The Congressman

The productions economy of means turned into a style. There would be no dollies or cranes, no bank lights; a portion of filming took place at the end of trails on the edge of cliffs far away from electrical power - generators were hard to lug over uneven trails so the production relied on runners with batteries. Whatever the weather was that day would be filmed. There was no time cushion. One day five different locations involving company moves were shot. Shooting was close to the bone. Never more than five takes. No ECU's in favor of two-shots that ran long and made use of actors doing what they do best; invent and relate. As for sound, the seagulls had a lot to say about who was heard, so did the waves, and the boat engines, and the wind.

Catatonk Island is supposed to be 20 miles off-shore. This can not be true. There is a scene from the island that shows the mainland in the distance across the ocean. Mohegan Island, where the film was actually shot, is 12 nautical miles (22 km) off-shore, just within the critical distance for being able to see "over" the horizon when viewed from the elevated cliffs. If the island was truly 20 miles off-shore one would not see the mainland just ocean.