VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions VALLEY OF LIGHT

I always thought I wanted to be in the movies and especially with one of my cars. That desire was satisfied recently when my 1941 Coupe was hired for the making of VALLEY OF LIGHT and me as the driver.

I received my notification about 5:00 PM and had to be on the set the next morning at 06:30AM. The set location was in a small town in Oregon that I had never heard of and was omitted on most maps. Finally figured out a route and headed to bed for the early “call”. I departed at 04:45AM, with the 1941, in the dark, and a driving rainstorm. This was almost all new roads for me even in the daylight, but under the conditions it was a nightmare. Turned out to be 55 miles and approximately ½ were on a two-lane road. How, I don’t know, but I arrived without major incident.

I knew a little bit about the making of movies, but was surprised as to what I was called. The first person I found to check in with informed me that I was a “Picture Car” and for me to head to the mess tent for breakfast. He said to just tell everyone I met that I was a “Picture Car” driver. I found the tent and ordered breakfast. I was directed to the “wardrobe” as soon as I finished eating. As informed, as soon as I announced I was a “Picture Car” at each location, action was taken. After receiving my costume at wardrobe I was sent to the set.

For the first scene the antique cars were lined up on either side of an intersection.

To set the scene, the time is after WWII; the year was about 1946, the scene was the main intersection in the town of Bowerstown, North Carolina, which was actually the town of Scots Mill Oregon, with all the paved streets covered with gravel to simulate a small rural town. The scene was planned to be in good weather.



This is the lineup on one side of the intersection. After we were all in position we were directed to wipe off the cars, as it had been raining and they were wet. It took about 30 minutes to accomplish this task, and while I was doing this a crew came along and placed MUD on my whitewalls, you must believe me, as I finish the last spot it started to rain again. The scene was scrubbed and the crew headed to the Grange Hall to shoot an inside location.

I was lucky(?) to be selected to be in this scene also. I was directed to a spot to park my car.



Within minutes a crewmember jumped into my car and moved it to the opposite side of the street. Again, the car was moved, me driving now, to another spot. The location was okay, however my car was too shiny. The camouflage boys were called and sprayed a mixture of dirt and water over the complete car.



When this scene was finished I was directed to the location of the next shot. Only two cars were used for this one. The cars were parked outside the window of the church while a funeral was being filmed inside.



In all reality I did not see any of the cars that were the focus of a shot. Every scene used the cars for background through a window or some other incidental manner.



This is a view from inside the General Store where much of the interior filming took place while I was there. What you see through the window is the main intersection of town and the cars were seen for only seconds as they drove through the intersection. The modern truck was not in the scene when it was shot.

All meals were provided. They were not regular, but available when the scene was completed. One day the noon meal was at 03:30PM and another day at 04:00PM. This was not a problem as a ”˜snack tent’ was erected at every site and filled with drinks and munches. Bathroom facilities were close by at all times and even some mounted on a truck that was present at each site when needed. Everything was very compact and walking from one point to the next was easy. If you did not wish to walk several vans were available to take you to any location needed.



This is a poster that was in the window of most of the vans.

After I was there for 4 days of shooting the management made a reluctant decision to close the site because of the bad weather and the fact that most of the interior shots were finished. For a while it was possible we would move to additional sites in the vicinity that had better weather conditions, but in the end it was decided to pack up and return the crew to Los Angeles to finish the movie.

“The Valley of Light,” is a two-hour Hallmark movie to air on CBS next fall.

Lee Matthews with his 1937, Dave Newland and his 1938, and Jake Rens, who furnished three John Deer tractors, are the other members of our club who provided and drove cars for the filming of this movie.

Ray
at least you got to be at the movies while they were being filmed. Somrthing a lot of us never get to do.
Tony

Great story and experience for you. Thanks for sharing.

See you down the Back Roads

And how is Mary coping with being married to a Movie Star?

Congrats! Please keep us advised when the time approaches that this will be on the air! Wouldn't want to miss it.

Cool...hope you had fun.

My '32 was in 'Cross Creek' the life story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, made in ’83. Cross Creek is right outside of Gainesville. Our local AACA club provided all of the vehicles for the movie.

http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=140636

Ray,

Thanks for the great story! How do you get to do that? do they cover expenses and your time?

Jim

You are well compensated. There is a full time mechanic on site and will repair your car if needed. Of the 20 cars used, the 4-letter make had the mechanic tied up most of the time. At night, after the days filming is completed, a service truck inspects your car and fills it with fuel or any liquids needed.

Your meals are all provided as well as the munchies.

As mentioned in the story, any place you need to go, transportation is provided.

You can watch any scene being filmed and can take pictures anytime except between the command ACTION and CUT.

You are treated well by all of the crew.

Great article Ray, It was a lot of fun doing the shots for this film especially with you and Lee Matthews.

Your pics are great, I have some I took with my digital camera that I will send later.

Dave Newland, CRR-VCCA

Hello Ray,

What a nice article. Your pictures looked great and the description made it even better.

Thanks

I'll look forward to the Hallmark show.

Yes, it is a nice story and the pictures add a lot to the story, It is strange how movie producers do things, use a location all the way across the country for a shoot and make it quite believable.

What a coincidence while reading this string, I had a phone call from a film producer in the Detroit area looking for a particular vehicle to use in a short film to be shot in this area.
I don't have what they want!

What were they looking for, Walt?

I think a 230SL Gator!

I can't forget that car either, John...Cool...

Ray,
Great story and pictures.
My Dad had our black '36 in a short film about a famous Poet in our area back in the 80's. He had sign up with a guy in the our area that supplies film cars. I still have the video copy of the movie and some stills. My Dad had a great time doing it, but the hours were long. They used a shot of his "wing tip" shoes on the floor pedals and a shot of his hand shifting gears. For one of the scenes they had to removed the front bumper and tow the car with a flatbed and camera equipment while shooting a couple inside the car.

He loved it and I hope I get the same opportunity.

Gator,
The Michigan film producer is looking for a car from the 60s, 70s, possibly from the 80s. He wants something that looks "Bad" muscle car with large trunk area? Doesn't want any bright color paint jobs. This makes it difficult as most everyone around here has a bright colored muscle car. I think he is trying to keep the car from being the major point of interest. Not many in the Lower Michigan Region VCCA has anything close to what he wants. He doesn't have much time left as the car he was going to use is laid up and will not be ready.

Any word on when this movie is going to be on?