Aviation Cinemaking

Post Production

Now, after 10 months of shooting across the country, comes the part where I boil 9 1/2 hours of footage down to a one-hour, sellable product.

5/2003

The film was completed in May of 2003, four hours before it's premiere. The showing was held in one of my favorite haunts, The Flat Iron Cafe in downtown Cleveland. Again, most of the evening's work had to be accomplished by myself and my friends. The rigors of low-budget premieres. I was graced with a good showing from the working-class of the Cleveland film scene as well as aircraft enthusiasts and restorers, some from as far as Virginia. Cast members also attended, including the Reeds, Tanya Markow and Mike Cuy. I had lined up a few media folks to attend the screening. This was a blatant attempt to get some ink for the film, of course. Two hours before the premiere, someone decided that they would shoot up Case-Western Reserve University. All media camped outside the police barricades and I was left with none.. Oh well. Also. a good tip to follow is to make sure there will not be an Irish band playing downstairs from your screening. It's difficult for the audience to follow your film when their chairs are vibrating from the band.

6/2003

I received a call from Jonathan McNeil, manager of the Neon Movies theatre in Dayton, Ohio. He had heard about the film through a couple of sources and wishes to screen it during the summer. He asks, "Is there a weekend that you think it would be appropriate to show your film?" I say, "How about Dayton Airshow Weekend?" "Good Idea", he says.

7/2003

Dayton Airshow weekend. The film is scheduled to screen for three straight days at 7pm, during the airshow weekend. I hang out at the airshow during the days like the ramp rat I have now become. Many familiar faces are there, The Yankee Lady crew, Nick Engler, Tanya Markow and, as a surprise, Bob Odegaard. He brought his super corsair "57" down at the last minute. "57" had not flown for a year after blowing and engine. After a couple of all-nighters, Bob got her running and brought her to the show. I just happened to have my camera there and captured "57" flying, finally. A month later I slugged the footage into the film. We also brought restorer Chuck Reed with us to the show, just to get him out of the house more.

Along with the folks who were actually in the film, air racing legend Cook Cleland was at the show. Cook, the original owner of "57" back in the 40's was in town for the whole show. Both him and Bob Odegaard planned on coming to the screening one night. Along with restorers Chuck Reed and Tanya Markow, Cook & Bob would offer a nice star-studded event that night. Plus, if anyone had an aircraft restoration question, I audience couldn't be more packed with experts.

Well, things don't pan out like you hope for sometimes. The Airshow was successful. Very successful. At one point, they announced that it was sold out. Traffic was backed up for three hours on the highway just to get in. And for the worst part: Although my screening was 2 1/2 hours after the show closed, both Cook and Bob couldn't make it through the traffic the 10 miles to the theatre.

Cook and Bob would have been welcome additions to the night, by I wasn't disappointed. Tanya and Chuck made a great appearance. After the screening, they were peppered with questions and admiration. It was fun when someone would ask me a terribly technical question and I could point at Chuck and say, "Ask him. He built the thing."

12/2003

I have made the decision to have DVD copies professionally pressed. Although I, like many Americans, have a DVD burner at home, these little devices are not perfected. Home-burned DVD's are not guaranteed to play in all DVD players, which I found to be true. So, I bit the bullet. I built, authored, and burned a "master" DVD of The Restorers and then sent it out to be professionally duplicated. The cost has come down on this process. The catch is, the minimum order is 1000. Prepaid cash. Quite a leap of faith. If you're reading this, please buy one.

12/2003

Discovery Wings Channel finally said "no" the film. They claimed it was not right for their format. We'll not argue the wisdom of that opinion here. I was disappointed that it took them seven months to figure this out, though. After all, the film is only an hour long. They did, however, pass the film along to the parent Discovery network for me.

2/2004

The Restorers was selected into the Fargo Film Festival. I'm very happy about this. Although there are larger festivals out there, going to Fargo brings me full circle to a certain extent. We shot our first story in Fargo. During that shoot, we actually attended the Fargo festival two years ago. We had a great time. It also allows the two guys from Fargo, Gerry Beck & Bob Odegaard to be celebrities for an evening in their own hometown. I can't wait.

2/2004

Discovery Channel has turned the film down. They claim it doesn't have that "in your face" quality that the rest of their programming has. The questions then arises, "Does the public want "in your face" programming?"

2/2004

I was officially called a loser today by the city of Cleveland. The Cleveland International Film Festival has rejected The Restorers from their line-up for this year. My own hometown. Last month they called asking for money for their cause. I didn't give them any. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to do... Oh well, Fargo calls.

3/2004

Returning to Fargo was a joy. The folks at the festival were very nice and appreciative to get a film that had "hometown" connections. In this case; Bob Odegaard and Gerry Beck. While I was on my way there, I worried that this may be the only reason why the film got in the festival. Whatever the reason, it gave me an excuse to go up there and act like a celebrity. Also, it gave me a chance to snoop around Gerry Beck's shop again and see what type of projects he's up to.

The screening of the film went very well. As many filmmakers know, digital projection has improved over the years, but not enough. Folks who have been cutting their film on a workstation and have been viewing it on monitors suddenly are slapped in the face when their precious work is slapped up on the screen by some piece of crap LCD projector. As the theater in Fargo darkened, I cringed for what was to come. I had not seen this projector yet, nor did I have time. We got into Fargo just two hours before the screening. The images hit the screen and, to my relief, they didn't look that bad. It actually was the best that I've ever seen the film projected. Keith's pounding music score only popped the speakers once. Usually we rattle them for the whole Reno sequence. "Kudos" to the Fargo Theatre! It still doesn't beat a film projector.

6/16/2004

The film played tonight on the local PBS station. The broadcast seemed fairly dark compared to the DVD. That, of course, is one of the risks involved with letting go of some control. The audio seemed to play out pretty well. Also a fear of mine. There really is no way to tell how many folks watched the broadcast. The station tells me the only way to know is to air it during sweeps week, whenever that is.

6/19/2004

We've set up a booth at the Akron/Fulton Airshow. My hope is to move a few VHS and DVD copies. EAA only sold 6 at Sun & Fun, a fairly well attended airshow. We'll see what I can stir up. The one thing have that they did not is a monitor playing a preview of the film. This, I believe, makes all the difference in the world It did at the Air Race Society meeting. Out of a group of 75, I sold 15. A fairly good ratio.

6/20/2004

An older gentleman walked up to our booth and began railing at us how bad the cinematography was in my film. He didn't know I shot it. He told me how dark it was when it broadcast the past week. I told him I know and that the DVD was better. He said, "Are you sure?" I pointed to the monitor and said, "Look. This is the DVD playing." He keeps on complaining for a minute or two, then buys a copy on DVD.

All told I sold around 50. Not really what I had hoped, but better than Sun & Fun did. The difference, I believe, was the playing of the film on the monitor. I'm hoping to convince the EAA to adopt this technique at the next show...Oshkosh.

7/2004

Oshkosh has been described to me as "Aviation via fire hose". I found that to be correct. The place is huge. To call Oshkosh and airshow is a severe understatement. The flightline is over four miles long. We were there for two plus days and probably didn't see half of it. 25% of all general aviation aircraft show up there. The Restorers was for sale by the EAA in a booth in the warbirds section. They sold six. Not six cases, six copies total. The problem seemed to stem from the show not allowing me to set up any sort of monitor to play the trailer of the film. They claimed a lack of space. The show was nice to see at least.

