Designing in the Desert

Monday, October 8th, 2007
by Stefani Batson, production designer

When Brett and Brian pitched ‘Coyote’ I couldn’t stop thinking about it. After many years in this industry, I was finally intrigued and excited about a job. I ignored the short prep time, low budget and deferred pay and set off for the tragically beautiful Sonoran Desert. Some days were amazingly serendipitous, others extremely frustrating. Our small crew spent every waking minute together and, yes, we became as close as family, but who doesn’t want to beat the crap out of their brother every once and while?

The essence of ‘Coyote’ was inspired and provided by the desert and the small border towns. Our luck on the other locations helped immensely on the budget as most of them coincided with the overall look of the film. Some of the situations were less than ideal, but for the most part, our sets were fairly cohesive.

Me, resting in a drug tunnel.

Arizona and Mexico were also fabulous sources for many of the props and wardrobe pieces. What better place to find Minute Man outfits than the thrift stores of Tucson?

One of our main struggles was our inability to film Border Patrol agents, vehicles, and posts. I think the whole crew enjoyed mocking the sight of me standing in the blazing sun, dripping with sweat, flies swarming around my face while I tried to change a plain, white van into a Border Patrol Vehicle. I used the most unruly rolls of self-adhesive vinyl on the sides of the van for the stripes and vinyl lettering for the front and back. Although the lettering came out beautifully, the stripes were less than satisfactory. After hours of wrestling with it all, we went ahead and shot the scene. Between Robb’s careful angles and Brett’s brilliant editing, the van looked totally authentic. What a team!

The Border Patrol Agent’s uniforms were fabricated from finds at an army surplus store and a security uniform retailer and the post was cheated at a parking garage.

Looking back on the strange situations, locations and lack of time and budget, I’m quite pleased with what we were able to accomplish. I feel that the look and tone of the film were predominately in sync.

Between the struggles of a low budget film and the intense heat and humidity, I often thought I would lose it. I probably did a few times (ask Chad). Regardless of the many set backs, we were able to get some fantastic footage each day. We were often amazed at our good luck and were always grateful for every fortunate turn of events. Each day was challenging yet fulfilling. I’ll never understand how we pulled it off, but ‘Coyote’ will always be the project that renewed my love of film. It was truly a pleasure.