American Cinematographer - March 1995 - 39

The film's

Canadian/
American

special effects
crew
an

installed

elaborate

network of
wires and

explosive
charges on the
battlefield,

allowing the
filmmakers to

quickly and
safely
coordinate

convincing
artillery blasts.

war

to convey

the warmth, opti¬

was

well

prepared for the logis¬

mism and innocence of the fam¬

tics, having organized elaborate

ily,

period battle sequences for the
1989 film Glory (which won a
Best Cinematography Oscar

so we

could have

some con¬

trast later on."

That contrast arrives in

spectacular fashion when the
viewer accompanies the Ludlow
brothers to a hellish, artilleryscarred battlefield in Europe. The
nighttime war sequence was the
most difficult and involved

setup in the entire film, re¬

quiring weeks of preparation by
the production team. Working on
a
plot of farmland 400 yards long
and 300 yards across, the film's
landscaping brigade plowed up
the terrain and added trenches at

either end. When the field

was

sufficiently tilled, a Canadian/
special effects team in¬
stalled explosive charges and an

for Freddie Francis, BSC). In an

inspired piece of planning, the
extras were organized into crack
units by reserve Canadian Army
officers with actual military expe¬
rience. "They basically started
drilling the extras, and the extras
really started getting into it," Toll
recalls with a laugh. "In their
minds, they became soldiers.
They developed a real esprit de
corps, and they would come to the
set in formation, singing march¬
ing songs! We had about 20 or 30
stunt guys to handle the danger¬
of those

American

ous

elaborate network of wires that
allowed the filmmakers to set up

impressive-looking stunts within

sequences, like the shots of the
Canadian troops charging the
German wire, we used a couple
hundred guys at once. It was

minutes. Even the rain served its

quite

helping to create the

guys

purpose,

muddy look of trench warfare.
To add to the

realism, the

production hired nearly 800
tras to

serve as

ex¬

stuff, but in

sight to
charging
a

some

see 200 or 300
us with fixed

bayonets, while flares and explo¬
sions were going off all over the

place; it really looked authentic."
Toll lit the entire

soldiers. Zwick

March 1995

area

with two full-sized Musco

Lights

and one Mini Musco. The flashes
of overhead explosions were
simulated via a combination of
four Lightning Strikes units and

lackapodium towers. The
an
explosive effect
by releasing a vapor and then ig¬
niting it. Added to this mix were
authentic signal flares. "I went
through a bit of anxiety over this
sequence," Toll relates. "It was
the most difficult sequence in the
film in terms of both logistics and
two

towers created

execution. The weather

ful, and the set was
it

a sea

was aw¬

of mud;

very difficult to move
around in. Some of the crew
members were describing it as
was

the worst experience of their
lives. The fields were too muddy

for the Musco

Lights,

so we

had

to cut roads for them weeks in ad¬

Fortunately for me, my
gaffer, Jim Plannette, had a lot of
experience with Musco Lights. I
vance.

knew what direction I wanted the
come from, but wasn't
how far away to cut the
roads. I kept expecting to have a

light to
sure

recurring nightmare in which 800

American

Cinematographer

37
American Cinematographer - March 1995

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