Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/619377
before a late lunch and, when the afternoon light was acceptable for the dogma, shooting began. Interiors could be shot in the harsh light of the day, or if it were overcast, filming could start outside much earlier. Because of the power of digital cameras, shooting would continue until it was dark, but then wrap for props, camera, grips, etc., would be in blackness, often on dangerous icy mountain locations or near very cold and fast-moving water. Physical suffering! I began looking for locations in April of 2014 with Robin Mounsey, an excellent scout of difficult locations. Alejandro had made a preliminary scout a couple of years earlier with Robin just before he started work on Birdman, so Robin was also in tune with his wishes. Locations were going to be an important design element of this film and because all the sets would be constructed of natural materials on location, the designs of the structures could not be completed until we knew where we would be shooting. Alejandro wanted big, dangerous, rugged locations. He wanted the characters to suffer in the landscape like they would have in 1823. Scale was important to show what the trappers/explorers were up against. We wanted to record their trials of survival as they were unfolding in front of us—but in the perfect light. Chivo asked us to "find locations that would light themselves." He needed places facing south and west to keep the dogma intact, preserving the beauty of backlight. The locations also required great depth to make them work with the dogma.