UPDATE ON MICHAEL CORENBLITH FILMOGRAPHY FROM 2004 TO 2018 2005. BE COOL. Director: F. Gary Gray. 2007. WILD HOGS. Director: Walt Becker. THE ALAMO (2004), BY JOHN LEE HANCOCK WHICH CHRONICLES THE BESIEGED TEXIAN REBELS 2008. FROST/NIXON. Director: Ron Howard. 2009. THE BLIND SIDE. Director: John Lee Hancock. RESISTANCE TO THE RELENTLESS ADVANCE OF THE MEXICAN ARMY LED BY THE GENERALISSIMO 2010. DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS. D irector: Jay Roach. ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANA . A FTER THIRTEEN LONG DAYS OF STRENUOUS DEFENCE , THOSE MEN 2011. DOLPHIN TALE. D irector: Charles Martin Smith. DIED IN WHAT IS REMEMBERED IN MERICAN HISTORY AS A HEROIC SACRIFICE NE OF THE WORLD S 2012. THE CAMPAIGN. D irector: Jay Roach. A . O ’ 2013. SAVING MR. BANKS. Director: John Lee Hancock. MOST CREATIVE PRODUCTION DESIGNERS , M ICHAEL CORENBLITH HAS DESIGNED THE MOVIE ’S SETS . 2014. ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, FTER HAVING WORKED ON SEVERAL MOTION PICTURES DIRECTED BY ON OWARD ANSOM D NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY. Director: Miguel Arteta. A R H (R ; E 2016. THE FINEST HOURS. Director: Craig Gillespie. TV; A POLLO 13 , FOR WHICH HE WON A BAFTA A WARD , AND HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS ), 2017. THE FOUNDER. Director: John Lee Hancock. CORENBLITH HAS ACCURATELY RECREATED THE ENVIRONMENT OF THAT FATEFUL SERIES OF EVENTS 2018. GAME NIGHT. D irectors: John F. Daley, Jonathan Goldstein. LAST PORTRAYED ON THE BIG SCREEN BY THE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL 1960 EPIC DIRECTED BY AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION STARRING JOHN WAYNE . I T IS SAID THAT THERE IS AN AURA OF AN EPIC NATURE THAT PERVADES THIS 2005. SURFACE Season 1. Episode 1. FILM AND THAT JOHN LEE HANCOCK INTENDED TO KEEP TO THE HISTORICAL FACTS , GIVEN THAT ALAN 2006. DEXTER. Season 1. Episode 1. 2012. GAME CHANGE. D irector: Jay Roach. HUFFINES AND STEPHEN HARDIN , TWO RESPECTED HISTORIANS AND EXPERTS ON THE TEXAS 2015. THE BRINK. Season 1. Episode 1. REVOLUTION , WERE CONSTANTLY ON SET TO SUPERVISE EVERY SEQUENCE OF THE FILM AFTER HAVING RE -READ THE SCRIPT SEVERAL TIMES AND GIVEN THE DIRECTOR ADVICE ON WHICH PITFALLS TO AVOID . CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL CORENBLITH THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE IN 2004 DURING THE SHOOTING OF THE ALAMO AND WAS PUBLISHED IN THE SCENOGRAPHER IN 2005. REMEMBER THE ALAMO The first historical reconstruction dates from the nineteenth century, specifically from Napoleon’s desire to celebrate his victory at Marengo, recreating the battle by using a number of Austrian prisoners. From its genesis, cinema has made great use of every possible historical event and has attempted to unshackle time from its imprisonment, breathing life back into entire nations, heroes, battles and passions, shedding light on centuries-old obscurity those places populated by mankind. The faithful reconstruction of events which took place, of how one lived and fought in a distant past has certainly stimulated, and will continue to excite, the curiosity of the spectator in whom school-day memories of half forgotten protagonists from the past will resurface . Mr. Corenblith on what historical documentation did you base the creation of sets and choice of locations? When I first began my research on the architecture and geography of The Alamo and San Antonio de Bexar in 1836, I pursued several avenues of research. The Archives of the State of Texas, and the Map Collection of the University of Texas at Austin provided a variety of archival maps from the period, the most important being the "La Bastida" map of Bexar and The Alamo, prepared by a military engineer in Santa Ana's army for the purpose of planning the assault. I was able to study the actual map, which was on display at a special exhibit at the Bob Bullock State History Museum in Austin, which was devoted to the Life of David Crockett. This map not only provided valuable information as to the arrangement of the particular buildings within the Alamo compound, but also delineated the arrangement and size of the important buildings within the town of San Antonio de Bexar. Because this was a map created for the purpose of planning a military assault, it also provided a wealth of information regarding the placement and fields of fire of each of the eighteen cannons that protected the walls of The Alamo. I went to San Antonio on repeated occasions, and met with the Curator of The Alamo, Dr. Bruce Winders, who also provided access to a number of important documents and oral accounts of the battle. Next, I visited the set from the 1960 John Wayne film, in Brackettville, where I met the docent there, Rich Curilla. Rich generously shared much of his collection, and introduced me to the work of Theodore