Rolling Film

On the way home from purchasing my replacement khakis, I drove up Swiss Avenue to see if they were filming the movie yet. I just planned on driving by ---- even if they were filming inside the house, I doubt there would be much to see except crew people standing on the front yard. But I was in luck.

Yesterday evening, they were filming a driving scene. There was actually something to see, so I stopped to gawk for a few minutes. I've always wondered what's involved in filming a moving vehicle. They put the car on a low flat bed trailer and tow it with a large truck. The camera sits in the bed of the truck. And there a various light rigs set around the car. I stopped by just as they were beginning shooting. The producer I met at the 4th of July party was on the back of the truck and waved at me. And inside the old BMW they were filming was the lovely Selma Blair. She's been in a bunch of movies but the only one I remember seeing was Hellboy (highly recommended) in which she played Hellboy's love interest. I was told they were going to film her driving around downtown Dallas.

I also got a taste of what a beating it is to film a movie --- especially outside. They had a couple of false starts because the light rig on the trailer kept failing. And Selma got to sit in a car that was not running with the windows rolled up while it was a good 92 degrees outside. That must have been fairly unbearable.

So they finally get going, with police motorcycle escorts in front and behind the truck. They pull down a side street and head down Gaston Avenue towards downtown Dallas with the cameras rolling. And I watched as they drove past my house. So now I can say that a movie was filmed just outside my house.