the amazing things I had seen and done in the span of a week. That trip down memory lane was interrupted by a different feeling. In order to be ‘up’ for this final day, I began the morning with a slightly more potent energy drink. Within an hour of driving to the Finger Lakes, I knew I needed to find a bathroom. It became a battle between my desire to have some free time to shoot at Morgan Marine and my bladder telling me that wasn’t likely to happen. At one point I stopped my car to get a photo of an amazing view. I stopped right in the road. I very nearly took the chance to run into the grass to pee but wasn’t willing to risk it. The final leg of the drive was filled with a lot of leg bouncing just to keep my bladder distracted. Then, there it was, Morgan Marine. I made it. Before doing anything, I basically ran to the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was for members only and was locked. That was nearly the end for me, but I held it together and hustled over to the docks. There I asked a pair of teens who were working where the nearest bathroom was. I got pointed in the right direction, and within moments my nightmare was over. I calmly walked back to my car to grab my camera equipment to get some footage of the marina before everyone else arrived.
Yes I thought about running into the bushes to pee there.
5. Throughout my adventure on this movie shoot, I did my best to stay in the moment and appreciate all of the new experiences I was having. As excited as I was, and am, for The Cabin to be a finished product, I was more keen on enjoying each memory as it was being made. I could have easily sat in my car and waited for Mark and the rest of the crew to arrive at Morgan Marine. It was, after all, a 90-minute drive early in the morning. I knew I’d regret it, though. Instead, I wandered all over the docks of the marina, capturing video and photos. I had never been to the Finger Lakes. Even though it would be brief, I wanted to get as much footage as possible so that memories, and blogs like this, would be chock full of details. There were dozens of boats docked, but surprisingly very few people in them. It ended up being a ruse. Only later on, when we were there filming and needed the appearance of isolation, did boat after boat of people come cruising by. It was a pleasant morning with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. I wanted to stand and soak in all of the sights and sounds of the marina and Keuka Lake, but from in the distance I spotted the rest of the crew arriving, so it was time to get to work on the last scenes for The Cabin.
Some of the boats at Morgan Marine
6. In reality, we only needed a handful of scenes to be filmed. A few of them were on the docks, a few were in and around Mark’s boat, and a few were on the water. Luckily, when greeting the crew, I heard about us going out on the boat to shoot. I get terrible car and sea sickness, which is loads of fun. It leads to me doing most of the driving when going on any sort of road trip. It also means I need a fresh stock of Dramamine when I go on any car or boat adventure. I popped one pill and then hoped we’d take our time filming on the docks so that the meds had time to kick in. Cody, it turned out, wasn’t the biggest fan of the water. I offered him a Dramamine, but he said he’d be alright. As I just mentioned, only when we started filming did a seemingly endless stream of boats and even jet skis start to arrive and depart from the marina. The scenes are supposed to be in a very isolated area, so any sort of sound ruins the illusion. It was funny at one point I was filming behind the scenes, and Mark had to stop his own filming due to a plane going overhead. His giving the plane the middle finger had us all cracking up. Another laugh came when Jeff dropped his script on the dock, and a page went into the water. Fortunately, it was a scene we had already shot, so the sopping wet paper could be thrown away. The scenes on the docks went smoothly, so all that remained was getting some action shots out on the open water. By this time my Dramamine had kicked in, so I was itching to go. I just hoped Cody would be okay.
