ADG Perspective

Georgia is vast, has many diverse topographies and as it turns out, a much more diverse, informed and active population than I had ever understood. I have to admit that I arrived down south with a superior Yankee attitude, but left Georgia humbled and grateful to so many of its own. Plus, after being involved in three movies shot there in six years, I started to know my way around. Needless to say, we figred it t. n te lng rn eeing te s in one state did not limit us. Rather than rely on the landscape to tell the story, I realized I'd have to rely on strong visual ideas. The perceived limitations of staying in Georgia actually freed me up by forcing me to accept a boldness of concept, which was the only way to support this highly conceptual novel. ts an ld indie film ter tat limits are reall only upside-down possibilities. The new plan had the production starting in Savannah, the 400-year-old coastal city that is coming into its own, rivaling Charleston as a destinatin. r erid filmmaing its a gldmine. e sed te it t rtra rin St arlina. We used the surrounding swampy landscape to create our period Georgia and shot the underground train sequences at the Savannah Railway Museum. "Chapter 1: Georgia" is largely set on a plantation. The story centers on Cora's past, the atrocities she witnesses and experiences and ultimately, her escape on the Underground Railroad. Even though it represents ten percent of the overall story, that one eisde reresented er tentfie erent te total work and even more of the budget. This one episode required two of the biggest commitments from the Art Department: a plantation with fully constructed slave quarters and an actual train that ran ndergrnd. en first read te ad to keep re-reading this section, since as we all know the Underground Railroad is a metaphor describing the secret network of safe houses, conductors and others who risked their lives to bring American souls to freedom in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Ultimately, I realized that this was the point of the book. The unimaginable energy it took to accomplish what these brave people did is not comprehendible. Whitehead's actual railroad ndergrnd memrialies tis ert maing it real. When Cora, marveling at the actual railroad asks, "Who built all this?" the answer in the and in te film is ilt anting in America?" The actual railroad represented the bravery, the burning commitment and the etrardinar sarifie merias rian slaes and their descendants. It makes the case that they are, in fact, the engine that made this country. And does so still. arrs first diretie ne ear ere started scouting, was, "We're going to need real trains running in a real tunnel with real actors. It has to be real." My reaction to that oscillated between exhilaration and terror. I have worked with trains and it's never easy and often barely possible. My big train movie, The Darjeeling Limited, was shot in Rajasthan on the Indian Railway. Needless to say, C. UNDERGROUND RAILROAD STATION. GEORGIA. ILLUSTRATION. D. UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TUNNEL. GEORGIA. ONE OF THE FIRST DRAWINGS DONE TO FIGURE OUT HOW STEAM TRAINS WOULD LOOK UNDERGROUND. E. EACH STATION AND TRAIN HAD TO LOOK DISTINCT. FOR NORTH CAROLINA, IT WAS A RICKETY MAINTENANCE CAR. ILLUSTRATION. C D E

• 0C1_ADG MAY-JUNE 2021