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Author
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Topic: The Black Stallion
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted November 18, 2008 01:16 AM
The Black Stallion 1979 6/400ft Colour/sound
Cast
Alec's Father Hoyt Axton
Alec's Mother Teri Garr
Snoe Clarence Muse
Alec Ramsey Kelly Reno
Henry Dailey Mickey Rooney
Directed Carroll Ballard
Screenwriter Melissa Mathison
Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel
Composer Carmine Coppola
Film Editor Robert Dalva
Following Photos taken from the screen almost 7ft wide at a distance of 20feet please excuse the dull and slightly blurry pictures, the digital camera does not like movement however they might give you some idea of the film.
this next one was shot as the scene was changing
Note.. photos have not been improved in any way and
are much much brighter and sharper than shown..
The Black Stallion is based on the children's novel by Walter Farley and is the story of a young boy Alec "Kelly Reno" who after being shipwrecked on a deserted island along with a horse soon become friends and later to be rescued and returned home. Alec meets up with retired horse trainer Henry Dailey "Mickey Rooney" who decides to train young Alec and The Black Stallion for the race of the century.
The first half of this film was beautifully shot by Caleb Deschanel on the island of Sardinia and at such a pace "slow" that the audience can take in the story of the boy getting the confidence of the horse, in these days of fast editing this film is a pleasure to watch with nothing but the music by Carmine Coppola the second half of this film concludes with the horse race "with the microphone strapped to the underside of the horse to great effect" The Black Stallion is great entertainment and this particular print 1984 is excellent, a rock steady image and very sharp on the focus, only needed to check the focus once during the two hours of this feature, the sound was also very good. I do have this film on DVD but on this occasion feel the Super8 print is much better and its a film I would highly recomend
Graham.
PS. Came across some interesting facts regarding the making the film
Filming began in Canada in the summer of 1977. Toronto was chosen to double for Flushing, N.Y. and it proved to be one of the hottest { temperatures reached 115 degrees and wettest} {Woodbine racetrack sat in two feet of mud} summers on record.
After finishing in Toronto, the crew relocated to Sardinia for the island scenes, This tropical paradise provided a whole new set of challenges. Inaccessibility topped the list of difficulties. Ironically that inaccessibility had been the very quality the film's scouts had searched for in the beginning.
The grottoes of Cala Ganone, could only be approached by boat. Another location, the 800 foot cliffs of Capo Caccia, compelled the cast and crew to scale the treacherous cliffs with hand-carried cameras in order to film the scenes from the top.
12 year-old Roark Wearing performed the on-screen stunts for the character of young Alec Ramsay With some four years of riding experience under his jockey"s hat.
[ November 18, 2008, 02:51 AM: Message edited by: Graham Ritchie ]
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