Howdy folks! I know it's been a while, but I've finally had a chance to sit down and collect my thoughts on Days 3 and 4 of my trip to St. Louis and the time I spent with the fine folks over at Wicked Pixel Cinema. It's been a long time coming, but this will wrap everything up in a neat little package for ya...hopefully. Day 3 came much too quick for my liking, I was having a genuinely fantastic time thus far. Since I knew that this was going to be my last night on set, I was actually quite sad, but still looking forward to a great night of shooting. I was just starting to realize that not only was I writing an informative piece (ha!) on some talented indie filmmakers, but I was also starting to make some really great friends along the way. Day 3 started out a bit slow (which was good, considering how tired I was) but ended with a really fun night on the set of Savage Harvest 2.

When I last left you I had been crashing out on the living room sofa belonging to one Jeremy Wallace from Wicked Pixel Cinema. We slept just a tad later on Sunday and farted around (literally) the house for a while before deciding to grab something to eat. In continuing my tradition of finding some interesting places to eat that I had never heard of before, Jeremy and I headed out to Steak 'n Shake. It was a tough choice, since I knew that this would probably be my last chance to grab an interesting bite of yum yums in St. Louis for lunch. I could have gone to Bandanas again and enjoyed another pulled pork platter, or we could have hit Sonic, a hamburger joint that we have commercials for here in Philly, but no actual restaurants to go to! Imagine that! Steak 'n Shake it was, an interesting place that serves hamburgers yet they call them steakburgers - go figure. Now keep in mind that these are just regular ol' hamburgers that just happen to be called steakburgers, for no apparant reason, other than a marketing ploy that is. Jeremy and I both enjoyed a hamburger, ahem - I mean steakburger along with an order of fries and a bowl of chili. We ended the meal with a cookies n' cream milkshake (to go) and headed back to Jeremy's house.

The rest of the afternoon was quite lazy, we visited one of Jeremy's friends and lounged around while watching a copy of The Severed Head Network Vol. 2 on VHS. We were both pretty tired, yet we remained ready for another long night of shooting ahead and the low-key afternoon was JUST what the doctor ordered.

Before we knew it, the time had come to head on over to the parking lot of the gas station/general store to meet up with the rest of the gang for the night's shoot. I was looking forward to spending some more time on set as well as watching Emily Haack in "action" (if you know what I mean :wink:: ::wink::) We met up at the gas station, bought our beverages and snacks and headed back to the farmhouse.

On hand tonight in addition to myself, Jeremy, Jason, Bill Clifton and SPFX man Pat Voss (all from the previous night of shooting) were actresses Emily Haack and Anna Knobeloch along with Mark Cange to help out on set as needed. Mark joins the crew on set whenever he gets the chance to help out simply because he wants to. This is something that sounded quite familiar, it seems as if everyone here just enjoys being on set when they can, helping out in any way possible. Jeremy was kind of thrown for a loop actually since he didn't have to hold a boom mike all night, or do as much physical labor as he had the night before. Now THAT'S a producer! We started shooting outside once again (it was just as cold as the night before) with the promise of the shoot ending inside. The shots outside were comprised of an extremely bloody Emily Haack heading into the house with chainsaw in tow. Well, it was more like a wolfed out Anna Knobeloch was chasing her in the house ready to strike than a leisurly stroll for Ms. Haack. Things were going fine, or so we thought until about an hour and a half of filming time had passed. It was at this moment that someone realized there were camera troubles. Not just any ol' camera troubles either, as most of the footage shot, now had to be re shot. The mood on set dipped just a bit, but realizing that there was a job to be done, everyone jumped right back in and got back to work. Before we knew it the shots were in the can and we all headed into the house.

Of course we all enjoyed some more toasted ravioli and Vess cream soda, man this is living! The shots inside were primarily comprised of Knobeloch and Haack having it out with one another on the floor of the kitchen. Standing just off to the side, It was pretty exciting, watching a Wicked Pixel film in progress while listening to Emily telling everyone how comfortable her new boxer shorts were. All the while Jason Christ's grandmother sat in the next room, reading the newspaper quietly as a horror flick was shooting right nearby, she was either ingnoring or oblivious to the carnage taking place nearby.

