Locations - Part 5 - Paramount Ranch

I looked at a new location today that may possibly work and is close enough to where lodging would not be necessary. At the present moment they are not charging a location fee so all that would have to be paid for is the Park Ranger that will be there to supervise. Depending on if we can meet our schedule in an eight hour day will determine how much less we will have to spend.

The location is not quite as deserty as I envisioned it when writing the script but due to money, some creative flexibility will be required.

The Paramount Ranch has been the location for a great number of the early westerns that established the look of the western genre in Hollywood. This is also the location that Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was shot - Colorado Springs in Southern California. A bonus with this location, besides the absence of location fees, is that it also has interiors. The entire town was built for the purpose of making movies. It is like a mini backlot specifically for westerns.

As opposed to the Universal location, the Paramount Ranch would be a distant location at 40 miles from our central location. Some of the interiors look like they will provide plenty of light to shoot with available lighting and they have direct views down the main streets of the town.


This is the first location that I have looked at that has a jail and saloon. This particular jail house is one room. For Bounty a false wall will have to be built in order to separate the jail cell from the main office. An interesting bonus to this jail house is the back wall (pictured left) is removable for the option of replacing with a similar wall to bust down for a jail break. One agreement that must be made if shooting at this location is to, obviously, return everything to it's original state or make it better.

One other thing that we will most likely have to do if we choose to shoot here is dress a few of the sets. The interiors are just that, except for the bank which has a built structure. For the saloon, which plays a major part in the story, will have to be completely dressed with saloon style doors, shelves for the liquor, bar, tables and chairs and the works.

Another possible problem that we may face is shadows. Fortunately the town has been built so that the sun rises on the east side of the street and sets on the west side but the street is also in an L shape so part of the street will be more prone to drastic shifting shadows than the other. The town seems a little bit to new for me so I think with some processing techniques, such as skip bleach or high contrast adjustments I can hide some. To cover the other part I will just need to toss a few tumble weeds on the road and dirty up the edges just a bit with dirt and leaves, to give it the feel that it has been sitting for a while.

All in all, this location was very much satisfactory and could definitely work for the film. In any case money still must be raised, but things are coming together. The four months until shooting date has already passed and time is flying by quickly.