Patriot, The : Production Notes


Movie Poster - Patriot, The (2000)The project began in 1996 from an interest in the American Revolution shared by screenwriter Robert Rodat and producer Mark Gordon. Gordon and Rodat had previously collaborated in the same capacities on the seminal film "Saving Private Ryan (1998)," which Gordon produced with his partner, Gary Levinsohn.

"Bob (Rodat) and I had finished the development of 'Saving Private Ryan (1998).' We were trying to determine what we were going to do next. I think it was Bob who said, Why don't we do something set in the American Revolution" Gordon remembers. "Having grown up in Newport News, Virginia. right outside of Williamsburg and Yorktown, I grew up surrounded by the Revolutionary War. So, for me, the idea of doing a movie set against the American Revolution was a wonderful opportunity."

Gordon adds that the Revolution itself is not the film's story, but rather its backdrop. The war is a catalyst for events that cause the characters, specifically the protagonist Benjamin Martin, to examine and change their lives.

"What we ultimately came to thematically is that you can't save your own family unless you are willing to put yourself on the line to save the families of all men - in this case, to fight in the American Revolution on the side of the patriots," says Gordon. "I think these issues are important, and I hope will have resonance for the audience in all aspects of their lives."

The Battle Scene - Patriot, The (2000)Levinsohn agrees, explaining that, "what's great about these types of stories is that they're really everybody's story. 'The Patriot' is for anyone who has been forced to defend their children and their beliefs."

Roland Emmerich (Director) - Patriot, The (2000)The shooting script evolved through an osmosis-like process based on Rodat's fascination with the Revolutionary War. It wasn't just the battles that intrigued him- the conflict's underlying issues and the terrible choices it presented ordinary people were also compelling.

"After 'Ryan,' I was trvng to decide what to write next. From the time I was a kid, the American Revolution always fascinated me," says Rodat. "I never understood why there wasn't a movie that had captured that."

"Unlike 'Ryan,' 'The Patriot' deals with a war fought on the home front. It seemed natural to deal with someone like Benjamin Martin, who has to grapple with competing responsibilities- in this case, family and principle. It's a story about how he tries to deal with obligations that are in direct conflict," Rodat explains.

Film Crew - Patriot, The (2000)Columbia Pictures agreed with Rodat and purchased the screenplay. Studio Chairman Amy Pascal explains, "we like the story of a man defending his family, because it's powerful and universal." After Rodat and Gordon developed the screenplay, Gordon and Levinsohn searched for a filmmaker to direct the project. Instead, they found a filmmaking team, in the form of director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin.

"We were looking for a great storyteller. Roland was a director that I'd been very interested in, and we had been big fans of his and Dean's from 'Independence Day,"' says Gordon. "I thought, what a different kind of movie this would be for Roland. When you are looking for a director, you have two options: you can turn to someone who has done this kind of genre five times before, or you can opt to work with someone who is extraordinarily talented but hasn't told this particular kind of story. That was whv we were so excited about the possibility of Dean and Roland getting involved in the picture. It has been an incredibly happy and fulfilling collaboration."

"On some level, it took the courage that Benjamin Martin had to have for Roland to do this film," says Levinsohn. "I think it was worthwhile and brave of him to go after this material."

Adds Rodar: "I think Roland and Dean are going to surprise people. They are very thoughtful, well-read men with high aspirations. I'm really pleased with the pairing."

With French General Jean VilleneuveEmmerich and Devlin returned Rodat's compliment on a daily basis during filming. They referred to the script affectionately as "The Book of Rodat." Contrary to the situation on some movie sets, the writer was a welcome, frequent visitor to the "Patriot" location, contributing scenes or honing dialogue as required.

"It really came down to the script for us," Emmerich notes. "I never thought I would make a movie about the American Revolution, but I was so moved by this story and very impacted by it."

"The script was so powerful and such a beautiful piece of work, challenging and exciting for us. I remember that I was given the script to read over a weekend, and I actually started reading it about 15 minutes before a party I was throwing at my house," says Devlin. "It was so engrossing that I couldn't stop reading it, even though I had a house full of people. I got about 70 pages into the script, and I ran to the telephone and called Roland. I said, 'Roland, whatever you're doing, stop. You've got to read this script- it's our next movie.' He promptly said to me, 'I already read it. Finish the script and call me back.' I did, and we were both madly in love with it and thought that this was the opportunity of a lifetime."

Gareth Wigan, co-vice chairman of Columbia Pictures, recalls, "what excited me was that the filmmaker, whom I very much admire, was so excited by it. Roland immediately seized on it, and you saw the fire in his eves. As a result, everything that he has brought to the project has deepened it."

Emmerich, born in Germany ten years after the end of World War II, notes that the screenplay affected him on a visceral and personal level.

"There is no escaping something as massive as a war, and the story was told in a way that anyone could relate to. I started crying as I read the script - which has happened maybe twice in my life - and that really got me. The American Revolution was a big subject taught in school in Germany because it was the first formation of a democratic society since the Greeks, so I had a real connection to the material," he says.

Devlin adds that the screenplay's humanity, drama and pathos appealed to him as well as its historical elements.

"There aren't really a lot of films about that period or about the birth of this country, and we thought it was an amazing chance to show what life was like for a normal person at that time, how ordinary people faced extraordinary circumstances. Beyond its historical elements, though, the story touches you in an incredible way it is a human drama in an original visual setting. We were compelled to do it," Devlin says.

The film's lead character, Benjamin Martin, whose life is inexorably altered by the Revolution, personifies the ordinary people to whom Devlin refers. A contradictory man, he is a capably ruthless guerrilla fighter who becomes a pacifist, a responsible provider and father and a respected member of his community. His stoicism belies a conscience plagued by remorse and guilt over his murderous past. Profoundly conflicted and laboring mightily to be moral, he commits both the sin of commission by his bloody acts in war and the sin of omission, when his initial refusal to join in the fight against the British leads his family to tragedy.

Mel Gibson, who has some experience playing conflicted, reluctant heroes in films from "Mad Max (1979)" to "Braveheart (1998)," portrays Benjamin Martin.

"You don't have to go very far to realize that history quickly repeats itself. Century by century, decade by decade, it's different players but the same story playing itself out, with all its ugliness and glories, all its victories and defeats," says Gibson. "This kind of story has been told since people have been dwelling in caves and painting pictures; it's that combination of the ordinary and the divine that inspires us and makes something really hit home for us, I think Those are the kind of stories that I like."