7. Keuka Lake is one of eleven lakes in the Finger Lake chain. It is unusual for its Y-shape. We were all the way at the northernmost tip of the eastern end of that Y shape. The lake is 20 miles long. I was hoping for a nice long cruise around but was also realistic. I knew we needed to get a few scenes on the water and that business came first. One scene included Jeff driving the boat. Mark had to get it going and then get out of the driver’s seat. Next, Jeff had to sit down and start driving carefully while also reciting his lines. My job was to sit, watch, and get some behind-the-scenes footage. I definitely had it easy. Once Mark got back to driving, we picked up speed and started cruising. I was thoroughly lost in the sights and sounds of Keuka Lake. I tried to get as many photos of as many lakeside properties as I could so I could remember the moments. It wasn’t lost on me just how much I had seen and done in such a short time. The airfield, the cabin, the university lab, the group dinners, the sunset chats in the front yard, and now a boat ride. There was so much to remember and talk about for so long to come. All good things do have to come to an end. After probably 20 minutes of cruising, we headed back to the marina. There was one final scene to be shot, and very fittingly I missed Mark saying ‘that’s a a wrap on The Cabin.’ I caught the last moment and had to then ask him to repeat himself, wicked smart. Jeff, Cody, and Michael headed back to dry land while I helped Mark put the cover on his boat. With each snap attaching the cover, I felt the reality sink in. My time on the movie shoot was ending. I knew it was meant to be a very full but also very fast shoot, but still it felt like it was over too soon. I savored each snap of that cover.
8. Despite the others quickly heading off to the parking lot, I knew they wouldn’t be going too far. One because Mark was driving at least some of them, and most of all because the end of the shoot meant it was time to dish out payments. This was a lot of fun. There I was pulling my bag out of the trunk of my rental car, whipping out my checkbook, and asking people how they spelled their last names. Without disclosing any numbers, because that would be lame, I will say that I ended up giving extra money to everyone who acted in the film. Seeing their hard work close up inspired me and made me feel like they deserved a little more than Mark and I had originally agreed upon. One by one, I wrote checks. I shook each person’s hand and thanked them for being a part of this project. I truly meant it. I had wanted to be a filmmaker since high school. I had written The Cabin book in 2008. So, standing there on the shore of Keuka Lake after wrapping filming and looking at these people who had chosen to be a part of the film, it was humbling and left me full of gratitude. Mark joked that I was setting the bar high with extra pay and all of the thanks. When the time comes to do a second feature film, I will still have that same level of gratitude. I hope I never lose it.
9. It was time for us all to go our separate ways. Being smart, I ran to the bathroom one last time. I watched Mark and the rest of the crew begin the return trip south to Pennsylvania. I, on the other hand, was staring at one of the longest drives of my life. Mark had said that driving to Keuka Lake would leave me 90 minutes closer to Cape Cod when it was time to leave. This was not the case. I actually was 90 minutes further away. It was nearly ten hours straight through. I needed a break somewhere in the middle. It was then that I realized that a spot I had wanted to visit for years was literally right on my drive home. It was the Saville Dam in Barkhamsted, Connecticut. This was only 5 ½ hours away and would allow me a built-in break to stretch my legs and get some long-awaited photos. It was just before 1 pm when I threw the address into my GPS, also remembering to avoid toll roads, and rolled out of the Morgan Marine parking lot to begin the very, very long drive back to Cape Cod.
10. I headed southeast through the rolling hills of Western New York. In an interesting twist, I ended up not seeing any deer on my long drives to and from Pennsylvania. When I had done a 6-day, 2,100-mile road trip around the Eastern U.S. in 2019, I saw so many deer in New York and Pennsylvania that it was akin to seeing squirrels along the roads on Cape Cod. What I did see a lot of on this particular drive was Pennsylvania Dutch people. I don’t believe they are specifically Amish. These folks were dressed in 18th-century garb and rode on the sides of the roads using horses and buggies. Even if I didn’t see the buggies, I knew they had been by since there were nonstop piles of horse poop all over the roads. It was truly unique to see what probably added up to a dozen such vehicles within the span of an hour. If I had not been at the start of such a long drive, I might have been tempted to stop at one of their roadside stores, but my rental car needed to be returned by 9am the following morning, and I had no plans of spending more money on another hotel stay. It was Cape Cod or bust, Pennsylvania Dutch or not.
