Director of Photography Kevin Railsback captures the vision of Sons & Daughter of Thunder.
Post-production, the final hurdle. After years of nurturing Earlene Hawley's spirited play to life for the big screen, we are finally at the editing phase and bringing all of the elements together.
We have come a long way. The film project began in 2011 with a preliminary meeting with Kent and Earlene Hawley and a discussion of transforming Earlene's award-winning stage play into a screenplay. After months of writing and revising, and a read-through of the script with actors, the film project was ready for development and fundraising.
Thanks to the support of a number of generous contributors, pre-production and production became a reality with auditions, locations set, costumes created and located, an excellent cast selected and a stellar crew hired--among them award-winning filmmaker Kevin Railsback who would serve as Thunder's Director of Photography.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder Director of Photography Kevin Railsback and Director Kelly Rundle.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is Kevin's first feature-length narrative film--his main interest and personal focus has been nature documentary filmmaking. His extraordinary nature footage has been featured on National Geographic, Animal Planet, The Discovery Channel, in theatrical films, and in commercials for companies like AT&T. He is also the author of the popular blog Filmmaking Naturally.
"From an early age I wanted to capture the incredible sights I encountered. One of the first images I recall taking was of a walrus at Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago when I was eight. But it was living in Iwakuni, Japan that really taught me the importance of lines and form," Kevin notes on the blog.
"Japan is a land of indescribable beauty and I spent my time there trying to capture on film as much of it as I could. I am driven to tell the story that Mother Nature and all her creatures share with me."
Railsback's cinematography captures the mood of the final scene of Sons & Daughters of Thunder featuring Harriet Beecher (Jess Denney) and Theodore Weld (Thomas Alan Taylor).
Cameras began rolling late 2013 through 2015. Kevin's superb eye and exceptional talent has served Thunder well, with months of stunning footage of dramatic scenes captured during filming at the Dillon Home Museum in Sterling, Illinois; Augustana College's House on the Hill and the Karpeles Manuscript Library in Rock Island, Illinois; the Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover, Illinois.
Lyman Beecher (Janos Horvath), James Thome (Anthony Stratton) and Theodore Weld (Thomas Alan Taylor) watch for a storm.
Additional footage was gathered at the historic Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio where the actual Lane Seminary debates took place in 1834.
We are honored and so very grateful to have Kevin Railsback behind the camera, capturing the beauty and drama of this important and timely story.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is produced by Fourth Wall Films, owned by Emmy® nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle, a film and video production company specializing in historical documentaries for public television broadcast and DVD home video. The film is slated for release in 2018.
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