Reno, baby...

September 2002

September 9th

I begin prep for our biggest trip to date; The National Air Races in Reno, Nevada. The races are over a week period; September 9-15. Unfortunately, the most logical date for us to fly out lands squarely on Sept. 11th. Trying to get me, my crew, and a bunch of film gear through multiple airport securities on such an infamous anniversary did not sit well. So, we flew out on the next most logical day, Friday the 13th.

September 13th

We land in Reno and head straight to the races. After scouting things out for an hour or so, we leave. As we do, the sport class races are occurring. As they rounded the home pylon, one of the plane's tail sheers off and he nose-dives into the ground from an altitude of 100ft. It was quick. We head to the hotel from there. When we get to the hotel, more fun is waiting for us.

Part of my plan is always to prepare for the unexpected. There are many things about traveling that I really don't have any control over, like the airport X-ray machines. After 9/11, all x-ray services at all airports were cranked to 11. It is, therefore, a fairly hazardous place for motion picture film. I choose to FEDEX my film to my locations. You have to be careful with this also. You must write in large unfriendly letters "DO NOT X-RAY" all over the box, or FED EX will. Anyway, we get to the hotel, and the film is not there. It should have beaten us there by 8 hours. This is much more disconcerting than the hotel not accepting my American Express, which they weren't. I found out that FEDEX had come, but no one was at the front desk to accept the package. I always travel with one roll of film in my carry on in case there is a problem with the main shipment of film. All of your eggs in one... This plan causes problems also when I refuse to let the airport folks x-ray the film can. Cut to: Me streaking over to the FED EX office and finally securing my film. Disaster averted. Oh, they accepted my card after Heather told them how to operated their machine. Anyway, time for some sleep. Lots of filming planned for tomorrow.

September 14th

We hit the ground running, after a nourishing breakfast at Denny's. Breezing in to the Air Race ground allows me to get a feel of the place before it's crowded with running engines and spectators. We fan out immediately. Heather buzzes off to meet folks and shoot dawn shots of aircraft. Me and the guys do the same.

I still had not picked my subjects yet. I did intend to interview and film Gen. Anders when he flew. That had already been worked out in advance. The question remained: which racer would I concentrate on? The time trials had already been going on for four days. I check the board and find out who is still in the running, and is still interesting. Many of the aircraft being raced were owned by large conglomerates. Their pilots were hired guns. This did not interest me. Then, I found my guys. A British Hawker Sea Fury named Argonaut owned and flown by brothers, Dennis and Brian Sanders.

We found them at their pit. I spoke with Dennis Sanders. He eyed me up a suspiciously, with good reason. Who the hell was I? Fine. I sent forth my weapon. Heather, however, received a similar reception. We finally got them to agree to an interview....tomorrow. Fine, I'll take that. In the back of my mind, I questioned my choice. Have I just wasted part of our trip on a couple of guys who don't want to be in the film? What if they are incredibly boring? We'll find out tomorrow. Plenty of other stuff to do.

The rest of Saturday was spent shooting B-roll, races and setting up our schedule for tomorrow, Sunday. The races on Sunday were the final races. Cash prizes will be awarded. The crowds will be larger. The one interview we were able to garner on Saturday was with Steve Hinton. Along with being a former Reno Racer, he now flies a pace jet during each unlimited race.

          
   

He flies a jet because it's the only thing that can keep up with the Unlimited Class aircraft. During the rest of the year, Hinton operates one of the most famous restoration facilities in the world, Planes of Fame in Chino, CA. At Hinton's suggestion we interview him in front of his P-38. Since this was already out on the active ramp, we were to violate Air Race regulations: No media on the ramp. But hey, Steve told us it was okay. That's our story and we're sticking to it.
 

   

That night, we explored the Casinos and ate twice our weight at the buffet. We collectively lost hundreds. I must point out, though, that Heather left ahead via the slot machines.

September 15th

Again with Denny's. When we arrive, we bolt right over to the Argonaut pit. Me and the guys start setting up while Heather patrols the surrounding area, looking for interesting things; planes, people, dogs, ect. The brothers arrive at the same time. They still seem distracted and hesitant. They have a race to run that day. They are in the Silver race. If they win it, they get to move on to the Gold race. Bigger prize money and respect. We triple team them. Heather talks with one while Kevin wires the other up with a mic. I shoot preliminary questions at them during the whole thing. I decide to interview them together. Magic.


   

They talk to one another, confer, argue, laugh, and support each other's answer. Couldn't have been better. I let them go with a torrent of thanks. We'll film them later that afternoon during the Silver Race. For right now, though, we have to find Gen. Anders. Not and easy prospect. The event is also an Apollo Astronaut reunion. Anders is somewhere in a secure area with some of America's biggest heroes. I'll just knock.

We locate Anders after unsuccessfully negotiating with the security at the door (tent flap). My ace, though, is Anders' cell phone number. We get a hold of him. Cut to Kevin and I being driven across the highly restricted tarmac with our gear to his P-51 Mustang in front of 50,00 spectators by one of America's living heroes. We set up and being to interview Anders in one of the noisiest places in the solar system. F-18's taxi by us at spectacularly close distances. Then, Heather comes waltzing up. No escort. Just her. Ah, to be a girl at an air show. No rules. We do intros and then finish up our interview. Back at the Apollo tent, Gen. Anders watches the trailer of the film with his family. The glare prohibits him from getting a good look at our portable DVD player. I'll send him a copy later. We part company and my crew and I get into position for the afternoon's Silver Race.

Kevin and I arrive at Argonaut's pit right as they are getting ready to roll her out to the field. Good time for some footage. As I setting up for that as I spot Hinton in his P-38 rolling by. I bolt up to the flight line to get a shot. As I do that, Argonaut starts rolling out. Make a decision. I choose to shoot Argonaut since she's part of our story. I hang with her as far as I'm permitted. Adrenaline's pumping. I then quickly mount the camera back onto the sticks and line up a shot of Hinton. The guy next to us sees me getting ready to shoot, and then moves over to block me. I did nothing to him. He apparently decided this would be a good day to ruin someone's life. At that moment, I decided he would lose his. Just as I was about to give the show organizers reason to remove me from the grounds, Kevin steps in and gently moves the guy to the side. Still having to get the shot, I concentrate on Hinton. Reason #438 to have Kevin on a shoot: Keep me from committing capital murder.
 

   
 
We set up and shoot a great race by the Sanders. They lost. Came in second. Okay. Now we'll huff it down to the grandstands for some b-roll during the gold race. Other side of the whole airport. Heart about to explode.

We get down there and set up in what becomes a mild middle east-style sandstorm. This has become a common occurrence here after 2:00 pm. By the time the race begins, I have a lot of trouble seeing the planes as they pass, and I'm not that far away from the course!

We depart the Reno Races to gamble, drink and eat that night after we pick all the dirt out of our eyes. Tomorrow, we visit Roy Rehm.

