Today's image is titled "Making Madison, the movie" and was photographed by Kristian Knutsen.
While major films might include scenes shot in town every so often (such as exterior and interiors of the Capitol in the 1996 action dud Chain Reaction), and others are even set here (like last year's The Last Kiss), no recent major feature-length film has really been fully set in Madison, with the intent of capturing its ethos as a city. Well, excepting the fictional "Grand Lakes University" in Back to School, that is.
A pair of independent filmmakers are setting out to change this, though, with their production of Madison, a contemporary drama that looks at the retreat of an Iraq War-weary journalist who returns to the beer-soaked nurture of his famously progressive collegiate hometown. The two are producer Nicholas Langholff and director Brent Notbohm, whose roots as employees at the American Players Theatre blossomed nearly a decade later into this film. The production has been busy around town over the last two weeks, shooting various scenes at well known landmarks and watering holes throughout the heart of the city.
On the evening of Thursday, Jan. 18, the production was shooting at the intersection of Frances and State Streets between the University Inn and State Street Brats. Notbohm and a small crew were shooting an outdoor scene with two cameras, one at ground level and another perched atop a ladder in Brats' beer garden. The atmosphere of this shoot looked to be professional and mostly relaxed, with this set-up moving into the hotel following completion.
Isthmus staff writer Tom Laskin looked at Madison, the movie in the Dec. 29 edition of the paper, with a mid-shoot update provided by Doug Moe in last Tuesday's edition of the Cap Times. More details can also be found in a feature published in Screen Magazine.
There is a larger version of the photo in the gallery at right.
This is the latest entry of Madison Snaps: photos of Madison-area events and locations. The Isthmus group photo pool is the primary source for Madison Snaps, which are published here with the permission of individual contributors. If you are interested in having your photo eligible for Madison Snaps, please respond to the posting on the Flickr group page, or send a message. There is no compensation for Madison Snaps photos, which are © to the respective photographers.