Gibson notes that it was also the script's story of a man's inner turmoil and a family in crisis that appealed to him.

"The thing I liked about it is that while it is a very big film, at the core of it is a real story with characters that are quite understandable- just ordinary people. It's got that small aspect to the story- not outer space but inner space," he says. "I've seen the epics, and some of them don't touch you because they are these big, sprawling things. They don't reach you on an emotional or human level at all. The far more important story is the one of the people, the family, something that everyone can relate to. If that can work, you can have as many cannon blasts as you like, because they mean something."

Gibson describes Benjamin Martin as an erstwhile hell-raiser who, despite his apparent civility, can't quite dodge his brutal past. The character's uneasy balance between the man he was and the one he aspires to be intrigued the actor.

"He was a kind of savage during the French and Indian War, and when we meet him, he is trying to maintain a simple lifestyle and stay out of trouble," says Gibson. "He's tempered by his past, by having children and by remorse for the sins he thinks he has committed during the war. There's a sense of foreboding through the entire film that has to do with his transgressions and his remorse for them. His conscience bothers him. He's motivated by the fear that he could easily regress into his former brutality, and that his sins and transgressions will come back to haunt him- that he will have to pay a moral debt that will mean losing what he has. His family, his farm, the new life he has built- he just wants to hang on to all of it so hard that it starts slipping through his fingers. Eventually, he finds that he has to either get into the conflict or do nothing and watch as his family is torn apart. He says at one point that The war will be fought in our backyards,' and literally, that happens to him," Gibson explains.

"He is terribly afraid because of his own past and the karmic retribution that might result. He has a lot to lose now- he has seven children- and that makes him very vulnerable."

Mark Gordon says that Gibson's ability to capture this duality in Martin 's nature, coupled with the actor's intrinsic "timelessness," made him the appropriate man for the part.

"There are very few people who I think audiences will buy in this role. When we were developing the screenplay, it was always Mel that we had in mind. We felt that he was able to play the physically and the roughness of the character, but at the same time he has enormous humanity and great heart."

Roland Emmerich (Director) - Patriot, The (2000)"It was a joy to work with Mel," Roland Emmerich says. "Mel was very committed to concentrating on the acting, and he is the most humble person there is. I think he felt comfortable with us, and the best thing we could do was give him the room to act, to create and define this character."

The result was that Gibson went above and beyond the call, surprising the crew every day. During the filming of one scene, "we were shooting in 40 frames per second, which is very slow," says executive producer Ute Emmerich. "Mel said, 'let's have the cameras roll at normal speed, because I can do the slow motion.' We did it, and it turned out great."

Devlin echoes these sentiments, adding that "the choices Mel makes as an actor in this film are incredibly brave. He's willing to go to very dark places within his own psyche and expose them on screen if they're right for the character. It's both disturbing and compelling, because you feel like you're looking at something incredibly private in his performance."

The Battle Scene - Patriot, The (2000)Screenwriter Robert Rodat emphatically says that Benjamin Martin is an amalgam of several real Revolutionary war heroes. "Our Benjamin Martin has liberal amounts of Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, Daniel Morgan and even Elijah dark, as well as Francis Marion Each man provided pivotal pieces to the character of Benjamin Martin."

"By not tying him down to one person, we were able to make the Benjamin Martin character more honest to the people and events of the period," Devlin explains. "We tried to keep all the events of the movie true to events that happened in the American Revolution- they may lust not have happened in the same way or in the same place. But the spirit of everything in the film can be drawn from real events throughout the American Revolution."

Because of Martin's initial fears about entering the conflict, Gibson points out that the true Patriot' of the movie is not the father, but the son.

Heath Ledger plays this son, Gabriel Martin, the youth who in many ways becomes his father's teacher.

"I thought it would be interesting to have the teacher in this case be the son," Rodat says. "Gabriel is a decent, moral guy, and he wears that mantle of principle and responsibility more easily than his father does."

"There's an assumption that everybody's patriotic, and not everybody is. This movie is called The Patriot,' but Benjamin Martin is not a patriot. He knows what war is and feels that we should avoid it under all circumstances," Roland Emmerich notes.

Ledger views the father/son disagreement over the war as an example of a classic generation gap.

"While Gabriel is growing up, he hears these fantastic war stories, and it's all very heroic and glorious to him," explains Ledger. "His father knew better, knew how gory it could be. He doesn't want to put his son in that situation. I think all parents and children go through that sort of thing at some point. Gabriel represents the new generation. He believes strongly in the new ideals of the new country. So he defies his father to go to war."

In the course of the film, Ledger's character matures from a boy to a man, and his youthful patriotism collides with the bloody reality of war. The part required an actor who could convey both Gabriel's boyish impetuousness and the mettle he develops as he matures. It also demanded an actor who could convincingly portray Gibson's screen son.

"Heath possesses qualities that link him to Mel, and I think that on screen that really comes off as a very believable father and son relationship," says Dean Devlin. "If you look at the very early Mel Gibson movies, even when he was very young, he never seemed like a boy. There was something very manly about him, even at a young age. I think that is true about Heath Ledger. He's 20 years old, but he doesn't feel like a little boy. He feels like a mail. I think they share that quality on screen. You feel that there is a weight to the things they have to say about the cause."

Gibson adds that he was very impressed with his co-star's concentration and earnest approach.

"I really like the kid," Gibson says simply. "He is far more mature than his age. He was very measured and very deliberate about his work. I remember what I was like when I was that age. God, I don't think I was capable of some of the more subtle things he did. He was very accurate, precise and subtle in what he did. I think he's got a hell of a future. He's got the right sort of heart and spirit for the whole thing, and he's just going to get better as he goes on."

Australian-born Ledger returns the compliment. "Mel is every Aussie's hero. It was an amazing opportunity work with him. I learned so much from Mel. A lot of it was unspoken- his professionalism, the way he treats people, how he presents himself in his work. He gives so much, on and off screen."

Ledger particularly marveled at Gibson's ability to focus on the work during the take and just as enthusiastically joke and chat in between scenes. Fond of puns and an engaging storyteller with a seemingly endless supply of jokes, Gibson kept the mood light. He often joined in on Scrabble games spearheaded by the hair and make-up departments and even instigated some hijinks of his own, such as inviting the Carolina Panthers' cheerleaders to a battlefield set for Roland Emmerich's birthday.

