Mansfield past and present used as a backdrop in surrealistic film

People driving downtown on North Main Street earlier this month may have seen an actor on the sidewalk and a shiny, red, 1961 Cadillac driving by the Coney Island Diner.

Stephen Engh of Ontario, who is a director and producer with Purple Glove Productions, based at Braintree Business Development Center, is filming a movie about two drifters in the night.

The film is called, "Where Decades Go to Die."

He and colleagues Ethan Kershner and Pete Stevens of Mansfield have been filming scenes for their 30-minute movie all over Mansfield and the surrounding areas. The filmmakers kicked off the project in May 2021 and have worked tirelessly during 2022 and this year.

Everyone working on the movie is local, including the makeup artist David Greathouse of Crestline.

Engh, who characterized the project as a surrealistic picture, and who has a background in engineering and filmmaking, has used specific photographic lenses for his film project, taking photographs inside old buildings, utilizing the rustbelt, or remnants from Mansfield's peak industrial heyday.

Seeks to create 'a dark realm'

"If you look at a map of the rustbelt, Mansfield is just like dead center in it," he said. "This region is so overlooked. and I think there's sort of a dark realm to it and I think that's what we wanted to create."

Engh and his colleagues have taken great care to choose specific angles when they film, adding period props and dark yet beautiful locations to set the film in the peak decades of the city's industrialism, contrasting it with the way it is now. He said there are several layers to the film.

Filming is taking place at the right time, he said from his office at Braintree, because a lot of it will be gone soon.

"I've always loved photographing old spaces, it's a kind of nostalgic thing for me. When we were kids we'd always explore spaces," he said.

The film is based on a story Stevens, who writes under the pseudonym of Eleanor Grape, wrote. Stevens of Mansfield also serves as a personal assistant to Engh.

Emgh described the project as, "Two illiterate drifters tear through a post-industrial Ohio nightscape, like phantoms of a strange retro post-war America limbo realm, local spirits from an older time without memory. What on the surface may seem to be a mix of obscure humor and outlandishness, or a surrealist piece lacking explanation, is on a deeper level a commentary and exploration of dreams, nightmares and the passing of time in the rust belt. 'Decades' aims to contrast the young and old, the cliché with the nontraditional, and what once was with what is ― pitted chrome, stainless steel, cigarettes and a dark inversion of the American dream, painted with '40s '50s and '60s aesthetics from someone who never experienced these eras."

There are a few specific things the filmmakers wish to find including locations.

"If there's an abandoned cabin from before the '50s or a bar that at least has the potential to look from before the '50s we need to know. Also, we're always looking for anything vacant, abandoned, forgotten and or anything that would qualify as a 'liminal space.'" he said. In terms of actors, the filmmakers are looking for obscure/distinguished-looking men over age 40.

As for their inner circle:

Trayce Wilcox plays one of the two main lead roles, "Frankie Jay," and the entire film really is a recount of of the narrator's encounter with Frankie, Engh said.

"His character requires special prosthetic makeup. It takes at least a couple hours to get him completely into makeup," he added. "Trayce is 25 years old and is an animator, cartoonist and digital artist and has studied under our local performing arts program."

Ethan (Kershner), 24, plays the other main character, a questionable narrator with a self proclaimed memory condition. He's developed some of the sound design for the film and is a musician. The name of his solo project is Indoor Model. He also studied under the performing arts program.

Engh, 25, said for a very long time he has been been obsessed with media, art, stories and fantasy.

"My favorite filmmakers are Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch and favorite artists are Hieronymus Bosch, Francis Bacon and Salvador Dali. I really just want to evoke the same sense of wonder in people and give something unique back to the world. To produce the film I created a production company and named it Purple Glove Productions as a homage to the film and my friend Peter who wrote the initial story this was adapted from," Engh said.

"Peter (Stevens) has cryptically requested that he remain anonymous and asked to be referred to by his pen name and alter ego, Eleanor Grape," Engh said. "He developed this story off and on over the course of years often while traveling before passing it to me to develop into a screenplay. He's started a business and writing circle recently called Daisy Ellen Writing Group. He is also a musician," Engh said.

Engh said since the project is not finished, he wanted to keep some of the details private surrounding the film. The film features old music from days gone by and also original music by friend Jonathan Thompson who recently moved from Mansfield to Portland.

Film looks 'goofy' and 'scary' at the same time

"On the surface level, it's on the goofy level, slapstick, and it also is scary at the same time," Engh said.

The setting is very important, like "The Sopranos" is very New Jersey, Engh said. "Twin Peaks" is very Northwestern just as "True Detective" with Woody Harrelson is that little part of Louisiana, he added.

Filming locations to date have included the former Westinghouse building, which was just demolished last month on East Fifth Street; a country road in Ashland County, the Bissman building on North Diamond Street, the Springmill Drive-In and the fifth floor of the Westinghouse building on East Fourth Street.

Engh is serious about his work, always thinking about lighting and audio, even making his own noise box on a friend's old acoustic guitar. He draws his inspirations from many Hollywood films and directors.

The film, when completed, will be shown at film festivals and streamed on the Internet.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Film is based on story that writer Pete Stevens of Mansfield wrote.