September 16th

Boy my head was sore in the morning. We drive out to Roy's, about an hour south of Reno. We pass a giant sculpture of Paul Bunyan on the way. I'll have to remember that.

We arrive at Roy's place around 11:30am. The homestead is exactly like it was when Heather and I visited it a year before on our scouting trip. Jake, Roy's trusted companion trots out to greet us with Roy in tow.

      
 

After the rigors of shooting at the air races, Roy's place was a vacation. I still had to keep my mind in high gear, producing, interviewing, shooting and editing all at once while trying to ask half-way insightful questions. The pace was much different, though, thanks to Roy.
 

   
 
He set aside plenty of time for us and whatever we needed to do. We interview him and then set to work shooting b-roll of his workshop and the contents; different versions of the Boeing Model 100. Roy was a little apprehensive at first. Like all our other interviews, he loosened up when we asked him about his aircraft. When we had him do an on-camera tour of his engine room, he even had the swagger of an on-air host. It gave us a smile.

He gave us the obligatory warning about black widow spiders under the equipment, which was nice. I only had the camera jam up once, which was fixed quickly. Three hours later, we were back on the road to Reno and some more eating and gambling. Oh, we had to stop at Paul Bunyan, though. You see, he was standing next to a great fudge shop.

The Sands of Kitty Hawk

September 2002

September 30th

With a good week and a half off since the Reno shoot, I've had time to recover and work some jobs to keep our house. With our trip to Kitty Hawk coming up, Kevin calls and informs me he cannot go due to prior commitments. Hallie now imprisoned back at college, also cannot go. My crew now consists of just Heather and I. I do a quick producer scramble and come up with Jeff Sefcek. Jeff has run audio on numerous jobs and, like Kevin, is handy when it all come tumbling down.

October 4th, Friday

Now the crew is down to three. With Autumn being so lovely, and our bank account being so low, I elect to drive to Kitty Hawk. The trip only takes 11 hours or so. With Heather and I having driven to Reno last year, 11 hours seems like a short hop. Unlike the Indy show, I've scaled down my gear enough that a trailer wasn't needed. Hopefully this wouldn't come back to bite me.

October 5th, Saturday

The three of us scoot down five miles from our hotel to Nags Head State Park. We are the only ones at the park. The day before, Nick Engler assured me that they were still going to fly today. I wasn't nervous yet. Jeff and I began assembling our gear while Heather scouted the place out. Finally, folks started rolling in. The format was much looser than what we've grown accustomed to. No lines. No tickets. No concessions. Just some crazy folks gathering to chuck a glider off a sand dune. And we were with them all the way.

We traversed the dunes to their base tent. Nick and his clan have set up most of their Wright kites and gliders inside a canvas tent on the dunes. History Channel and PBS are also there. They pay us no mind until we pull out my Arri SRII. Then we all look at each other suspiciously. Finally, History Channel's DP and I start chatting. In spite of what anniversary we were approaching, I never saw anyone else shooting film or hi-def throughout our travels. History Channel and PBS were all shooting DVCAM. Oh well.

Jeff and I shoot the historians and restorers as they prepare for flight. We do a couple of impromptu interviews. Then, we sit. There isn't enough wind. Actually, we sit for the better part of 8 hours. Everyone finally calls it quits. We'll try again tomorrow.

That night Heather and I meet up with Todd, a friend from high school and his wife Sky and do what the other tourists do. Have an ocean side dinner and go look at the surf. If you've never been to the NC Outer Banks, I highly recommend it. I especially recommend it when we went, late September/early October. The rates are low and no one is there. The weather is still warm, also. Jeff went body surfing that evening. The waves were a little high, but it was otherwise nice. His bruises healed.

Later that evening, we meet up to break into the Wright Brothers Memorial for a sunset/magic hours shot. We hop a low fence and jog through a cactus field (something not to do with sandals) to get my shot. I later found out that we broke into nothing, the place was still open.

All through the night I can hear the wind building up against our patio doors. perhaps there would be flying tomorrow.

October 6th

We are greeted that morning with blustery winds coming off the ocean. Everyone assembles back at the park for what we hope will be a good day of flying. Our time was running out. As just another gamble during this whole independent filmmaker thing, we only have enough time to spend two days at the Outer Banks. All three of us had to get back to our "real" jobs in Cleveland.

Nick and the pilots pulled the '02 glider out of her shelter and then took wind readings. Too much wind would render the glider uncontrollable. Nick has decided to give this day a try.

We all hike around a mile to the top of the smaller dune at the park. It doesn't sound like much, but you should try slogging along in loose sand carrying a movie camera before you judge. The restorers and pilots carried the glider the same distance on their shoulders. The History Channel guys have a 4-wheeler. We eye them with temporary hate.

 

   

As we approach the top of the dune, my DAT recorder starts having a stroke: intermittent power. Jeff trots off to the visitor center to perform emergency surgery on it while I begin to shoot.

As the '02 crew perform their first, and awkward, flights of the day, Me and the other media folks begin to deal with our own devil. Sand. Blowing sand. Nick had enlisted his friend JT Anderson (storyboard artist for the Cohen Brothers) to shoot for him. His mini-dv camera soon went south. I offer to help and find the mechanism is filled with sand granules. I offer them the use of my footage when we get back to Ohio, which cheers them up some. Nick is too busy to really pay any of this any mind.

Speaking of my footage, after shooting out two mags, I retreat back t base camp to reload. Jeff has the DAT working somewhat and heads up the hill to get some "nat" sound of the proceedings. After downloading my shot film in the dark, I examine my mags to find they are completely coated on the inside with fine sand granules. Oh, shit. The seals on the mags were not keeping the sand out. What was worse, sand could be on every frame of the film, scratching it with every movement. I clean them out as best I can, load them and head back up the hill. Perhaps the lab can clean the debris off before running the film through the soup.

 

Back up on the hill, the pilots have gotten better at controlling the craft. I get some good stuff including good off-speed footage. After 6 hours of flying, they finally break the glider for the day. I have been told this was common for Orville and Wilber as well. The pilots and restorers carry the ailing glider back to the main tent. We gather up our gear and head back to the hotel. Nick is still too busy to give us an interview. We'll have to try to get one tomorrow.

October 7th

Time is not on our side today. With a 12 hour drive ahead of us, we show up at the park that morning early. The trouble is, no one else has. We found out that Nick and the pilots had a demonstration planned at an area school, so they were late. We set up and waited. After a while, everyone showed up, but Nick was still in his mobile home. He apparently was doing work on his web site. My crew and I stared at our watches and waited. Finally, Nick exited his RV and gave us our interview, which came out great. We hastily shook hands, wished everyone well, and tore out of there for the highway.

In spite of all the sand in the mag, all the footage came out fine. Actually, it was some of the better footage in the film. The lab was scarred of the footage. They didn't want it in their precious machines. I sent it anyway. They can be such children.

 

Corsair Gathering

September 2002

September 4th

Travel Day. Everything seems to be in place. This is one of my most involved shoots yet, just in terms of logistics. My traveling crew will total 4 (me, Kevin, Heather, & Hallie) along with all of our gear. I've rented a U-Haul trailer for all of the overflow. On our way to Indianapolis, we're going to stop at the Dayton Air Force Museum and grab those shots I put off from July.

