Fine Tuning

I can't believe July has gone by so fast!! Mentally, I'm still stuck in June.

One of my photographers and I traveled to the far southern reaches of the Minnesota stretch of Highway 61 this weekend and the trip made me rethink several parts of the documentary! It isn't a bad thing, since we are due to start shooting the first weekend of August.

I'm a sucker for old, abandoned buildings and roads that appear to lead to nowhere. I'm sure there is some kind of psychological reason for this.
I had heard there is a stretch of the original alignment of Highway 61, dating back to the 1920's, that remains hidden, just off the current highway, outside of Hastings Minnesota and another just outside of Red Wing. (Actually there are several well preserved sections of the old all the way down to the Minnesota/Wisconsin border. We found the Hastings stretch, but it was the Red Wing piece of the old highway that really has me excited.

The original road meandered quite a bit through the countryside outside of Hastings. We followed a county road where, after a half mile or so, we noticed a fork in the road, and after a few feet, found a highway barricade, and beyond it, a lovely, but crumbling concrete bridge over a fork of the Cannon River. According to the metal date plate that remains on the bridge, it was constructed in 1921. We went across that bridge and kept walking down what is now no more than a path because the road was dirt to begin with in that area. We stumbled across another bridge, a beautiful rusted metal arch bridge that will be perfect for yours truly to do an on-camera "stand-up" or two.

I get excited at the discovery of these long-lost bits of highway history that few people know exist. They'll make perfect backdrops for this documentary.

Down in Dakota Minnesota, we found what will be the backdrop for the final scene in the documentary: a lovingly restored gas station dating to the 1920s. I was surprised to learn that tiny Dakota had no less than five gas stations in its heyday when Highway 61, a busy Highway 61, went right through town. The old stretch still goes through town, but nearby Interstate 90 and the four lane, modern day version of Highway 61 are used by most motorists now.

Dakota is a sleepy little town, so the incredibly tiny, vintage gas station catches the eye immediately. There is a run down station kitty-corner from the restored station, which looks sad and disheveled compared to the restored facility. The owner gave his permission for us to use the restored station for the on-camera ending to the film. I intend to rewrite the ending of the film to use the Dakota gas station. LaCresant Minnesota is a nice town, and our original plans called for using the Minnesota/Wisconsin border for the ending. That would still be fine, but it doesn't have the visual impact that this little gas station does. Of course, it means I'll have to mess around with the script...again...but better to do it now than wait!

More to come! Happy travels everyone!

20 pounds of stuff in a 10 pound bag...

That is how it feels as I attempt to finish up the script for "Tales of the Road-Highway 61". There is SO MUCH along the highway that is interesting to me, and I've come to really like these little-known stories, so much so that I'm having trouble editing myself. My co-writer, Tim, has done great work in boiling down some pretty complicated stories, but I'm running into time constraints. The documentary has to be 56 minutes and 40 seconds to air on Twin Cities Public Television. That sounds like a lot of time, but when you are covering territory from Grand Portage in the far northern corner of Minnesota, all the way down to the Minnesota/Wisconsin border, it isn't enough. I'm going to create a special "Director's Cut DVD" to put in some of the extra stories I can't bear to leave out, which also gives me a lot of great material with which to edit into smaller "webisodes" for Internet viewing and downloading onto hand-held devices. (I really SHOULD get one of those! :) )

I'm finding it difficult to write a script in advance of shooting. My background is in TV news, which can be a fast paced, "shoot and run" kind of affair. When out on a story, I may have an idea of what I'd like my photographer to shoot when it comes to "b-roll", but the story tends to evolve in the field. For the purposes of this documentary that style won't necessarily work. Since I've already written the companion book to the documentary, I'm famiiar with each site, and know what kinds of things I want to have shot, but I also don't want to tie my photographer's hands. The plan is to offer a "roadmap" with the script, and allow them the flexibility to exercise some of their creativity. It is always a dance in the field, and one I'm excited to start!