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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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 Posted - August 07 2011 : 8:06:08 PM
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Saturday, August 3 was a day I'd been looking forward to for a long time, as it marked the end of the detestable all-night shooting sessions but one, the best of all. The week Aug. 5 - 8 we finished up filming at Lake James and the Fort William Henry set, mainly the scenes of surrender and the British leaving the fort. For this I got to don the uniform of a French officer for the entire time, serving as the commander of Montcalm's guard detachment during the march-out of the garrison. In ( only ) wide-screen versions I can be seen saluting in the bottom left corner, right below the mounted Montcalm, Levis, and Bougainville.
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In French Officer's Uniform
The night of August 8 was our last night filming, this time in the French Camp, which was located in the wood a little behind the siege lines and downslope nearer the lakeshore; it seems to have been referred to by the crew as Tent City. ( This is probably the area of the current parking lot for the boat ramp. ) Throughout the scene of the interior of Montcalm's marquee, members of the core group in French uniform performed various duties in the camp which was vaguely seen from the interior of the tent. One of our men crawled up into the bed of a wagon and spent the night "unloading" it, while others milled about.
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The first streaks of dawn come through the trees as this long night finally comes to an end!
For me this was the most interesting night I spent there, portraying a French officer at Montcalm's dinner table, in the company of an actor playing Levis. ( I don't remember his name, and strangely, he's not listed in the credits at the end of the film, presumably because he has NO lines. ) During the action, we are joined by another reenactor, Mark Edrys, playing Bouganville. He was cast in a last-minute decision, though his voice was later overdubbed on the voice track. Unfortunately, in finished versions of the film, the backgrounds are so dark and/or the camera angles such that I might as well have "phoned in" my part! I show up briefly in the Enhanced Widescreen - Director's Expanded Edition DVD.
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This is one of my favorite souvenirs, a Polaroid shot, one of literally thousands that must've been taken during the filming. They were used for continuity by departments like props, set dressing, makeup, etc. in case any scenes needed to be duplicated or "matched" at a later date. This is the only one I have from Mohicans, though I have several from the Turner TV Channel's Ironclads. This shows me at right with "Levis" at the head of the table and one of two "servants" standing behind him. Notice the details of the tablecloth, china, silverware, candlabra, wine decanter, stemware, etc., most of which is unseen in the film! The annotations in red identify the location ( "Tent City" ) and scene number. My "work" this night consisted of slowly cutting and eating a chicken that was cooked by the "Food Stylist" who happened to be reenactor Tony Gerard's reenactor girlfriend! ( Unfortunately, her name has been omitted from the credits, too. ) This was the night I got to witness Mann at work "up close and personal" and "share the scene" with Wes Studi and Patrice Chereau as Montcalm.
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Twenty Years Ago, August, 1991 - The French Camp
