Production Sound & Video

Winter 2021 – LOCAL695.ORG 21 to assist in getting us out and back to work. And then toward the end came the snow! Years ago, while working on Wyatt Earp in many of the exact same locations, we had a surprise snowstorm as we were setting up to start a multi-day daylight scene. The decision was made to shoot anyway. By the next morning, the snow was all gone. Effects had to find and bring in snow, foam, and ice- making machines so we could continue to shoot. This is a pretty common experience in New Mexico. But the place is just too awesome to resist. What I'm describing, of course, is the filming of a scene for a movie, in this case, the movie News of the World. This will be part of Paul Greengrass' (Captain Phillips, The Bourne Ultimatum) latest effort, and his first Western. It stars Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, and Helena Zengel as Johanna. The movie, set in 1870 after the Civil War, tells the story of Kidd, who is widowed, before he could arrive back to his home in San Antonio. He then leaves his home to travel to small towns and villages throughout the South and West, bringing news and stories from afar to the people; regaling them with tales of wars, triumphs, joy, and sadness that they would otherwise never know. Along the way, he is offered money to bring a ten-year- old girl, stolen as a toddler by Kiowa Indians from her murdered family and raised as one of their own, back to her extended family four hundred miles away in San Antonio. She speaks no English, and at every opportunity tries to escape Kidd to get back to her Kiowa "family." Adventure ensues. This is also the story of the many challenges that arose trying to, in my case, record the audio on this enterprise. It turned out to be harder than expected. First of all, there's the location. This was my third outing in the Santa Fe area. I know many of you who have shot here remember the wind, the dust, the sand, the wind, the rain, the snow, the wind and the ever-present Wind. There is a dust storm where Kidd nearly loses Johanna, that is a true brute! But what I hadn't endured before was the challenge of recording dialog in a real practical buckboard, and driving it over open desert, and hard-packed regolith and unseen pits. It's a very, very noisy vehicle! The amazing grip crew did yeoman's work to try and de-rattle it, and often had good success. But some noises were insurmountable. I thought they would have to loop all the scenes in the wagon. Turns out I was wrong. Thanks to the phenomenal work of Oliver Tarney and crew, the dialog was made usable. (L-R) Steadicam Operator James Goldman, Director Paul Greengrass, and 1st AD Eric Heffron

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