Mr. DeMille, they are ready for their close-up. A half dozen Beatrice Police officers put on their uniforms for a different reason earlier this month.
Instead of patrolling the streets, the officers shot two scenes in a movie being made by Beatrice High School graduate and California-based filmmaker Chris Lofing.
The movie, a horror film tentatively titled "The Gallows," is set in Beatrice, Lofing explained, surrounding the mysterious deaths of several students at a local high school.
Using real Beatrice officers in the film adds to the movie's authenticity in that the police are able to simply be themselves in front of the camera, Lofing said.
"I approached Investigator (Erin) Byrne in the summer," Lofing said. "I showed him the trailer we had worked on for this project and told him kind of what I wanted to do."
"The Gallows" is Lofing's second foray into the horror flick genre. Previously, Lofing filmed a horror movie in high school with friends. His latest project falls more in line with the "real-footage" scary movies like the "Paranormal Activity" series, he said.
"This film is different in that it is presented as a real event," Lofing said. "All this footage is real, kind of like a 'Paranormal Activity' or a 'Blair Witch.'"
Originally, Lofing and his collaborators shot a trailer for the movie which they showed to investors in California. The movie began shooting in Fresno, Calif., before Lofing packed up his production and drove back to Beatrice.
During the shoot on Jan. 20, Lofing provided notes to the police-actors, taking seven takes for one scene where police begin their investigation in the Tony Lenners Room at the department.
The police performed their roles well for not having formal acting training, Lofing said.
"They don't have to act, they just have to be themselves and ignore the camera," Lofing added. "That's what an actor tries to do, they try to make it look as normal as possible and obviously some actors are great at that and some are not, but if you can find a person who is good at being themselves, you get that realistic performance."
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Information from: Beatrice Daily Sun, http://beatricedailysun.com
