Produced by Greystone Films, an 18-minute feature, is being shot and produced at Mount Vernon.
Posted on 05/19/2006 6:12:01 PM PDT by Pharmboy
Produced by Greystone Films, an 18-minute feature, is being shot and produced at Mount Vernon.
Waiting in the wings for the command of 'action,' crew members aim fans at the actors
in order to introduce fake snow onto the set to replicate the weather when the troops crossed
the Delaware River.
In the role of Continental Army soldiers about to cross the Delaware River during
the Revolutionary War, actors wait on the set between takes as grips and crew members adjust lighting.
The film will be shown to visitors in the new Ford Orientation Center.
In the role of George Washington, Sebastian Roche has his costume and makeup
adjusted prior to filming a scene in which he leads the Continental Army across the Delaware River.
MOUNT VERNON--It was a warm, sunny spring day at Mount Vernon.
But it was snowing.
And George Washington was gravely contemplating crossing the Delaware. And striding away purposefully. And gravely contemplating. And striding away purposefully. And gravely contemplating. And striding away purposefully, fake flakes dusting his broad shoulders.
A production company was rehearsing a scene for an 18-minute film to be a focal point of the new $100 million orientation center and museum to open Oct. 27 at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens in eastern Fairfax County.
Mount Vernon wants to change the Father of Our Country's image from dour to dashing. They want to help young people relate to Washington.
It's billing the short film as "a mini-epic [that] will reintroduce visitors to the charismatic American hero."
The $5.2 million movie is being filmed primarily around Mount Vernon, with shooting to be completed today.
There tall, chiseled actor Sebastian Roche is endeavoring to show the world the Washington who historians say made women sigh and enemies tremble. Replacing the anything-but-sexy older man whose false teeth are bothering him on the dollar bill.
As he waited to film a scene in which George and Martha Washington meet, Roche talked about the challenge of playing a mythic and complicated figure who was both charismatic and reserved--and trying to change deeply held perceptions about an American icon in a matter of minutes.
Producer Craig Haffner said the film will portray George and wife, Martha, as "a couple who had chemistry."
It was an arranged marriage, Roche said, but "when she saw this 6-foot-2 hero, it must've been love at first sight."
Haffner characterized Washington as "a warm human being" whose "majestic" bearing is now incorrectly interpreted by many as cold aloofness.
James Rees, Mount Vernon's executive director, said the film will portray the real George Washington, whom he called "the 18th century's greatest action hero." The image-changing effort could make Washington "a new kind of American Idol."
Rees said he wants to wipe the slate clean of Washington's "old and stiff" dollar bill image.
As entrenched as that grandfatherly dollar bill image is in the American psyche, Mount Vernon and the filmmakers are confident they will succeed.
Emily Coleman Dibella, a Mount Vernon spokeswoman, said the film is to feature the risky crossing of the Delaware at Trenton on a wooden raft, a turning point during the Revolutionary War at Christmastime in 1776, and include flashbacks to the "brash and daring young soldier" who at 23 survived brushes with death during the French and Indian War.
As Washington and his fatigued, outnumbered men cross a frigid Delaware, there will be a "tender" flashback to his introduction to the young widow Martha Dandridge Custis, that will reveal his "flirtatious charm," Dibella said. Martha is played by Caroline Goodall, who has appeared in the films "Schindler's List," "Hook," and "The Princess Diaries."
The big-screen short is produced by Greystone Films, which has done programs for the Arts & Entertainment Network, The History Channel, CBS, NBC and ABC.
It will be shown almost continually in two theaters seating a total of 450 at Mount Vernon's new Ford Orientation Center. "Wheel of Fortune's" Pat Sajak will narrate a brief introduction to the film, appearing in Colonial garb in an introduction to the film, Rees said.
No portraits exist depicting a Washington younger than age 40, so Mount Vernon launched an ambitious scientific, historical and artistic project to create three accurate life-size models of Washington as a 19-year-old surveyor, a 45-year-old general and a 57-year-old president.
The models will be on display in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, which is to open with the Ford Orientation Center.
Roche, a Brit who was born in Paris of Scottish and French parents, is Americanizing his speech for the role, although some historians believe that the Virginia aristocracy of the time spoke with an accent that may have been close to his.
Ziad Ojakli, group vice president, corporate affairs, at Ford Motor Co., which has contributed millions for the center and the movie, called the film "a tool that will encourage exploration" of history.
Washington was born in Westmoreland County, grew up at Ferry Farm in Stafford County and spent his adult life at Mount Vernon, on the Potomac River south of what became Washington, D.C.
Roche, who has had classical theater background in "Hamlet" and "Macbeth" and had roles in television shows including "Alias," "CSI," "Law & Order" and "Charmed," said the fact that the film is brief isn't making him feel he has aggrandize his performance in order to make an impact on audiences.
"Eighteen minutes and two hours are the same if you do your job as an actor--if you make it real," Roche said.
If the film, which Rees said he hopes will protect Washington's legacy, succeeds it could have implications for the way history is presented.
Rees didn't say if Mount Vernon has future ambitions to replace the "old and stiff" Washington on the dollar bill with a computer-generated stud-muffin.
Freepmail me to get ON or OFF this RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list.
George Washington slept there, you know.
People generally know the genius of men such as Franklin and Jefferson, but few are aware of how much of a larger than life figure Washington really was. Without his genuine leadership, it is possible that the outcome of the Revolution would have been very different.
All he wanted was to be with Martha and manage the farm.
No question. His magnaminity made America.
If there's anyone in this country's history that deserves a holiday by name, its Washington.
There are ghosts there.
I agree.
I should hope so...
He was such a prolific and eloquent writer. We have a book of his writings published by Liberty Press. It must be 3 inches thick!
Change the aura of GW, and you change the meaning of the country IMHO...
sounds like a must see for us in october
BTTT
What's the name of the book you have.....I might want to get my hands on that one.....Thanks.
And, thanks, Pharmboy for posting this.
Although truly humble, he knew what he meant and what he would mean to the New Republic.
http://www.libertyfund.org/
Browse the catalogue!
Anything from Cato to Adam Smith to....
I believe thay are trying to enhance his image. Moving away from the grey-haired granny look, Rees is showing him for the youthful leader that he was.
You were brought up right, friend.
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