8 New Clips From The Set Of Dreamcatcher Updated March 14, 2003


How does an experienced film producer think about the responsibility of "putting the whole thing together"? Charles Okun, a longtime associate of Lawrence Kasdan, talks about the big picture and the highs and lows of being so intensely involved. Click here.


It's been observed that filmmaking lets grown-ups continue to mess with toys, but when Jacob Rupp, stunt coordinator, gets out his model cars, it's not child's play — click here to watch our camera crew dance through traffic to his choreography.


What does the Dreamcatcher film unit have to do with 600-volt trolley wires on one of Vancouver's main streets? Connie Kennedy, locations manager, knows; click here and she'll tell you.


Perhaps the most elusive item on the locations department's list, the "Tracker Brothers" building turned out to be one of the most flavorful, complete with railroad tracks right through the set. Click here.


Duddits, the mysterious child at the center of the story, attends a school for the exceptional, and the script called for a scene with his schoolmates. Click here to see Andrea Brown, the extras casting director, with some new friends.


Dreamcatcher flashes back twenty years to the roots of the present story, so we had to find boys who were plausible as teen versions of our leads. Oh yeah, they had to be good actors too. Click here for the results of our search.


A costume designer supervises a complex operation, with multiple copies of every garment for every actor for every scene. But the heart of the job is creative. Click here for Molly Maginnis on the specialized topic of reflecting a grown man's character in his boyhood wardrobe.


Adapt Stephen King's book to the screen? It's a snap -- once you solve minor challenges like how to build a Memory Warehouse. Click here to see our set decorator treat the challenge as an opportunity, even though it involves tons (literally) of scrap paper.


Award-winning cinematographer John Seale (whose filmography is guaranteed to widen your eyes) summarizes his job and the special satisfactions of working on Dreamcatcher. Click here for glimpses of the man in action.


Some people think the real "magic" of filmmaking is that everything required for a day's shoot actually turns up on the right location at the right time. Click here to meet a wizard of this esoteric art.


Ever wonder what a location matchmover is? If you like effects pictures, you should click here to see John Whisnant wield his lighting reference orb, also known as the "ball of love."


Only one day over schedule after six weeks shooting in the snow, the Dreamcatcher crew moved to stages in Vancouver. For glimpses of the second phase of production, click here.


What's it like to play a lost hunter who unwittingly carries an alien infection? Click here for droll comments by the actor who perfectly embodies "McCarthy."


You already know what storyboards are, but you need to click here for a real sense of how they're used on set.


This movie's got a monster biting through the handle of a toilet brush. It took a lot of sophisticated work — and a little inspired wackiness. Click here for the wackiness.


Want to hear Donnie Wahlberg's description of how much makeup it takes to tame his good looks for his role in Dreamcatcher? Just click here.


Hard work in the cold? It takes more than that to dampen the spirits of Thomas Jane, one of our stars. Click here to watch the fun.


Are these people sledging on a polar expedition or making a film? Working in British Columbia's snowy woods combined those experiences. Click here and watch for the surprise last shot.


Got a minute? Less, actually. Click here for a quick visual primer on the art of making snow for movies. (Read Installment Two of our Filmmakers' Journal if you've got more than a minute.)


Dreamcatcher isn't Macbeth, but it has a movable forest of its own. For yet another example of illusion–making, click here.


Click here for Tom Sizemore's jokes about the pressure of an important shot. Then watch a take of that shot — a ground-to-air exchange of gunfire with a helicopter — and see that it's no joke.


A vivid behind-the-scenes moment during a single, critical shot of Morgan Freeman at the Gosselin's barn set. (Bonus: a flash of Thomas Jane and Tom Sizemore.) Click here.


Two American military units clash during Dreamcatcher. Click here to see how the filmmakers turned extras into soldiers.


Click here for scenes of helicopters arriving during the military takeover at Gosselin's, and of the aerial coordinator's efforts to keep them flying in icy weather.


The Border collie of Stephen King's novel has become a military German shepherd in the movie, but the dog is still a key part of the alien threat to humankind. Click here to see dog and trainer working on an important scene with Damian Lewis.


No reader of the book can forget the "animal exodus," the flight of all the creatures in the forest from a danger as yet unseen. Click here for a look at the second unit's painstaking work filming the various species that will be combined in the final scene.


Besides being set during a blizzard, much of Dreamcatcher takes place at night. Click here for behind-the-scenes video of several night sequences, as well as glimpses of Morgan Freeman, Tom Sizemore, and Donnie Wahlberg.


Production designer Jon Hutman built Gosselin's general store and barn, buildings that are later transformed into a military detainment camp. Click here to see the set good enough to trick the memories of longtime residents of the area.


Dreamcatcher, the film based on Stephen King’s best-selling novel, has begun principal shooting in British Columbia. Click here for exclusive behind-the-scenes video of some of the cast and crew as the production gets underway.


Click here for more behind-the-scenes video of the first week's shooting, including banter between two of the stars, Thomas Jane and Timothy Olyphant.


Click here to see some of the filmmakers' tricks, including preparations for simulating a car's near miss of a woman sitting in the road.


Click here for a behind-the-scene glimpse of the filming of early scenes at a remote cabin in the snowy woods of British Columbia.