American Cinematographer - March 1995 - 37

Toll felt that

placing the
film's
characters in

their natural

surroundings
was

essential

to an under¬

standing of
their motiva¬
tions. Here, the

high-spirited
Tristan revels in

the freedom of
the open

constantly fighting for good light,
and trying to be in the right place
when the light is good. If you
don't have an A.D. who helps
you with that, you're going to
lose more often than you win."
Toll reports that the
weather changed so quickly that
forecasts became meaningless.
He and Zwick would take note of

weather

reports, but they fre¬
quently found themselves reas¬
sessing their shooting day on
their morning drive to the ranch
set.

"If the weather did what it

predicted to do, we would
proceed with the call sheet. But as
we
got closer to the ranch on the
way in from Calgary, we often
could see what was really hap¬
pening, and we'd start planning
our
adjustments. It was one of
was

ready for coverage the
clouds would go away and we'd
be in brilliant sun. Matching
shots was a major consideration;
before we jumped into an exte¬
rior scene, we really had to feel
comfortable that we had at least
we were

a

50/50 chance of matching what

we'd started in the

so if the weather improved
afternoon, we'd still have
opportunity to go outside and

hours,
in the
an

do

some

exterior work."

Despite the necessity of
planning and flex¬
ibility, Toll reports that the film¬
makers' efforts were richly re¬
such careful

warded when the skies cleared
and the sun revealed the true

morning."
cinematographer
credits production designer Lilly
Kilvert for a stroke of logistical
genius that saved the day. "Usu¬
ally, that kind of shifting, unpre¬
dictable weather is incredibly dif¬
ficult to deal with; you lose time,
you end up having to go back to
the stages, and so on," he relates.
"But Lilly had decided early on to

majesty of the region. In order to
fully exploit favorable condi¬
tions, the director of photography
encouraged his crew to take ad¬
vantage of every visual opportu¬
nity. Second-unit director/cam¬
eraman David
Wagreich shot a
montage of the young Ludlow
boys growing up, establishing

make the first floor of the ranch

shots of the ranch, some of the

house

vistas, and other footage. Wagreich

The

a

practical set, and it made

the director of

all the difference. The

further served

those situations where everyone
had to be light on their feet and

bedrooms that you

the second-unit battle sequences,
and was joined by second-unit

constantly adjust to weather, be¬

we

much of the
exterior. We couldn't
cause so

picture was
really shoot

that much in the rain because it
never

rained for

a

long enough

were on a

upstairs
see in the film

stage, but everything

shot in the dining room, living
room and kitchen was done
right
there on location. If it looked like

going to have problems
just go

we were

with the weather, we'd

period of time; if we tried to shoot

inside the house. There

in the

of short

rain, the conditions could

scenes

change within an hour. We might

allowed

get a master done, but by the time

interior

March 1995

us

to

were a

lot

in the movie that

get in and out of

setups within three

land.

as

director of

photography Ron
during those complex set¬
ups. "Ron also shot two days of
pick-ups I wasn't available for,
and he did a great job matching
my work," says Toll. "In addi¬
tion, if we had a really beautiful
day or had dramatic changes in
Orieux

the weather, I

American

would turn loose

Cinematographer

35
American Cinematographer - March 1995

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