On the set of "Restitution" - with lots of photos

"Restitution" was filmed with a Red Epic camera.

"I am a filmmaker, not a painter. I have a gift for arranging men and horses." - Werner Herzog

On January 4th I spent some time on the set of a film called "Restitution". It was a KickStarter project that met it's donation goal thanks in very small part to DustyOnMovies' $10 offering. I've donated to projects before, but this is the first time one has been filmed within 20 miles of my home. So I contacted the director, Matthew Pickett, and asked if I could come for a visit. To my surprise, he gave his consent without protest.


 

Matthew Pickett directs a shootout.

Being a western, "Restitution" required a location untouched by modern civilization. Pickett found that location in the mountains of Blacksburg, VA near a horse refuge called Advantage Ranch. This was a double win considering horses would be needed for the shoot. I parked at the ranch and was led down a wooded path and over hills of frozen mud until I came upon a small clearing. Invading that clearing was a cast and crew of about 20 individuals. Reflectors, shades, a camera dolly, make-up kits, sound equipment; this was clearly a rare event in this clearing, whose only other inhabitant was a busted picnic table.

Getting mic'd up.

Filming had been going on for a few days. When I arrived a scene was being rehearsed that required lots of shooting. Rehearsal went on for about an hour while everyone waited for the sun to get high enough lest the crew's shadows be seen in the frame. After the director and cinematographers were satisfied with the light, the actors got ready to go live. First they had to put on there full costumes; socks, boots, cowboy hats, dusters. After the look was refined it was time for each of them to get mic'd up. Lastly, there were the guns. These were real period guns, not props. The difference is that they shot blanks. No bullets, but there were shells that ejected, along with a healthy amount of smoke. Most importantly, they had the sound of real guns. Oh did they have the sound. Much of the cast and crew were wearing ear protection.
It's not all as glorious as it sounds though. After 3 hours of work, only about 2 minutes of usable footage was acquired.

• Take 1 - Before the scene even begins an actor entering left accidentally fires his gun as he unholsters it.
• Take 2 - Everything is fine until the end. But the final gunfire is mute because the gun wasn't reloaded fully after the previous misfire.
• Take 3 - Someone starts up an ATV ruining the sound.
• Take 4 - One actor attempts to kneel over a dead girl but misjudges his footing, kicking mud up her nose and falling partially on top of her.
• Take 5 - The actors perform flawlessly, the sound wasn't rolling.
• Take 6 - Everything is perfect, except for that slight imbalance in the camera dolly.
• Take 7 - A cowboy runs into frame from the left, his hat falls off.
• Take 8 - Not so bad, give me a few more like that.
• Take 9 - But wasn't she supposed to walk from the other direction? Screw it, we'll flip it in post-production.

That may not be a 100% accurate account, but it's pretty damn close. Also, that only includes the wide-angle tracking shot. All of this has to be redone for close-ups.

They were making bullet wounds, not sundaes.

But playing dead is easy right? One actress gets shot at the beginning of the scene and falls to the ground. But on this take blood has been applied so she's already down when the footage starts rolling. That means 8 takes without the benefit of standing up. At face value it sounds easy, but when I pulled into the ranch that day my car's thermometer displayed 25F, so that young lady was essentially laying on a mixture of frozen mud and horse droppings for hours. As it thawed she became soaked with mud and between takes was having fake blood reapplied which I'm sure didn't help her body temperature at all.

"A 6 year-old can tie this knot." she says.

After a break for lunch, which consisted of some homemade soup provided by somebody's mom, it was time to bring out some horses. I met up with the ranch owner and professional horse-trainer Deb Dyer as she rode down to the set on Brownie, a top-10 ranked reining horse. In front of us are the two horses being used in the film, Laverne and Chuck. Today's scene features Laverne getting cuddly with a cowboy. He's getting ready to leave his horse behind and continue his journey on foot. Deb gives the actor a crash course in knot-tying and the filming begins. The actor ties him to a tree and gives puts his arms around the horse, gently stroking the mane. He checks his revolver's ammo and trudges out of the frame.

Deb Dyer and Brownie

It's this sort of equine affection that led Mrs. Dyer to volunteer her services to the film. She tells me there's a lot of stuff concerning horses in movies that just isn't authentic. Though this is her first foray into cinema, she hopes to help set the record straight. With her beautiful ranch and vast knowledge of horses she may get many more chances to make her point.

I'm hoping to contact Mrs. Dyer and get some more education on the misinformation that movies offer about horses. Check back with this site for that potential goodness.

I would love to tell everyone exactly what "Restitution" is about, but I can't. I asked several cast members and got lots of humorous workarounds with no direct answers. Then I modified my approach with, "Is it some sort of feuding family story?". The response I got was, "Something like that." Despite the ambiguity I think the project will be a success. When it's available you can bet I'll review it and let everyone know where they can attain a copy or catch a screening.