The Museum. I get there and my first problem is color balance. It's really warm (color-wise) in the museum and I didn't bring any gel for the lights. After a quick call, Mark Lyons from my alma-mater Wright State is brining some. Problem two: I forgot the special wrench to put a critical attachment onto the camera. I rented a steadicam for some production value. I need the video tap hooked up to the camera, otherwise I can't see the shot. After some finger-cramping gymnastics with a paperclip, I get the attachment on. The rest of the Dayton shoot is no problem. Two hours later, we're back on the road to Indy. 

September 5th 

We arrive at the airport in Mount Comfort. I hit the ground with a lot of enthusiasm. We've been told some great things about this show. First, it was the Gathering of Corsairs. Word was there would be about 15 or so there. Second, most of the week would involve lots of flying, including many formation flights. Third, and best of all, we were getting some great access. We were also in line to shoot from an aircraft while the Corsairs do their formation flights. This will be great. 

We find the organizers of the event. They are a little scatter-brained right now, which we find fairly understandable. This event is attracting most flyable Corsairs, many original pilots of Corsairs, as well as the actors who were in Black Sheep Squadron. The organizers say hello, but can't promise us any rides that day. Fine. We march out and film from where the rest of the media has camped out. Since it's just the fly-in day, and not open to the public, the fly-by passes can be a little more...how should I say...daring. 

 

The above image isn't really cropped in. That's Gerry Beck flying over us at grass-cutting altitude. Lots of great footage. We spent most of the day doing shots like this and meeting folks. A good day of low flying. We didn't get to go up in anything. yet. Perhaps tomorrow.

September 6th 

So, it's looking like we're not going up in anything today. The B-25 that has been designated for the photo tours and flights is owned by a warbird magazine. The photographer on it doesn't want competing still images, which I can understand. We're trying to push the "we're motion pictures, not stills" angle. Maybe it will work, who knows. Heather is doing her best to surf the crowd of pilots, meeting people and telling them about us. Hallie, Kevin and I have another sweltering day of shooting planes from the ground. As the day draws to a close, it's becoming clear we're not going to get up in any aircraft. The organizer keeps shrugging his shoulders at me saying' "We'll see". We're all getting pretty pissed off. I send back the Image Stabilization Lens that I'm renting for $500 a day.

The air show isn't technically open yet that day. The gates are open for "Corsair Enthusiasts" with special tickets or something. Anyway, I think more folks showed up than they planned. Hardly any food was ready by the vendors, who were just moving in. We did scramble up something called "Walking Tacos". Basically, you slice open a bag of corn chips and dump in some taco meat, tomatoes, sour cream and cheese. The give you a spork and send you on your way. Hallie dropped hers. 

My cell phone then rings. On the line is David Fields. I met him briefly earlier in the day. Heather had met him and gotten a ride in his Grumman Tiger low-wing. A nice guy who was very excited about the project. He asks, "How's it going?" I tell him exactly how it's going. He suggests that he could help by taking me up and I could shoot from his plane. But shoot what? He then says Gerry Beck just walked by him. The two of them converse for a second while I'm on the other end of the phone listening to my film being planned out. David comes back on to say that we could do air-to-air filming tomorrow morning with Gerry Beck's Corsair. Just us, no other media. I thank him and agree, unable at first to comprehend how much this saves my trip. From disastrous waste of time to a by-the-skin-of-our-teeth success in 5 minutes. I need a drink. 

That night a got a drink...or five. We bought tickets to the Corsair Legends dinner. The panel that night; Corsair fliers from both Korea and WWII. Also, the actors from Black Sheep Squadron were in attendance, sitting at our table. Not bad. David Fields and I hammer out a couple of things for tomorrow. Mostly, it was a nice evening where me and the crew could dress like humans for a change and not work. Tomorrow was an early day. 

September 7th 

After waiting a half hour to get in the dumb show, I leave the crew and our vehicle to find someone responsible. I was spitting nails. It wasn't just us, all media and vendor vehicles were being blocked at the VIP gate because they didn't have our credentials there. As far as well run events, this was pretty far down the totem pole. I finally got us in after running about 2 miles and proceeded to the FBO (fixed base of operations). There, Me David and Gerry hash out what we're going to do. As we're doing this, the event Organizer sniffs that something's up and comes over. He asks what we're doing. We tell him. "Oh," he says. "Then you're all taken care of then..." He then walks away. I turn to Heather, "There went any chance of a B-25 flight for us." 

We rush down to where David has his plane parked and gear up for the shoot. I bring two 400' mags with me, just in case. We plan on flying with the canopy back, so I won't have to shoot through glass. With the image stabilization lens already sent back, the wind will really knock me around. I decide to shoot everything in slow motion. This should smooth out a lot of the shake in my shots, since I'll have to be shooting hand-held. 

 

Once we're up, we fly around until Gerry finds us. David has a great time, flying formation with a WWII fighter aircraft. I shoot barely half a mag, but get great stuff. 

   

Once on the ground, I do an interview with Gerry and shoot a good amount of B-roll around his plane. Hallie again fails to bring any shorts. She starts to suffer from heat stroke. I put her in my truck with the air conditioning. Towards the end of the day, the corsairs finally do formation flights over the airfield. I have enough for a story.

Much of filmmaking is problem solving. I only get really frustrated when the problems are created by people's actions. In spite of this, kind souls saved our bacon and I walked away with a good story. Time to go home, rest for three days, then head to Reno. 

Days in Dayton

July 2002

July 15th

We wrapped the B-17 shoot yesterday. Now, time to hit the road to Dayton. My back hurts. We drop the dolly off to the rental house and jump on the highway. Neither Kevin or Heather can join this shoot, so it's just Hallie and I traveling. We're on our way to Dayton to shoot at the Dayton USAF Museum and with Nick Engler, Wright Flyer reconstructor. I wanted to shoot all of this the following weekend during the Dayton Airshow. Engler is way too busy for us then. So, we're going to go twice. I've hired some folks from my Wright State days to work on the crew, Tom Mayor and Johnny Raymos. I also snagged some lights and equipment from WSU's film department.

Hallie and I hold up in a Knight's Inn. She passes out in her room almost immediately. No such luxury for me. I start loading mags and charging batteries. I do pass out fairly early. No looking for a Mariachi band on this trip either. 

July 16th 

We arrive at Nick's place in Dayton. His shop is squeezed into the corner of Wilkie's Bookstore in downtown Dayton. Tom gets a parking ticket almost immediately. Production petty cash. 

While the crew moves in, I calm the bookstore manager down. I forgot to inform him we were coming. More producer mistakes. The sun is coming in the front windows nicely, which makes our lighting job easier. Just some fill light. We set up the jib and go to work. 

Our subject Nick is a ball of kinetic and potential energy. He knew we were coming, but barley pays us much attention. It's understandable, given his timetable. He's building 8 different Wright aircraft. The one he's working on he plans on showing at the Dayton Air Show, three days away. Good Morning America interviews him tomorrow. We make as small a footprint as we can and I try to ask questions that aren't dumb. We're out of there in under 3 hours. Onward... 

