PART SEVEN - THAT'S A WRAP
"With Winter 2006 approaching, we still had a few scenes that had eluded us for various reasons. For most, the reason was location. Four very important scenes remained unfilmed, and it was because we either were unable to return to a certain location or we couldn’t find a suitable and workable location to film them in. But they were all scenes that were very important to the film. We couldn’t go without them. So despite our original deadline of October 2006 to complete the filming, we carried on in search for the perfect locations to use.”
As it happened, luck was on the production team’s side. The first of the scenes to be filmed would be the Newark School scene. “This was a short scene, but it was one of Johnny’s earliest shots. I believe it’s actually the second scene in the film that Johnny appears in so it was important to get it right.” The crew had originally planned to film this scene back in July during their session at the Historical Village Museum, but plans were quickly changed. “The Village doesn’t have a proper schoolhouse as of yet. We’ve heard talk that they’re in the process of acquiring one, but that didn’t help us at the time. We had thoughts of converting the church that’s on the grounds into a schoolhouse, but after scoping the place out we realized that no matter where you point the camera or what angle you shoot at, a church is still going to look like a church even when packed full of kids.” So the search was on to find a proper schoolhouse to film in. “There isn’t many 19th Century schoolhouses left in existence, and the few that do remain have either been remodeled and modernized or didn’t want camera crews inside. I’d contacted them all. And then, one day, I got a email back from a wonderful lady named Emily Larson from the Ohio Historical Society who was the curator of Grant’s Schoolhouse in Georgetown, Ohio. She said that they would be more than happy to have us film in their museum! Our problems were solved and we got to film in a true National Landmark – the actual school where General (and later President of the United States) Ulysses S. Grant went.”
Cast Photo at Grant's Schoolhouse - December 3rd, 2006
Filming at Grant's Schoolhouse - December 3rd, 2006
Filming was scheduled for December 3rd, 2006 and required the need for star Cody Piper to slip back into his early civilian clothing that he wore when filming began nearly a year and a half before. “By this time Cody had grown almost a foot taller, and was nearly busting out of the pants that were made for him. He’d matured a lot in that short time, but fortunately he was only required to sit at a desk for the scene but a close eye can tell the time difference between this and all the other early shots.” For this session, Cody was joined once again by Maisie Waters playing his sister Lizzie and Wesley Whited playing his brother Louis. This would be their final scene for the film.
With three shots still remaining, the production would break for the holidays. However, their projected release date of Memorial Day 2007 was quickly approaching. “It was around this time that we began to realize that it would be impossible to complete the film as we wanted it by that date,” states David. “Fortunately, the date had never been set in stone and had only appeared on the early publicity posters that we had displayed on our website. Both Wayne and I discussed this long and hard and it was decided to move the date to a more manageable and realistic time.” With a new date set of November 10th, 2007, the crew would use their wintertime off to find the suitable locations for the remaining shots needed to complete the film. “We still had that troublesome train scene to complete. I spent a good portion of 2006 traveling around Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and even Michigan looking for a suitable passenger train car to use. There just isn’t any left. The earliest I could find was from the 1920’s era and the style and look is just too different to use. I was about to give up when I discovered that there was a usable passenger car practically right in my back yard!” Having heard that there were cars on display at the Carillon Park located near downtown Dayton, Ohio, Wayne quickly rushed up to take a look. “I stepped into the building and there it was right in front of me. The most perfect passenger car I’ve ever seen. Beautifully preserved. The only problem was that it was on display INSIDE the building. I wasn’t going to let that stop me.” Permission was quickly obtained to film at Carillon Park and another call for reenactors to fill the car was sent out for February 3rd, 2007.
“We needed the car to be moving at top speed down the track, but this car was firmly planted inside the building,” says Wayne. “So I knew we were going to need two things. Enough lighting equipment to brighten the building up to daylight proportions and a huge greenscreen to place outside the windows so that moving background could be keyed in during post-production”. Both were brought in and set up the morning of the 3rd while the crew waited to see if any reenactors would show up. “It was the dead of winter at this time. Freezing bitter cold and about two feet of snow on the ground. Usually at this time most reenactors put their suits in mothballs until the spring and don’t show their faces until it’s warm again.” However, the numbers they would receive would be triple the amount they needed for the shot. “There were so many people! This was the last shot needed for the film that would require background extras and it seems like everyone within three state radius showed up to help out. We only expected to fill up half the passenger car but we had enough people to fill every seat on board, plus a dozen standing up, plus another dozen in the back, and another dozen standing off to the side because we were out of room in the car. It was amazing to have so many people come out in the cold to help us. You really get the sense of scale in the scenes, with that many extras in the background.”
