Words & Pictures by David Warfield
Three weeks out from shooting my independent film, ROWS, it is difficult to find a moment of free time. Still, I took my daughter to what I can only describe as a “classic” small-town parade in Baltimore County. The Kingsville 4th of July Parade is a well-attended community institution. Bradshaw Road was packed with spectators for a mile or two, folks gathered to watch the high school marching bands, vintage cars and tractors, equestrian displays, women in olde-tyme wardrobe riding on buckboards, small businesses showing off their shiny trucks, and local churches and political candidates spreading the “word.” A formation of aircraft flew over, missing the mark by a mile or so. Probably didn’t want to scare the horses. And fire trucks, so many fire trucks. All of them flinging candy at the kids.
I ran into Lily Kilduff: she did double work on the Rows Trailer shoot last summer. Lily and her friend Grace were dressed in a suitably patriotic color scheme, including a sweet American flag toenail paint job.
After the parade it was back to ROWS. I used the July 4th phone blackout to figure out the shooting schedule, the old-school way: a real Breakdown Board with real cardboard strips. Two weeks ago I was calling Enterprise Printers and Stationers on Sunset in L.A. Enterprise was always the place to get highly specialized film production materials. While Enterprise still shows up on a Google search, its phone number is invalid. I took a walk down Sunset via Google Earth, but I didn’t see the venerated shop anywhere. Is it gone? Did it move? Does anyone know? A revolution of film scheduling software and digital media probably put them out of business. I finally found a crackpot with a basement shop who could ship me the olde-tyme cardboard strips. I felt like one of those Lexington and Concord re-enactors, obsessed with authenticity, but only getting to dress up on rare occasions.
Words & Pictures by David Warfield
