Local filmmaker Eight Foot Squid Productions shooting for their “Wedding” film at a local location with local actors and a local crew. That shrub? Local shrub.

“Quiet on the set. Rolling. Wedding, scene two B, take one. Action.”

With a sharp whap of the clapboard, a white 1995 Ford F250 tears down the residential Elk Mound street, tires squealing, only to be thrown in reverse and whipped into a driveway, sending up a thick cloud of dust in its wake.

“Cut!” calls director Ryan Peterson. “Perfect. Beautiful. Do it again.”

Wedding is the working title for the second feature-length film by local production company, Eight Foot Squid Productions (their first being Fenris Unchained, and they also were at the helm of the Decadent Cabaret documentary) and is the brainchild of Executive Producer Jason Boehm.

The storyline goes as follows: Dutch and Mary go on a blind date together, and their friends Jordan and DJ play wingmen to enhance the comfort zone. But while Dutch and Mary’s date fails horribly, Jordan and DJ hit it off famously.

Associate Producer Aaron Rigby says, “They meet purely by chance, and it becomes a whirlwind romance that leads into trying to steal a wedding.”

“They have this drunken scheme that they want to get married,” Peterson adds. “But they don’t have their own wedding; they try to infiltrate somebody else’s wedding by jumping onstage just as they’re saying ‘I do,’ and be the people that get married. From there, it’s the consequences that follow.”

Between takes, Peterson runs lines with the actors, making suggestions when needed, and discussing how the scene should look. “My job is to work with the actors, to try and get them into character,” Peterson explains. “I also monitor the shot, make sure the technical stuff looks good, like camera movement, actor movement … make sure there’s not a boom mic hanging into it. I call how often we do a shot, to make sure we get good delivery, good visuals, and everything.”

    The day I observed their filming, many of the scenes followed Dutch, a character with a Jack Black-meets-Zach Galifianakis-from-The Hangover quality about him. Actor Joe Schultz explains that his inspiration for the character’s voice and mannerisms came from the cartoon The Adventure Brothers, specifically the character Sergeant Hatred. “He has this weird way of talking, like he puts accents on weird parts of the words, and has this real gruff voice.”

Shooting for the Wisconsin-based romantic comedy started in early August, and hopes to be done with principle photography by the last weekend of August.

Eight Foot Squid Productions is funded vastly by private donations. Rigby said, “Basically, what they do is donate film money to Eight Foot Squid, and end up buying a common share. They are then the first people to get paid out when the film makes profit.”

The movie also has a batch of advertising investors, such as the Bridal Shoppe on London Road, which provided them with dresses and tuxedos, as well as The Red Parrot, a shooting location that is helping provide extras.

Because of the small budget, the crew has to do some things differently. The dolly, lighting, and many other tools needed for filming are improvised creations; they often use supplies from hardware stores. The crew is also forced to film exclusively on weekends, as many of the cast and crew have other jobs.

Upon completion this fall, the filmmakers will employ a few different tactics for distribution. Rigby said, “We’re trying to run deals with various local theaters, see if we can get in, even if it’s only for a day. Otherwise its mainly film festivals.”