Take a high concept — literally, in this case, as the show’s set at a ski resort—and add the visually innovative McG (The O.C., Charlie’s Angels), his seasoned executive-producing team of Stephanie Savage (The O.C.) and Shaun Cassidy (American Gothic), and director David Barrett (Fastlane). Stir in some top-notch talent in front of and behind the cameras, and what do you get? The new WB show The Mountain. Centered around Boundary Mountain, an escapist playground for wealthy tourists and extreme sports enthusiasts, it chronicles the larger-than-life saga of the Carvers and was shot entirely on location in the Canadian Rockies near Calgary.
"McG and I worked very closely on establishing the look and tone of the pilot," reports Savage, who’d previously collaborated with the director on both Charlie’s Angels and Fastlane. "We wanted a very clean, streamlined look because of the setting, and our DP, Ramsey Nickell (Fastlane, Apple Jack), who’s shot a lot of commercials and music videos for McG, went for a very velvety, filmic look. He knows our sensibility really well, just like our editor Matt Ramsey, who’s also an editor on The O.C. and who worked with McG on the Fastlane pilot."
But while Fastlane was a "very editing-driven show, with lots of ramping and speed changes, which is a McG signature - he shoots a lot at 120 fps - we wanted this to use it but far more sparingly," she adds. "McG didn’t want really flamboyant stylistic tricks to overshadow the show’s emotional arc. He really wanted the story and characters to be paramount."
To this end, The Mountain makes generous use of handheld and Steadicam footage, all 16mm, supervised by Nickell and shot by David Moreau. "It was also a matter of schedule and being practical when you’re shooting on a mountain," notes Savage. "You can’t bring in a crane, much as we would have liked to have had one."
To stress the scenery, the rest of the show was shot on 35mm at a 16x9 aspect ratio, and footage ultimately totaled some 41,000 feet — "a huge amount for a TV pilot," admits Savage. "But McG always likes a lot of footage. He shot over one million feet for Charlie’s Angels."
Post was overseen by associate producer Keira Morrisette (Gilmore Girls). " McG wanted a different look from The O.C. " she notes. "He wanted a very natural look, because the footage Ramsey Nickell got was just so beautiful and stunning. But there’s also a lot of action sequences, which are key for the pacing of the pilot, and he wanted to stress those too. And David Barrett is also a photographer and stunt man, so he was very involved in the look of the show as well."
Despite shooting in remote locations, the pilot benefited from the latest technology. All footage was processed, digitized and telecined at Rainmaker in Vancouver with colorist Lionel Barton. "Then we did a Media.Net process and sent the material down to Ascent Media in LA," reports Morrisette. "Our assistant editor, Tim Goode, then picked it up on a Firewire, and we took it to our editorial bay at Digital Symphony in Burbank, where it was edited by Matt Ramsey on an Avid Meridian system." Final color was done by Dan Judy at Modern VideoFilm, where the show was onlined on an Avid DS Nitris. Audio was mixed on the Warner lot by Todd Grace and Rudy Pai.
Post was on "an incredibly short schedule," she adds. "We had just one week to deliver our first cut to the network from the time we wrapped and got our last dailies - the fastest schedule I’ve ever been on."So how did they manage to pull it off? "Basically, it was a big team effort," she says. "McG, the director and all the producers came in and gave notes and made sure we were going in the right direction. And McG simplified some of the storylines and really helped tighten it all up, and I think the results are way above average for a TV pilot. Just visually, it’s the most beautiful-looking show I’ve ever worked on."
Sums up Savage, "It’s a huge help when you can rely on a team of key creatives who know what you want. Modern Video knows us well, as they do The O.C. Same with the audio guys and our editor. And our company, Wonderland, is very director-driven, so we take a lot of pride in delivering a show that has a great look and style."
The Mountain Credits (Pilot)
Produced by Wonderland Productions for Warner Bros. Television
Executive Producers: McG, Stephanie Savage and Shaun Cassidy
Exec. Prod/Director: David M. Barrett
Producers: J.P. Finn, Tim Cox, Murray Ord and Jordy Randall
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