PATIENCE SAWMILLS

Sawmills

The Sawmill is an icon of mystery and danger in many different genres of film and television. Towns that still employ the use of sawmills for economic, infrastructure and heating purposes are usually on the frontier and far from large cities and civilizations. Sawmills are nothing without the forests that feed their hunger. It is within these forests that nature and a wild world still exists. The forest always hides the serial killer or the UFO crash landing or other unknown figure. People tend to fear the unknown and the sawmill is a type of structure that exists on the border of the known and the strange depths of fear and wonder. The sawmill setting can also denote a type of past era such as the California Gold Rush era or other frontier settlements. A key part of every sawmill is its proximity to moving water sources. It is in water sources such as these where things are hidden and lost and bodies go missing. The type of lumber that sawmills process also indicates a certain cold climate in mountainous regions. One can easily see the level of intricacy that a sawmill can donate to a thrilling story.

The rules and regulations that happen in the thick forests and sawmills are both technical when speaking about the machinery and based in tradition when referencing the use of the sawmill in specific genres in the history of films. When speaking specifically from the point of view of the forest towards the sawmill as a man made structure, the forest becomes something attacked in some points of view while in others the forest is a haven for dark creatures and mysterious figures. The sawmill can also be where a journey ends and becomes a destination from a long trek through the surrounding area. In the horror genre for example the sawmill is often used as a hiding place from the monster or serial killer, in other words the antagonist. This brings us to the interior of the sawmill. By nature the interior of the sawmill is filled with insanely dangerous blades of all sorts in addition to water and large dangerous pieces of wood constantly moving about. The dust inside a sawmill and the fact that there is also considerable noise can create a disorienting atmosphere. The interior of the sawmill now has become a very dangerous and disorienting place where the potential for things and people to pop out and surprise or even be swallowed by a wood chipping machine. Sawmills also have easy access to water and since they are more commonly used in horror situations the water is often used as an important device. In films and television involving murder the bodies are sometimes disposed of in rivers which lead to sawmills. The sawmill structure has an opening for logs to enter which can be used as a dangerous device. Often times sawmills have multiple levels used to support machinery and the weight of the logs this often leads to the common chase scene. There are other rules that are based on the weather that occurs in the climates where trees that sawmills use exist. This factor regulates that people who reside in these climates in proximity to sawmills and forests must always be battling nature for survival through layered clothing which slows people down while also being bulky. Sawmill technology was heavily used in past eras. In these towns there was usually no laws and only vigilante justice.

Scenario 1: The frontier town is rapidly expanding based on a gold rush and the logging industry is taking off for all the new homes and businesses being built. A murder takes place at the sawmill and the town is in uproar to find the killer. Everyone blames each other in bouts of frontier justice and another innocent is killed. The killer could even be cornered at the sawmill and meet his demise at the hands of heavy machinery. The angry mob could also burn down the sawmill which is predominantly composed of wood.

Scenario 2: The ghost of a long dead gold miner inhabits the old derelict sawmill. A summer camp has opened in the nearby forest and a young group of campers is coming up to attend the camp. The campers hear the ghost story and one of the more domineering campers dares another to go to the old mill late at night. Upon visiting the campers find the ghost and decide to uncover the mystery. This set up could easily lead to an adventure type movie with a possibly conspiracy twist with the ghost as a simple cover up to hide the operations.

Scenario 3: A man seeks his long lost father who is known to be a hermit in a mountainous region. During a storm he takes shelter in the second story of an abandoned sawmill. The sawmill however is inhabited by another. The stranger could either be one of two characters. His father and they are happily reunited or another hermit mountain dweller who informs the protagonist that his father is dead.