Breezing into Nick's workshop spoiled us for the rest of the day. When we get to the Air Force Museum, we have to jump through about 10 hoops to get into the restoration hanger. Upon seeing the B-2, even half disassembled, sitting there in the hanger, I have one thought...I would never want that coming at me.  

The staff is kind and open to us once we get set up and filming. I sense a trend forming with the attitude of our interview subjects. Almost without exception it falls into the same pattern: Hesitation, fear, acceptance, interest, and in some cases, exuberant enthusiasm. Our subject at the B-2 hanger, Myrl Morris, seemed to go through this a little. He finally opened up to us and showed us a great time even though the outside temperature felt around 4000 degrees F. As we wrap, I thank everyone at the Museum, including Deborah Csutoras, who really spearheaded this for us. I say "bye" to Johnny and Tom, feed Hallie and I at Waffle House, change in the parking lot, and then drive home to Cleveland. Upon getting home, I begin to prep for my return to Dayton four days later. 

July 21st 

I once again return to Dayton. I have Hallie with me as well as Heather. Again, Kevin can't join us. I think it's even hotter. We only have one location today. I was going to squeeze in a shoot at the Air Force Museum, but time was killing me. I'll go there some other time. 

Molly and the staff at the Dayton Air show are wonderful. We get passes, parking that isn't too terrible, and golf cart transportation to our different locations. For help, I've enlisted super-grip Joe Cassano. His talents way exceed the requirements of the day. I try to make it fun for him, though. Molly and the airshow staff set up our interview with General Urschler for us at his plane, The Gunfighter. We jet over there and begin setting up. Unlike the Amigo Airsho, this place is really noisy. The Show is being held at the Dayton International Airport, which doesn't shut down for the show. Hallie is doing sound again for me. After a good long while, Gen. Urschler finally shows up. He's warm and open, eager to talk about the plane and the guys who work on it. You can tell an off-color joke could fly from him at any time. When we start the interview, though, he "formals-up". While we are there, we get to meet Col. Borman again. He's the Grand Marshal of the show. I'm flattered when he remembers us. I mean, how many people does this guy meet through the course of the year? After the interview we get a group picture with him and the plane. He took a shine to the ladies on my staff. When it's all said and done, these guys are still pilots.

He let's all of us take turns sitting in the cockpit of his P-51. Great guy.

After the interview, we head to the reviewing stand at show center. Col. Borman, we find out, is going to receive an award. Great! We position for filming the award, which he knows nothing about. Hallie jacks the DAT recorder into the house system and Heather is front and center for stills. Cassano and I are positioned on stage with all the news guys with their video cameras. Again, we are the only one's shooting film. Right before the presentation, I hear a bad noise coming from the camera. Command decision. I open up the take-up side to find the film had slipped off the core and was just bunching up tighter and tighter in there. Cassano sees this and steps close to the camera as I nonchalantly pull out all the ruined film. If these video guys saw this I'd never hear the end of it. No one sees what we're doing except Heather, who's eyes are as big as saucers when she sees me holding a big rat's nest of 16mm film in my hand. I chuck it to her, reset the camera and successfully shoot Borman getting the award. 

We scurry over to the media pit where we camp out for most of the day. I squeeze off only a couple of shots of the F-15 demo before I'm told it's Maj Blue, our pilot from El Paso! If I knew he was there in Dayton I would have tried to film more of him. Oh well.

I get some good stuff of Gen. Urschler's two performances, as well as some good stuff of a B-17 and Nighthawk F-117. Hallie almost melts again. Again, notice the picture, no shorts. We almost cut her pants off that day. 

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Filming a "lady"

July 2002

July 12th 

Having experienced the rigors of travel while trying to make a film was an experience, and not a great one. I had fun, but sort of in an adverse way. The United States Aviation Museum has a show every year 30 miles from my house. This could be enjoyable. And I could get a few toys there with minimal fuss. 

Part of the deal with USAM (the museum who was putting on the show) was that for my unrestricted access, I had to shoot all of their acts, whether they would go into my movie or not, and edit them together. For the access I get, the deal was a bargain. 

My day began around 7:00am to shoot the first planes coming in. I have set up a tent at the show to serve as a base camp/information booth. I hired Julie Yonek, film student, to pass out literature. I also had ripped out my entire home theatre system and put it in the tent to play The Restorers trailer all day. I was just their with my camera and sticks. I had a dolly coming, but that wouldn't be until that afternoon. I also didn't have Kevin until the next day, so all of my footage was silent. All in all, a good day of filming, looking at planes, and meeting pilots. I get to go up in the B-17 Yankee Lady, from the Yankee Air Force Museum. Great ride, good footage. A Corsair, T-6 and TBM also go up with us for formation flying over Cleveland.

A P-51A mustang shows up to land. No one told me this was coming because no one knew it was. I hustle down and shoot it taxiing up to her parking spot. A man named Doug Rozendaal gets out and Heather and I greet him. He's just passing through. He's interested in my film, so we show him the trailer at the tent. He's very impressed with it. All of the sudden he yells, BECK! Apparently, Gerry Beck and Bob Odegaard in Fargo had restored his P-51A. He loved that they were in the film. After being there a whole 20 minutes, he takes off again, giving me a real nice & low pass as he leaves.

At 5:30 pm, my dolly arrives in the back of my friend Rich's pickup truck (a last-minute ad-lib). These are the things you must wrangle when shooting-directing-producing your own movie.

It was also the first shoot of The Restorers that I had female crew members in the forms of my co-producer Heather and my intern Hallie. Let me tell ya, if you ever want to open doors with pilots, male pilots, make sure you have a woman with you. It sounds sexist, but they sure as hell didn't want to talk with me all day. I think the ladies liked it, too. 

July 13th

As if 7:00 am wasn't early enough, Heather and I arrive at the airport at 5:30am to shoot the planes in the dawn light. Heather is also the photographer for USAM. Very rewarding footage & stills. Very large coffee. Hallie wakes up late and shows up an hour after call time. That's okay, it's easy to push your own dolly. 

When the gates open, the crowds flood in. We're just shooting, shooting, shooting. Kevin shows up and gets suited up immediately. I'm clear at the other end of the airfield shooting bomber landings. We need to get some walkies. 

As Yankee Lady preps for another flight, I cook up an idea. I want a shot where the camera dollies out from under the bomber's wing while the engines are starting. I talk it over with the flight line safety crew and they okay-it. Now, I just need a push on the dolly. Time to start teaching the intern some things. There's a first time for everything, including pushing me with $60,000 worth of gear 15 feet from a big Wright-Cyclone during startup. She did great. 

All day we keep hinting for an interview with the crew chief of Yankee Lady, Norm Ellickson. The bomber crew has been selling rides all day, $450 per 25 minute ride. The crew hasn't stopped in 7 hours. They have a waiting list. Norm promises that we can have him first thing tomorrow. The problem was, I lose Kevin tomorrow by way of a prior commitment. Hey Hallie, how'd you like to learn sound today? 

July 14th

Sunday morning comes with the weight of the world on my shoulders, or so it feels. Being the fourth day of early rising, and the previous three being 18 hour work days, takes it's toll on your shoulders and feet. Coffee...much coffee. 

