American Cinematographer - August 1990 - 72

H.s.s.r
nAgra
Denecke

scHoeps

auDio

ltd

212-941-0744
Dealers for

Bauer, Hanson, Tlffen

The world's

oldest and

largest
film library
is also
the most
accessible.

Sherman

Grinberg
Film

Libraries,
Inc.

630 Ninth

looked at the descendants of that

saw through the lens."
Fredricks adds, "Many
fine films have been made about
the plight of American Indians,
but while the Yavapai story is

tragic and shocking, they do not
have a plight. They don't need or
invite pity. Under the misnomer

Apache, they were the terror of
the pioneers. Today, they have
chosen cooperation with their old
enemies, and other tribes

con¬

sider the Yavapai a model for
economic self-sufficiency and
self-determination.
"I'm trying to give the

point of view, throughout that
transformation, of both Yavapai
and white cultures. During the
war
years, both sides had good
reason to believe that they were
right and the enemy was dead
wrong. I want the viewer to take
the journey from genocide to
cooperation and end up saying,
as the tribe and the surrounding
non-Indians have: 'I'm right, and
you think differently from me,
but maybe you're right too.' With
that in mind, I asked Wayne for
an
approach that would help the
audience empathize with each
subject."

native Americans. The

more

tra¬

ditional Yavapai
cuss the dead at

would only dis¬
night or during
a snow storm. Many Indians
were reluctant to reveal
anything
about their history. As recently as
the 1880's Yavapai were shot for
practicing their religious dances,
so the tribe's elders
began to hide
their traditions not only from
whites, but from younger genera¬
tions of Indians as well, to accel¬
erate their assimilation into

a

non-Indian world. The price was
the near extinction of their cul¬
ture.

Recently however, the tribal

council has made rediscovery
and preservation of Yavapai his¬

tory its top priority.
Research undertaken for
the film has already restored a bit
of family history to the tribe's

president, Stan Rice:

current

"One of my most gratifying
moments," says Fredricks, "was
the day I told Stan the story of his

great, great grandfather, the only
man to escape from

Yavapai

Skeleton Cave. He had never
heard the story before, and
thanked me for supplying an

important link to his
For the

own past."
of "The

crew

Yavapai Project", the trek to
Skeleton Cave became

an

inner

journey from which no one re¬
turned unchanged. De La Roche
jokes, "After a close encounter
with a cactus, the motto for the
shoot became 'scarred for life.'
But in a very real way, after the
scratches healed, I felt that some¬
me was different.
"When you're roping

thing inside

gear up a cliff, or helping a friend
find a foothold he can't see, you
realize that you love the filmmak¬

De La Roche used Ed¬
ward S. Curtis' Indian photos for

ing process, not in spite of, but be¬
cause of its challenges. The re¬

inspiration, and then worked to
create a sense of portraiture that
reflected the personality of each
subject. "It was not just functional
lighting, but stylized on an indi¬
vidual basis. The goal was to light
each person according to the

ward is the

characteristics that made him

more

her

or

special," he says.
Lighting was not the
only challenge in interviewing

LA FAX (213) 462-5352

NY FAX (212) 245-2339

eve¬

rything I

Hollywood, CA 90038

Avenue, New York, New York 10036

(212) 765-5170

It gave me a sense of
history that no discussion could
have provided. It changed how I

years ago.

emotional filter that unified

Cooke

(213)464-7491

the

responded to their words in inter¬
view. Skeleton Cave provided an

caNon
sonY

70

on

weathered rib of an Indian who
was shot there over a hundred

warrior, how I lit them, how I

zEiss
sachtLer

1040 North McCaddon Place,

an expanse of landscape
that has touched your soul.
"Eagles were circling

overhead, and I stumbled

aatoN

Anion

reveal

August 1990

of accomplish¬
when you push
yourself beyond your limits,"
adds Tracy Litwin.
"The Yavapai Project" is
ment

sense

you get

scheduled for release in 1991. The
crew will return to Arizona twice

this year, to cover

the Yavapai's

events in
yearly calendar. ▲
American Cinematographer - August 1990

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 1990