11. When undertaking such a long drive, it is important to stay awake and alert. This is obvious. But how do you do it? Music, podcasts, and having a passenger are all good ideas. I tend to break things down into smaller bites. I’d use my GPS to break the trip down into chapters based around each new command. There were, however, long stretches of time where I had to force myself to pay attention. Much of the highways in New York and Pennsylvania were as rural as the road out to the cabin where we filmed. There was beautiful scenery everywhere, but sometimes no other vehicles in either direction. Then came the defining moment of my drive. In a patch of busier highway, I saw a car coming up on me. I was in the slow lane, just enjoying the drive. This car was speeding, and I knew this because a state trooper pulled behind them and put their lights on. I was both happy and sad since it wasn’t me, but that car was going to get pulled over. Or so I thought. Now, I don’t know about you, but if a cop puts their lights on behind me, I pull over as soon as possible. That’s kind of the point. I didn’t measure the distance, but I’d have to say that the car behind me drove for well over a mile without pulling over. Maybe they didn’t see immediately, but after going on two minutes, there was no way that person didn’t know a cop was on their tail. I was saying out loud that they needed to pull over. The cop was not happy and pulled into the other lane, right up alongside the car. They must have yelled and pointed because moments later the car pulled over. I don’t know how long you have to keep driving while a cop is on you with their lights going to qualify as fleeing, but this car had to have been close. I do not want to know how much their tickets were because I am assuming the cop gave them more than one because they were pissed off.
12. The drive back to Cape Cod was sunny and pleasant. It was a far cry from the monsoon that I drove through to get to Pennsylvania. The only times that I got off the highway were to use a bathroom at a rest area and then to find dinner. One thing that was a good and bad discovery while I was on this trip was the fact that I could use Venmo to pay for food. When I open the app on my phone, it is now littered with payments to McDonald's, because they are everywhere. For dinner, I stopped at a McDonald’s in the small town of Valatie, New York. It has less than 2,000 people and is about 20 miles south of Albany. I noticed that prices are somewhat lower for a lot of things in Pennsylvania and New York compared to Cape Cod. Saving a few dollars on food was good after the rental car, hotel, and other expenses of a week-long movie shoot. I sat in the parking lot just after 4pm, listened to a podcast, and did some people-watching as a way to recalibrate before continuing on the long drive home. By this point, I had already driven over four hours and nearly 250 miles and was still about 90 minutes from Saville Dam. There was no rush; I knew I had plenty of sunlight left in the day. Before getting back on the highway, I stopped and got gas at a Stewart’s Shops, which was right down the street. This was another place I’d never been. It’s a chain of convenience stores with more than 400 locations in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. After eating dinner, though, I had no desire to go inside and buy any food, so it was just gas up and go. Sorry, Stewart’s, you weren’t that important to me.
Here is the Stewart's Shops in Valatie, NY.
13. The anticipation built as I got closer to the Saville Dam. My fascination with the spot has lasted for years after seeing numerous photos of it on Instagram. Being about 3 ½ hours from Cape Cod, a drive out there wasn’t a quick trip, so it had to wait. Visiting it was the unexpected cherry on top of the sundae that was an incredible week. It was just after 7pm when I arrived. There was still a little time until sunset, leaving me plenty of opportunity to get all of the photos I wanted. I parked at the west end of the dam because it was the first parking spot I saw. If I had gone across to the eastern end, I would have been better prepared for the surprise that awaited me. In a public place, you have no control over who will be there or what they might do. I understand this. But there’s a big difference between families with screaming kids and what I saw here. At Saville Dam, closing in on 7:30pm on a Sunday, there were at least ten cars parked along the road in front of the beautiful gatehouse, which is the main photo point of the area. These cars were all owned by young people, probably in their late teens and early 20s. Oh, but they weren’t just parked. No, they were each taking turns racing by the gatehouse like a single-sided drag race. These idiots had no concern for any normal people who might have been driving that road or stopping to get photos of the area. I did my best to get all of the footage I needed. I can always overlay nature sounds on the video and mute the stupid cars. I stayed there for about 30 minutes, and by the time I left, it was almost dark, but the kids and their cars were still there. It was a weird mix because the Saville Dam itself was exactly as cool as I’d hoped, but the noise and foolish idiots racing there made it so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I might have if they weren’t. After sharing a few photos of the gatehouse on social media, it was time for the final push back to Cape Cod. 3 ½ hours of driving in the dark lay ahead of me.