"Roland and Dean encouraged a relaxed, happy attitude. They both have great senses of humor. They are gifted people who approach it all out of love which makes for an incredibly merry atmosphere. I had more fun on this movie than I've had in a long time," says Gibson.

Jason Isaacs, who plays Colonel Tavington. the leader of Britain's elite warriors the Green Dragoons, points out that the levity on set was derived from a feeling of family that was rooted truth. Indeed, producer Ute Emmerich is Roland Emmerich's sister; the Winther family contributed three brothers, in co-producer and unit director Peter Winther, assistant director Kim Winther and assistant director Lars Winther; stunt coordinator RA. Rondell had several relations on his team. Even Mel Gibson's daughter, Hannah, was a production assistant.

"There was definitely family atmosphere going on, not only because the crew included parents and children and brothers and sisters or even because quite a few had worked with Roland and Dean many times before. I also think there was that sense because there was no Gibson adds that he was very impressed with his co-star's concentration and earnest approach."

Isaacs, the film's personification of wickedness, is witty, affable and self-depreciating in person and hopes the audience doesn't confuse his character with him. Tavington, loosely based on a real British soldier, spends much of the film perpetrating incredibly horrific acts against the colonists.

"The film has a real emotional heart to it, and that's what first grabbed me," he continues. "When I got the script initially, I was unable to put it down and just sobbed at the story. Then, of course, I couldn't wait to get my teeth into Tavington, a character who is so evil It really is a gift of a part."

The gentle foil to the cruel Tavington is Joely Richardson as Charlotte Selton, Martin's sister-in-law. Both Benjamin and Charlotte mourn the death of his wife, Elizabeth, but the connection is deeper than their common grief.

"He is in mourning for his dead wife, which is something that Charlotte understands profoundly, because Elizabeth was her sister and because she also has experienced the death of her husband. There is an element of shared grief between them, but through the years an unspoken spark has also developed," Richardson explains. "It is an adult kind of affection and respect."

Richardson says that the opportunity participate in a movie of such historical scope attracted her, but "it was the personal stories, these fascinating characters with such interesting lives" that drew her to the script. "It was a terrifically good read that held my interest and imagination," she says.

Richardson adds that in addition to experiencing the equivalent of a celluloid fairy tale, she looked forward to working with Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. She found them to be vex-v "actor friendly" filmmakers.

"Working with Roland and Dean very much relates to why I wanted to be part of the project. As I said, I liked the script enormously, but when I met Roland and Dean, I really wanted the job. Both of them are very accessible, very funny and very cool," she says. "I was also really, really excited to work with Mel."

Whereas Charlotte is the film's quiet, nurturing, maternal figure, Anne Howard, played by Lisa Brenner, is her outspoken counterpart. Anne, who supports Gabriel Martin in his advocacy of the nascent country and its new ideals, is reminiscent of that feminine but strong-wiled female paragon Abigail Adams.

"Anne is a 16-year-old girl living in Colonial times, but she definitely has opinions about the war," says Brenner. "If she could, she'd be fighting in it too. She's a 'pre-feminist.' She has passion and fire and ideals, like Gabriel, which I think, among other things, draws them together."

Rene Aubezjonois plays the Reverend Oliver, the clergyman who marries Gabriel Martin and Anne Howard. He also joins the Militia, fighting alongside Gabriel and Benjamin Martin. This was not an atypical occurrence and, indeed, one of the ministers on which his character is based did just that.

"When Martin's son Gabriel comes to church to enlist men into the Militia, he in fact breaks into a service that Reverend Oliver is leading," explains Aubexjonois. "At first, Reverend Oliver is very resistant to it but, one by one, many of the congregation rise and join. When we leave that scene, we don't know what Reverend Oliver is going to do. When they're all about to ride off, suddenly the Reverend appears. He takes off his powdered wig- which is one of those things that represents his station- makes the statement that he must tend his flock and rides off with the Militia."

With French General Jean VilleneuveA colorful array of characters personify other aspects of the conflict: French officer Villeneuve, played by Tcheky Karyo; Colonel Henry Burwell, leader of the Continental army and Benjamin Martin's old comrade-in-arms, played by Chris Cooper; and Lord General Comwallis, the English commander whose earl victories over the American forces at Charleston and Camden would ultimately end in defeat at Yorktown, portrayed by Tom Wilkinson.

Karvo based Villeneuve partly on the young French fighter the Marquis de Lafayette- elegant in dress and sensibility and an expert horseman. This was as much a reflection of Kaiyo as his character, as the actor is an avid equestrian. On his off-days, he honed his riding skills with the help of the film wranglers and some local ranchers he befriended.

Chris Cooper, as Colonel Burwell, personified a different kind of elegance. A reserved, dignified man, he embodied the quiet resolve of the soldier/statesman.

"We were excited to land Chris Cooper, who was coming off two amazing performances in 'October Sky (1999)' and American Beauty (1999).' He plays Martin's oldest friend, with whom he fought in the French and Indian War. They have to communicate so much of this past in an unspoken way, between the lines, in terms of their friendship and what they mean to each other. It took an actor as fine as Chris Cooper to go toe-to-toe with Mel," Devlin says.

Movie Poster - Patriot, The (2000)Cooper describes Burwell as "somebody who understood Martin's horror of war, having been in it with him, but who had also seen Martin's bravery, having fought side by side with him. He is the one person who can appeal to his sense of honor and duty because of their shared past."

Cooper, whose character leads the Continental Army alongside Martin's Militia in the decisive battle of Cowpens, adds that shooting on location and charging into the fray with hundreds of extras as cannons, mortars and musket fire exploded around him was an invaluable experience.

"It was simply essential. It was a huge help to see this whole group of Militia, this rag tag group of patriots assembled with a line of the Blue Coats, going into battle over the ridge and facing a line of British. It was very emotional. It really helped set the mood," he says.

This phalanx of Redcoats was commanded by Tom Wilkinson's Lord General Coniwallis. While regarded by American historians as the "villain" and the "vanquished," Cornwallis was at best a capable officer, ultimately overmatched by the French and the American forces and overwhelmed by guerrilla tactics he was ill-prepared to counter.

Wilkinson's Cornwallis possessed the regal bearing and the brisk demeanor of the aristocrat he was. While Wilkinson studied Comwallis a bit, he relied on the script to produce his interpretation of the man.

