Dear Friends,

A flickr user called William Gray worked on The New World  as a still

photographer and he spent a couple of days with Malick shooting around. He

describes this job as "…the best days I've ever had on a shoot". He goes with

all kind of details about Malick procedure and other details on him. Here is

what he posted a while ago:

BTW: I just love the expression "Fell off the truck"



                                             I--------------------------------I



65mm was only for the beauty shots at the end of the film. I was second unit

only. I did get two of the best days in 25 years of film work on this job. I

spent a weekend with him driving to all of the sets filming 'fell off the truck

shots'. (What he called them) We also spent a day shooting marshes in sun and

rain from a pontoon

boat.

www.flickr.com/photos/bgrax/2283031926/in/set

-72157603824...

We would roll a HH Arri 35mm camera from the bow of

the pontoon boat, cut the engine and drift into the reeds. It was just him and I

in a mini van driving to each set and the dock. Two PA's followed in another car

but I had him to myself without a producer or AD. We talked about every film I

could think of. 

Like I said, two of the best days I have ever

spent in the film business. Chevo(DP) was way cool as well. I got to watch some

dailies with Chevo and Terrance. I was very lucky. VERY.



                                            I--------------------------------I



'Fell off the truck' shots were, High Hat with a head on it dropped off of you

cart or truck, put the camera up and connect the batt, don't level, pan around

and see what you like. Film even if it is even a little cool. 

I

took pictures of him cause I was never told of his aversion for photographs. I

found out later he has strict orders for crew and set stills to not shoot

pictures of him. After it was all over I asked him about it and he said I could

keep them if I promised not to publish them.



                                               I--------------------------------I



I only got three days with Terrence Malick. Three of the best days I've ever had

on a shoot. TM, a great PA, the pontoon boat driver and me with an

Un-anamorphicized Arri shooting anamorphic. Very hard to shoot hand held wide

horizons. You cannot judge level in a squishie viewfinder. Thank god the video

monitor stretched out the image. He framed what he wanted looking through the

viewfinder and I held the mag to level via the video monitor, ran the camera and

pulled focus when we got in close. We shot from a sandbag off of the front of

the boat. We would run up creeks, cut the motor and drift while filming. The

raining creek and marsh shots are ours. A few other things too. We shot a lot of

film. I worked my ass of loading and AC'ing. We were a good team.



Amazing day. Amazing. I was very lucky. All my thanks go to my

friend Shelly Ziegler, 1st AD. It was she who got me two days speaking with that

gentleman. Lucky!

I have portraits of him but he hates his picture

taken. I didn't know nor was I told. I got two off at different times and he

kept giving me funny looks. I asked and he told me. He made me promise that I

wouldn't publish the photo's of him. Sorry.

I cannot give pictures

of any sets cause I don't own the rights to those images since I was on their

payroll. Thanks for looking.



                                               

I--------------------------------I



Have not seen the film since it came out. We worked silently, he told me lens,

field of view, where to put the camera and would look through. Sometimes he

wouldn't let me level the camera. Sometimes he would roll without letting me 85

or meter the shot. I had to remind him of the steps. He was very polite and

worked my ass off. 

We never talked about the movie we were

shooting stuff for. I pumped him for conversation in the minivan when we were

not shooting. I asked him about every remote film I could think of and he knew,

met crew, writers, directors, and had thoughts on every one. That was the best

part. The day on the pontoon boat was amazing. I'll have to re-look at the movie

and see what it was we did. 

We did talk about 'The Thin Red Line'.

He said he had over 6 hours of edited story finished. What you saw in the

theaters was what needed to be for the reps of a movie theater. I asked him if

he thought of releasing the 6 as a DVD box set and I assured him that there

would me a line of people just waiting to get their hands on it. He said that

some things that you put so much of your life and heart into are best left alone

for a few years. Man was I sad. He also told me that the PR picture form 'The

Thin Red Line' (When I asked him about it) of him was from 'Bad Lands'. I

thought it was weird he was standing next to wooden sticks in the photo. With

such a good DP on that film, I don't care if it was a low budget or not the

rental house would have not sent out wooden sticks to a jungle area with that

level of camerman. 

My grandfather fought with the Gurkha's in

Burma. T's movie was about the jungle and Japanese. I wanted to see more. Maybe

in a few years. 

I got to watch him work at the fort on the Friday

before we did the weekend together. The crew and him were shooting dueling

steadicams, forward and backward, moving 180's and 240's and his hand wave. The

script, gaffer and mixer scurried behind prop buildings as the two steadicams

paned. The first first camera assistant was wonderful. He pulled focus on Ali. I

love just love Emmanuel Lubezki's work. Some great films he has done. You should

imdb him. 