The gatehouse at Saville Dam
14. I fully enjoyed driving the Honda Accord I rented. It had a lot of tech upgrades that my Toyota Corolla doesn’t have. There were LED headlights that turn from bright to normal depending on whether there’s a vehicle coming toward you. It felt good to finally give people a taste of their own medicine, seeing as how I have been getting blinded by LED headlights for years. They should be illegal. I enjoyed having the song display right in front of me along with the speed, plus the lane departure warning came in handy as it got later in the night. It also had a device charging pad located right under the radio. This was a great feature, but when you’re trying to see the GPS display and your phone is lying down, it became a bit annoying, so I didn’t use the charger as much as I thought. The next morning I filled the gas tank as is expected when you rent a car, and it made me even happier that I rented an Accord. Yes, the fill-up was a lot of money since gas probably costs double what it should currently, but it could have been much worse if I had been a fool and gone for the SUVs. I say that because the basic rental price of an SUV is less per day than a typical sedan, but you end up getting gouged on the gas. In the end, I would definitely rent that same type of Honda Accord again. Who knows, maybe when my Corolla is finally ready to be put to pasture (hopefully not for a few more years), I will buy one of those Accords as my next car.
15. The night drive through Connecticut, Rhode Island, and finally into Massachusetts was a war of attrition. I was just trying to make it home in one piece. In a funny twist, after seeing the Saville Dam for the first time, I ended up passing another spot that’s been on my New England photo bucket list. Jerimoth Hill in Foster, Rhode Island, is the highest point in the state. I have wanted to try to visit the highest points in all six New England states. So far I have visited exactly one, Mount Greylock in Massachusetts. I passed the sign for Jerimoth Hill at probably close to 10pm so I wasn’t going to hike to the top in the dark. Granted, it’s only about 811 feet high, but I’m not going to wander around a place like that in the dead of night. For a moment, I had thought that I put ‘avoid highways’ on my GPS because I seemed to be on a lot of local roads rather than highways. Finally, I found I-195 in Rhode Island, and it was smooth sailing home. I pulled into the driveway at 11pm. I had left Keuka Lake around 12:30pm. Yes, I stopped to pee, get gas, eat, and shoot the Saville Dam, but still it ended up being more than ten hours of almost nothing but driving. In total, I put more than 1,200 miles on that Honda Accord I rented. My Corolla at present needs some exhaust work and probably a few other smaller things. I couldn’t imagine having tried to pull that trip off in it. I’d probably have left it in a field near one of those horror houses in rural Pennsylvania.
16. I made it inside carrying all of my luggage in one trip. It was about all my body could handle. Even after driving for so long, I knew that I needed to take a few minutes to put everything away before simply collapsing into bed. I unpacked and drank some water. The next morning I needed to return my rental car by 9am. Only when I was about 7 hours into my drive home did I regret that decision. It all worked out for the best, though, as I saved money on an extra day of rental fees, plus however much I’d have needed to spend on a hotel room. The night ended the way most of my time on the movie shoot had; I did all I could, knowing that I’d have time to reminisce and enjoy it later. All of the photos, videos, and memories would be waiting for me in the morning. I had made it home after a marathon drive and a marathon week that felt like it had a month of memories crammed into it.
1. I began the fourth day of my time in rural north central Pennsylvania by downing an energy drink and trying my best to wake up quickly before exiting the motel room to head over to Wellsboro to meet the rest of the crew. I found it amazing how fast my body will wake up when I have fun and exciting things on my schedule. If it was a typical work day, my body would have been like a Ziploc bag full of oatmeal. Yet, there I was on that morning, very tired but fully awake because of the adrenaline that kicked in as soon as my eyes opened. Each filming morning required me to be at Director Mark’s house in the next town over from where I was staying by 8:15am. No matter what time I managed to fall asleep, I was alive and kicking by 6:30am at the latest.
