'Walking Out' movie with Matt Bomer, interview with director Andrew Smith

Walking Out is the movie with Matt Bomer, Josh Wiggins, Bill Pullman.

Q. In the movie “Walking Out” the protagonists are David and Cal. Can you talk about the idea to set the story in the mountains?

A. The film is adapted from a somewhat "legendary" short story-- a story often anthologized and taught in the US.  So the Mountain as a character came from the story. We were very faithful in our adaptation, even shooting part of the film in the mountains that are named in the short story-- The Crazy Mountains, in south central Montana.  

Q. In the film there are many outdoor scenes. How did you direct the scenes, improvising or with a storyboard? 

A. We used a combination of improvisation/flow, and very specific, storyboarded scenes.  For instance, the "bear attack" and "moose river" scenes/ sequences were thoroughly storyboarded, with many production meetings devoted to shots, locations, and effects (Visual Effects & SFX-- special effects).  But many of the scenes where Cal & David are hiking-- or where David is carrying Cal out-- were looser, with adjustments being made on the day, based on weather, terrain, light, etc.  We always shot-list our scenes, though sometimes we vary from our initial conceptions of how the scene has been visually preconceived.

Q. What was the most difficult thing during the shoot?

A. Gravity and Light.  And, yes, snow.   Working in high altitudes with unpredictable weather is always difficult; adding short winter days and steep grades to the mix made for a  consistently challenging production.  However, we "embraced" these challenges and made them part and parcel of what the camera was able to capture-- the actors appreciated the "real" terrain and constantly changing weather-- it added a level of veracity to the production that we believe would be hard to get in a studio.   Really the hardest thing was staying on schedule with only 8-9 hours of daylight in January in Montana-- we had to be on location, with our headlamps on, preparing shots in the darkness so we could begin shooting at "first light." 

Q. Was the choice of the cast complicated?

A. Because the cast is so limited (really only 5 character), we knew we couldn't make any mistakes in our choices.  Luckily, the lead, Josh Wiggins (the "Boy" David) was our first choice, and he loved the script on his first read, so we had him almost immediately when we started casting.  Matt Bomer came much later in the game-- he was suggested to us by our producer/ executive producers, and we didn't know his work.  But in seeing his performance in "The Normal Heart" on HBO-- and mostly, in speaking to him on Skype-- we were convinced right away he would be our "Cal."  Bill Pullman is an actor we've always loved and wanted to work with-- he also has deep Montana connections, so we were happy when he came aboard, about two weeks before production.

Q. What is your favorite Italian movie and why?

A. Ah, there's so many Italian movies that I love!  Alex might have to answer this one too!  (can we give two answers, since there's two directors?). I'm a huge fan of Bertolucci, De Sica, Antonioni, Rossellini, Pontecorvo, and Fellini, of course, (especially his earlier films, such as "I, Vitelloni"-- perhaps because I'm from a small town myself. And it's hard to imagine my life without the Leone Westerns, not to mention the amazing films of Luchino Visconte.  (How many times have I watched "The Leopard"? )   But my favorite Italian filmmaker is Pier Paolo Pasolini, and if I have to make a choice among his films, I'd pick Oedipus Rex, because it manages to stay true to the myth of Oedipus while simultaneously re-imagining it in a politically charged way (1967!) and creating images, tableaux, and sequences that are unforgettable--that stay burned in my mind, indeed, have become PART OF MY BRAIN.