"The British Army at this time was very much a mirror of the kind of class system that existed in England. One of the areas of conflict between Tavington and Cornwallis is their difference in class, so there is always that vague sense of disapproval that Comwallis has for him," Wilkinson says.

With a cast in place, principal photography began on September 7,1999. The battles and sweeping landscapes as well as the bustling city of Charleston required an active cast and crew comprised of 63 principal actors, 95 stuntmen, 400 extras and 400 re-enactors. Major structures were built to accommodate the drama and the action of the film including the entire town of Pembroke, the ruins of Cowpens and Benjamin Martin's plantation.

"The Patriot" shot at various locations throughout northern South Carolina, in and around a small community called Rock Hill, before ending the film in the graceful city of Charleston. While the filmmakers originally scouted such far-flung places as Canada, Ireland and New Zealand, the Carolinas proved to be the most advantageous shooting locale for several reasons.

"We knew we needed huge, unspoiled distances for these enormous 18th century battle scenes," explains executive producer William Fay. "Obviously, the story takes place there, and the fact that it is an American story made us feel that we should try to keep it in the United Stares. Another big factor for us was that all period props, wardrobe and set dressing were available in the South. Also, the quality of the extras... I'm not sure why, but you just see some amazing faces in the South."

"The Patriot" filmed from September to early December in Rock Hill, which offered a unique block of colonial homes known as Historic Brattonsville. A 720-acre living history village and Revolutionary War battlefield site, Brattonsville provided several properties that became sets for "The Patriot": Hightower Hall served as the exterior and interior Camden Plantation; The Homestead House became the interior of Charlotte's plantation; Colonel Bratton's house provided the space for some of the Howard's bedrooms. Artists, craftspeople, carpenters and painters all labored to refinish floors, repair and augment ornate moldings, rebuild walls and essentially renovate the area.

After several weeks, the company gratefully moved to Charleston. The first scenes shot there occurred at the College of Charleston, which doubled for the Charleston Assembly Hall, where the Continental Congress occurred.

"The Patriot" also filmed at the city's famed Trade and Meeting Streets, where colorful rows of Colonial homes still stand. One of these residences served as the exterior of Charlotte's house, where Benjamin Martin brings his family, including his mute two-year-old daughter, Susan (played as an older child by Skye McCole Bartusiak). Unfortunately, during the scene, the young actress chosen for the role spied a doll that Joely Richardson's Charlotte would eventually present to her. Impatient for her prize, she called out loudly "I want the doll!"

"It's a miracle- she's cured!" Gibson joked.

The film also turned to South Carolina's famed plantations for several scenes. Mansfield Plantation hosted several locations, from Charlotte's garden, porch and balcony to a portion of Cornwallis' headquarters. The 275-year-old plantation is famed for its authentic slave quarters, which the production also used.

Mickileton Place, home of "America's oldest landscaped gardens," became the site of an elaborate British party in which Comwallis suffers yet another indignity due to Martin and his Militia's mischief, which would culminate in a giant explosion in the nearby river.

In stark contrast to this refined and decadent setting was the freed and escaped slave territory, shot at Botany Bay Plantation on Edisto Beach. This plantation was, in fact, a 5,000-acre wildlife preserve. Thatched huts and African-style woven baskets and blankets dotted a thin stretch of beach that represented the oasis to which the Martin family escapes. The production shorthand for this location was "the Gullah Maroon"- Gullah is actually a language based on English and various West African dialects spoken on the Sea Islands of South Carolina.

For Beatrice Bush, who plays Abigale, Benjamin Martin's freed slave who goes to live in this community, it was a unique opportunity to experience this part of black history.

"Obviously, The Patriot' is about Americans fighting to gain independence from the British. But at the same time, it becomes a historical lesson about the fact that blacks who had eluded the institution of slavery were in America at that time and living in their own free communities. It was a wonderful experience. I was so pleased that they took the time to really show the details of how blacks were living in this particular community. It's a very important lesson for a lot of people who never understood that, at that period in time, there were blacks who were not enslaved."

"The Patriot" wrapped production at a man-made marsh near Charleston known as Cypress Gardens, a fully realized swamp created in the late 1920s. There, the unit filmed several crucial scenes, especially between Ledger and Gibson, over several chilly nights. On the last evening, the cast and crew were treated to a rare lunar eclipse.

The first scenes shot took place at the Martin plantation, on 280 acres of land that collectively became known as Freshwater. The Martin homestead, with its crops, gates and adjacent barn/workroom, did not exist prior to filming. It fell to production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli, art director Barry Chusid and set decorator Victor Zolfo to realize Roland Emmerich's vision of these and the rest of "The Patriot" sets.

Emnierich wanted to film "The Patriot" so that the scenes were backlit. Therefore, Petruccelli had to select his locations and design his sets with that in mind.

"Every site we selected or constructed was always positioned on an east-west angle so that during the day Roland could shoot in one direction and at dusk, another direction," Petruccefli says.

All the sets were based on history and the characters who inhabited them, according to Petruccelli. The crew had 11 weeks to build Martin's farmhouse, a classic four-over-four structure which reflected the strong but understated nature of his character. Ironically, half of the interior was a hollow shell. The place had to be constructed to burn quickly to cinders when the British torch it in the course of the film. The construction crew assembled the minimum requisite sets against a skeleton of scaffolding and wooden beams. In the distance, the special effects team pumped smoke through a lengthy rubber tube perforated with holes along the top, all of which conspired to create morning and evening "mist" for the scenes.

"Martin's farm was challenging because it is our primary set. It was important that we did it accurately and gave enough meaning to Mel's character," says Petruccelli. "The structure had to relate to him. We scouted a lot of locations to find very beautiful pastoral lands that we could modify for Martin's farm. Roland wanted it to be situated in a landscape that would emphasize the pre-war, idyllic nature of the colonists and of Martin's life."

Crops of tobacco and millet, watered by five wells drilled by the production, were planted around the grounds. Since most shooting was done on converted cattle fields, a massive greens department was utilized for all the locations, which required different crops- ground top millet, pearl millet, pumpkins, Sudan grasses, cow peas- to create different colors for the landscapes.

