The beautiful fall weather made our new location for Mystery at the Johnson Farm a perfect experience. There was something special about shooting the farm scene at a suburban house that looked exactly like the book described, with the exception that the big barn and back forty would have to be optically rendered. The shooting day was right on schedule and everything that we needed to come together was fitting better than expected.

Even the special physical effects goose, used to attack the girl when she first arrives at the farm, looked just like its living counter part that was being shot some 700 miles away. The Atlanta team had an eye for detail and painted the grass to perfectly match the Midwest footage.

With our spirits flying high, one crewmember pointed out that this film was going to make us famous. Since it was my first children’s film, I wasn’t able to drink the “Kool-Aid”. That didn’t stop his excitement. Nor did it stop him from chatting with everyone on the set about the cars filled with fans that kept driving by to watch the shoot.

There hadn’t been any publicity or leaks to the press, so we didn’t need police to block off the street. In fact, the yard was so deep that all of our equipment and vehicles were on private property. In my mind, the only fans would be made up of curious people who happened to drive by or their friends who wanted to share in the event.

The longer the shooting day, the more the actors and crew were starting to pay attention to those driving by, a pattern that picked up as the day continued. I even started to take note of the various cars driving by and realized that not one of the cars returned. They were all different vehicles that drove by with an increase in frequency. It was becoming significant.

I soon bought into the possibility that our production team was a big deal for this suburban town. It was also possible that the press would soon be descending on us. We’d need to wrap and head to the next location before we encountered problems with the press, although I’d always considered that type of problem a good thing.

During our last break I chatted with one of the homeowners and asked her how she might feel with the press bringing attention to her home based on the film. She laughed and reminded me that we were on a quiet street and had nothing to worry about.

I took a quick moment to think about how I should point out the numerous drive-by fans that were on the increase. I decided to frame it as a question in order to bring the right magnitude to her revelation, “Have you noticed all of the cars driving by this afternoon?”

“Don’t worry about those cars,” she quipped. “There’s a repair shop at the end of the block and they test drive the cars down our street every day.”

I cracked up laughing. She tilted her head and gave me a curious look. I responded, “Never mind me, I just had too much Kool-Aid.”

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers

Fear and trembling shot through my veins as my mother and I walked into the dentist office. At age four, it was the scariest place that I had ever been. I could never get used to visiting a location that created pain in the name of health. But, all I had to do was sit patiently in the waiting room until my mom’s teeth were evaluated.

While I wasn’t the type of person to sit still, a book about TV production fascinated me. I had no idea what was written in the book, but I could tell from the pictures that they used three cameras, a director and talent. The on-camera personalities sat on a small stage or platform under cool looking lights. The cameras were numbered so the director could pick which one went live during the production.

When I got home, I ran up to my room and got some of the Jewel-Osco president collectables. They were miniatures of each president standing in a regal pose. I put a piece of masking tape around the belly of three that looked like cameramen and numbered them. Then I took a few other presidents and put them on a little platform made from a book and positioned Andrew Jackson to direct. I played for hours setting up various shots.

My imagination ran wild, as I pretended to make a feature film. While I don’t remember the exact story, I do recall that the cop story was intense, as the detective cornered two suspects.

“Mr. Bellagio, where were you during the night of October 31st?” asked the detective.

“I was with the dame from the all night pub.”

The detective slowly circled him, as camera 3 pushed in on a close-up.

“So, you say you’re innocent, but I can prove that I’ve caught you red handed.”

Trixie quickly turned toward the detective and confessed, “I was with Mr. Bellagio all night, even when we visited that dame. He couldn’t have stolen the cash.”

Camera 2 dollied in to a tight shot of Trixie, revealing her increased pulse. She was hiding something.

“There is only one way for me to prove you’re guilty.” Camera 1 set on a two shot. “Will you submit to a simple test?”

“Maybe,” quipped Mr. Bellagio.

“First wash up,” the detective instructed, tossing him a dry towel. Camera 3 turned to follow Mr. Bellagio’s every move.

Mr. Bellagio stepped over to the wet bar and washed his hands. When he pulled them out of the water they glowed bright blue.

“Hey! What’s this sadistic magic you’ve performed on me?”

The detective clasped handcuffs on Mr. Bellagio as he explained. “The stolen money was laced with a dye that once wet, turns a florescent blue. So, I’ve caught you red handed… Thanks to blue ink.” Camera 2 swung wide.

The detective walked over to Trixie and held up a second pair of handcuffs. “It’s now time to cuff your accomplice.” Camera 1 pushed in for a tight shot of Trixie’s face. She swallowed hard.

“Oh no, Mr. Detective, sir. I remember now that I was with Mr. Bellagio on a different night.” Camera 3 zoomed in on the detective.

The detective smiled at her. “I’ll see you at the pub for a drink later.”

Trixie smiled and ran off.

A shout from the first floor told me it was time to put away my film team and head down stairs for supper. My dad was home for dinner and I couldn’t wait to tell him about the adventure I filmed. It was an awesome movie for a four-year-old’s imagination.

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers