Lights, Camera, Hallmark

 This morning, for the second morning in a row, I left the hotel room in mid morning while Ginger was at work in an office in the high rise next door. It was my new habit, to grab a blueberry danish and a second cup of coffee at the little bakery that is on the other side of the boulevard of Main Street, about one block up from the hotel.

As I crossed the street catty-corner to the block where the bakery is located, I noticed the sidewalk going up the walk was filled with the people setting up equipment and pulling out hoses. There were fake Christmas trees standing along the street, beside large vans that I recognized as the type belonging to a film crew working on location. All of the dozens of workers were wearing masks, which was probably required of them for being on the job site.

As I walked up the sidewalk towards the bakery I saw that the windows of the businesses, even the vacant ones, were filled with Christmas decorations including large white paper snowflakes. The planters along the street were laden with white mesh cloth that simulated fake snow.

Putting it all together, I realized it was almost certainly  a location shooting for a Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel (which turned out to be exactly correct, as I learned after querying one of the crew members). Salt Lake City is one of their favorite locations that stand in for various small towns across North America.

 I have mentioned on the blog here how Ginger and I enjoy these movies at Christmastime, and how the Hallmark Channel especially is impeccable in their props and art direction, as one would expect from their brand. I noticed that a tiny jewelers next to the bakery was especially carefully decorated with extra Christmas garlands, no doubt as part of the story.

Inside the bakery the woman asked me if I was getting something to take out. I later realized this was because they were going to use the bakery as part of the story.

While walking back from hotel (which is when I finally was bold enough to disturb one of the crew members for information, thinking that the lowest ranking ones would be the most friendly), I saw the notice that indicated that a crowd scene was being filmed, and that anyone who lingered there would be giving their legal permission to be filmed and recorded as an extra in the movie. 

For a moment I considered hanging out, just to be in the movie as an extra. It would add to my credits that include being in the audience at the TCM film festival in 2014, in a clip that is aired from time to time. 

But I know from experience of my roommate in Austin that these things can last all day. I would leave the work to professional extras. I can still watch the filming from the window of the sixth floor hotel room in which I am typing this. From time to time I look out and see the small clump of extras swing around the corner and begin walking up towards the bakery. The extras are not wearing masks. In Christmas movies, we don't want to see that.

Even though I'm not going to be in the movie itself, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the movie next December, and will look out for the bakery and the jewelers with its April Christmas decorations.. The friendly crew member told me the movie is to be called "Christmas at the Madison."  Here is the imdb entry. It's a two-parter!