Martin's house had to contain interior sets, such as bedrooms, Martin's study, the parlor and kitchen, as well as an exterior porch. A sturdy, unpretentious building, its details were as authentic as possible: high ceilings and long corridors, gray/green walls, dark wooden furniture, light fixtures holding gold tapers, an aged brick fireplace in one room, a marble one in another. It was the picture of colonial, masculine taste - with a few feminine accents to reflect the lasting importance of Martin's union with his deceased wife.

Petruccelli also had to build his own century town the village of Pembroke, where a large portion of the filming took place.

"In the town of Pembroke, we built the church first, at the highest point on the hilltop, as the settlers probably would have. From that we built down. Then we asked, what was the basis of the town? There would be agriculture, so one of the buildings sells goods for farming; there is a blacksmith and place that sells tack, because the horse was the main form of transportation at that time. Then there would be people who began living in the town, so certain other types of businesses would arise, such as a tavern. We examined the social, political and religious needs of the town, and it sprang from that," he says.

Petruccelli notes that perhaps the most colorful set of the movie was the interior of Lord General Cornwallis' headquarters, an elegant turquoise drawing room with gold chandeliers and dark, sophisticated Chippendale furniture. This set, he notes, marks the British at the peak of their power. The interior, which Petruccelli says was inspired by Comwallis' personality, was built in a sprawling fortress known as Fort Carolina, which Petruccelli based on the house of a colonial officer.

"Fort Carolina was based on 'Lighthorse' Harxy Lee's original structure called Stratford Hall, a beautiful Virginian mansion," says Petruccelli. "We wanted to go a little bit more up country, to get him away from the lower South Carolina architecture, and we also wanted a very stark, stoic, linear structure. We used Stratford Hall because of its style, magnitude, and the time-frame in which it was built."

Occasionally, Petruccelli also had to build sets to accommodate visual effects. Later, the visual effects teams would add everything from an exterior mansion to thousands of marching soldiers, and some of Petruccelli's work would serve as markers for the digital team. Two such structures were ruins, which, ironically, his team had to build at the site that became the battle of Cowpens.

"To help the audience and the visual effects department focus where you are in the world, we built these ruins. We designed what would have been there and built what would be left of a massive, loyalist plantation if a battle had taken place there a year and a half earlier," he says.

Of course, visual effects supervisor Stuart Robertson didn't completely rely on Petruccelli's sets. Robertson often carried a three-pronged stick bearing mirrored and matte orbs. Such a contraption allowed him to reference light and shadow, so that the computer could match the amount of direct and fill light that illuminated particular scenes. Orange tripods often dotted the landscape to afford the visual effects personnel in Los Angeles- CFX, C~tropolis Effects- an idea of the space into which they would insert armies and even entire villages. The ruins, in fact, were remnants of a larger set that only existed in miniature.

"In the early part of the film, we see Benjamin Martin and his family in a wagon on their way to Charleston at an overlook. In the film, audiences will see this entire site in a very optimistic, active way- windmills, mansions, houses, farmland, wagons. This lovely, active landscape was shot by the model team. What my team actually filmed was this view, post-skirmish. Everything was burnt to the ground, just leveled, the grass grown over everything," Petruccelli says.

Visual effects considerations notwithstanding, Petruccelli says he primarily designed the film's sets with the characters and their lives in mind. In general, based on his conversations with Ernmerich, the colonists were very much a part of their landscape and in harmony with the countryside- and their wooden structures reflected that. The British sets, however, were much more rigid, formal and linear- much like their occupants.

It was the job of art director Barry Chusid and set decorator Victor Zolfo to fill these wonderful sets. Like several other departments, Chusid, Zolfo and their crew began their research with the Smithsonian Institution, which came on board to serve as Historical Consultant on the film. "The Patriot" is the first film with which the venerated Institution- the largest museum complex in the world employing the greatest number of curators and scholars- has ever collaborated.

Chusid and Zolfo were led to several highly regarded organizations that specialize in the period, like The Williamsburg Foundation and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. They discovered dedicated and skillful craftspeople like basket weavers, calligraphers, potters, blacksmiths and tinsmiths.

"There were things like the iron that we built exactly the same way they would have in the century," says Zolfo. "We rented from antiques stores, and we purchased things, but to get a thing that we wanted, it was easier to have craftspeople manufacture it themselves."

Benjamin Martin's house particularly highlighted the talents of these special artisans, especially the kitchen, with its crockery and iron labyrinth of cooking utensils. Some authentic pieces were also used in the film, mostly in Cornwallis' headquarters, which featured a fine silk-on-silk work that the Wrights-Ferxy Museum lent the production.

Propmaster Doug Harlocker also initially relied on the Smithsonian's help. Harlocker had the daunting task of propping not just the principal actors but hundreds of soldiers as well. These props, which required exceptional care and detail, included: vintage cutlery, plates and bowls; the children's playthings and school gear, ranging from toy soldiers to a vintage doll replica made by a specialist to chalkboards; Cornwallis' elegant possessions, such as a silver candelabra, silver-topped decanters and a shimmery snuff box; his spyglasses, compass and sextant; all the odd accoutrements carried by soidiers, from their leather backpacks to the Militia's pouches and powderhorns; and miscellaneous period necessities, such as quill pens and a "pounce," which people shook over an inky signature to dry it on parchment.

In addition, a movie set against the backdrop of war required many weapons, from sabres, daggers and bayonets to pistols and rifles... lots of rifles. "We had about 290 rifles on the prop truck at any given time," reports Harlocker.

The look of "The Patriot" was the combined result of the work of many artists who collaborated with Roland Emmerich to present a credible yet cinematic backdrop in which the characters of the film could exist. Emmerich's vision for "The Patriot," with its intimate interiors and languid landscapes punctuated by garish, horrifying and mesmerizing battle sequences, culminated in an overall style that Gibson described as "specific and painterly" According to cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, the style often resembled the war itself- "surprising and awful and shocking and catches you unaware."

Deschanel wasn't anxious to do another big film, but he read the script and liked it. "After meeting Roland, I knew I was destined to do 'The Patriot,'" he says.

Deschanel reports that the initial positive connection between himself and Emmerich continued throughout the movie and developed into a natural creative partnership. "Luckily, on 'The Patriot,' I've been privileged to work with Roland, who is so visually talented as well as skilled at working with actors," says Deschanel. "He has a very open attitude, in terms of encouraging additional ideas for shots or angles."

"The style of the film was dictated by the drama- that's where we got our inspiration for the shots. It's interesting the way the film sort of takes on its own life and starts telling you what to do with it. There were a lot of revelations within each shot- we'd start one way, and then it turned into something else, just like the drama."