2. This was the first day that we would all be heading to the cabin to shoot. We were lucky in that Mark knew someone with a cabin nearly in the middle of nowhere. They were willing to allow us to use it for nothing. We had gone a few nights earlier to clean the cabin to get it camera-ready. That day, we packed up gear, loaded the food I had bought at Walmart, picked up anyone who needed to carpool, and started the journey to the tiny township of Osceola. I thought Mansfield was small, with a population of just under 3,000. Nothing prepared me for Osceola. Its population is under 600. On each of the drives out to the cabin, we would pass by many dilapidated houses. These looked like if you got a flat and needed to ask for help, you’d be shot before your foot touched the grass on the edge of their property. In fact, there was one time when Mark had to stop to wait for another car to catch up. I was carpooling with him. I was on my guard as we parked in front of one of these sketchy houses. When a person stepped out onto their porch, I was ready to duck and cover. There were never any issues with anyone on the drives out to the cabin, but it felt like the threat was always there.
3. A daily highlight on my drives, not only to the cabin, but just around where I was in Pennsylvania, was the fog and clouds. The elevation in the area ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 feet, and so there were times, especially in the morning, when the fog and clouds would be right at eye level or just above. We get tons of fog on Cape Cod; the spring is the worst of it. However, I hadn’t seen it hovering just off the ground, the same with the clouds. I couldn’t get any photos while I was driving, but managed to grab one while on a drive out to the cabin on that first day of shooting. It won’t do justice to how cool it was, but it’s better than nothing. Mark told me that the fog/clouds and the heat lightning that I found so exciting were so routine that it didn’t even faze him. I guess it’s the same as how I feel about the summer traffic on Cape Cod. No, wait, that’s never exciting or fun.
Looking at the fog on the horizon traveling toward Osceola.
4. The cabin itself was an interesting character not only in the film but for my trip in general. I mentioned the obnoxious amount of stuffed animals inside, and not the cuddly ones kids have on their beds. We arrived and, first off, had to turn on the power. This would come into play a few times throughout the shoot. There was a breaker for the pump, which allowed us to have running water. Not wanting to overdo it, we would only flip the switch for short bursts periodically when we needed to use water or the bathroom. I was honestly fine with just wandering off behind some bushes, but I know that’s not for everyone. We unpacked the food and set up the props, lighting, and scenery we needed. Even though we were only there for two full days, it did feel like we were arriving at an Airbnb. There were a few perishable items we brought: meat, cheese, and bottled water, so we had to shove them in the fridge. Surprisingly, the fridge was full. We didn’t get too excited, though; it was mostly condiments and copious amounts of beer, which I am sure the cabin owners had counted. There would be some time to explore the cabin thoroughly, but once we had everything settled, it was time to dive right into shooting.
A pano shot showing how isolated we were.
5. It’s funny, regarding the trip in general, I can tell how busy the days were by just how many photos and videos I got. This day was the busiest by far, with the following day being only slightly less busy. It should come as no surprise that, since we were shooting at a cabin roughly a mile from anything that the cell reception was nearly nonexistent. I would get flashes of one bar of service, but it was never anything that allowed me to post any updates on social media. I was, for all intents and purposes, off the radar for two entire days. I still shot a handful of videos on this day. I even began uploading one to Instagram around 10:30am. By the time we left the cabin, which was close to 9pm, that story was maybe 30% uploaded. I ended up canceling that upload and throwing all of the footage up once I got back to my motel room and civilization.
6. Being that we had a small cast and a small budget, I had a feeling that I might end up with a role or two in the film. One came about by my own foolishness. I was checking over the script while still on Cape Cod, and on the first page, in the very first scene, I saw that there was a character that I never cast. It was another friend of Will, the main character, who is being given the lowdown about why he was quitting his job. Since I was pressed for time, I decided to just record those lines myself, so that was my first role. Secondly, I took on the role of an investigator near the end of the film. This was relatively small, so I wasn’t too worried about remembering lines. This role was memorable because it came with a costume. Mark’s son Anthony, who is such a sweet person and a very talented visual effects person, brought this hefty trench coat with him. I agreed to wear it in my role as the investigator. The trench coat was memorable for two reasons. For one, it was 85 degrees and humid, so wearing it was like having a portable sauna. Secondly, it was too big. I looked like a five-year-old who got into daddy’s clothes. All I could do was laugh when the cameras weren’t rolling, of course. I was so inspired by the incredible acting jobs that Cody and Jeff did that I took on some extra lines and lightened the load for Michael, who played another police officer. A funny thing that won’t come through in the film is that my character was interacting with Cody’s character in a scene. The only issue was Cody had to run home to let his dog out. So we shot my scene with me interrogating an empty chair off-screen. I got really intense too. I hope I scared that invisible ghost I was yelling at.
