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Friday, September 11, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
KANSAS
Photos by LISA JONES Story by VIRGINIA McGRATH
"Quit on the set!" "Sound speaker." "Rolling . . .
Action!"
At 10 a.m., three hours after extras arrived on the set of the movie "Kansas," cameras were finally rolling. The set, a large farm and farmhouse, is about 15 miles outside of Lawrence.
Actor Andrew McCarthy, perched on top of a big, green John Deere tractor, watched while extras, dressed as members of the press, were given instructions for a scene.
"This is supposed to be a press conference, so everyone ask a lot of questions all at once. And keep it up till I yell, 'cut.' And watch out for the cameramen, because they can't watch for you," director David Stevens told the extras.
After several rehearsals of the scene and three takes, the scene was finished.
Later that afternoon, on the other side of the house, a party at the farmhouse was being filmed. All the principal actors and more than 100 extras were costumed and ready for filming one of the biggest scenes of the day.
A large tent was set up on the lawn. Extras, elegantly dressed as invited guests, mingled under the tent. Reporters were stationed throughout the lawn, and "Crescent County" highway patrolmen lined the long drive, all awaiting the arrival of the "governor" and his family.
chen
"Oaf," yelled Stevens. "Places." And the whole thing was reflamed, several times.
in front of the house
Reporters and guests ran up to the car as the governor and his family got out and were introduced. The crowd cheered.
family "Action!" velled the director. As uniformed waitresses circulated amongst the guests with hors d'oeuvres and glasses of champagne (actually ginger ale), the governor's black Cadillac, led and followed by highway patrol cars with lights flashing, raced up the drive and stopped in front of the house.
was refiled, several times.
Filmmakers and actors were on the set for 12 hours. At the end of the day, they had tramped through mud, lugged equipment, and set around, made several costume changes, and had done take after take of the same five scenes, all for a total of about eight minutes of screen time.
time.
Mimi Wickliff, who plays one of the principal characters, said movie-making always was time consuming. "There's a lot of sitting and waiting. And then all of a sudden they say they need you, and you're on, and then they're done," she said.
Lawrence. Filming is scheduled to be completed Sept. 23 or 24, Bahrenburg said. The movie will be released next summer.
The movie has been filmed entirely in Kansas. Other locations have included Valley Falls, Edgerton, the Osage County fair and several other farms outside of Lawrence.
Bruce Bahrenburg, the movie's publicist, said the Lawrence area was chosen as the movie's location for several reasons. "Lawrence is central to an airport. And it's a university town. That makes it more pleasant there than anywhere else. And it's got Liberty Hall," Bahrenburg said.
Clockwise from top: Director of photography David Egby sizes up the set before filming the next scene of the motion picture "Kansas," which is being filmed in and around Lawrence. Andrew McCarthy, Matt Dillon and Leslie Hope play the lead characters in the movie. Laughter breaks the seriousness of light, sound and camera checks during a scene rehearsal. Andrea Moreau, Lawrence sophomore, an extra in the movie, listens carefully to the instructions of director David Stevens. Annie Kellogs, acting as the governor's daughter, gives a hero's welcome to McCarthy, whose character rescues her from drowning.