We jump on the airport early and get to the bomber ahead of the crew. After waiting about 20 minutes, Norm and the crew arrive. We set ourselves up in the Navigator position in the B-17. The position looks good with good background and there's good light coming in on Norm's face. Heather keeps the bomber crew quiet outside for us and Hallie does a nice job on audio. She doesn't bring shorts to wear, though, like I told her to.

With such a good interview, Yankee Lady becomes a featured story for the film. This is not confirmed until after I shoot the subject sometimes and this airshow was one of those times. I knew there would be a few possible story opportunities there at the show. I just showed up and waited to see which would present itself to me. A slightly risky way to do filmmaking. Each one of the planes that came in had a story and the people flying them had stories as well. You just have to weigh those things against what you already have lined up in the movie. I didn't have a heavy bomber in the movie yet. Simple. Plus, people love them. B-17's are always show stoppers.

I concentrate on getting as many good angles of Yankee Lady as I can. Since she continues to sell rides, I have plenty of opportunity to shoot her from a variety of angles. The crew allows me to send a mini-dv camera up again mounted in the front nose section. I start it on the ground, get out, and let it run the whole flight. Great stuff. On the next flight, I mount it to the plane's dashboard, pointing back at the pilot. It got bumped, so the framing is off a little. The footage is still good, though. No real way to get film footage from those vantage points. Compromises. 

Again, I'm glad when the end of the shoot comes. I hurt, and I'm out of film. My crew (Hallie) is pretty tired. Heather is tired from helping me and helping the airshow, her main priority at this show. I know I got sexy looking stuff while there at the show. I just need to sell this thing so the next time I do this, I can hire some help. 

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Interviewing Col. Borman

May 2002

May 6th

All of the footage from Fargo came out great. The new footage with Odegaard and Beck allowed us to raise some badly needed funds. One more piece to the fundraising puzzle is Col. Frank Borman. A restorer of numerous aircraft, Borman is also a recognizable name outside the warbird community, a plus in fundraising. Currently, Borman owned a dual-seat P-51D Mustang. I've tracked him down in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His staff was wonderful in coordinating our shoot. Borman's time is very limited, but we've concocted a window where we can come out and shoot at his hanger. We could only shoot him Monday. Kevin and I would fly in on Saturday for the better airfare rate, stay over and get New Mexico scenic shots on Sunday, biding our time before we could shoot Borman. The only thing we would not get is Borman flying. Perhaps, if we asked nicely, we could get him to do a couple passes of the field for us while we're there.

May 7th

Disaster. Borman's staff leaves a message on my voice mail that informs me that he has had a death in the family and now cannot shoot with us on Monday. I have, of course, already bought our non-refundable airline tickets and made all arrangements. Borman's staff asked me to call back. Well, time to do some damage control. His staff informs me that he's still willing to do the interview, but his time is more limited now. He can only shoot with us Sunday at his hanger. Monday morning he must fly out. Okay. I'll take any time at this point. I was just amazed at his generosity. I was, and still am, very thankful to Borman for making it happen in spite of a family situation. We would continue on to New Mexico. Since Las Cruces has no vacant hotel rooms, I'm forced to get some room in El Paso, an hour away. Although it is where we are flying in to, it's an inconvenience. Oh well. I'll just add it to the list of things distracting me from my interview questions. That's okay, just a once in a lifetime interview with a retired Apollo astronaut.

May 9th

I have to call Borman's office today. Like all of the other shoots, paperwork must precede us. You don't just wheel off and shoot stuff for a film. Releases and proposals must be written, sent, signed, sent back, signed again, ect. I call over and get, at first distressing news. We can only shoot with Borman on Sunday evening. He's busy the rest of the day. Damn. Our interview is going to turn into a hurried hour in a dark hanger. We'll also have no chance to get him flying. I agree to this. What else am I suppose to do. After we hash out some directions I make some small talk with his assistant. I then find out why he is busy.

"He's flying in an airshow".

"Oh, really. Where at"?

"The Amigo Air Sho in El Paso. Both Saturday and Sunday".

It really is interesting how fortunes can change during the coarse of a phone conversation. We now had an opportunity, not only to interview him in the daytime in the city we were flying into in the first place, but also to shoot him flying. Now I had to work some magic with something called the Amigo Air Sho, and quick.

May 11th

Kevin and I arrive at Hopkins Airport at around 5:30am. From the lessons of Fargo, I put my new plan into action. Airlines, as most people know, charge extra for heavier than normal bags and too many bags. We had both. Before Fargo, my understanding was that the media gets a discount for extra bags. The folks at Hopkins listen to me explain this, blinked at me, then proceeded to charge me the full fee. They explained that I had no credentials. Fine. Kevin and I now possessed "Restorers" credentials produced on my computer and laminated at Kinko's. Presto! We get the discount. We also benefited from Kevin's good charm. This will not be the only time he'll bail me out. Our luggage of excess was whisked away to our plane.

We arrive in El Paso with little drama. After collecting our gear and getting our act together, we head for the airshow. Our plan is not to stay long, just to get our bearings there, meet the authorities, and scope out our interview spots. We accomplish all of this...and it's warm. Not crazy hot, just really nice. A welcome change from the tundra of Fargo. We're there just over an hour and Kevin gets sun burnt a nice rose color. He is dubbed "Pinky" by the local staff.

Because of the draconian weight restrictions of the airlines, I've secured some gear in El Paso to be rented. Well, it wasn't actually in El Paso. Since we were shooting outside, I only needed a 12X12 silk, stands, bags, ect. After scouting the airshow, Kevin and I travel out to pick up our gear. After driving about 30 minutes through dusty back roads we stop about a mile from the US/Mexico boarder. There, I call our rental house for more detailed directions. He tells us to go to this deserted intersection and wait for him, he'll meet us there.

After around five uncomfortable minutes, a rusty pickup truck barrels down the road at us while a neighbor dog eyes us up as intruders. The window rolls down and we are greeted by Steve Osborn, our equipment guy. We follow Steve to his house, a path that would have been tricky to covey to us on the phone. His house sits on a grassless property, overlooking the entire valley. His front "yard" is a garden of many types of cacti. The back yard has a nice fire pit, encircled by chairs for what I'm sure must be great sunset viewing. Steve opens the garage to reveal his rental house, four rows of storage racks filled with film & video goodies. He loads us up with everything we need. I'm sorry I couldn't have paid for him to be on our crew. He was great.

That night, we went to an air show party held at a western themed bar, open for only airshow personnel and leech-like media. We go in and have some the best Bar-B-Que ever. Or, we were just really hungry, I'm not sure which.

May 12th

We arrive at the AirSho (that's how they spell it) already behind the 8-ball. Although Kevin and I find where Col. Borman's Mustang parks, my two hired PA's are nowhere to be found. Although this is our first airshow shoot on the schedule, logistics difficulties become a theme at almost every show. Col. Borman flies back to Las Cruces every evening after the show. He should be flying in to El Paso in the next 30 minutes. We have Col. Borman first thing this morning, before he has to do a flight briefing. The gates won't be open yet, so we'll have good sound. Early morning interviews, though, put a snap in your step. I drop Kevin and the gear off at the plane and go out searching for them. After 20 minutes of circling, I pick both of them up and drive them back to the Mustang. After a few minutes setting up, I finally have a quick half second to look over my interview questions. Right as I start to, Col. Borman flies over in his dual seat P-51 mustang Su Su II. I don't even have time to squeeze off some b-roll shots of him flying in. I settle for shooting his taxi-up and shut down. He hops out an greets us in a matter-of-fact, cordial way. We introduce ourselves and shake the hand of a legend.

