Editor’s note:
I had the good fortune to interview the “focus puller” — assistant cameraman — on “The Revenant.” One of those small world things. He’s the son of Diane Goble, who freelances for The Nugget Newspaper, which I edit. Diane knows a good story when she sees one — and she also knows that frontier history is a passion for me. The following is the story I wrote for The Nugget.
‘The Revenant,” which comes to Sisters Movie House on January 8, was inspired by the epic saga of mountain man Hugh Glass. Mauled by a she-grizzly in 1823, Glass was left for dead and forced to crawl more than 200 miles to a fur trading outpost on the Missouri River.
Filming that story became an epic in its own right. And John T. Connor was an integral part of a crew that brought the story to glorious life on the screen. Connor, the son of Sisters resident Diane Goble, was the “focus puller” or assistant cameraman on the arduous shoot. He visited Goble in Sisters this week and sat down with The Nugget at Sisters Coffee Co. to spin a tale of rugged wilderness, frayed tempers, and one of the toughest film shoots in the history of the medium.
“The Revenant” is a passion project of Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu. Everyone involved in the picture knew the shoot was going to be exacting — both in terms of meeting the director’s artistic vision and in coping with wilderness conditions. According to Connor, there was a deliberate mission to make the filming arduous, epic — and legendary.
“The whole idea of it was tough,” Connor told The Nugget. “Everything around the movie was tough.”
Too tough for many. Some got fired; others walked away, unable to cope with the conditions or after butting heads with the visionary director.
“It was very grueling, to say the least,” Connor said.
Connor came on as focus-puller to replace someone who had left the picture.
It took a lot of persuading. After a career that included work on the first “Star Trek” movie and the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, he had taken the step up to Director of Photography and was not interested in returning to assistant status. But the production really needed him. And they were willing to meet his terms, because, as he put it, “no one in the world — the world — would do the movie.”
The focus puller is responsible for making sure every shot in a movie is in perfect focus. It is precise, exacting work — and obviously a role that no production can get by without.
Connor’s work started in Vancouver, British Columbia — in the rain. The unpleasant conditions took a toll on equipment and personnel. Then they moved to Calgary, Alberta — and winter hit.
“The winter came really hard, really fast,” he said.
“The Revenant” was shot according to the chronology of the story, not in different pieces. That caused huge continuity problems when two feet of snow fell overnight between days of shooting one scene.
Then, after dumping snow on them and plunging temperatures down to as low as -29 degrees, winter abandoned the production.
“We came back in January, and it was the warmest January and February on record,” Connor recalled.
The production had to shut down for three months, then head south — way south — to film the end of the movie in southern Argentina.
Connor’s work was significantly complicated by the wilderness conditions. Extreme cold messed with the focus point of lenses, so he had to run tests at night after a grueling day of shooting in order to determine how to get the correct focus on the next day’s shot.
And Iñárritu insisted on shooting the film entirely with natural light.
“That was a huge pressure,” Connor said.
The film crew would drive for an hour-and-a-half to a spot near the filming location, hike in with their gear, set up, rehearse and go for a shot in the narrow window of opportunity Mother Nature provided. It didn’t always work out. Sometimes they just couldn’t make it happen — which felt like a stinging defeat.
“That happened a few times, when we didn’t get the shot,” Connor said.
Yet all the hardship and tumult has yielded a picture that is, by all accounts, a visually stunning masterpiece. Those who have seen advance screenings have been blown away by the shots Connor and the rest of the crew struggled so hard to get.
“I get a text every day from somebody just going, ‘Wow!’” Connor said.
“The Revenant” is Connor’s swan song as a focus puller. It may prove to be a legendary song, at that.
Keith West says
I am so looking forward to this movie.
JimC says
Counting the days…
Saddle Tramp says
Been quite a few fires since I last communicated with you.
I tried to post this on opening day but it failed to post.
Trying it again and hope it sticks this time…
Thought I would let you know that I had a double-barreled day. Broke out and took advantage of both highly anticipated films playing at one venue today. That venue would be The Arclight Dome Cinerama in Hollywood.
The pair of films would be The Hateful Eight and The Revenant. I primed the barrel first with The Hateful Eight in the 70 mm Roadshow Engagement version. First showing of the day. It was a white Christmas afterall. A visceral assault on the senses would not quite describe it accurately. You will have to see it for itself. The full Arclight 70 mm experience most definitely took it to another Tarantino level. The musical score as well. Need I say more?
Another nice bonus was a special booklet given to all attendees on their way out of the theatre.
Next reel…
After 3 hours of The Hateful Eight a quick break and then right in to see The Revanant. Talk about back to back grisly, primal and in your face assaults, these two films are a pair to draw to. This one provides another white Christmas as well. You would have to live in Southern California to appreciate this. I will sum
up my take on these two films by saying that I’m just thankful that the genre’s are being kept alive. Vibrantly so with this pair. There are reviews enough to go round. I will defer to those better equipped to do so. I will go so far as to say that nothing that Hollywood does can avoid
stepping over the line. That goes almost without saying. Neither of these are spared a few of those trespasses. I spent 5-1/2 hours of film watching between these two. Whichever order you choose to watch them in one prepares you for the other…
— Saddle Tramp
P.S. Actual outfits from The Hateful Eight were on display in the lobby. Tuxedo’d ushers also added to the experience.
