HAMMOND, La. — After she had restored an eyesore the city was ready to tear down to its 150-year-old beauty, Louise Bostic of Hammond got an unexpected reward: it became a movie set.
A crew filming "Seconds Apart" used it for a bloody scene of Russian roulette and another scene in which actor Orlando Jones sees an apparition.
The experience included a roomful of fake blood and cooking a hot-dog lunch for Hollywood actor Orlando Jones.
Bostic said she was in her yard when a car drove up.
"This beautiful young lady got out, came up to me and asked me if a movie company could film in my house," she said. "I said of course, and she took a bunch of pictures. They were here the very next week, filming."
They were filming at her house Feb. 1 from 9 a.m. until 4 a.m. Feb. 2, and returned 12 1/2 hours later and filmed until 11 p.m.
"They used one of the rooms that was unfinished as a garage to shoot a scene," Bostic said. "Everything was very raw and bare. They were delighted with the look of it."
She said the first scene started with four teenage boys, drinking.
"One of them had a gun. He decided to play Russian roulette. He spun the barrel a couple of times and then shot himself in the head."
The other three followed suit. "So there was a lot of blood spattered everywhere," Bostic said.
The blood was red-dyed Karo syrup. On Tuesday, the crew cleaned it from doors and windows, Bostic said. "I told them not to clean the walls because I was going to put Sheetrock over it," she said. "They cleaned the floor, too, because it was really sticky."
One of the highlights of her experience, she said, was meeting Orlando Jones, one of the film's actors.
"He was such a nice young man, so very down-to-earth and courteous," she said.
Although the filmmakers had a catering company for food, Jones wanted hot dogs to eat one day, and Bostic offered to cook them for him.
"I had a toaster oven I cooked them in, and he kept coming in between scenes asking, 'Are they ready?'" she said. "I burned the buns a little bit, but he said he liked them better that way.
"He really was one of the most delightful people I've met in theater," said Bostic, who said she has been involved in the technical side of live theater.
In one of the scenes she got to watch, an apparition of a blood-covered young man comes to Jones' character and speaks about his wife.
"They filled the house with smoke," she said. "But it was a water-based smoke, so it didn't leave an odor. They did a really good job cleaning up."
She said the experience as a whole was very exciting and positive, and she would gladly do it again.
"I have a 5-year-old grandson who I write letters to," she said. "I wrote about this in one of them."
Bostic doesn't know whether the producers plan a theater release, or if the movie will go direct to video.
Bostic said that when she bought the house, it had been divided into slum apartments and left in disrepair.
"From the outside it looks finished, but there's still another year of renovations before the inside is finished," she said.
"I call it the House of Five Gables," she said. "With all it's been through, I was glad to give it a tiny bit of the immortality it deserves."
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Information from: The Daily Star, http://www.hammondstar.com
A crew filming "Seconds Apart" used it for a bloody scene of Russian roulette and another scene in which actor Orlando Jones sees an apparition.
The experience included a roomful of fake blood and cooking a hot-dog lunch for Hollywood actor Orlando Jones.
Bostic said she was in her yard when a car drove up.
"This beautiful young lady got out, came up to me and asked me if a movie company could film in my house," she said. "I said of course, and she took a bunch of pictures. They were here the very next week, filming."
They were filming at her house Feb. 1 from 9 a.m. until 4 a.m. Feb. 2, and returned 12 1/2 hours later and filmed until 11 p.m.
"They used one of the rooms that was unfinished as a garage to shoot a scene," Bostic said. "Everything was very raw and bare. They were delighted with the look of it."
She said the first scene started with four teenage boys, drinking.
"One of them had a gun. He decided to play Russian roulette. He spun the barrel a couple of times and then shot himself in the head."
The other three followed suit. "So there was a lot of blood spattered everywhere," Bostic said.
The blood was red-dyed Karo syrup. On Tuesday, the crew cleaned it from doors and windows, Bostic said. "I told them not to clean the walls because I was going to put Sheetrock over it," she said. "They cleaned the floor, too, because it was really sticky."
One of the highlights of her experience, she said, was meeting Orlando Jones, one of the film's actors.
"He was such a nice young man, so very down-to-earth and courteous," she said.
Although the filmmakers had a catering company for food, Jones wanted hot dogs to eat one day, and Bostic offered to cook them for him.
"I had a toaster oven I cooked them in, and he kept coming in between scenes asking, 'Are they ready?'" she said. "I burned the buns a little bit, but he said he liked them better that way.
"He really was one of the most delightful people I've met in theater," said Bostic, who said she has been involved in the technical side of live theater.
In one of the scenes she got to watch, an apparition of a blood-covered young man comes to Jones' character and speaks about his wife.
"They filled the house with smoke," she said. "But it was a water-based smoke, so it didn't leave an odor. They did a really good job cleaning up."
She said the experience as a whole was very exciting and positive, and she would gladly do it again.
"I have a 5-year-old grandson who I write letters to," she said. "I wrote about this in one of them."
Bostic doesn't know whether the producers plan a theater release, or if the movie will go direct to video.
Bostic said that when she bought the house, it had been divided into slum apartments and left in disrepair.
"From the outside it looks finished, but there's still another year of renovations before the inside is finished," she said.
"I call it the House of Five Gables," she said. "With all it's been through, I was glad to give it a tiny bit of the immortality it deserves."
___
Information from: The Daily Star, http://www.hammondstar.com