                                             I--------------------------------I





LINKS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgrax/3094985633/in/pool-malick

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgrax/2283031926/in/set-72157603824834534/

"We did talk about 'The Thin Red Line'.

He said he had over 6 hours of edited story finished. What you saw in the

theaters was what needed to be for the reps of a movie theater. I asked him if

he thought of releasing the 6 as a DVD box set and I assured him that there

would me a line of people just waiting to get their hands on it. He said that

some things that you put so much of your life and heart into are best left alone

for a few years."





I thought there was no such thing as a 6-hour cut of THE THIN RED LINE. Assuming

this is really straight from the horse's mouth, you mean it not only exists but

that it may be eventually released after "a few years"???



I still think rumor that it actually exists is a load of horse puckey....

> "We did talk about 'The Thin Red Line'.

> He said he had over 6 hours of edited story finished. What you saw in the

> theaters was what needed to be for the reps of a movie theater. I asked

> him if

> he thought of releasing the 6 as a DVD box set and I assured him that

> there

> would me a line of people just waiting to get their hands on it. He said

> that

> some things that you put so much of your life and heart into are best left

> alone

> for a few years."

>

>

> I thought there was no such thing as a 6-hour cut of THE THIN RED LINE.

> Assuming this is really straight from the horse's mouth, you mean it not

> only exists but that it may be eventually released after "a few years"???

>

> I still think rumor that it actually exists is a load of horse puckey....

>



It probably exists in some rough cut stage. Malick's comments according to

this guy (which suggest that he would need to spend some time on it to make

an extended cut of it) seem to confirm that. Some people seem to think that

there is a finished 6-hour cut of the film that the studio butchered -- I

suspect that this is not true. Certainly, there's enough story there.



And BTW, a lot of films exist in insanely long rough cut versions before

they're edited down for release.



As for "it may eventually be released after a few years" -- this seems to be

more just speculation on the guy's part. I mean, it's been 11 years since

the film came out. I'd love to see Malick release a longer version (and I'm

sure Adrien Brody would, too). But I also don't want the film we have right

now (and which I love) to be seen as some kind of compromised, butchered

version, which is why I always bristle when people talk about how they

really want to see this mythical 6-hour cut of TTRL, which is presumably

going to answer all their concerns (all that voiceover, all those snippets

of scenes, characters passing in and out of the narrative, etc.) about the

extant version. I happen to think those "concerns" are what make the movie.

I don't want all those questions answered.



-Bilge

I'm the one that got that info, this was from a cameraman that shot with and

drove with Malick a few times during the shoot. Tom Lowellion can vouch for this

guy who posted a cpl of photos on Flickr.



I believe him . . .he also took photos of Malick which he cannot publish.











--- On Tue, 6/9/09, vanvutu <vanvutu@...> wrote:



From: vanvutu <vanvutu@...>

Subject: [terrencemalick] Re: Glance on Malick [During TNW shooting]

To: terrencemalick@yahoogroups.com

Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 3:44 PM



































       "We did talk about 'The Thin Red Line'.



He said he had over 6 hours of edited story finished. What you saw in the



theaters was what needed to be for the reps of a movie theater. I asked him if



he thought of releasing the 6 as a DVD box set and I assured him that there



would me a line of people just waiting to get their hands on it. He said that



some things that you put so much of your life and heart into are best left alone



for a few years."







I thought there was no such thing as a 6-hour cut of THE THIN RED LINE. Assuming

this is really straight from the horse's mouth, you mean it not only exists but

that it may be eventually released after "a few years"???







I still think rumor that it actually exists is a load of horse puckey....

























































[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I just want to say that yes, indeed, I can vouch for this guy.  He sent me two

wonderful pictures of Terry working on The New World, but he asked me to keep

them private, obviously.  I have done so.



tom



--- In terrencemalick@yahoogroups.com, "Julien Picot"

<theboywiththecamerainhisside@...> wrote:

>

>

> Dear Friends,

> A flickr user called William Gray worked on The New World  as a still

photographer and he spent a couple of days with Malick shooting around. He

describes this job as "…the best days I've ever had on a shoot". He goes with

all kind of details about Malick procedure and other details on him. Here is

what he posted a while ago:

> BTW: I just love the expression "Fell off the truck"

