Production began this month on The Highwayman based on Alfred Noyes' well-known poem of the same name The Highwayman is set in 18th century England but is being filmed over 4 000 miles away (and over 5000 feet higher in elevation) in Colorado. Producer Darlene Cypser says The rolling plains and mesas east of the Front Range bear a remarkable resemblance to the downs of England. We are also fortunate that Victorian Coloradans were fond of revival architecture. The Governor's Residence which was given to the State of Colorado by the Boettcher family was built and decorated in Colonial Revival style which is perfect for our time period. Colorado offers a tremendous range of settings says director Trygve Lode. There are bustling cities farmhouses amid rolling hills forests and plains Wild West towns and medieval castles. Add 300-plus sunny days per year (and 365 dark nights) and you have a state where the landscape is as film-friendly as the people. We're fortunate to have our own camera lighting and sound equipment so we have the freedom to shoot anywhere we want and we like shooting right here in Colorado. The Governor's residence will be the mansion of Lord Shafton who is the Godfather-like villain of The Highwayman. Working with Lode will be Mark Grove and Jon Firestone of Asgard Entertainment. Grove a stunt coordinator and director of 20 years experience will be acting as second unit director directing action shots and advising Lode as he directs his first feature. Producer Darlene Cypser says He's been a back-seat director for quite a number of years. I thought it was time for him to get behind the wheel. I've mainly appeared in action and horror films where the directors were focused on creating the most exciting or terrifying shots for the film and that's pushed me to spend a time with other actors on the nuances of attitude body language and all the other tiny ways you can tell a whole story without saying a word Lode says. On a microscopic level I've been directing for upwards of ten years; the difference on The Highwayman is that this will be the first time I'm integrating that kind of micro-direction into an entire film. The primary camera to be used for The Highwayman will be Asgard Entertainment's Red One. We're shooting The Highwayman entirely with the Red One digital cinema movie camera Lode says. The Red camera delivers more than four times the highest video resolution supported on Blu-Ray disks and uses all the same lenses and support equipment as a top-of-the-line 35mm film movie camera. This gives us the image quality and look of 35mm film the flexibility of digital and the ability to convert easily to Blu-Ray 35mm film prints or 4K digital for the latest state-of-the-art digital theater projection systems. We were among the very first production companies to get a Red One camera when it was released says Asgard's Firestone. So we've had a lot of experience working with Red digital cinema. We also have a full green-screen setup sound booth and the other equipment and facilities we need to create the ghost effects and other elements we'll need to complement the camera work we'll be doing in the Governor's mansion. Firestone a local expert on digital effects and the Red camera will be acting as Digital Effects Supervisor and Digital Imaging Technician. The Highwayman is a production of The Highwayman Motion Picture a subsidiary of Inferno Film Productions. Inferno has been primarily focused on sales of motion picture distribution rights exhibiting at the American Film Market in Santa Monica California each year and acting as a sales agent for other producers. Inferno is currently offering foreign and domestic rights for about 20 motion pictures. In 2008 Inferno and its sister company Asgard Entertainment both decided to return to producing their own movies. The Highwayman will be in production and post-production this fall and winter and will be released sometime in 2010. The Highwayman www.thehighwaymanmovie.com
