‘Reign of Fire’s veteran Irish producer
Morgan O’Sullivan of World 2000 and co-producer
James Flynn have had many successes bringing productions to Ireland, including Spyglass’ ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’. They continue their success with Miramax’s ‘Ella Enchanted’ which starts shooting late August 2002.
Below we profile some of the Irish crew and facilities companies involved in the production:
Alan Butler - Focus Puller
Alan Butler is widely recognised as Ireland’s number one Focus Puller and to many, he is considered among the best in the world. Mainly working in Ireland and living in Dublin, Alan’s most recent work includes films like 'Fathers and Sons', 'Chasing the Dragon', 'Evelyn', 'Reign of Fire', 'The Count of Monte Cristo' among others.
Alan told IFTN that he was delighted to have the opportunity to work with Adrian Biddle again and especially on ‘Reign of Fire’. The two had previously worked together on the ‘The Butcher Boy’ back in ’96. Although Alan mainly works on Irish projects he said he likes to take on a bit of other work outside of Ireland from time to time, like ‘Hart’s War’ which was filmed in Prague and ‘Evita’ where he was based in Argentina.
Seamus Deasy - 2nd Unit Cameraman for ‘Reign of Fire’
Seamus Deasy is one of Ireland’s finest DOP’s and his work includes features such as ‘Benedict Arnold’, ‘An Everlasting Piece’, ‘Though The Sky Falls’, ‘The General’ among others. He provided 2nd Unit camera crew to ‘Reign of Fire’ for twelve weeks. Seamus’ team for ‘Reign of Fire’ included his son Shane Deasy (Focus Puller), his daughter Fiona Deasy (Clapper Loader), Shane O’ Neill (Focus Puller), Noel Cullen (Gaffer) and John Murphy (grip).
Seamus’ unit had a very specific remit which was to shoot mainly the action stuff which included various Dragon attack sequences and battles through burning fire. There were a number of aerial action shots required which were very interesting and exciting to do. This sequence had to show guys jumping out of a helicopter to try to kill the Dragon in mid air.
This had to be shot from a helicopter using professional skydivers who were brought in from the US. Seamus’ team was responsible for getting one of the skydivers to deliver the camera shots required. The skydiver had to wear a 35mm camera on his helmet with a 40mm anamorphic lens on the head. He also had to wear a surgical neck brace, just to keep him from breaking his neck from the weight of the camera when he pulled open the parachute. The cameras on their helmets had short film loads for one/two minute shots. This work could take hours as the difficulty was getting the angles right in the jump, which meant the helicopters could be in the air for an hour or two at a time before landing to check film and reload. All these shots would be digitally worked on later in the US.
Joan Bergin - Costume Designer
Emmy nominee Joan Bergin has designed the costumes for a wide range of productions. Her career includes a long association with director Jim Sheridan, including the films ‘The Field’, ‘My Left Foot’, ‘In the Name of the Father’, and ‘The Boxer’. Other credits include ‘Agnes Brown’, ‘An Everlasting Piece’, ‘An Awfully Big Adventure’, ‘The Winter Guest’, ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, ‘Some Mother’s Son’, and ‘The Informant’. For television, she has designed the costumes for HBO’s ‘A Bright and Shining Lie’ and TNT’s ‘David Copperfield’, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001. She has also designed the costumes for the West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Beautiful Game’ and the Broadway production of ‘Riverdance’. She has recently finished work Touchstone Pictures’/Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ ‘Veronica Guerin’, directed by Joel Schumacher, and is currently working on the Miramax production of ‘Ella Enchanted’ to be located at Ardmore Studios.
Other Irish crew included:
Production Manager – Mary Alleguen
Location Manager – Cathy Pearson
Assistant Construction Manager – Nicky MacManus
Extras Co-Ordinator – Gail Munnelly
Ardmore Studios
Kevin Moriarty, MD at Ardmore Studios: “Reign of Fire was very much a production design film with a detailed vision of its location and facilities requirements which Ardmore fulfilled. This production illustrates the benefits of Ardmore as a studio on location and the range of scenery available on our doorstep. It’s our biggest production to date and showcases our strengths in a unique way.”
www.ardmore.ie
Cine Electric
Cine Electric were the sole lighting contractors on ‘Reign of Fire’. A large percentage of lighting equipment and generators were supplied from Cine’s own resources. Two major exterior location sets plus four stages at Ardmore Studios were rigged a set for Day and Night shooting. All additional plant generators, fuel storage and Musco Lites were installed, serviced and controlled by Cine. The project was the largest film lighting job in Ireland, and at one stage employed 68 electricians.
www.cine-electric.ie
Panavision
John Higgins of Panavision Ireland, was delighted to provide ‘Reign of Fire’ with all the Panavision equipment. John felt that having Ned Dowd locate here represented enormous potential for the film industry in Ireland. ‘Ned has great connections in the US and I would suggest that the new minister bring him in to talk’.
John says Panavision has provided camera equipment and backup to most of the movies in Ireland throughout the years and especially remembers the great work done in ‘Far and Away’ so many years ago. He is quick to thank Panavision in LA for their full and utter commitment and co-operation on ‘Reign of Fire’.
Team FX
We spoke with Pat Redmond at Team FX about their involvement in the production – they looked after all of the physical effects on the set – from the ‘dragon’s breath’, using a gas fireball, all of the atmospherics, smoke, fire, and more. It is by far their biggest production to date, employing 35 people in total in this area during the making of the film. They are currently prepping for ‘Ella Enchanted’ and some work on ‘Raggy Boy’, Subotica’s film with Aidan Quinn, currently filming in Cork.
