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The storyboard and plans call for large expansive vistas and they had originally been attracted to a shot from Whitney Portal Road looking east or north. The view would have been perfect but the road is officially “closed” for the winter. The Onion Valley Road is kept open and while that presented a possibility, the Commission showed the scout several vistas in Panamint and Death Valley including Father Crowley Point, Zabrieski Point and Dante’s View. The client was won over, for while they had originally envisioned a green vista, the sheer beauty of those views was undeniable.
Another project by producer/director Tyler Harper filmed two different times out in the Alabamas. BLM Permitting Officer Donna McMullen was able to adapt the permit the group had taken to accommodate the changing schedule of the group. It is a small example of how the BLM works to be “film friendly” to groups who want to film in the popular Alabama Hills. Ranger Scott Justham and Film Commissioner Chris Langley were both there distributing “Don’t Crush the Brush” buttons but there were no problems from the film group. That was not true of three motorcycles riders who set off cross country on bikes, potentially damaging the sensitive desert brush. Justham chased them down and got their information for a citation.
The short film aimed at the film festival circuit is a project of a group of young filmmakers and has a very controversial topic as its theme. It deals with suspicions of people of Middle Eastern background living their lives in the U.S as productive citizens. Suspicions turn to prejudice turns to hatred turns to violence in this film. |