Gentlitz, an artist who had done several paintings of life in San Antonio around the time of the Texas Revolution. Rich also introduced me to the book "The Alamo, An Illustrated History," by George Nelson, which provided much of the factual information that I based my set design on, as well as several other sources of historical data which were then pursued. Rich also provided me with book, "The Blood of Noble Men," by Alan Huffines, which was a highly detailed chronology of the events from a military perspective, taken entirely from first hand accounts of these events, from both the Texian and Mexican sides. As my research continued, I attended a symposium in Houston, Texas devoted to the events surrounding the Battle of San Jacinto, The John Wayne film from 1960 was as much about the Cold War as it was about The Texas Revolution. Jason Patric, who plays where I met Dr. Stephen Hardin, author of "Texian Iliad," which is a scholarly work which deals not only in the specifics, but in Jim Bowie in the film, calls Texas in 1836 a microcosm of what the United States would become. In today's multicultural society the broader questions and issues surrounding the Texas Revolution. It was in Houston that I met with Dr. James Crisp, from The we are a long way from the America of 1960, and this film is representative of our current social and political climate. This is why University of North Carolina, who translated the De La Pena diaries, which were a highly detailed account of these events written it was important to me to give the same attention to the accuracy in my depiction of life in San Antonio de Bexar, and the by a common "soldado" in Santa Ana's Army. community of Tejanos there, as it was to the Texian defenders inside the walls of the Alamo. The Art Department for The Alamo amassed a collection of over 200 books devoted to or related to the subject, and included all Do you think that this could be the movie that will re-launch the genre and its subsequent spin-offs, thanks in part to known paintings and drawings done of San Antonio from the time. The first photograph of the Alamo wasn't taken till 1856, so new technology? these works of art were the only primary sources that exist. In the architecture and design of the film there are no building forms, I think that the examination of our past, and the lessons that it may contain is one of the benefits of any period film. As the colors or details that do not have a specific reference in the research that was amassed. Western is a uniquely American genre, there is always that aspect of it being a prism that our current situation can be seen through. In March, 2003 I was given the Ruben Marmaduke Potter Award, by the Alamo Battlefield Association, which is bestowed for Filmgoers have been blessed with a number of top quality, period epics this year, not because of new technologies, but rather significant advancement in the field of Alamo scholarship. I was to first non-author to ever receive this prestigious recognition because of the challenges and introspection that our times demand. from the Alamo Community. Within the fort, was the physical composition of each battle site characterized in such a way as to reveal to the audience Tourists visit both sites, often preferring the movie set in Brackettville to the original site. Were the battlefields also the difficulties faced during the various stages of the battle. faithfully reproduced? In designing the layout of the Alamo compound, many of my decisions to deviate from the actual conditions were based on the I feel that tourists' preference for seeing the movie set to visiting the actual Alamo is based entirely on the question of context. fact that unlike the John Wayne version, our final assault would be depicted at night, when it actually occurred. This meant that The Alamo in present day San Antonio is in the center of a modern city, with only two of the original structures remaining. In there was a premium placed on the schematic function of my designs in making sure that the audience could remain oriented Brackettville it is far easier to feel what the site was like in 1836. In designing the set for the John Lee Hancock film, I wanted to during this climactic battle sequence. Since each of our primary characters, Crockett, Bowie, Travis, and Bonham were assigned create a new physical manifestation of The Alamo and San Antonio de Bexar that would encompass all of the advances in both to defend a particular position within the fort, I wanted to make sure that each of these positions could be seen from the others, our knowledge of history and the sophistication of the moviegoing audience. and that the visual heart and anchor of our story, the Alamo church itself, could be composed into the shots from each of these Unlike Brackettville, the relationship of The Alamo to the town of San Antonio on the 2003 set is highly accurate.