The River Wild
OREGON - 1993
Filmed in part on the Rogue River in Oregon I flew with my camera assistant, Eric Marquis, to Los Angeles to pick up the equipment, again with no work permits, so of course had to bluff our way through immigration which in America as I'm sure others will attest is a scary experience. An immigration officer with buzz cut hair gave us a well practiced stare as he asked our purpose of visit; fortunately having no equipment with us our 'holiday' in LA was deemed credible, so officer buzz cracked a welcome and we were landed. We later picked up the kit and flew to Oregon with the director the following day.
Being filmed on a white water rafting river set in a valley access to the banks of the Rogue was not possible by road and so every morning six helicopters would fly crew and equipment to a pontoon built on the side of the river. Unfortunately we were made to hike along a trail by the side of the river to the location, although they did kindly fly some of the heavier kit with the main unit cameras.
MERYL STREEP
While the river may have been wild the weather was great making the day fairly enjoyable except for one fairly major reason, the star of the movie Meryl Streep was not very cooperative and I was told from the get go, I could only film rehearsals. Even then, as I would film the director talking with her about a scene she would deliberately turn her back to me, undeterred I would crab round to improve the shot only for Meryl to turn away again. The other actors; Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn, John C. Reilly and little Joey Mazzello (the kid from Jurassic Park) were all fine but Ms. Streep did not enjoy my attentions.
What American productions are very good at doing is feeding the crew very well and even though we were far from production base and there was no way we would all get back, have lunch and return to continue filming. Nevertheless it would arrive by air as a helicopter carry a huge wooden crate strung underneath lowered lunch on the rocks by the side of the river. Well, I was expecting sandwiches and sausage rolls to be revealed but when the lid was removed it the same feast we would have at base. A choice of hot meals, salads and even lobster was on board and a welcome touch was an expresso machine with a small generator to power it. I can't ever see that one happening in Britain, it would have more likely been army rations.
In the afternoon an assistant walked around the cast and crew with a tray of canapés and as it was presented to Meryl her nose examined the tray and dismissed it with a look of mild revulsion. The rest of us tucked in as crew rarely turn down a chance to eat. So the documentary dance went on until I tired of not being able to shoot takes and decided to chance filming a scene where Meryl had no lines, just had to sit in the back of the inflatable raft and hold an expression as David Strathairn and Kevin Bacon ran their lines. To minimise my profile I hid in the bushes some 100 feet away from the water, a discrete distance from any interference with the demands of any dramatic performance, filming with a telephoto lens. Well, the scene played out and no sooner had the director yelled cut, Meryl curled a beckoning finger in my direction, her face scrunched like a smacked arse. Well, there was not a chance I was going over to get a verbal ear-bashing in front of the cast and crew so I yanked up the tripod and bolted in the opposite direction towards my director. Then we heard the assistant director bellow from the river bank; “documentary crew you are wrapped!”.
At that was it, we all had to leave the location and were not allowed back again. What annoys me about this is Ms. Streep rather than focus on the scene decided to scan the bushes to find me sneaking a shot? We still had two days left before the planned date of our return to LA but the studio just said enjoy the break, and don't go near the set. So a brief holiday in Oregon at the expense of the studio was bestowed on us by Meryl Streep, or is that Strop....
Production budget $45 million (estimate)
Worldwide Box Office $94 million