Vast of Night Filming Locations: Welcome to Cayuga, New Mexico
Posted by Ra Moon
The Vast of Night is a fascinating UFO film, set in 1958 in the fictional town of Cayuga, New Mexico. This low-budget indie project is the directing debut of Oklahoma's filmmaker Andrew Patterson.
The movie, shot in only 17 Days in September 2016, was rejected in multiple festivals before to receive much praise by the public and critics alike after its release in Amazon's Prime Video.
The movie, shot in only 17 Days in September 2016, was rejected in multiple festivals before to receive much praise by the public and critics alike after its release in Amazon's Prime Video.
Most of The Vast of Night was filmed in the small town of Whitney in Hill County, Texas.
Additional shoots took place in Hillsboro, a village also situated near Dallas. Here is our complete filming locations guide:
Where was The Vast of Night filmed?
The Cayuga Secondary School where all the town is attending the basketball game is the Whitney Intermediate School.In an interview with The Moveable Fest, film director Andrew Patterson commented that they found this gym after months of searching around not only Texas but Louisiana, Kansas, and New Mexico as well.
The crew had to down-date the building and the streets of the village to make it look like the time period the story is set in.
Once it turned dark, film crews took Whitney to transform it into 1950s Cayuga.
The fact that they didn't start shooting until 8 o’clock when everyone was disappearing and going to sleep, helped a lot to build the intriguing atmosphere of this retro sci-fi thriller.
Fay (Sierra McCormick) is the young switchboard operator, who works in this red house located in W Washington Avenue.
This is the main downtown street where several scenes of the movie take place. Some empty rooms in the gymnasium were also used for sound stage space as the switchboard and the WOTW Control Room interior sets.
Image courtesy of Amazon and Google Maps
Gizmodo reports that the awesome four-minute, 15-second long shot going all over town was made stitching practical footage, filmed with go-karts and camera gimbals.
Not everything is where it looks like: the sports hall is in Whitney and the radio station in Hillsboro.
The scene pictured is located near the water tower in W Polk Avenue in Whitney.
Image courtesy of Amazon and Google Maps
We found DJ Everett's (Jake Horowitz) radio station at 217 W Franklin Street in Hillsboro.
However, looking at the satellite image, this house doesn't exist anymore.
The WOTW letters stand for War Of The Worlds, the classic 1897 science fiction novel by H. G. Wells.
Image courtesy of Amazon and Google Maps
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Ra Moon
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I loved this movie! you don't have to spend millions of dollars on special effects to tell a really interesting story. fantastic story, direction, setting, and of course, fantastic actors! 😄
ReplyDeletequirky, funny, engaging,, love it .. show it off to the world... you have my vote..
ReplyDeleteThat 4-minute,15-sec shot was amazing. I enjoyed the movie.
ReplyDeleteAs an old codger I loved this. Ex Air Force. While I know nothing real significant. I had a secret clearance but there were places we still were not allowed to see or visit. So movies like this are always intriguing. So enjoy—I did
ReplyDeleteThe filming locations mention Hillsboro as a village near Dallas. The town of Hillsboro Texas is actually 12 miles West of the Town of Whitney Texas. Dallas is approximately 100 miles from Hillsboro Texas. I live in Clifton Texas which is approximately 25 miles from Whitney Texas.
ReplyDeleteMinor point. Hillsboro is east of Whitney. My dad grew up in Hillsboro.
DeleteI-20 in Dallas to Hillsboro is a little over 50 miles give or take a few.
DeleteI was impressed about the dialogues. The actors in the beginning hold a conversation for several minutes as they walk. So natural, so real. And kudos for their ability to memorize many lines. I’ve always been impressed on actor’s and actresses’ memory. The dialogue that the radar operator Billy holds with Everett by phone. Memorizing so many lines, and being so convincing with their performances. Commendable. Great film.
ReplyDeleteI really loovve the show. Great actors. I love watching these kind of shows. Simple yet intriguing.
ReplyDeleteThis is clearly an homage to Rod Serling, whose Twilight Zone production company was called Cayuga Productions, and the TV show playing at the outset is obviously a parody of the intro to Twilight Zone. Guess you gotta be old like me to recognize those things...
ReplyDeleteWhen the old woman mentioned Boles Acres I screamed so loud my wife said what's wrong? Boles Acres is a tiny area at the edge of Alamogordo, NM where the road forks either to El Paso or Las Cruces. My mother was raised in Alamo and left in 1941.
ReplyDeleteI’ve viewed “The Vast of Night” at least 15 times in the last two weeks. The storyline, music, actors, director, cinematographer are incredibly talented. As was ”The Twilight Zone”, I sure hope “Paradox Theater” has a sequel with the same crew.
ReplyDeleteI have been doing the same as you. I am fascinated by this movie. Acting, directing and content are wonderful.
DeleteI pick up little things as I re-watch it.
Loved the movie and how it was filmed! I really hope this gets great praise and has a sequel! Keep up the good work...I think you've got a winner!!
ReplyDeleteAll radio and TV stations west of the Mississippi River, the call letters begin with the letter K. Although, I do appreciate throwing a bone to War of the Worlds.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the best $700,000 spent on a movie production. Bravo, keep swinging for the fences.
I love it too, twilight zone type simple, but grand.
ReplyDeleteI've watched this 5-6 times and love its simplicity and detail. Everything from the basketball game to the wonderful 50s cars looks perfect. I do wish it had been longer, but for a first attempt, it was excellent.
ReplyDeleteExcellent psychological thriller that did not require many special effects to be intense and eerie.
ReplyDeleteThis movie needed no special effects to sell it. The story itself was fantastic and if you're a believer of this subject, that's even better. Great dialogue, acting and directing, all wrapped up in small town USA.
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