Production Ken Burns was inspired to make this documentary because of Mathew Bradys photographs. More than 10 hours in length, the documentary has nine episodes that explore the Civil War through personal stories and photos. During the creation of the movie, Burns made extensive use of over 16,000 archival photographs, paintings, and newspaper images from the time of the war. This resulted in the coining of the term the Ken Burns effect. He combined these images with modern cinematography, music, narration by David McCullough, anecdotes and insights from authors such as Shelby Foote,[2] historians Barbara J. Fields, Ed Bearss, and Stephen B. Oates; and actors reading contemporary quotes from historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Mary Chesnut, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Walt Whitman, Stonewall Jackson, and Frederick Douglass. A large cast of actors voiced correspondence, memoirs, news articles, and stood in for historical figures from the Civil War. Burns also interviewed Daisy Turner, then a 104-year-old daughter of an ex-slave, whose poetry features prominently in the series. Turner died in February 1988, a full two and a half years before the series aired. The film took five years to produce, longer than the four years it took to fight the Civil War, which lasted from April 12, 1861, when the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter, South Carolina, until April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.[3] The film was co-produced by Kens brother Ric Burns, written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ric Burns, edited by Paul Barnes with cinematography by Buddy Squires. Music The theme song of the documentary is the instrumental Ashokan Farewell, which is heard twenty-five times during the film. The song was composed by Jay Ungar in 1982 and he describes it as a Scottish lament written by a Jewish guy from the Bronx. It is the only modern piece of music heard in the film. It became so closely associated with the series that people frequently and erroneously believe it was a Civil War song. Ungar, his band Fiddle Fever and pianist Jacqueline Schwab performed this song and many of the other 19th century songs used in the film.[4][5] Schwabs arrangements in particular have been acclaimed by many experts. Musicologist Alexander Klein wrote: Upon watching the full documentary, one is immediately struck by the lyricism of Schwab’s playing and, more importantly, her exceptional arranging skills. What had been originally rousing and at times bellicose songs such as the southern “Bonnie Blue Flag” or the northern “Battle Cry of Freedom” now suddenly sounded like heart-warming, lyrical melodies due to Schwab’s interpretations. The pianist not only changed the songs’ original mood but also allowed herself some harmonic liberties so as to make these century-old marching tunes into piano lamentations that contemporary audiences could fully identify with. [6] A major piece of vocal music in the series is a version of the old spiritual We Are Climbing Jacobs Ladder, performed a cappella by the African American singer, scholar and activist Bernice Johnson Reagon and several other female voices. The song appears on Reagons album River of Life. Voices Narrated by David McCullough Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln Julie Harris as Mary Chesnut Jason Robards as Ulysses S. Grant Morgan Freeman as Frederick Douglass∗ Paul Roebling as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Garrison Keillor as Walt Whitman∗ George Black as Robert E. Lee Arthur Miller as William Tecumseh Sherman∗ Chris Murney as Elisha Hunt Rhodes Charley McDowell as Sam Watkins Horton Foote as Jefferson Davis George Plimpton as George Templeton Strong Philip Bosco as Horace Greeley Terry Courier as George B. McClellan Jody Powell as Stonewall Jackson∗ Studs Terkel as Benjamin Butler∗ Hoyt Axton as various John Hartford as various Colleen Dewhurst as various Shelby Foote as various Ronnie Gilbert as various Jeremy Irons as various Derek Jacobi as various Kurt Vonnegut as various Laurence Fishburne as various, credited as Larry Fishburne Pamela Reed as various M. Emmet Walsh as various ∗ Indicates performer voiced other characters as well. Sam Waterston, who voiced Abraham Lincoln here, later played Thomas Jefferson in Burns films about Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 2011, Waterston made an appearance as a voiceover again in Burns miniseries, Prohibition.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 22:29:56 +0000
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