He's done this before. After shooting one mag's worth of interview, it's really apparent that this former astronaut/Airline CEO has done interviews before. He's succinct, engaging and states the question back in his answer (something extremely valuable in editing.) After our interview, he indulges us by hanging out and chatting. I geek out only once and have him autograph a photo of Earth taken on his mission from lunar orbit. It's now on my wall, framed.

After we clean up and Col. Borman to his briefing, we set ourselves to wait for his performance at 11:00. Then, we get tracked down. Someone at the show, a Mig pilot want to get his performance shot and has heard there is a film crew on the premises. He's now sending folks out to track us down.

We meet up with George Cambron in the main hanger while Kevin and I are trying to keep our gear from getting lost. The main gates are now open. Our mode of transportation is a golf cart, one that we stole from AOL. George is very interested in having his whole act filmed. He tries not to faint too hard when I tell him the price. Hey, film's nice looking, but expensive. Also, we usually don't film the entire act, 10 minutes long. He finally agrees with a handshake.

After some nice stuff around George's Mig-17, we position ourselves to do film his act. Kevin has kept his skin-pinking tendencies under control so far today. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

I don't recommend starting a shoot about airplanes with a follow shooting of a Mig-17 performance. They're hard to follow. Also, he didn't get that close to the ground. And, just as we had warned, he's really far away while he's turning around for passes. Well hey, do what the client wants....

    After a good warm-up shooting a Mig, I'm ready for Col. Borman. Unfortunately, he doesn't get very close to the ground either. We use two cameras on him, me on the SRII and Kevin down the runway with his Arri-S. A loud camera, but who cares, it's MOS. Besides, I think Kevin got the best shot of the performance anyway (see the last shot of the trailer.

Borman also flew a heritage flight with and Air Force F-15. We got that and tracked down the F-15 pilot. Great guy. Maj. Daniel Blue. Call sign: Blue Balls. He gave us a great interview. Fortunately I came with plenty of film. I really should plan these shoots better in advance.

After a days worth of shooting, I feel pretty good about what I've got. Gina, the head of the airshow, invites us out to a volunteer party at the Holiday Inn. We agree. Our expectations are for a small little get-together around a buffet of pretzels with a bunch of volunteers, beat down from the riggers of a week's worth of air show. What we walked into was completely different.

We enter the bar, which is already hopping. Sort of a rave mixed with a kegger. Gina sloppily waves to us to come over to the bar, which we do. The Snowbirds (Canadian aerobatic team) are parked at a table with a donut of girls around them. The pilots are giving the girls temporary tattoos of the Snowbird logo on the small of their backs by licking them on. We say hi to Gina and she attempts to introduce us to some pilots who could care less because a) We're not pilots and most importantly b) we're not girls. The din of the room increased significantly when the Air Force guys dedicated the Air Force Anthem to the Navy pilots. Time to leave.

That night, I was exhausted. I went straight to bed. Kevin, always the restless sociable type, went to the hotel bar for a beer. There, he enjoyed his beer and the company of a tanked Mariachi band trying to out-sing each other. They really couldn't speak English that well, but Kevin seemed to have a really good time. You'll have to ask him about it sometime.

May 13th

The next day was our scenic day. Sort of 'Travel around and get lots of color shots of the area'. We also intended to drive to Las Cruces and see Borman's hanger. Borman's hanger is immaculate but he and his plane are not there, which I suspected. He already high-tailed it out of there for the funeral. We settled for just looking around, which was fun. Borman's assistant Patricia was gracious enough to give us a mini tour. We continued to shoot scenics around the New Mexico countryside. I had rented a Steadicam for tracking shots. One situation it is terrible in, wind. There was a lot of it, too. I tried to give it a go, but to no avail. The shots looked terrible. Money wasted, lesson learned. Windy Location - No steadicam.

After our wind-swept shooting tour of the countryside, as well as a lost detour onto White Sands Missile range, we return the rental gear and head back to ElPaso. We dined at the State Line, where everyone there had told us would have the best Bar-B-Q food. They did, and we have enough to drink to make buying one of the State Line's T-shirts seem like a good idea.

We successfully returned home again, jumping through all of the post-911 security hoops at the airports. Me and Pinky got to finally shoot somewhere warm. Time to raise some more money and prepare for July.

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Entering Fargo

March 2002

My sound man Kevin and I are sitting on the plane at Cleveland/Hopkins ready for takeoff to Minneapolis, then Fargo for our Odegaard/Beck interviews. After we're buckled in and taxiing he begins to laugh at me. "What?" Apparently I had "the stare" going. Military folks and film crew folks alike know "the stare". Infantrymen refer to it as the 1000 yard stare. It happens when one has had enough. When one has been out in the field so long that their brain cannot process anything else and the person just stares off into the distance. I had the stare. I had the stare at the beginning of filming for The Restorers. I had the stare before one frame of film had been shot.

After circling around for an hour or so, we've managed to use up almost all of our fuel. We we're suppose to fly to Minneapolis, but since a winter storm was blocking our path, we were now descending into Madison, Wisconsin. Now, I like cheese as much as the next guy. Actually, I probably like cheese more than 90% of the human population. It would be hard for me to find a dish I couldn't work cheese into. Anyway, I would love to fly into Madison and sample the local cheeses, any other time. Right now, my head was swimming. Independent films usually don't exist with a lot of extra slush-time. Kevin and I had to get to Minneapolis to catch our next plane, the last plane that night, to Fargo in and hour, period. Missing the plane would jeopardize our whole schedule for Fargo. We had two days to film. One with Bob Odegaard. One with Gerry Beck. It all hinged on us getting to Fargo that night. Well, no more.

We successfully refueled in Madison and took off again for Minneapolis, over and hour late now. The storm that had been scarring the crap out of the airlines had parted enough to let us in finally. We landed safely and were promptly given our hotel list and overnight supplies. We missed our connection by two hours and were now trapped in Minneapolis, Minnesota with all of our film gear, since the airline couldn't hold it overnight for us. A bother, but the best situation for the gear. $60,000 of film equipment sitting in some office at the Minneapolis airport or being sent ahead to Fargo was not a good idea. So, we slugged our gear onto a shuttle bus and made our way to the airport Marriott. After checking in and examining our rooms, we were able to investigate our emergency overnight kits given to us by the airlines. The size of a box lunch, it contained toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, comb, deodorant, and most interesting of all, a white cotton T-shirt. I had a vision of the airport the next day of travelers who were stranded the night before making their way back into the airport to resume their travels. Waitresses, nuns, carpenters, bankers, filmmakers; all wearing the same cotton white T-shirt looking like some shot out of THX-1138. Anyway, mine didn't fit.

