The productions economy of means turned into a style. There would be no dollies or cranes, no bank lights; a portion of filming took place at the end of trails on the edge of cliffs far away from electrical power - generators were hard to lug over uneven trails so the production relied on runners with batteries. Whatever the weather was that day would be filmed. There was no time cushion. One day five different locations involving company moves were shot. Shooting was close to the bone. Never more than five takes. No ECU's in favor of two-shots that ran long and made use of actors doing what they do best; invent and relate. As for sound, the seagulls had a lot to say about who was heard, so did the waves, and the boat engines, and the wind.
All the equipment on the lobster boats is real - the actors spent two days learning how to handle baiting and lowering then raising lobster traps - a dangerous process that can involve the loss of equipment or even a hand if not done properly.
A small minority of residents were not in favor of the film being shot on the island- this led to some spirited discussions, sometimes while scenes were being filmed. Tempers cooled in the next year when Robert J. Mrazek turned the island church into a temporary theater and showed the first cut of The Congressman to broad approval.
The 'fairy house' discovered by Rae and Charlie in the forest was built to order by propmaster Chris Rollins who grew up on Monhegan Island and had long practice from his childhood. Usually there are many such dwellings tucked beneath trees but filming was late in the season and a big storm had passed through so new construction was needed on the spot.
Most of the production camera notes were lost after the shoot and editor Johanna Giebelhaus needed to review every frame of footage before beginning her edit. This took more time but contributed to a deeper understanding of the possibilities of each scene.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
