History in the Making

Lewis and Clark, whose expedition is a quintessential American

story of exploration and the Old West, come to life in a new dramatization

that commemorates the bicentennial of their remarkable journey.

Lewis & Clark:

Great Journey West

Watching a priceless IMAX camera

hurtle over a 60-foot precipice toward the Missouri River below was a signature moment for the upcoming

Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West, set to premiere on April 20, 2002, in Omaha, Nebraska.

The film dramatizes one of the greatest adventure stories in American history, the tale of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who led the Corps of Discovery on the first overland expedition into the newly expanded territory of the United States nearly 200 years ago. Their missionthe brainchild of Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. presidentwas to discover the fabled Northwest Passage, a waterway believed to run between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Although the explorers found that no such passage exists, their scientific expedition mapped the American West and became the stuff of legend.

ÒNational Geographic is about telling good stories with great images,Ó explains producer Lisa Truitt. ÒWhen we got involved with the IMAX world, we wanted to do that in this format, too. For the Lewis and Clark film, we wanted to push the format a little bit and look for new, entertaining ways to tell a historically accurate story.Ó

Pushing the format in this instance meant strapping the 65-pound camera to a specially constructed vehicle that was Òhalf free-fall and half buggy,Ó according to director of photography T.C. Christensen. ÒThe day before we shot that scene, Bruce [Neibaur, director], Lisa [Truitt], Jeff [Miller, producer] and I talked about how to make the scene where Lewis

slips down the mountain more visceral and exciting than we had originally planned,Ó says Christensen.

ÒSo we said, 'let's do his POV as he's sliding down the mountain.' The key grip, Matt Stelling, made a four-wheeled go-cart with a tether and pulley system that went straight over the side and down about 20 feet. We had guys throwing rocks and dirt so it feels like a weight is sliding along, picking up earth,Ó continues Christensen. ÒWe shot it about

three times, but I think it was the first take when the camera turned over on its back, giving a disorienting feeling, that ended up in the film.

ÒSure, we worried about the camera getting smashed. We only have one, and we were very careful with it. If it's broken, not only is IMAX, which only has about four of these cameras, very unhappy with us, but we are down.Ó

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