Yesterday we liberated the horse at 2 PM. Dave (Jumpers) drove the getaway car- my sister's cabriolet convertible. My friend Kristy and I freed the animal.
I had my small video camera taped to my head so we could get first-person perspective shots of the whole thing.
I originally had planned to NOT be in the film. I've already planned out every detail of the heist and recovery, I didn't want to also have to be in the movie. But last minute changes left us short on liberators, so I did it. Kristy and I wore ski masks and black hoodies, jeans and boots.
Alison drove down to the target a few minutes early to get the camera white-balanced and otherwise set up. She returned a few minutes later to notify us that the people in the house right in front of the horse were ALL on their porch. Since I was 99% certain that the horse owner lived in that house, I feared we'd have to postpone our heist. Luckily, we didn't- they cleared out 10 minutes later and we resumed action.
Alison got some before shots of the animal, then Kristy and I got ready to go. She had the bolt cutters under her sweater, I had the bait card. We ran up to it, she held the chain while I positioned the bolt cutters and managed to break the lock on the first try. Kristy took off with the horse, I stayed for another few seconds to unloop the giant chain and stick the pole in the ground which held the bait card:
(Front)
(Back)
The rest of the clues were placed in the bar around the corner, called The Know. Whoever picked up the bait card (hopefully the owner) will figure out where to go to get the horse back.
At The Know, we pre-paid for a drink for whoever brought the card in. They will get the drink and a letter, written in cryptogram format. The code used is the periodic table of the elements- each element signifying a different letter of the alphabet. A cipher was included to break the code; a picture of the CH3CH2OH compound with the word "ethanol" and its relative coded symbols/elements. Once these known seven letters are plugged into the cryptogram, there will only be about half of the letters left to guess. We tested it on Heather and Lexi before hand to make sure it was easy, and they did it in less than a minute. The letter will read:
A map and key
are what you'll find
below the bar stool
with this sign
We then tied a picture of the ethanol compound to one of the bar stools. Underneath that stool is another envelope, this one containing a map and a key.
They will then be able to find the horse, tied up in the alley behind my house:
We gave her a bath, braided her hair and put ribbons in it.
BUT!!!!!
The bait wasn't taken last night, as we had hoped. Instead it was taken this morning. The Know doesn't open till 4, so I went down there an hour ago to see if there was an update. As soon as I walked in, the bartender asks if I saw the signs outside the door. As if this project couldn't get MORE awesome, it totally just did:
So, they came by before the bar opened. Which means they should be down there right about now, trying to decipher the ransom note and get their horse back.
Yesterday while we were setting up the clues at The Know, the owner was in there helping us out. He took my video camera and started interviewing people in the bar, asking them what they thought of the Horse Project, and what they'd think if someone were stealing the horses and leaving ransom notes. The last interview he did was with me, sitting at the bar, playing dumb. It's hilarious.
Meanwhile, the horse IS still chained up behind my house, with another note attached to her. It says:
To arrange an on-air interview
with your equine captors
you should contact:
horseliberation@gmail.com
I hope they continue to play with us, so we can put our ski masks back on and have Alison tape an interview with us all.
Hehehehe.
Either way, we'll have the short film edited hopefully by the weekend and will plan a premier screening down at The Know. Stay tuned.
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