A Trip to Swadades

Grocer

Claude Schoonover

Man Outside Shvitz

Young Ezra

The Strange Minstrel

Doobie

Woman in the Dream

Young Schweitzer

Schweitzer Haas

Ezra Haas

The film was shot by uniformly and deliberately underexposing the film stock. In the processing, the super-16mm black-and-white negative was "pushed" (a process which compensates for lack of proper exposure), thus heightening the grain. In addition to this, the blacks, whites and grays in the image appear precisely and properly distinguished from each other. This accounts for the unique visual quality and peculiar texture of the film. The contrast was also especially boosted for the film's rural exteriors, which were shot in West Grove, Pennsylvania, about three hours from the city of Philadelphia, where the majority of the film was shot. Some of the "home movie sequences" shot especially for the film were "pulled," which compensates for overexposure, to give it an opposing quality to the rest of the film, which is all "pushed" material.

Daniel Kremer told actor Stephen Hatzai to base his performance of Claude Schoonover on the mannerisms of Sterling Hayden.

During the rehearsal period, the director gave all the actors individualized CD music mixes that pertained to their respective characters. Their instructions were to pick one song from the mix and to work with it in the performance. Actor Bob Swenson, who portrayed Schweitzer, selected the song "My Sister and I" performed by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. Swenson claims that that song was much of the foundation for his performance in the film.

Ezra Haas: Oaths are but words, and words but the wind...and fuck you again.

Schweitzer Haas: The past is like a man...whistling sayonara.

Claude Schoonover: Schweitz'... good old Schweitz'!