7. As far as my roles in The Cabin go, we save the best for last. My third role ended up being that of the mysterious creature that stalks the main character. Coming into the shoot, I don’t think any of us had a clue who would be in that role. I had brought the outfit for the creature from my own closet. Anthony had made the mask. So we had the creature costume but nobody to play it. I didn’t need to have my arm twisted too much to play the role. For one, it had no dialogue, just a lot of growls, grunts, and howls. Also, it was another perfect full-circle moment. When I used to make skits with my friends with my camcorder in the 1990s, I enjoyed being a bit of a stuntman. I would fall and throw myself around to make things look good. Granted, I was now 30 years older, but how much different could it be? The answer was very similar but also very different. I had to get made up in the monster garb, which included a horrifying mask with one tiny eye hole for sight. There were also copious amounts of blood to make me look as gross as possible. A fun little issue came after nearly every scene where the neck of the mask needed to be tucked back into the collar of the shirt I was wearing. I looked a bit like a cross between Jason from Friday the 13th Part 4 and Sloth from The Goonies. The setup was all good to go, but could I pull off being the creature?
8. Yes. But seriously, we shot the initial monster scenes at night, and so with very little vision I had to basically use The Force to make my way around. This included crashing through a door, killing one person convincingly with no real way to see them, and then viciously trying to bash my way through another door. I was told that my performance terrified the others. Mark said as he was filming that he thought I was going to really break the door down, but he didn’t want to stop me. I left blood all over the cabin, some of which we wouldn’t find until it was time for us to pack up and leave. The initial crashing through the door was nuts. I went all out. Not being able to see much in the dark and with a quarter-sized eye hole made it easy for me to appear to be wild. I was throwing chairs, growling, and causing utter chaos. The only downer was one guy whining that I got blood on his shirt. It’s like, you’re acting in a movie; nobody forced you to come. Later on, as we were all leaving, we saw him pulled over in his vehicle, changing his shirt. He must have had a date that he didn’t want to know what he was up to. I would have another crack at being the creature the next day, but we’ll get to that when the time arrives.
9. Throughout our time out at the cabin, I tried to manifest a nature encounter. I saw a few deer, including one that walked into the front yard to eat apples. There was a rabbit that really seemed to enjoy hanging out in the back yard by the shed. Those were all well and good, but what I wanted was a black bear. Oh, I’m sure if I had been jumped by a bear I’d have regretted asking for it, but I never got the chance. I didn’t go all out and start playing bear calls on my phone or anything, but we were in the middle of nowhere in bear country; I mean, come on. A few times I wandered up into this clearing behind the cabin hoping that I’d sneak up on a bear foraging for berries. Yes, I did think to myself how stupid and dangerous it was, but damn it, I wanted photos of Yogi doing stuff. The closest I got to a black bear while in Pennsylvania came when I was walking the bike trail earlier in the week. I heard some noises coming from maybe 20-30 feet in the woods off the trail. I figured it was either a group of squirrels or maybe a deer. Mark said it was more than likely a bear since they like to forage for food in areas like that. I never saw it, so there’s no proof, but Mark lives out there and would know better than me. Therefore, I am considering it a near-miss with a black bear. In the future, the story will evolve into me fighting for my life against the bear, which is why I was unable to get any photographic evidence.
