It was described as “a couple of small scenes” and “low-budget” to curious onlookers who came and went during the course of the day last Thursday, as film crews staged several scenes for a feature film in the area around the Prudence Island Ferry parking lot, the Rockwell Dock, and on the ferry itself.

But with set-up beginning in the pre-dawn hours with the staging of equipment trucks and trailers for the talent, it seemed like a pretty big deal for a part of town that is generally pretty quiet, except for the comings and goings of the Ferry.

The film they were shooting, “Out of the Blue,” is described as a thriller, “a contemporary tale of passionate love, deceit and the perfect murder.”

The crew was mostly made up of hired hands from the Rhode Island and Massachusetts film communities, though writer/director Neil LaBute has an impressive list of Hollywood credits, including “In the Company of Men,”  “Possession,” “The Shape of Things,” “Nurse Betty,” “Lakeview Terrace” and “Death at a Funeral.”

The film stars Diane Kruger and Ray Nicholson, who plays Connor, a man who plunges headlong into an adulterous affair with Marilyn (Kruger), who is trapped in a nightmare with an abusive husband and vulnerable stepdaughter.

Ray Nicholson is the son of Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson, and has been building an impressive acting resume in his own right, recently seen in Amazon’s teen drama series “Panic,” Martin Zandvliet’s action thriller “The Outsider” and the FX series “Mayans M.C.”

Diane Kruger’s previous credits include Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning “Inglourious Basterds” and the German film, “In the Fade,” which earned her the best actress award at Cannes.

Other Rhode Island locations include Jamestown and East Greenwich, and the production is expected to conclude its Rhode Island-based filming this week in Newport.