"Friday Night Light", film crew moving on...

"Friday Night Lights" correspondent Teresa McMahan checks in with a report about the final days of filming in Odessa:

Filming Moves On for Friday Night Lights
by TMcMahan
Copyright © 2004 Teresa McMahan
The filming crew of "Friday Night Lights" officially moved on to Houston on Saturday, March 27th to complete the filming of the movie. However, on Thursday March 25th, the drivers along Highway 18 between Monahans and Kermit might have thought they had seen the caravan leaving from Odessa to the Astrodome via Highway 18. Granted, Houston is east and this highway probably isn't the most direct path to Houston, but it looked good for the shots that the filming crew was taking.

The scene was supposed to be a caravan of the "Mojo," faithful following the football players' bus from Odessa to Houston.

We were supposed to report on the location at 1:30 pm, but as usual, we didn't start filming until after 5:30 pm. I was assured by casting that we would be finished by 6:30 pm, but fortunately, I had already learned my lesson about relying on their time table. Hollywood time and Texas time are in no way related. We finished a little before 10:00 pm. Of course, those times don't include the time spent driving to and from the location. If we had been told to take the Kermit Highway to Highway 18 and meet there, it wouldn't have been much of an effort to arrive safely and in one piece, but I decided that we were given the direction to the location of the shoot based on how the film crew had taken to find this location-Hollywood style. To truly appreciate these directions, you have to see them:

Take 42nd street to Hwy.. 302 and turn right; go 23.5 miles, then right past the Winkler County Line marker, turn left onto Hwy. 307 and go 8 miles (which, by the way, is a dirt road most of the way); then, when you hit Hwy. 404, go right (still a dirt road and, incidentally, right is the only way you can go, otherwise you end up in a pasture with a herd of cows) for 8.3 miles until you see a cattle guard on the right with the Friday Night Lights crew beside it.

I lost count of how many cattle guards I crossed over or went by, but thankfully, the crew was there and I didn't end up lost out in the middle of no where. Little did I know at that point, that Hwy. 18 was just a few more miles up the dirt road. I really thought that I was so far in the middle of nowhere that my cell phone would be useless when I got lost and ran out of gas. It was at that point that I understood why the casting folks told me to fill the car up with gas before I left Odessa. Silly me, I thought they were just being friendly. After miles and miles in a restored (once clean) Mustang, I arrived safely, and eventually, shooting began.

I must admit, they did capture the west Texas environment. This is the"parking lot" for this shoot:

And, of course, nothing but the best for the extras!! Here is the extras "housing":

But, in the end, I think it was all worth it. I discovered that the point of waiting so long to film was to get our west Texas sunsets and, I am pleased to say, the sights didn't let the film crew down:

So, that is how it all ended. I met so many great west Texas people and enjoyed getting to know several of them quite well. Sitting on the set for up to 16 hours per day gives people a great deal of time to get acquainted with each other. Meeting the stars was fun, but meeting many of my west Texas neighbors was much more interesting, rewarding and special than I could have ever guessed. So, even with all of the long, cold and wet hours, and the long, dusty and bumpy roads, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

So, no matter how the movie turns out, I know for me and many other people, it was a wonderful adventure.

Universal Logo

Friday Night Lights Logo

Lighting Truck (it really was brighter than normal at Ratliff)

Mock Practice sign made for Ratliff (no, they really practice at Permian, but for the movie, they had them practicing at Ratliff)

directions for all of us lost extras

directors'/actors' chairs

AND finally, my dogs, Lucy and Lacy, wondering if I had totally lost my mind coming in at daybreak!!