Friday, December 23, 2011

Out of the Past "Too" (The Camping Spot)

The time has come for my little secret to become public. Let me preface this with saying that this is one I have been promising a number of you for the past couple of years. I have hinted about it on this blog at some points. I have equally anticipated and dreaded doing this one. I really have wanted to present this on the blog. However, the problem is I was never satisfied with the pictures and videos I took at the locations for this one. I have literally been back to the same places over the years many times at different times of the year. Sometimes the weather would not be the best. Other times the lighting would not be that great. Then there would be people sitting, parking, fishing, etc. in the exact places I needed to take pictures or video. So, my attitude was that I would have to come back the next day, the next week, or the next year. The result is I really burned out on doing this one.

When I first starting doing videos online I used to just improvise as I went along. As I started to take the process a little more seriously as a long term venture, I started to "script" things a little more. I would watch the movie or read up on where I was going. I would plan out in my head what I needed to do and approximately what needed to be said. Inserting videos within videos takes some planning too in order to make sure how much time I need while shooting the video. So with this in mind, with me constantly going back to some of these places, saying the same things, shooting the same type of video over and over...I got really sick of it. The nice thing though is I will show some of the same spots at different times of the year so it gives you different looks at the scenery.

During the next few days through Christmas I will be showing my sequel to the Out of the Past (OOTP) locations I did a few years ago. However, this series of blogs has really nothing to do with that movie. Or does it? The deal is that the director, Jacques Tourneur, came back to some of the same spots ten years later to film a movie called Nightfall in 1957. It stars Aldo Ray. Much like OOTP, this movie has flashbacks that take place. Although I would not consider Nightfall as good of a movie as OOTP, but I do think it should be seen at least once.

A key spot in Nightfall is this one:Now in the above picture, if I walk down about 10-15 ft. and look to my right I get the place Robert Mitchum was fishing at in the beginning of OOTP.In Nightfall, Aldo Ray and his friend the doctor are on a hunting and fishing camping trip. BTW, the setting is in Wyoming, and just about everyone that I have seen write something about this movie seems to think that is where these scenes were filmed at. In fairness, they are just going along with the setting given in the movie. Many years ago I saw a picture of this movie. Not this exact one, but one like this that showed the background. I knew it was an Eastern Sierra location, and I knew it was quite familiar. I could not place exactly where it was at though. Then it came to me, "Oh! The director just came to the exact same area and shot it at a different angle. A 'totally new location'". It took me a while, but I did finally see the movie to verify everything.From the Robert Mitchum fishing spot, I just continued moving another 15 feet or so and I encountered these trees. Normally, I do not like to use trees because they can be unreliable. Especially in dealing with movies that are over 50 years old where new trees can come up. I have had some luck in the past using them instead. This is one of those cases. I was very surprised to see the exact same trees are still around here. See how the tree on the left does not come straight up, but is slightly tilted. The angle of that tree is exactly how it was in 1957 movie. I was amazed when I originally verified this one. I will be coming back to this spot in an upcoming blog since an important event happens here in the movie. In the meantime, I just wanted to show a different look on how Sawtooth Ridge was on this day. In the movie, if you really pay attention, you can see Sawtooth Ridge. Unfortunately, the mountain that I use in the picture at the top of my blog can't be seen from this angle in the movie. In my pictures you really can't see Sawtooth Ridge because of the clouds blotting them out that day.
A close-up of a another ridge that you can see in the above picture.
Just a note, the video for this part of this series will be entered here in the next few days. Let me apologize now for any mistakes I will probably make during this series. Give me some time to edit and correct whatever typos and the way I word things. BTW, "Too" in this context is not typo. lol! ;) During the next few days I have a bunch of family Christmas events I will be going to. I do intend to be on the blog each day to enter something new, but I will be doing them rather quickly and then coming back to them when I finish up this series.

Out of the Past "Too" (Youtube Version)

Out of the Past "Too" (Vimeo Version)