March 8th, 2002

Fargo

Two words; wind chill. We landed in Fargo after a smooth morning of resuming our travels in Minneapolis. Fargo was being bathed in bright sunshine on a clear day. The day was simple. Fly fast around the world a bunch of times like Superman to reverse time a little and get my production back on schedule. I was distracted from my troubles when we got off the airplane and were heading to baggage to retrieve whatever was left of our gear. Right in front of us on a 10 foot high banner was the phrase "Welcome to the Fargo Film Festival". It was going on right while we were in Fargo. Oh, we have to go to this. By the way, we knew we were going to Fargo at the beginning of March. We had prepared ourselves for Fargo being cold. It was. It was really fucking cold.

More on that later as well.

                We contacted Odegaard and Beck to explain our dilemma and they were very understanding. Instead of starting filming at 8:00 am, we were now looking at noon. After that, we'll see how the day is going. Right, on to picking up the gear.

$75 per bag over your limit is enough of a charge to make you want to shoot the whole film with a Bolex. We didn't, but this airline charge did force us to look for some of our filming gear locally. Fortunately we found some. Mike Bolak runs a production company and rental outfit on the north end of Fargo. After we got our gear and mini-van we clumsily made our way over to his place. He had a nice 5 ton grip package and some studio space. Mike has a good amount of lights, to which he boasted being the only rental house from there to Washington. After getting a quick tour, settling up with him and packing the van, we asked him when we could return the gear. He informed us that he was going ice-fishing, farther north. We asked him how we could get into the building to return his lights. "See that truck?" We looked and saw a rusted, snow-covered pickup in one corner of the parking lot. "Just throw them in the back of that".

Driving to Odegaard's was a little like those trucks in the Arctic that haul things across frozen lakes. Although we were in no danger of falling through any ice, I think, it was a little hairy. Blowing drifts across the road. White our conditions. Best not to think about it. Fortunately, I wasn't. I really wasn't thinking about anything. Especially the shot I needed or my interview. I really need a producer next time.

We wheel into downtown Kindred at around noon. It sort of reminds me of the US polar science station in Antarctica, after everyone goes home. Bob Odegaard's place is behind the town's schoolhouse. Encounter drifts that rise up to our windows on our Dodge caravan. But hey, it's a rental. After ramming blindly through two our three drifts, we arrive at Bob's shop, three hangers on the edge of what I must assume is a runway. We knock and then enter the workshop. No lights on, no one home, and completely unlocked. Being as behind schedule as I was, we made ourselves at home and brought our gear in to make sure it still worked after a harrowing airline trip and little time to charge our batteries.

Shortly, folks started to file in from lunch. Bob was very gracious, giving us the quick tour and allowing us free run of the place. In spite of myself, I was able to film great stuff while we were there. Bob even jumped on the phone to work out with Gerry Beck when we should go see him and when we should interview who. Did I mention that I needed a producer.

After filming with Bob for four hours or so, we traversed down 40 minutes south to see Gerry Beck's place. A repeat of Bob's. Meticulous workshops with amazing projects working in some pretty harsh environments. Gerry works in a t-shirt, however. Again, Gerry, his wife Cynthia, and his staff welcome us and tolerate our poke lenses and mics at them. Then we all pack into our vehicles again. Time to travel the hour back to Fargo to do the interviews. Keep in mind, Kevin and I started the day in Minneapolis. This was Gerry and Bob's idea. They wanted to get the shooting over with.

Before the interview, we dine with Bob and the Becks at the Fargo airport restaurant. That has been one of the perks of this project; getting to sit down with these restorers and chew the fat. After dinner, we arrive at the Fargo Air Museum. This was Bob & Gerry's idea. Bob and Gerry have keys to the place, since all of the planes in there are theirs. Inside we find perhaps on of the countries best private warbird and antique plane collections. Corsair, dual-seat P-51D, TBM, P-40, C-47, and many others. Over in the corner was one of the main reasons we came; Bob's red Super Corsair "57". We interview Bob in front of it. he's wearing a red flannel, so he blends into the plane a little. We film Gerry in front of his blue corsair, which looks like a big black hole on film. After shutting the lights down at around 11:00pm, we say goodnight and Kevin and I climb into the hotel finally after 18 hours. Tomorrow, we plan on going back to Kindred to film more of Bob's shop. That night, the weather gets bad.

March 9th

We awaken to find a good 6 inches of snow dropped, as well as the temperature. The Forecast: High of 3F with sustained winds of 30 mph. Great. I go out into the parking lot to get the van. I drive it straight across the lawn since I can't tell the difference between it and the parking lot.

We return to Bob's place at around 10:00am. Since it's Saturday, he's the only one there. We do a little bit of "B-" filmmaking. Bob is a fascinating, but quiet man on camera. I am also just starting to figure out my skills for this project. Then, a great thing happened. Bob fetches a large photo album from his office. He begins to show me it's contents; the complete history of his corsair "Race 57" in pictures. As we flip through the photos, Bob give a running, animated commentary. He is also, I remember halfway through the book, still wearing a wireless mic. I look over and Kevin is rolling sound still on everything. I stop talking and minimize my responses to nods: a technique we'll employ many times during the course of the production. After we're done, Bob agrees to let me take the rare photos with me to scan. I could make a documentary just about this book.

At Bob's suggestion, we go to grab lunch when we're done. We hop over to a little diner at the cross-road you turn at to head into Kindred. It's the type of place Bob is able to order "the usual". Kevin and I use menus, but probably didn't need to. We chat and spend the rest of the time soaking in the Fargo-ness of the whole area, our first chance to. A couple of locals in the diner go on about how the movie Fargo is nothing like how Fargo really is. Kevin and I just smile. If only they could view things from where we were sitting.

               

                After Kevin and I almost die filming exterior scenes in Kindred, we high-tail it back to Fargo to get some daytime shots in the Air Museum. The director of the museum. Darrol Schroeder, director of the museum, is open and gracious to us, even though he has a couple of events going on in the building at the same time.

That night, our last in Fargo, we decide to take in the nightlife. After a quick meal, it's time to grace the Fargo Film Festival with our presence. The streets of Fargo seemed to be better suited to the Iditarod than car traffic. The festival was being held in a fabulous old theatre in the center of town. In spite of the weather, the festival was crowded and hopping. We get our tickets, then leave looking to wet our whistle before the show starts. We find a bar across the street that requires us to knock first to gain entrance. Kevin raps on the door, a small panel slides open. "Yes"? I'm not sure what other answers the guy on the other side of the door would accept, but "Can we come in to get a drink" was one of them. With such security, I was sort of expecting...well..anything. Illegal tusk trading. A monkey knife fighting ring. No, just an ordinary bar inside. After a couple of uneventful beers, we're back at the festival. The main auditorium was just as nice as the lobby. It was now quickly filling up with all sorts of movie goers, none of which looked as if they've every worked on a movie, a common occurrence at festivals. The film was Wooly Boys, staring Kris Kristofferson and Peter Fonda. A fairly average film, except it was shot in North Dakota, which kept the audience a little more forgiving.

March 10th

Our exit from Fargo was a lot less eventful than our entrance. Last night we put Bolak's lights inside the back of a pickup and now we were sending our gear through baggage. We arrive back in Cleveland tired, but safe. Time to get back to real life and raise some more money to pay for the trip we just had.

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