DOWAGIAC — If one were to drive past Bakeman Barbers, 101 S. Front St., Dowagiac, late last month, they would have seen film crews, blacked out windows and other evidence that a movie was being shot on the premises.

Bakeman Barbers was recently chosen as the filming location for two scenes of a six-scene short film, “Black and Blue,” written and directed by Beckwith Theatre alum and Fort Wayne, Indiana resident KC Mathews, of Write a Way Out Productions. Film crews were shooting at Bakeman Barbers for roughly 13 hours.

The short film, which deals with themes of race relations and policing in the African American community, will serve as a “proof of concept” film that will be used to allow producers to submit to film festivals and find investors to fund a feature-length film.

Mathews said he enjoyed filming at Bakeman Barbers and that he is excited to see “Black and Blue,” which is currently being edited, completed.

“We are excited about the accomplishment,” he said. “We hope this is going to garner a lot of interest.”

Patrick Bakeman, owner of Bakeman Barbers, said he was excited to be a part of the filming process and that he enjoyed getting a peek into the backstage work of shooting a short film.

“It was a lot of fun,” Bakeman said. “It gives you a lot of appreciation of how much work goes into TV and movies. Every scene, they had to shoot six or seven times. … It was really cool to see.”