Rain, gloom perfect for shooting 'The Road'

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May 2, 2008

By Kevin M. Hart The Meadville Tribune Fri May 02, 2008, 11:24 PM EDT

05/03/08 — Friday’s sudden onslaught of rain in the area may have ruined many outdoor plans, but when you’re filming a movie about the end of the world, a little precipitation is a minor inconvenience.

“We’ve got what we’ve got; we’ll work with it,” Andrew Ullman, location manager for “The Road,” said during an afternoon call from Conneaut Lake Park, where a few scenes for the cinematic adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel are being shot Friday and today.

In this father-and-son tale of survival, actor Viggo Mortensen — nominated for Best Actor for “Eastern Promises” and the star of “A History of Violence” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy — stars as Papa to Kodi Smit-McPhee’s boy. As they journey through a post-apocalyptic world of “nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before,” according to McCarthy’s prose, the pair hopes to find other survivors and safety at the sea.

Under the direction of John Hillcoat (“The Proposition”), cast and crew began filming “The Road” at the end of February “all over the place,” Ullman laughed, noting that the base of operations has been in Pittsburgh with shooting “a couple days here and there” at various locations in Pennsylvania. “We’ve been anywhere from New Galilee to Nemacolin,” he said, also citing visits to Fulton and Bedford counties, Raccoon Creek State Park in Hookstown, and even Breezewood.

Following a nearly two-week stint in Erie County (chiefly at Presque Isle State Park), the production group of about 100 has briefly set up shop at the 116-year-old Conneaut Lake Park. They plan to film a few scenes — which occur near the end of the novel — using the midway, the Beach Club, the boardwalk and behind Hotel Conneaut.

Adding to the visual sense of dread in the story is the backdrop of the former Dreamland Ballroom, which lies in ruin following its destruction by arson in early February. “It was just coincidence that the building had burned down,” Ullman said, noting that scouting of the amusement park took place before the fire.

“Conneaut Lake was suggested, and the production designer (Chris Kennedy) and I came to look at it. Chris thought it was apropos when we scouted several months ago. He was going to use a different location, but this was much better,” Ullman said. “It’s truly a wonderful place,” he added, touching on the park’s troubled past and uncertain future as it relates to lack of finances and inability to completely open each season.

“It’s a shame there’s not a lot of money to maintain this place.” However, “We gave them a little donation,” he said, declining to ballpark the figure but saying that “it’s not a lot of money.”

And basically what those behind “The Road” are asking for in return is peace and quiet. All the shoots have been closed-set affairs, with security on hand to keep the locations private. So if you’re thinking about crashing the set or staking out local hotels today, please think again.

“It’s a pretty desperate story and very sad on many levels. We’re trying to maintain an atmosphere where the guys can focus and concentrate,” Ullman said of the actors. The film also features Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall, whose scenes aren’t being filmed locally; however, cast member Guy Pearce did some work during the time in Erie.

So far, the production’s wishes have been granted — for the most part. “We have security here and there to make sure” the sets remained closed, he said, adding that occasionally “they kindly escort (someone) off the property.” As a case in point, filming was momentarily interrupted early Friday when a waterskier went cruising by on Conneaut Lake. “He was kind of politely asked to get away,” Ullman laughed.

After a weekend at the park, “The Road” hits the road for about two days in New Orleans and seven days in Oregon. The 2929 Production is slated for release through the Weinstein brothers’ Dimension Films in November.

Kevin M. Hart is editor of Bravo! He can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at khart@meadvilletribune.com.

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