Sisu Production Journal: Winter shoot Day 01: Bridge

Over the winter Raul and I went out on a couple of B-Roll shoots, getting footage of snow and ice, dead wheat waving in the snow, and the shoot of young Tom (Zach Ford) playing with his toy boat in the icy water. But we were all looking forward to the big winter shoot when the crew would be together again. It was scheduled for the first week of March.

Don and Andrew were flying back up from San Francisco, and everyone was excited that Clara and Trevor would be joining us on set again. Kevin and Kristine would be there one day and of course the intrepid Dauminique was not only Line Producing but this time also providing all of the food! Wonderful Paul from the Sukanen Museum would be back with some beautiful antique vehicles, and officer Richard and his police car from the summer shoot, now properly labeled R.C.M.P., was coming too.

"Honest, Andrew! You'll LOVE the Saskatchewan winter. And I promise: these are ALL light days."

The first day didn't start off looking like too much fun.

Our breath mingles with the car exhaust and I wonder, is a winter shoot
really necessary in these days of convincing CG? Shouldn't we just all
spend the day indoors drinking hot chocolate laced with good Scotch??

As soon as we got to location, however, and started scoping out this really cool old bridge south of Moose Jaw, our spirits rose with the mercury as the dawn miraculously brought the second day of above-freezing temperatures in the past five months.

Andrew and Trevor discuss shots while Chrystene and Paul head down to check out the cars.

It was starting to feel like a set. We had a motorhome to keep the cast and crew warm and give folks a place to crash between takes, not to mention a kitchen for Dauminique's fantastic snacks and hot coffee! And there were various characters wandering around, like Constable Fisk...

Rod says these boots take an hour to get on and lace up.
They're very stylish but one has to wonder:
how many bad guys got away while the RCMP officer got his boots on?

...as well as these tough guys ...

(L to R: Lorne Allen-Fries, Derek Finnik, Mike Staffen)

...and the make-up and hair department, Clara Edvi, along with this scruffy looking Tom Sukanen character (Don Wood)...

Clara knows exactly how to make Don look his worst. Perfect!

...as well as the director and Brian Dueck, playing an old Vic Markkula.

I think I might have squeezed Brian just a little too hard...

Andrew set up for the first shot down below the bridge, and got great footage of the old cars pulling into the shot.

The vintage cars were really co-operative (thanks to the mechanical genius of Paul, Lorne and Richard) and executed their cues perfectly time after time.

I admit I got a little nervous whenever the hoods went up and the guys carried out mysterious little boxes full of wires and got very serious for long periods, but in spite of the chilly weather everything is going just perfectly.

Lorne sweet-talks the old Ford

We were shooting the arrest scene, where old Tom is taken away. It was a pretty emotional scene for all of us and I think there were more than a couple of tears on set.

A few last minute notes...

... and here we see the actor preparing.

Tom looks back at the cabins he has built...

Rod McLeod as Constable Fisk

Then the constable tucks him into the RCMP car and takes him away.

Lunch was fantastic! Tuna and egg salad sandwiches and delicious homemade soup, and lots of chips and homemade cookies. Jim's motorhome was a godsend.

Andrew liked his sandwich, honest, Dauminique!

After using it to get their beautiful truck back to its garage, Paul and Lorne graciously brought this trailer back to the set when I got the idea on the spot that we could use it for the last shot of the day, which is of Tom in the passenger seat being driven away. I don't know how we would have done it otherwise; as always, things just seemed to work like magic.

We lashed the camera to the side of the car, then Raul and I got in the back seat with the monitor, directing Andrew who was clinging to the window and riding on the trailer outside the driver's door. Lorne got in the truck and pulled us along at about 3 miles an hour. The footage was fantastic, just what we were looking for!