Einrnerich and Deschanel looked at paintings of the time for reference. They also watched various films, though not necessarily ones about the Revolution.

"We looked at a lot of great old John Ford and Howard Hawks films, as well as other movies, and certainly drew ideas from them. An interesting thing about the film is that, because it is set in the century, it has a kind of simplicity and formality to it that is different from other movies."

"This style results in classic storytelling," explains Emmerich, "which was appropriate for this film."

The film, however, was by no means staid. The battles, sweeping landscapes and bustling city of Charleston all required an active camera. A 72-foot Akela crane regularly visited the pivotal battle of Cowpens and, in general, Deschanel employed multiple cameras simultaneously. Filmed in the wide-screen Super 35 format, Deschanel and Emmerich also customarily shot several camera speeds per take.

"For certain dramatic situations, it's hard to see things happen unless the shot is slowed down. Also, sometimes we used slow-motion for dramatic purposes, to make the audience realize that it needs to pay attention a little more," explains Deschanel. "I think both Roland and I are very instinctual about this- there wasn't any given rule about it. There was an ambush sequence, for instance, during which we did not alter the speed at all because we wanted it to be really taut, so that it would emphasize the surprise of the attack. In some of the other battle scenes we did use a higher camera speed to highlight certain pivotal moments."

Much of the film's color came from Deschanel's lighting. He typically set up idiosyncratic pale blue bounces, as opposed to the standard white ones, to better mimic the way sunlight looks in the sky. Additionally, he did several camera tests in pre-production to find the best way to augment the period candlelight.

"Caleb was so good with natural lighting," says Emmerich. "His work shows the distinctive look of the time without being flashy."

"We did a lot of tests to create the kind of look that we wanted, in terms of fire and candlelight relative to the natural lighting. In the frame, we often mixed cool and warm tones, which was really a product of observation. Candlelight is so much warmer than the tungsten light that we are used to, so there seemed to be an extreme between those warm and cool tones. We took that as the cue and expanded on it," Deschanel says.

Lighting, specifically the candlelight, also became a collaboration between the art department and the camera, grip and electric crews. The cucalorus, a large square riddled with oval cut-outs, was a ubiquitous presence on the set. Set in front of a light and a gel, it helped mimic firelight.

Deschanel worked closely with production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli, who created a color palette to augment Deschanel's cinematography.

"In using color, we tended toward neutral tones because of the lighting. We went to classic colors of the period, but we used them in what's called an 18% gray scale, so that Caleb could go warm or cool, in terms of the lighting. It allowed Caleb to have a lot of flexibility. He could control the neutral colors more, and that's purely why we chose the color values we did. He could put a gel on (the lights) and make it whatever color he wanted," Petruccelli says.

Of course, not all of Petruccelli's colors were neutral. In fact, several tones associated with the British were quite potent. This had to do with the arc of the story, Petruccelli explains.

"The whole idea of color in the film was metaphoric. I related color with wealth or power- and lack thereof. For example, in the beginning of the film, it is a very optimistic time for the colonial people. in general, there were warm, beautiful tones, a lot of bright colors, beautiful flowers in shades of rust, amber, yellow, lavender. There is also a sense of purity, so we used white against some black. It was a very simple time and a very organic place. There was not much involvement with the British at this point, so any time we see the British it is very understated, very little color."

"As the film progresses and the British start to dominate the story, their hues become more vibrant, more saturated, bolder. At the same time, the colonial colors become more desaturated, until they reach a point where they are very muted. There is almost a lifelessness about it, to underscore their tribulations," he says.

Academy Award winning costume designer Deborah L. Scott researched the fashion of the 18th century- turning to painters like John Singleton Copley and Gainsborough for inspiration in the absence of photographs- and discovered that the colonies were very European in nature at that point. All of their trade was with Europe, so they had access to a surprising array of fabrics. "In those years, cotton was actually a rarity and silk was the material of choice because there was a ban on cotton in England," says Scott.

Scott coordinated with Emmerich and Petruccelli to determine the level at which the characters lived and the kind of clothes they would wear. Both, along with their respective teams, liaisoned with the Smithsonian institution to ensure that everything on screen was as historically accurate as possible, within the parameters of a movie. Scott appreciated having access to their input and vast collections.

"We worked with the Smithsonian Institution, and it was really important to see some actual garments from the period," says Scott, who reckons she supplied roughly 1,500 uniforms for the film. "It was incredibly helpful to see real shirts, real uniforms, to see the way things were stitched, and made, and cut, because it was very, very different from the clothes we wear today."

Like Petruccelli, Scott employed a color progression in the costumes to help define the characters.

"Different characters go through different changes, depending on where they are in the movie. Basically, each character is a color palette unto themselves. For instance, Benjamin Martin has seven children and with that many, it's hard to keep them all separated in your mind. Visually, their personal colors provide a subtle little clue. One wears more green, another more grey, another more beige, another more golden. Gabriel starts off the movie as a strapping young man who is still a child, and his style changes dramatically from that point to when he puts on his uniform two years later and decides to join the war," Scott says.

Scott adds that as Gabriel becomes a man and endures hardship and war, his garb also incrementally begins to reflect his father's.

"Mel's character is the centerpiece of the movie. It was important to portray him very heroically, very strong and very focused. This is represented strongly in his clothes. He wears a lot of black, which connotes maturity and strength, as well as his position as a father and the head of his family" says Scott.

"Next to him, Gabriel's colors are more muted and pale, the tones less saturated. By the end of the movie, as they become closer, as the Benjamin Martin character softens and Gabriel becomes more adult and confident, their wardrobe is more closely related," she says.

The women's costumes also reflect their characters. Scott assigned blues and greens to the feisty Anne Howard- nothing pink and frilly for her. Even her wedding dress is a sea-green silk. The gentle Charlotte, however, wears more classically feminine hues, including rosy tones and cream colors.

"The women in the film are the best place to show instantly where you are in the scope of time, because women's fashions change so quickly. Charlotte, Joely Richardson's character, is the most wealthy, city-oriented person in the film, and she goes through a tremendous change. She starts off in a very soft kind of color palette, fancily dressed, with a very exaggerated silhouette, and then slowly she changes. She goes to her house in the country, and she becomes a little less structured- her dress then becomes a little richer in hue. When the family must escape to the freed slave territory, she becomes much freer as a person. She's not so covered up. It's an interesting palette, an intriguing journey of a person. It's really important to me as a costume designer to show those kinds of changes through people's clothing."