Filming at Carillon Park - February 3rd, 2007
Returning after nearly a year away was Jack Dolezal as Johnny’s father Roman. “It was great to see Jack and Cody back together in a scene again. They really work together well and we were happy to be able to get him back again to finish his scenes.”
As Spring 2007 approached, post-production was in full swing on the film. “By this time we had everything except for a couple of unfinished scenes, so we began the long and difficult process of editing the film together into a coherent film. We had literally dozens of hours of footage to go through.” But by May 2007, the finished product began to form. “By Memorial Day, we had all of Cody’s narration recorded for the documentary. However, we were still lacking a main narrator. Our first two choices for the part didn’t pan out, so we were back on the road looking for just the right voice to carry the film”
Narration recording - August 7th, 2007
“Our new deadline for filming was now June 2007 and we knew that everything had to be done by this time in order to finish post-production by the November release date.” This time their newly set date of November 10, 2007 was set in stone, and David and Wayne unveiled their project for the first time to the public on Memorial Day 2007 at the Johnny Clem Breakfast in Newark, Ohio. “This is where we were going to originally premiere the film, during the weekend where they celebrate Johnny’s life in his hometown of Newark.” They team premiered the full official trailer that weekend to the public, and were met with enthusiastic praise. The week after, the trailer made its debut on the internet, and can be viewed in full from their official website www.historicalproductionsinc.com.
June 2007 began with the crew making plans for finishing the production of the film during a tense and fast-paced weekend of filming on June 23rd and 24th. Only two scenes remained – the first was Johnny’s return home from the war to be greeted by his father, and the second was his mother’s fatal injury on the railroad tracks. “We had originally intended to film the last scene between Johnny and his father back in Sharonville with Johnny returning home to meet his father standing at the door to the house. But we could never arrange a working schedule for that shoot, se we had to improvise and find a new location.” Their new location would be in Lebanon, Ohio in front of the Historic Train Station located near downtown. “It was a quick shoot. We got there very early in the morning in order to avoid the downtown traffic and public. It’s a beautiful scene and works very well.”
Lebanon filming with Jack Dolezal and Cody Piper - June 23rd, 2007
The team then traveled back to the Newark area to attend once again the reenactment taking place over the weekend at the Infirmary Mound Park. “No scenes were needed there, but there were short clips that needed to be filmed to fill small holes in the editing of the film. Things like soldiers doing camp chores, younger soldiers, soldiers eating, sitting around the campfire, etc.” We were only there for a few hours but managed to get everything we needed. And it was great publicity as everyone had heard of the film by now and was very eager to learn how it was all going.”
And with the final scene in the can, the production was wrapped. Two years of filming, travel, frustration and friendship had produced the film that the makers had sought to tell. “We hope that everyone will get the sense of wonder and loyalty that Johnny Clem had. We wanted to show the true story of Johnny’s life, beyond the tall tales and newspaper storied that embellished his career with the army. Johnny Clem was a true hero and an American legend. We very proud to have been able to accomplish this story of his life on film.”
Recording the final scene - June 24th, 2007
Their final scene to be shot would be located upstate in Auglaize County, Ohio just south of the town of Saint Marys. “There isn’t many old-style railroad tracks left in the state. We spent days looking for the first tracks we used nearly two years before and those were ripped up and destroyed only months after we used them. The problem is finding tracks that don’t have telephone poled running next to them. Fortunately, we found a few upstate. Terri Fisher returned to play Johnny’s mother Magdalene once again. “Johnny’s mother was hit by a train. I’ve been asked how this could have happened by many people and in this day of age it’s hard to believe that anyone could be hit by a train but it happened. Of course, we couldn’t show the train hitting her. We’ve had to be very ingenious with our camera angles to get the feel of the event.”
And with the final scene in the can, the production was wrapped. Two years of filming, travel, frustration and friendship had produced the film that the makers had sought to tell. “We hope that everyone will get the sense of wonder and loyalty that Johnny Clem had. We wanted to show the true story of Johnny’s life, beyond the tall tales and newspaper storied that embellished his career with the army. Johnny Clem was a true hero and an American legend. We very proud to have been able to accomplish this story of his life on film.”