The First Van Sighting
Three girls cruised the block in a Dodge Grand Caravan. Behind the wheel is Liz Shipe. Riding along are Savannah and Cassidy—R. Michael Gull’s daughters. He played Otto and would later carjack them.
Initially the van was casually dropped-in like another neighbor driving by.
Actors: R. Michael Gull, Joseph Janswig, Liz Shipe, Savannah Gull, and Cassidy Gull.
The Second Van Sighting
Fast forward through the foot chase scenes. We land smack in a crossroad face-off between Otto and “The Man in the Mask”. Otto is without bullets and must escape.
Down the block the van pulls up and is greeted with Otto’s gun in the driver’s face.
The Threat Of Violence
This scene hit hardest for me. The threat of violence felt real. The trio in the van nailed their roles perfectly.
The previous martial arts bits were just playful fun to create. The kitchen shootout was all “bang bang” fake effects.
But this moment was pure intensity. Pure raw emotions of fear. Otto brandishing the prop gun while moving in sync with Dirk van Sloten’s steadicam work elevated the moment. The danger hit hard in a flash.
Actors: R. Michael Gull, Joseph Janswig, Liz Shipe, Savannah Gull, and Cassidy Gull.
P.S. Co-director Christopher Kuiper painted different messages on the windows for both scenes. I doubt the messages were noticed from afar. This continuity glitch did not bother me a bit.
