Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/929567
these characters was overwhelming. It's something I hadn't done before, and it was such an exciting time in Montana's history. 1889 was the year Montana became a state, and the time the railroads were expanding west. A lot of resistance surrounded the railroad expansion into the rural areas, and that provided an undercurrent of unrest, as well as a major plot point to the story. Right off the bat, I did an exhaustive amount of research: pulling photo reference, articles on the time period, and Montana specifically, as well as ordering books full of early American and Western furniture styles. Utilizing the Library of Congress, an amazingly rich resource, I added its photos and maps to my mood boards and drawings to show the director what these sets were going to look like. In addition to standard research, I watched lots of the classics to prepare for the film—Rio Bravo, Pale Rider, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Tombstone and so on. When the director Jared and I started talking about the tone of the film, we decided to keep it in the traditions of the classic Westerns—a muted palette of browns, grays and burnt oranges, with lots of copper and iron accents. The two exceptions to this rule were the red handkerchief that Edward wore, which was a homage to John Wayne, and the dusty rose damask wallpaper I used in the ranch bedroom to show Laura's touch. I was fortunate enough to do a location scout a month before landing in Montana for official start of preproduction. This was essential, and informed all my designs and plans moving forward. It also allowed me to tailor the remaining preproduction time in Los Angeles to sourcing items that needed to be shipped, versus the things that could be sourced locally. Part of the preliminary scout was spent talking with local vendors and sorting out what could be rented or borrowed, and what was too precious or priceless to use. Finding the right ranch for the Johnsons was problematic. There are many period structures in Montana, but most have fallen into ruin, and the ones that haven't, have been updated. There would be a structure or two that couldn't be A C E D B