>

>                                             I--------------------------------I

>

> 65mm was only for the beauty shots at the end of the film. I was second unit

only. I did get two of the best days in 25 years of film work on this job. I

spent a weekend with him driving to all of the sets filming 'fell off the truck

shots'. (What he called them) We also spent a day shooting marshes in sun and

rain from a pontoon

boat.&#8232;&#8232;www.flickr.com/photos/bgrax/2283031926/in/set

-72157603824...&#8232;&#8232;We would roll a HH Arri 35mm camera from the bow of

the pontoon boat, cut the engine and drift into the reeds. It was just him and I

in a mini van driving to each set and the dock. Two PA's followed in another car

but I had him to myself without a producer or AD. We talked about every film I

could think of. &#8232;&#8232;Like I said, two of the best days I have ever

spent in the film business. Chevo(DP) was way cool as well. I got to watch some

dailies with Chevo and Terrance. I was very lucky. VERY.

>

>                                            I--------------------------------I

>

> 'Fell off the truck' shots were, High Hat with a head on it dropped off of you

cart or truck, put the camera up and connect the batt, don't level, pan around

and see what you like. Film even if it is even a little cool. &#8232;&#8232;I

took pictures of him cause I was never told of his aversion for photographs. I

found out later he has strict orders for crew and set stills to not shoot

pictures of him. After it was all over I asked him about it and he said I could

keep them if I promised not to publish them.

>

>                                              

I--------------------------------I

>

> I only got three days with Terrence Malick. Three of the best days I've ever

had on a shoot. TM, a great PA, the pontoon boat driver and me with an

Un-anamorphicized Arri shooting anamorphic. Very hard to shoot hand held wide

horizons. You cannot judge level in a squishie viewfinder. Thank god the video

monitor stretched out the image. He framed what he wanted looking through the

viewfinder and I held the mag to level via the video monitor, ran the camera and

pulled focus when we got in close. We shot from a sandbag off of the front of

the boat. We would run up creeks, cut the motor and drift while filming. The

raining creek and marsh shots are ours. A few other things too. We shot a lot of

film. I worked my ass of loading and AC'ing. We were a good team.

&#8232;&#8232;Amazing day. Amazing. I was very lucky. All my thanks go to my

friend Shelly Ziegler, 1st AD. It was she who got me two days speaking with that

gentleman. Lucky!&#8232;&#8232;I have portraits of him but he hates his picture

taken. I didn't know nor was I told. I got two off at different times and he

kept giving me funny looks. I asked and he told me. He made me promise that I

wouldn't publish the photo's of him. Sorry.&#8232;&#8232;I cannot give pictures

of any sets cause I don't own the rights to those images since I was on their

payroll. Thanks for looking.

>

>                                               

I--------------------------------I

>

> Have not seen the film since it came out. We worked silently, he told me lens,

field of view, where to put the camera and would look through. Sometimes he

wouldn't let me level the camera. Sometimes he would roll without letting me 85

or meter the shot. I had to remind him of the steps. He was very polite and

worked my ass off. &#8232;&#8232;We never talked about the movie we were

shooting stuff for. I pumped him for conversation in the minivan when we were

not shooting. I asked him about every remote film I could think of and he knew,

met crew, writers, directors, and had thoughts on every one. That was the best

part. The day on the pontoon boat was amazing. I'll have to re-look at the movie

and see what it was we did. &#8232;&#8232;We did talk about 'The Thin Red Line'.

He said he had over 6 hours of edited story finished. What you saw in the

theaters was what needed to be for the reps of a movie theater. I asked him if

he thought of releasing the 6 as a DVD box set and I assured him that there

would me a line of people just waiting to get their hands on it. He said that

some things that you put so much of your life and heart into are best left alone

for a few years. Man was I sad. He also told me that the PR picture form 'The

Thin Red Line' (When I asked him about it) of him was from 'Bad Lands'. I

thought it was weird he was standing next to wooden sticks in the photo. With

such a good DP on that film, I don't care if it was a low budget or not the

rental house would have not sent out wooden sticks to a jungle area with that

level of camerman. &#8232;&#8232;My grandfather fought with the Gurkha's in

Burma. T's movie was about the jungle and Japanese. I wanted to see more. Maybe

in a few years. &#8232;&#8232;I got to watch him work at the fort on the Friday

before we did the weekend together. The crew and him were shooting dueling

steadicams, forward and backward, moving 180's and 240's and his hand wave. The

script, gaffer and mixer scurried behind prop buildings as the two steadicams

paned. The first first camera assistant was wonderful. He pulled focus on Ali. I

love just love Emmanuel Lubezki's work. Some great films he has done. You should

imdb him. &#8232;

>

>                                             I--------------------------------I

>

>

> LINKS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgrax/3094985633/in/pool-malick

> http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgrax/2283031926/in/set-72157603824834534/

>

>I just want to say that yes, indeed, I can vouch for this guy.