A great day of celluloid!
Patrick McG says
Did a double feature today of “The Hateful Eight in 70 MM Pannovision (only the 12th movie to be shot and projected in this form) and The Revenant. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
JimC says
Holy smokes — that’s a lot of time in the seat. Seeing The Revenant this weekend and will report. What say you about 8?
Patrick McG says
I’m glad I saw it in 70 MM, it has some beautiful shots.I wish more of the story took place in the outdoors but when it is used, it looks amazing. It’s fine. Too long.
JimC says
Both directors are more than a little self-indulgent, so I’m not surprised by excessive running time. Kill your darlings!
Saddle Tramp says
Editor my old trail pal…
Been quite a few fires since I last communicated with you.
I tried to post this on opening day but it failed to post.
Trying it again and hope it sticks this time…
Thought I would let you know that I had a double-barreled day. Broke out and took advantage of both highly anticipated films playing at one venue today. That venue would be The Arclight Dome Cinerama in Hollywood.
The pair of films would be The Hateful Eight and The Revenant. I primed the barrel first with The Hateful Eight in the 70 mm Roadshow Engagement version. First showing of the day. It was a white Christmas afterall. A visceral assault on the senses would not quite describe it accurately. You will have to see it for itself. The full Arclight 70 mm experience most definitely took it to another Tarantino level. The musical score as well. Need I say more?
Another nice bonus was a special booklet given to all attendees on their way out of the theatre.
Next reel…
After 3 hours of The Hateful Eight a quick break and then right in to see The Revanant. Talk about back to back grisly, primal and in your face assaults, these two films are a pair to draw to. This one provides another white Christmas as well. You would have to live in Southern California to appreciate this. I will sum
up my take on these two films by saying that I’m just thankful that the genre’s are being kept alive. Vibrantly so with this pair. There are reviews enough to go round. I will defer to those better equipped to do so. I will go so far as to say that nothing that Hollywood does can avoid
stepping over the line. That goes almost without saying. Neither of these are spared a few of those trespasses. I spent 5-1/2 hours of film watching between these two. Whichever order you choose to watch them in one prepares you for the other…
— Saddle Tramp
P.S. Actual outfits from The Hateful Eight were on display in the lobby. Tuxedo’d ushers also added to the experience.
A great day of celluloid!
Saddle Tramp says
Jim… Apologies to you and your faithful readers for dupes put up of my comment entries that appeared both above and beyond. I had no intention to put up multiple entries. I had tried originally posting at a few of the ubiquitous REVENANT entries thinking one might stick. Did not expect this delayed posting. Apparently it was that technical glitch others referred to. I just now discovered this. At any rate, I will not waste this space totally and will comment a little further on both films mentioned. The venue at which I watched both films no doubt added to the experience. I would go as far as saying I was ravished by the sonic and visual experiences alone. As with a good meal the right ambience in which it takes place can heighten the experience. Both of these films most definitely received the benefit of the projection at this theatre.
I am also a big fan of the Laemmle Theatre chain just for the art films they allow the chance to be seen ( even if only one showing in the middle of the day in the middle of the week ) at a bargain price to boot.
The documentary film RUNNING WILD: THE LIFE OF DAYTON O. HYDE comes to mind. Anyone who loves the west should seek this one out. I had the theatre to myself but for one other woman. This film shows you it is never to late. This was real. He was real.
In this case these two films were made to benefit from the extra treatment the Arclight provided. Also nice to order up and choose assigned seats in advance as well. My point is that I might have received that extra kick from head to boot heel with the sense of not just viewing both films, but rather a sense of being [in] the film by the added affects this venue offered. Regarding the length of both of these films, I agree that The Hateful Eight might have stretched a little over the line. In my opinion it had some draggy moments along with some less than stellar and ( in my opinion ) somewhat misplaced dialogue. This may have protracted the film some, but not interminably so. It always fired back soon enough.
I will say even after spending 5-1/2 hours in the seat I was not one bit weary afterwords. So, I recommend to anyone to just sit back and let those fevered dreams wash right over you. If you can take full advantage of the double billing where available, I would do so as it is not often when a pair such as these roll into town together.
No saddle sores for me!!
— ST
JimC says
Thank you for the reviews, amigo!
Just as an aside, Dayton Hyde (Dayton O. Hyde’s son) is a buddy of mine. I’ve been burning wood cut off the hatfield Ranch where Dayton runs some cattle for a couple of years now. His wife and mine work together. Good people. Here’s an entry from last year on that: https://frontierpartisans.com/3301/wood-run-klondike-kate-country/.
The doco you reference is a wonderful thing. Truly a must-see.
Saddle Tramp says
Kismet strikes again…
I had missed that entry for some reason.
Sure glad you brought it to my attention.
Little did I know.
I am indeed in privileged company.
It cannot hurt to bring it some attention once again. I would watch it just to hear him tell about how he met Slim Pickens. A true cowboy himself!
You are living the life Jim!!
JimC says
I am most fortunate in my friends.