"Yep, that's someone dressed in a chicken suit" is certainly not a phrase I would have imagined would be coming out of my mouth on a regular basis… but… it does! This past Saturday we finished up shooting the Picture Me, Loving You project (YAY!!), and this was one of the more visible shoots we've done so far; always entertaining. Shot at the Methodist Church in Cades Cove, on a particularly crowded Saturday morning no less, there were plenty of on-lookers. Most just looked at us as though we were crazy, some honked and waved as they drove by, and a small handful stuck around to see what in the world was going on. We actually managed to con a few of them into being in the photos with us, which was totally awesome. As Chris mentioned last week, the outfits always make people curious.
It wasn't just Market Square and Cades Cove on a busy Saturday that we've had spectators though (though those were particularly funny). On a random weeknight in a back alley in Knoxville, we had a van full of people drive by four times before they finally just stopped and watched what we were doing. We waved and carried on. I guess it isn't every day you see someone dressed in a chicken outfit, and another person dressed in a horse outfit. Additionally, I think Chris sort of "becomes" Starlite (the white horse with the star on his head) when he's wearing that costume, and immediately begins hamming it up. That probably has something to do with the attention as well. 🙂
Most surprising though was one of the later shoots we did. I don't want to give away too much, but the scene was shot in the middle of one of the big fields in the center of Cades Cove… it's literally not close to ANYTHING. Anyway, I didn't want to worry anyone with what we were doing, which was one of the reasons I chose the location. Everything was going good until one of those tourist helicopters flew over… and then proceded to circle overhead. I took that as a sign that the way I set it up was real enough looking to deserve a closer look. LOL I actually contacted a Park Ranger friend of mine to let her know what I had been doing, just in case someone called the Park inquiring.
Good times!!
Speaking of good times, the series starts on May 15th! I can't wait! That's Friday after next!
–Dan Thompson