A small cast and crew of 10 made the journey out West to shoot “Little Dove”. Our options for lodging were very limited. The nearest we found to our shooting location was still a 45 minute drive to the set and it was a campsite in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived we staked out our tents and set up camp. Everyone pitched in cooking, organizing supplies for the next day, washing dishes, and building the fires. Since the location for the shoot was so remote, and were we planning on using natural lighting it was critical that we maximize the daylight light by arriving on set at
sun rise. Wake up calls to the camp were between 4 and 5am, while shooting ended just before dark. When we reached the location the first day, everyone was stunned and truly amazed at the beauty that was before them. Huge mountains, vast lands, and peaceful atmosphere was all there was. The location was calling to everyone to up the game.
It was very cold in the mornings, the crew was in full winter gear, while the talent performed their roles in period native costumes. You would never know watching the movie that it was in the 40’s during a lot of the scenes. After a long day of hiking up mountains trails and through canyons packing heavy equipment to set up some amazing shots, we would wrap the day with the satisfaction that we captured some breathtaking footage. Some of the crew would stay after dark to scout locations for the next day, while the rest of the group headed back to camp to start dinner and a warm fire. The starting of the fire and the time together made ever minute precious.
All the cast and crew found out about cactus the hard way, and many of us would pick spines out before bed time. At our campsite we had a fox that would join us near the campfire, a skunk that couldn’t tear himself away from the kitchen area, Javelina hogs that rooted around our tents and coyotes that sniffed the camp and howled at the most inopportune time. We all got a dose of wilderness. The 8 hour ride out to the site and harsh conditions bonded the team together in a fabulous way. The remoteness and beauty allowed the actors a deeply informed ability to be the characters. I would shoot anything anywhere in the world with this same team again.