10. There were several hilarious moments during our shooting at the cabin. One that only became funny after the fact was as follows. It was broad daylight, but we needed to get some night scenes done. This required some lighting trickery, including shooting day for night, which will mostly be applied during post-production. A more practical way to make day look like night is to cover windows with something black. We had a sheet that would do the trick. First, Anthony and I tried taping the sheet over the window from the inside. This was a failure and included us losing the tape as soon as we put it down, despite neither of us moving from where we stood. It ended up being wedged between the mattress and the side of the frame. We even sent Michael outside to see if somehow we dropped it out the window. The next bright idea was taping the sheet to a pair of lighting stands outside and raising it up to block the window. The sheet was taped, but as soon as we attempted to lift it, everything unraveled, and the sheet fell to the muddy ground. Yes, the ground was soft and muddy, which made everything else harder. Finally, Mark found a ladder, and we were able to nail the sheet to the window frame. It ended up being like a scene right out of the Three Stooges. It took five of us about a half hour to get that sheet in place. We nearly forgot to take it down when we were leaving too. I could only imagine the cabin owners showing up and seeing a window totally blacked out. They’d probably have started wondering what type of movie we had been shooting.
Three Stooges Seal of Approval
11. Being on a tight budget, you have to become creative. I wish we had a more robust budget to use on props and effects, but that wasn’t the case for The Cabin. In the script, there is a scene that includes the main character finding the dead deer. Sure, we could have found stock footage of a deer to put in post. But what made more sense was grabbing one of the many, many deer heads off the wall and using it as practical effects. I grabbed one, which weighed next to nothing, and brought it outside to lay in the grass. It ended up working perfectly. Cody came around the corner of the cabin and spotted the dead deer, brilliantly shot by Mark. In the script, it is supposed to be all bloodied up, but that probably can be done in post-production. We just needed the one shot and then to get it back on the wall no worse for wear. My greatest fear was that I had hung it back up improperly and that it had somehow fallen off the wall and been destroyed. I figure if that had happened, the cabin owner would have called Mark, and at least as of this writing, I have heard nothing about damaged deer heads.
The one in the middle was used in the film.
12. After a long day of filming, you can get hungry. Sure, we had a lot of food that I got from Walmart; that was part of the budget after all. But finger foods like granola bars, donuts, bags of chips, and even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches don’t fill you up unless you eat a ton all at once. I had been picking at stuff when we had the chance, so by the time we called ‘cut’ to end the day, which was close to 9pm, I was starving. As I was in Mark’s car, being brought back to his house where my rental was, my wheels were turning as far as where I could go to grab something quick for dinner. I only knew a few places along my driving route back to the motel. One was a McDonald’s located maybe two minutes from the motel. I decided, why not? I was technically on vacation, right? Something exciting, but also troublesome for me, that I discovered was the fact that I could pay for my food through the app using Venmo. Not only was everything slightly cheaper than on Cape Cod, but now I could just click one button, and it was paid. I grew up in the analog age of the 1980s and 1990s. Most things I learned about now require fewer steps, which I don’t mind. I think if you grew up before technology took over, you appreciate the advances. If you are born into a world where everything is simple and convenient, you likely don’t appreciate it. I didn’t think about that much while enjoying my late-night dinner, though. All I could do was eat and hope that my adrenaline wore off soon enough so that I could get a relatively good night’s sleep before another full day of filming.
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Episode 231 keeps the month of love going strong.
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GenX kids have a deep connection to McDonald's. The food and fun are cherished memories for those who grew up in the 1970s through the 1990s. One unique part of the fast food giant was its McDonaldland universe. Think of it like the MCU with fast food. We go back and look at the creation of McDonaldland and why it still resonates with us today.
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There is a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule looking back at the odd and fascinating story of the Devil's Footprints.
You can support my work by becoming a member on Patreon.
It's time to make a Love Connection. Some forgotten ESPN shows from the 80s. A look at the best Super Bowl commercials.
Episode 230 starts the month of love off by being Cupid and delivering a fresh batch of GenX nostalgia.
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Not all ESPN shows can be SportsCenter or 30 for 30. In fact, some shows end up just being forgotten. We will look back at some forgotten ESPN shows of the 1980s, including a time when they had a straight business show on their airwaves.
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You can support my work by becoming a member on Patreon.
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