"As for Lisa Brenner's Anne Howard, she is a middle-class girl of the time and, as a result, only has access to basic fabrics, not fine ones. She often wears the color light blue, which suggests that she can be strongwilled and committed to ideas and still be feminine."

Obviously, there were certain historical details that impacted Scott's color palette and costume choices. The British were not called Redcoats for nothing.

"Obviously, the British and Continental armies were in colors of red, white and blue- very striking, strong tones," says Scott. "Next to the red of the movie, anything else really pales by comparison."

The military uniforms are as historical accurate as possible. "The most important players were the soldiers," continues Scott. "None of their uniforms really existed in any costume houses, so we had to start from scratch. We wanted the two sides to be very obvious because in reality, there was a lot more mixing of colors. It's important visually to get a very strong sense of who is who on the battlefield, and that was one of the things that Roland really wanted to see. In his mind's eve, particularly the first Battle of Camden where we had soldiers spread across the field, it was crucial to see red and blue very strongly coming together in a clash."

The costumes for the Green Dragoons. an actual sector of the British Army, underwent serious modifications. Scott explains that "it was really important that they be dashing and heroic, but it was also important that we changed their uniforms to be mostly red and a little green so that immediately you knew they were British."

Ultimately, Scott says, "We had to manufacture thousands of garments in our biggest scene. We ended up dressing 800 to 900 soldiers. On top of that, we outfitted the Militia, which was dressed in civilian-type wear. There was a lot of destroying and aging of garments, and it took months just to get the concepts and the fabrics down."

A period film of this size was an undertaking that required a global effort. A shop of 20 artists were assigned to build, age. dye and manufacture hats, jewelry and shoes, because they are not available to rent. Clothes were rented from London. Paris, Vienna and Rome in addition to the United States.

"The Patriot" is highlighted by several breathtaking scenes, from elaborately orchestrated battle sequences- depicting the real Revolutionary War dashes Camden and Cowpens - to some with eye-popping pyrotechnics.

Some of the rifles and guns for the action scenes were specially made for Gibson's character by Frank House, the premiere gun maker in America. A person like Benjamin Martin might have had such weapons as he was fairly prosperous. Martin was also suited with a tomahawk, which Harlocker designed from a hybrid of seven different designs.

To prepare for combat, Gibson, along with the rest of the male cast, learned the routines of century warfare and the less refined practice of guerrilla combat in a pre-production boot camp. They also brushed up on their horseback riding and, with the help of Mark Barron, who trained Daniel Day Lewis for "Last of the Mohicans, The (1992)," learned how to handle weapons - including muskets, tomahawks, sabers, daggers, bayonets, pistols and rifles- with the ease and dexterity of soldiers.

Film Crew - Patriot, The (2000)Filming the Camden battle sequence proved to be a challenge for all concerned. Shot over the course of two hot days, it was the first major battle scene that the production tackled. Unfolding on a vast wheat field in Chester County, the sequence showed British and American forces clash until a squadron of Dragoons charging through the middle leads to the Continentals' retreat.

It was an impressive sight, with about 200 British and Continental forces marching toward each other, flags fluttering, the fife and drum playing plaintively as muskets and mortars exploded. The vast field was speckled with blue, yellow, red, orange and green placards, each one denoting a different intensity explosion. Special effects coordinator Yves de Bono concocted a mixture of black powder, peat moss and cork to place in the mortar pans buried beneath these colorful markers to simulate the effects of bursting cannon balls and detonated the bombs on Emmerich's cue. By the end of the two days, a fine, gritty layer of peat moss covered the entire company and little plugs of cork littered the grass.

Co-producer and 2nd unit director Peter Winther explains, "The battle scenes were difficult because of all the elements- the people, the horses, the gunfire, the explosions, the weather. You want to make it feel very intense, but at the same time it has to be completely safe."

The Americans lost the battle of Camden and, in a way, so did the film crew of "The Patriot." "It was hard to time all six cameras with all the elements so that every camera angle was good," says assistant director Kim Winther. "Even though Camden wasn't the success we wanted, it taught us a lot about how to shoot a battle if you don't rehearse for the cameras. We realized we couldn't really move around that quickly The production learned from the Camden defeat and used the experience to good effect later at the victorious battle of Cowpens, which took place on 550 acres of rolling hills and valleys, all situated on one farm, which, fittingly, raised cattle when it wasn't recreating Revolutionary War battles. Adopting what Winther calls "an American style of guerrilla film making," only two or three cameras were used for Cowpens. Filmed in sequence over the course of several weeks, each shot was set up, rehearsed and filmed separately."

Emmerich adds that "Cowpens was definitely a complicated scene, but I went for it. The only major restriction was due to my desire to backlight, so in the morning we shot the Continentals, and in the afternoon we shot the English, which had to do with the direction of the light."

The attenuated 72-foot Akela crane was a regular visitor to the location, swinging its arm over the British, Continental and Militia forces and pivoting its extended camera to capture various angles of the battle. "The long arm let us sweep across the Militia to reveal the enemy troops they would be fighting," Emmerich points out. "A great example of this is when Benjamin and the Militia charge the ruins and overrun the British."

More traditional cameras, on dolly tracks and up on stilts, also shot various positions. Transporting all this gear, as well as the usual film support equipment, from additional lenses to craft services, required a military-style organization. Every department had a fleet of all-terrain vehicles known as mules to quickly deliver the necessary items over occasionally inhospitable terrain. The British and American encampments, for instance, were literally miles apart and while vans conveyed personnel from location to location, the more nimble and speedy mules proved to be more practical in terms of delivering equipment. Even they were restricted, however, as Emmerich did not want any of the vehicles to leave distinctly contemporary tyre tracks.

Movie Poster - Patriot, The (2000)Aside from the principal actors, the most important participants in the Cowpens battle were the upwards of 609 background artists playing the soldiers themselves. A unique mixture of stunt people, extras and re-enactors- history buffs who regularly recreate battles in simulated wars fought around the country - they trained together in boot camp prior to filming to learn how to appropriately portray an century warrior.

