Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1197261
Steve Morrow at work on the Le Mans set. The Ford team finsihing together at Le Mans. My main cart has two Sound Devices 970's as master and backup with the Midas 32R and two Lectrosonics Venue 2 receivers. There were several scenes with nine to ten cast, all wired and two boom microphones with the Sennheiser MKH 50 or the 416, a VOG setup for the Director and 1st AD. The Le Mans Pit Row set in Agua Dulce was built on the airstrip. It was probably four hundred feet long and three stories tall. The race cars would go through the straightaway at about 110 to 120 miles an hour which made it a challenge, sound-wise, to record the dialog scenes, you just do your best and you don't sweat what you can't control. There was no stage work at all; every set was a location. The Ford factory was a set in downtown Los Angeles, built at a warehouse where we had the factory line. Bales' house was in Altadena. The first race track at the beginning of the film was at Willow Springs, a flat race track in the desert, where Ken Miles (Bale) throws a wrench at his car. The Ferrari factory was the power station up in Pasadena. The LAX hangar was actually at Ontario Airport with all the planes coming in and taking off. There's a great scene where Christian is talking to his son about the perfect lap as they sit on tarmac. "Do you see the perfect lap out there, do you feel it?" The sounds of the planes taking off and landing lend to the story, and we were able to actually get very useable tracks. They were not going to hold for sound for planes taking off or landing, because the sun had to be perfect. The unveiling of the Ford Mustang where Shelby (Damon) makes the big presentation speech was also filmed at the Ontario Airport. It was extremely windy and the sun was in a hard spot for us to boom, so the wires on the cast saved the day. Matt Damon and Christian Bale were having a good time, they got along great. Bale was the easiest and one of the nicest people I've ever worked with actor-wise. You could do anything you needed. On this one, everybody was having a fun time. James Mangold was happy telling a story that he really wanted to tell. It was just one of those fun movie experiences because it had such an epic feel while you were making it. Phedon Papamichael's photography was incredible. My team and I enjoyed every dusty minute making it. The Ford GT-40's get a fast start at the 24 Hours Le Mans. Ken Miles (Bale) wins at Willow Springs.