Cinematographer Derek Van Gorder got into Park City yesterday, and he and I spent the day scouting the surrounding area for interesting filming locations.  Of course, the scouting process is fairly speculative when you have no idea what the story will be — but what we quickly discovered was that each potential location entails a story.  It was impossible for us to discuss a piece of scenery or an interesting building without starting to dream up the kinds of scenarios that might play out there.  But — I hasten to add — we didn’t settle on anything!  That would be cheating.  Spitballing, that’s all it was.  Really fun spitballing in really cool settings.

Our first stop was Evanston, WY, just across the Utah/Wyoming border.  Derek spotted the Prairie Inn as soon as we got off the highway, and sure enough, it’s a hell of location.  It’s iconic, distinctive, and gently surreal; in many, it feels more like a film set than an actual place.  If we don’t end up shooting something there, I will experience a bit of heartache …

Exterior of the Prairie Inn...

... and the interior. Moody!

Next we pulled off the highway at an exit marked “NO SERVICES” (I love those signs!) and bumbled our way down a rough dirt road, jouncing and bouncing and vaguely wondering if we were even allowed to be there.  But I guess we were!  No sign said otherwise, and no one stopped to bother us, so we decided we were in the clear.

A man in a landscape. Timeless.

Some pretty rocks.

A little ways farther down I-80, we spotted what looked like a massive car graveyard running up a hillside.  We pulled in and discovered it was some kind of salvage yard — but one that, as a sign on a fence informed us, was definitely not open for business.

Is there anything more desolate than a junkyard that's CLOSED?

It looked like someone was living there, but no one came out and questioned us, so we remained unenlightened.  We’ll have to do some research on who owns the place.  It’s a really extraordinary spot — possibly the coolest thing we saw all day — and I’m already aching to shoot there.

Upon arrival back in Park City, we met up with our fabulous production assistant, Gabi Madsen, who’d been holed up at a Starbucks making calls about an audition space for Thursday.  Just as we arrived, she was finalizing a reservation at the Salt Lake City Main Library — a huge building famous for its impressive architecture.  Success!  Gabi joined us for the last of the day’s scouting, as we walked around Park City and photographed points of interest in the dimming evening light.

Gabi and I face off under different colors of light.

Tomorrow, the location scout continues in Salt Lake City, after which we’ll pick up Mike at the airport, grab dinner, and go see Inception.  Because it just needs to be done.

More photos when we’ve got ‘em!  And stay tuned for our write-up of the audition, too.

-KB