I certainly don't doubt his veracity. At all.



But it's possible there are some things he's mis-remembering from his

encounter. Like I'm not sure what he's talking about when he says the only

PR picture for Malick from TTRL was from BADLANDS. *This* is the PR picture

for Malick from TTRL:

http://www.greencrier.com/images/244_malick_terrence_100306.jpg ... I'm

pretty sure we can all agree that is not the photo of a 29-year-old man,

especially since we know what Malick looked like during BADLANDS.



-Bilge

Thats not a voluntary "PR" photo of Malick, he was very perturbed about the leak

of it.







--- On Tue, 6/9/09, Bilge Ebiri <ebiri@...> wrote:



From: Bilge Ebiri <ebiri@...>

Subject: Re: [terrencemalick] Re: Glance on Malick [During TNW shooting]

To: terrencemalick@yahoogroups.com

Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 9:36 PM



































       >I just want to say that yes, indeed, I can vouch for this guy.







I certainly don't doubt his veracity. At all.







But it's possible there are some things he's mis-remembering from his



encounter. Like I'm not sure what he's talking about when he says the only



PR picture for Malick from TTRL was from BADLANDS. *This* is the PR picture



for Malick from TTRL:



http://www.greencri er.com/images/ 244_malick_ terrence_ 100306.jpg ... I'm



pretty sure we can all agree that is not the photo of a 29-year-old man,



especially since we know what Malick looked like during BADLANDS.







-Bilge

























































[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> Thats not a voluntary "PR" photo of Malick, he was very perturbed about

> the leak of it.

>

>





That may well be, but that does appear to be the photo included in the

official studio presskit for TTRL:



http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_product_static.asp?master_movie_id=10762&sku=156\

987



Look man, as I said, I'm not doubting this dude's veracity at all. (My

confusion over the press photo is inconsequential, though hopefully Malick

realized that the world did not collapse on itself after his photo was

leaked to the world.) I see nothing in his account that doesn't sound like

Malick. It is, if anything, an incredibly valuable glimpse of the man at

work -- way more valuable than the 800 puff pieces that ran in magazines

around the time of the film's release. (Though some of that of course is

Malick's doing as well -- I doubt he'd have been so outgoing if he thought

this guy was going to twitter about his experiences.)



My only complaint is that the rumors of a 6-hour cut of TTRL have a

frustrating tendency to confirm some people's complaints about the film that

currently exists. And it's a film I love dearly, and I'd hate for people to

start seeing it as some kind of studio hatchet job.





-Bilge

Bilge,

 

I totally about the current version of Thin Red Line. Since it's at least tied

for my favorite film of all time (Days of Heaven is there beside it, for

personal, sentimental reasons), it's difficult to imagine another version taking

its place. Although if anyone could hold our rapt attention for six hours, it

would be Malick. And I'm with you too on the cult of personality where Malick is

concerned. It would be nice if people could focus soley on the work, but then

his story is a fascinating one, especially the disappearing act between his

second and third films. Gluttony on my part, but I hope he has something on the

horizon after Tree of Life, other stories he'd like to tell.

 

Best, Oscar









________________________________

From: Bilge Ebiri <ebiri@...>

To: terrencemalick@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 9:05:43 PM

Subject: Re: [terrencemalick] Re: Glance on Malick [During TNW shooting]













> Thats not a voluntary "PR" photo of Malick, he was very perturbed about

> the leak of it.

>

>



That may well be, but that does appear to be the photo included in the

official studio presskit for TTRL:



http://www.moviegoo ds.com/movie_ product_static. asp?master_ movie_id=

10762&sku= 156987



Look man, as I said, I'm not doubting this dude's veracity at all. (My

confusion over the press photo is inconsequential, though hopefully Malick

realized that the world did not collapse on itself after his photo was

leaked to the world.) I see nothing in his account that doesn't sound like

Malick. It is, if anything, an incredibly valuable glimpse of the man at

work -- way more valuable than the 800 puff pieces that ran in magazines

around the time of the film's release. (Though some of that of course is

Malick's doing as well -- I doubt he'd have been so outgoing if he thought

this guy was going to twitter about his experiences. )



My only complaint is that the rumors of a 6-hour cut of TTRL have a

frustrating tendency to confirm some people's complaints about the film that

currently exists. And it's a film I love dearly, and I'd hate for people to

start seeing it as some kind of studio hatchet job.



-Bilge









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]