Making the scene A film crew came to Carroll County recently to shoot scenes for a psychological thriller. Rehearsing a scene at the courthouse are actors (l-r): Adam Shephard, who played a detective; Steve "Papaw" Pyatte, who played the sheriff; and Don Becker who was the ex-FBI profiler. Adjusting the mic is the owner of Oak Road MultiMedia, Randy DeFord of Monticello. Directing the scene (not pictured) was Jim Dougherty of Anderson. Comet photo by Dee Dellenbach An independent film crew recently used the Carroll County Courthouse to shoot a scene for the upcoming movie "Postpartum," a psychological thriller.

The crew - a director, three actors and a cameraman - filmed a scene in which a detective was reporting to the sheriff about murder victims who had just been discovered.

Adam Shephard of Rochester played a detective, Steve "Papaw" Pyatte of Brownsburg played the sheriff and Don Becker of Shelbyville was the ex-FBI profiler.

"Let's do it again," said director Jim Dougherty, after the scene was rehearsed for the fifth time. "And this time I want you to look right at Don when you're dialing, as if to say, 'I've got the answer for you right here.'"

Again and again Dougherty coached, wrangled, and harangued the three men through the intense scene. The actors - in turn - bantered back and forth with ideas about how to deliver their lines and play out the scene. For a little comic relief, the men cracked jokes between takes and cut up with each other.

While the actors and director went through their paces, Randy DeFord, owner of Oak Road Multimedia of Monticello, shot the scene from six or eight different angles, trying to capture the right lighting, sound and action.

Later that day, the group traveled to just north of Rockfield to shoot a scene where the sheriff had to identify the bodies which were found in a root cellar.

"For this scene, I needed an old house in the country that looked lonely," said DeFord, "One that was at the end of a long lane. Something that set an eerie mood."

He talked Helen Yeager into using her 150-year-old farm house. Yeager joked, "I'll never be able to rent that house out again." She said The Martin House has been in her family for 116 years and she was happy to let DeFord use it.

DeFord has filmed "Postpartum" mainly in Fulton and Carroll counties and has used a slew of Hoosier actors and locations. He said his eighth film is about 30 percent finished, and he expects that it will come out in the spring of 2007.

He said most people think the only films coming out are those being played in the theaters, but that's not true. Two independent films that he has produced have been screened at film festivals and he hopes this one will too. The film will come out on DVD in 2007 and will be available at www.goodindie. com.

DeFord said the point of making the film is to get it to the festivals where someone may offer to purchase the screenplay and reproduce it in Hollywood.

"Postpartum" is based on a novel by the same name, written by Cheryl Carmin Shaver of Logansport, and is available at amazon.com.