What a week for Five Feet!
The empty checklists in Basecamp have been glaring back at me for weeks. Lists of props, script ideas, equipment and those damn locations. One by one, we've been knocking out our tasks. But there has been one that hasn't been moving as quickly as the others. Yes, the dreaded location checklist.
Five Feet has been built with a DIY attitude from the day I started scribbling out some ideas during a snow storm about this crazy world where you can't be near anybody or you die. The cast and crew that I have put together can grind out the work to get the right equipment, the right cast and the right costumes. But we can't build a town or a world on our own. Well, not in a timely fashion that would make sense.
But this week we had a tremendous break through and have picked up two important locations. One of them I have been fixated with since the pilot script was complete and has been a huge relief to secure.
Nina's Store
Our crew has been scouring different villages and towns throughout Ohio looking for possible locations for Nina's store. We need to find the right place because her store is important on several levels. What is the food situation, who can be in the store at once and how is the place maintained? The answers to these questions begin to subtly unfold the environment and rules of Five Feet. But more importantly, we are going to see Jalen and Nina interact for the first time on screen. So it has to be perfect. Not necessarily "romantically" perfect but the right feel.
After countless miles, we picked up a place about 1.5 miles from my home. Seriously, it's in nearly in my backyard. I don't know why I didn't even consider this store when we first started but last Saturday it just hit me. An hour later we have a verbal commitment to film our pilot in a Co-op. And it feels perfect. We'll need to do some work to get it ready - but this is a DIY project after all.
Jalen's Funeral Home
This was another location that kept drilling into my brain constantly. Where are we going to tactfully pick up a funeral home. And if we secured an actual funeral home - what if they needed it the day we shoot?
Every single time I've read through the pilot script I see, smell and hear the funeral home. I can hear the floor creaking. The smell of the wood trim combined with the sweet smell of flowers. I even can see the worn out path on the carpet that people take to the viewing room.
Early in the process we found a few interesting places that may have worked. And than this beauty came into the picture. I won't go into much more detail but I'll leave these pictures to tell the story. I don't know if we could have found a better setting.
We're really pumped to get filming later this year. Keep checking back here for more updates on our journey. And don't forget to sign up for our email if you want to find out more about what we're doing ahead of everyone else.
