LMGI COMPASS
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Winter 2018
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21
Hemsworth, strode over the sagebrush
plains I found for Kenneth Branagh to
direct him through in Thor.
Lone Survivor, Peter Berg's rendering
of the true and tragic story of four Navy
Seals, who battled a huge force of
Taliban in the Afghan mountains, just
about killed designer Tom Duffield and
I as we climbed the Sangre de Cristo
Range above Santa Fe and Albuquerque
day after day searching for the
perfect sites for mountain warfare. My
abilities in the mountains, honed over
many decades of rock-climbing and
mountaineering, landed me a part in
this thriller. The lone survivor (Mark
Wahlberg) is saved by a young Afghan,
who then sends his father over the
passes to deliver the message. Sadly,
the fellow cast in the dad's role came
straight from sea level to the set at
12,000 feet and was unable to manage
a couple of paces without gasping for
breath. Thus, I was nominated as his
replacement and an hour later, clad
in enormous beard, turban, etc., was
striding up the ridge into the sunrise,
again and again and…!
Scottish director David Mackenzie
loved the iconic West, which my wife
and others and I found him for the
brilliantly written and four-category
Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water.
An urban look was needed for the
second Maze Runner, which we found
in the 'metropolis' of Albuquerque.
But there was also a scene amongst sand
dunes, which provided a dilemma. There
are two sets of sand dunes within the
Albuquerque zone: one has a single owner,
the other was more extensive, but had not
only multiple owners but disputed deeds
and access. The dilemma: show the one
I can contract and permit with ease and
keep the other quiet; or show both,
knowing the second will necessitate
a haystack of work and hassle? Of
course, I show both and of course,
director Wes Ball and designer Dan
Dorrance choose the latter. Some 20
agreements and a rake of worries
later, we had secured permission.
And Wes and Dan, decent fellows
that they are, were always grateful.
Now, well beyond pensionable age
I am, mercifully, able to choose
projects. Nonetheless, the pulse
still gets a pleasant lurch when the
call comes, quickens with those
thrilling discussions with designer
and director and races headlong
after the packing of cameras and the
boarding of car or plane. For those
of us who warm to that addictive,
fine balance between the delight and
terror of adventure, however modest,
and who, like my father, 'prefer very
few folk's company above their own,'
there are few jobs we would favor
over scouting locations.
Slator at the 4th Annual LMGI Awards
