Very good look at making a scenic Western movie
"Behind the Scenes of 'Seraphim Falls'" is a documentary short made in 2007 to accompany release of the feature film on DVD. As with most such shorts, it has interviews with cast and crew, and snippets of movie scenes. This19-minutes short is well above the average - if for no other reason, than the intelligent discussion and reasoning of the two leads and others. These weren't "getting into the character" stock replies of mindless cast members. Rather, Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, and the filmmakers talked about the story, the characters, and the history they were trying to show.
It's refreshing to see actors who can look away from themselves and appreciate a story that they would like to help tell and show. That's a thread that runs through the comments of all the crew as well. The film includes interviews with David Von Ancken who wrote and directed the movie. Two-time Oscar winner John Toll commented on the settings and camera work. His fantastic scenic pictures and backdrops are similar to his work on "Legends of the Fall" in 1994, "Braveheart" in 1995 and "The Thin Red Line" in 1998.
I'm familiar with many of the places used for shooting the film, or where the story takes place. Although it wasn't shot there, the setting was the Ruby Mountains in Northeast Nevada. That is one of the smaller mountain ranges that separate north-south running valleys across areas of Nevada. The waterfall scenes were shot in the Cascades of Oregon on the McKenzie River. The McKenzie River flows out of a crystal clear volcanic lake, Clear Lake, and cascades and drops over several waterfalls through forests on its course to the upper Willamette Valley near Eugene, Oregon. Most of the rest of the film was shot in New Mexico and Arizona, in many different locales. Some of these were close to the U.S. border with Mexico.
In one scene, a crewmember stands where a movie vista scene was shot. He says that electric power lines were visible in the left distance. So, the crew moved in some trees to block out the power lines. This is an interesting look behind the scenes of the making of a very good Western movie.
It's refreshing to see actors who can look away from themselves and appreciate a story that they would like to help tell and show. That's a thread that runs through the comments of all the crew as well. The film includes interviews with David Von Ancken who wrote and directed the movie. Two-time Oscar winner John Toll commented on the settings and camera work. His fantastic scenic pictures and backdrops are similar to his work on "Legends of the Fall" in 1994, "Braveheart" in 1995 and "The Thin Red Line" in 1998.
I'm familiar with many of the places used for shooting the film, or where the story takes place. Although it wasn't shot there, the setting was the Ruby Mountains in Northeast Nevada. That is one of the smaller mountain ranges that separate north-south running valleys across areas of Nevada. The waterfall scenes were shot in the Cascades of Oregon on the McKenzie River. The McKenzie River flows out of a crystal clear volcanic lake, Clear Lake, and cascades and drops over several waterfalls through forests on its course to the upper Willamette Valley near Eugene, Oregon. Most of the rest of the film was shot in New Mexico and Arizona, in many different locales. Some of these were close to the U.S. border with Mexico.
In one scene, a crewmember stands where a movie vista scene was shot. He says that electric power lines were visible in the left distance. So, the crew moved in some trees to block out the power lines. This is an interesting look behind the scenes of the making of a very good Western movie.
- SimonJack
- Jan 9, 2019