"We had a three-tiered group: re-enactors, trained extras and extras. Our approach was that we would use a certain percentage of people from the re-enactor community- who would come with their own guns, their own knowledge of the period, and a familiarity with proper drill techniques- and then we would supplement that with extras. We would send these people through a training camp and teach them to use the weapons, and they would be our primary extras. On our biggest battle days, we would bring in people who we did not specifically train. We would wardrobe them and put them in the background, and they would sort of follow what the other people did," says re-enactor coordinator Riley Flynn.

A two-week boot camp was conducted to teach extras how to use the weapons - flint lock devices which are ignited by flint striking a piece of metal and causing a spark, a technique considered to be an art- as well as do the proper drill and obey the commands. A bit of stunt training was also done under stunt coordinator RA. Rondell.

Flynn scoured the country for the re-enactors. Often, they came with their own horses and guns, and many elected to live the part, camping out in a sprawling suburb of tents that sprang up near the Cowpens location. They also arrived with their own specific knowledge of the period, some of which was not always conducive to filming. A scene in which the Dragoons storm over the hill into a force of Americans, who charge in return, did not work as planned, primarily because the Continental forces were so busy reciting the historical formal commands and ritualised movements that the British were upon them before they could react. On the next try, the assistant directors adjusted the timing and omitted some of the commands. While this might not have been "historically accurate" to some of the re-enactors, Flynn is philosophical.

"History is a judgement, and it evolves. The same is true of the re-enactments. What we hoped to do on this project was to present the period and to be honest to it," he says. "We may not always be specifically honest in all of the tactics. For instance, some of our cannons were properly designed cannons from the period but were probably too big to have been used on the type of battle that we depicted. But we didn't use machine guns."

"Besides," adds Flynn, "I always say that if you rub two re-enactors together, you will get an argument over authenticity. I can go to any re-enactment in the country and find things that are not historically correct."

The Battle Scene - Patriot, The (2000)Stunt coordinator RA. Rondell had to ensure that the battle of Cowpens was not only historically accurate, in terms of the way his team fought, but also exciting to watch and safely executed.

Each member of the combat team was taught the same routine, which consisted of four offensive moves with the rifle, four different blocks, a lunge and six offensive moves (swipes across the face, swipes across the body, lunges with the bayonet and the butt of the rifle at the face). Actors added a signature jab or a slash so that they weren't all fighting with exactly the same style.

The men could never be sure who their opponent would be. "When you line up four or five hundred guys in a line on both sides of the field, and they come running across the field at each other, the chances of them meeting up with the exact partner they practiced with are slim to none. So it started to look messy, like a real battle. That's what we wanted. It was supposed to be chaos, but it was controlled chaos because everybody knew the moves," Rondell explains.

The most important fight of this sequence, of course, was the one between Martin and Tavington. Gibson and Isaacs worked closely with Rondell and their own respective stunt doubles to choreograph this elaborate struggle. The pair came up with increasingly gruesome routines and enthusiastically demonstrated them for director Roland Emmerich. When it came time to shoot the scene, which took place over several days, both actors, bloodied and bruised, nonchalantly walked around set with swords and bayonets sticking "through" their bodies.

In addition to the mayor battles of Camden and Cowpens, "The Patriot" featured several pivotal "skirmishes," such as the sequence known as "Gabriel's rescue.

This conflict- in which Maitins Militia, hiding in the swamps, overtakes a British unit in an expertly executed surprise attack- was Gibson's first opportunity to demonstrate his prowess with the musket. The scene took place at Cypress Gardens, a fully-realized swamp. During scenes filmed there, many of the crew members ended up in the black waters, cast as part of Martin's Militia or as doomed Redcoats. These recruits included the movie's unit production manager, the caterer, the set decorator and a production assistant.

The various battle scenes didn't come without embarrassing moments. During the filming of the battle of Camden, Jason Isaacs' Tavingtori gamely insisted on leading his Dragoons astride a giant horse that, unfortunately, panicked when gunfire discharged too closely.

"When I auditioned, they asked me, 'Can you ride?' and I said, 'Of course, I'm an actor.' All actors are horse experts until they have to get on the bloody thing," says Isaacs.

"They'd given me this huge android of a horse. I was galloping at full pace into the two lines of British and Americans, and the soldiers had gotten the wrong instructions somehow," he continues. "Just as I came alongside them, yelling 'Charge,' they fired their muskets. The horse just stopped, and I went flying off. There was so much adrenaline in my body that I just leapt straight back onto the horse and pretended it didn't happen."

The punishing fires the British set in "The Patriot" also required an immense amount of planning and technique. The conflagration that razed Martin's house, filmed in one shot, required six cameras, strategically placed in cranes and on platforms, and many rehearsals of extras. Prior to the total destruction of the house, several "controlled" burns were accomplished, so that Emmerich could film close-ups of specific British soldiers setting fire to various parts of the structure.

The burning of the church in the village of Pembroke posed different challenges, mostly due to the effects of Hurricane Floyd. While the production luckily dodged most of the storm's devastation, it was cursed by the mercurial weather left in its wake. After days of rain, the production just decided to shoot the scene in the rain. The dark skies and drizzle augmented the ominous tone of the sequence in which the Dragoons, under the command of Tavington, lock the townspeople of Pembroke inside the church and burn them alive.

"That weather was really a stroke of luck," says 1st assistant director Kim Winther. "Because we had tried to shoot it for a couple days, when we thought it would be cloudy, we had rehearsed it enough. So, when we finally got that overcast sunset that Roland wanted, we were prepared. We scrambled over and burned it at magic hour."

For many involved, the experience of filming "The Patriot" is one they won't soon forget. "I can't believe that I got paid to ride a horse around, fire muskets, chop people up, be frighteningly evil, play scenes with Mel Gibson and hang out with an extraordinary bunch of people. It's really been an incredible experience," says Jason Isaacs.

Despite the action and adventure, the classic good-versus-evil struggle, the sweeping production values and the epic, historic subject matter, in the end, "The Patriot" boils down to one man and one family that must balance human frailty and noble aspiration.

"The script, I think, has always been held together by this idea of taking a man and putting him on the hot seat," says Rodat. "The measure of this man is the way in which he deals with directly contradictory responsibilities and conflicting moral imperatives."

"It's an enormously emotional, compelling story about a father and a son, which I think everyone can relate to," adds Dean Devlin. "The idea of setting a film during the American Revolution was fascinating. As we've embarked on the new millennium, it's an interesting time to look back and think about how this country was started."