Once again the vibe on set was very low-key. Everyone was having fun, but at the same time knew that there was a job to be done. Everyone from Wicked Pixel that I had the pleasure of hanging out with on set with came across as true professionials, even in moments of cold, heavy make up or other uncomfortable situations. Once again, there were no ego clashes, no complaining or bitching, just a bunch of friends hanging out and making movies - very respectable.

The final night of shooting I hung around for was a complete blast and everyone was just as nice as they had been the whole weekend, it was certainly sad to see it all come to an end. It was late (or early depending on how you look at it) and it was about time to head back to get some sleep, I had a plane to catch the next morning. We said our goodbyes and Jeremy and I headed back to his house. The next day I didn't have to be at the airport until late afternoon but had intended to just get dropped off earlier in the day to make it easier on Jeremy, who had already been more hospitable to me than I probably deserved. On the way to the airport, Jeremy had another plan.

First, we headed over to the Waffle House for a spectacular breakfast. Jeremy was kind enough to taunt Emily Haack on the phone (she was at work) while we watited for our food. Jeremy wasn't laughing after the meal though as that triple order of hash browns started to work on him, I warned him! We were supposed to head over to Emily's work so she could accompany us to the airport, but Jeremy decided to take a detour and drive (dare I say it?) into the city! Apparently, Jeremy DOES NOT drive into the city, but he didn't want me to leave St. Louis without seeing the Arch (something that I REALLY wanted to do as well). Jeremy braved the lunch hour traffic, and took the local exit into town, we parked the car in a garage and took to foot. The Arch was pretty spectacular to say the least, easily one of the coolest monuments I have ever seen. We walked the ground and took a capsule to the top of the arch, which was unbelievably cool. From the top of the arch I got a clear view of the city on one side and a nice view of the Mississippi and riverboat gambling on the other. Our little detour took us a couple of hours out of our way, which was fine with me because not only did I get to see the Arch, but my solitary wait at the airport was not going to be nearly as long now.

At this point we had to meet up with Emily (on her lunch break), because Jeremy still didn't want to have to drive to the airport alone, he's a nervous nellie don't ya know. In any event, we had a hell of a time finding Emily's work, but once we did, we all hopped into her jeep and headed to the airport. It was also at this point that I came to the conclusion that everyone in St. Louis drives a car with a cracked windshield. We made it to the airport, subjected to a checkpoint stop (luckily they didn't spot Emily's bloody shirt from the previous night of shooting in the back seat) and parted ways. I thanked my hosts for showing me such a fabulous time, on and off the set and headed into the airport, ready to make it home. One Starbucks coffee and a layover later, I was home in Philly, driving in my own car and heading back to my apartment - home sweet home, but already missing my new found friends in St. Louis.

Well folks, this puts an end to my report on my St. Louis escapades and my time spent on the set of Savage Harvest 2. The purpose of this article was really two-fold. I really wanted to give an insight, not only pertaining to my experiences on the set, but also to the time I spent hanging out with a bunch of folks, doing something that they really want to do - making movies. I barely knew the members of WPC before I headed out there, but being a fan of their films, jumped at the chance to hang out with them for a weekend of shooting. I feel that in a lot of respects, the indie scene is quite often overlooked and discounted, when indeed it shouldn't be. Since my trip to St. Louis, I've kept in touch with many that I met along the way, and even welcomed 6 members of Wicked Pixel Cinema into my home in Philly for Chiller Theater this spring. We'll continue to review their films on MAP as we have been, as well as many other films popping up on the indie scene with the same honesty and enthusiasm that we have in the past. I hope you'll continue to enjoy reading, and if I make it back to St. Louis (which I do indeed intend to do) you'll all be the first to know.

Many thanks to everyone from Wicked Pixel Cinema for meeting, greeting and being genuinely nice to this here horror nerd from the East Coast.

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