From the book: NOTES ON THE MAKING OF APOCALYPSE NOW – by Eleanore
Coppola
March 4, 1976 Baler
It was the first time any of us had seen water buffalo, rice paddies and nipa
huts. We crossed over the bridge at the edge of the little village and entered
the deep foliage. Sofia said, "It looks like the Disneyland Jungle
Cruise." The road ended at the beach and our jeep continued along the sand
with the ocean on one side and the jungle on the other. We arrived at the
lagoon near the mouth of a river and got into a bonca that took us across to
the location for Village II. Dean's crew had cleared jungle, brought logs down
the river to build a bridge, taught the local workers how to make adobe bricks,
carted bamboo from the next province, built houses, pumped water, planted
vegetables - created a complete Vietnamese village. Pigs rooted beside the
road, chicken scratched under the houses, baskets of rice were drying in the
town square, curtains flapped at the windows, cooking pots were neatly stacked
for the next meal. I could hear the wind in the tall palm trees, but layers of
sound seemed to be missing. There were no people.
April 2 Baler
The helicopters used int eh film are from Philippine Air Force. Today, in the
middle of the rehearsal for a complicated shot, they were called away to fight
the rebels in a civil war about 150 miles to the south.
It is hard to know what is going on. There is no news of the war in the
government-controlled press. I was talking to one of the Filipino crewmen. He
said that a group of southern islands, which are predominantly Moslem, are
fighting for independence. Francis has a government-supplied bodyguard at all
times. There are guards at our house. The government seems to feel that if
Francis were kidnapped by rebels, they might create an incident that could
attract international attention.
April 8 Baler
There is a rumor that rebels are in the hills about ten miles away. The
Philippine Air Force is afraid there could be an attack on the helicopters, so
they've withdrawn them to a base in Manila. Francis is frustrated that he
doesn't have the aircraft he had been promised and must figure out how to keep
shooting by rescheduling around them.
Thirty security specialists have been brought in to guard the large supply of
explosives which the special effects department has and the M-16 automatic
rifles the extras use. There is that tension of knowing that an incident could
close down the production.
April 8 Baler
Last night Francis had a birthday party on the beach across from the set. About
three hundred people were invited, the cast, crew and the American and
Vietnamese extras and some townspeople. Hundreds of pounds of hamburger and
hotdogs were shipped from San Francisco. The band and food were flown in from
Manila. They arrived at the beach in several trucks just as it was getting dark.
The birthday cake was six feet by eight feet. It was made of twelve sheet cakes
iced together. Two men decorated it in the light of the bandstand. They made
mountains, a river, an ocean and waves of icing. They planted paper palm trees,
little cardboard huts and a bridge to look like the set. They placed plastic
helicopters, boats, soldiers, flags, flowers and candles, and letters that
spelled "Happy Birthday, Francis, Apocalypse Now.
A thick smoke blew from the barbecues; someone had forgotten the spatulas and
people were trying to turn their hamburgers with pieces of cardboard. A lot of
meat fell through the grills and burned on the coals. It was a warm night.
There were no more cold drinks. Some people said that enough had been ordered.
Others said guys were grabbing cases and running off down the beach in the
dark.
A team of ladies with knives to serve the cake began removing the decorations
and cutting slices at the bottom, while the decorators were still working on
the top. I could hear two GI extras talking. They were standing on a bench
behind me. One said, "Wow, this is the most decadence I've ever
seen,"
April 9 Baler
Several hundred South Vietnamese people were recruited from a refugee camp near
Manila to play North Vietnamese in the film. As I passed their rest area today
they were rehearsing a little play while they
April Baler
I finally figured out why the toilet seats in the outhouses have footprints on
them. Some large American designed the base so high that no Vietnamese or
Filipino could possibly sit on the seat and touch the floor. They must stand on
the seats and squat.
April 12, Baler
I am sitting on some sandbags in the schoolhouse
Later
The next thing we knew, the shot began. Extras ran in front of us, two houses
blew up and the fire started. The smoke blew at us. I had to stop shooting. I
moved the camera and tripod. As I tried to level the camera I turned the knob
the wrong way and it fell off in my hand. I didn't get the second shot until
the houses on the left side of the village square were already on fire. There
was so much noise, I didn't hear my camera run out. I don't know how much I
missed. I changed magazines finally, and got some more shots of the house
burning by the bridge. The smoke was so thick my eyes burned, my nose ran and I
couldn't see anything, so I stopped shooting. I heard a lot of shouting. The
paint shop and the prop storage with the stunt men's equipment was burning. My
supplies were in the same building. I ran over and saw my three camera cases
melted in the doorway. The wind had blown the fire across the road. When the
paint cans started to explode, the men with the fire hoses ran. People wandered
in and out of the smoke for a long time, trying to find their equipment. The
stunt men were the hardest hit. They'll have to go back to Los Angeles; their
custom-made asbestos safety suits melted. There was $30,000 to $50,000 worth of
damage. People thought I was crying because Francis was mad that I lost my
camera gear. My eyes were running from all the smoke.
April, Baler
They put the helicopter doors on with safety pins through the hinges so they
can take the doors off fast to mount the cameras
April, Baler
I was thinking about time, how on a movie set the shot is maintained in the
same time no matter how many takes and hours pass. Reflectors and lights are
added, footprints are smoothed away, so there are no telltale clues as the day
wears on. When the shot is finished and the plugs are pulled, time seems to
leap forward in a matter of seconds. Perhaps making movie is a step toward
being able to move backward and forward and in and out of linear time.
April 13, Baler
It is eight o'clock in the morning, and so incredibly hot. If just a little
breeze would come up and move the humid, still air. Last night we stayed in
Baler. There was only fried chicken to eat. There were no vegetables to buy in
town and the plane didn't come in from Manila. We ate spaghetti with the
Italian crew at their house. Their supply of canned tomatoes, olive oil and pasta
they brought from Italy is dwindling. I hear they have ordered more to be sent
with the next film shipment from Rome. They finally got the local bakery to
make them some Italian-style bread without sugar and milk in it.
April 23, Baler
The alarm went off at 4:43 a.m. and we were on our way to the airport at 5:30.
I don't think anybody expected us to be on time. They were still fueling the
plane, but we did get an earlier start than usual. We were on the set at 6:30
and the crew was there and beginning to reset the same shot as the previous
day. I went back to the town of Baler to find Doug and Larry. We decided, since
the setup was the same as the day before, we would use the morning to get some
shots of the jeep trip from the town to the location. We chose a jeepney that
was very typical, all painted with a silver horse on the front and a Jesus
picture over the dashboard. We photographed along the road to the location. We
kept asking the driver to stop and backup. After a while he got the idea of what
we wanted to do and began teaching us the Tagalog words for stop, hinto; go
forward, avanti; backward, atrase. It seemed like a cross between Japanese and
Italian. Finally, the driver said to me, "You very small, you husband very
big. You very rich, Mr. Coppola very, very rich." It made me think of that
day in the market in Manila when I wouldn't buy oranges because they were three
for $2 and a huge papaya were about 15 cents. My kids said, "Come on, Mom,
you're rich."
When we got back to the set, the morning shot got off early and well. Everyone
was in a good mood. It was the first time since the beginning of shooting that
the crew, camera, props, effects, direction, action, everything all just
clicked together the way it was supposed to. One of the Filipino crewmen cut
into the top of a palm tree that was on the ground after the effects
explosions. He whacked through the layers of leaves and cut the heart out with
his machete. A lot of people tasted it. I took a big chunk home and made a
heart of palm salad with lots of olive oil, vinegar and garlic.
April 24, Baler
There are regular old-fashioned outhouses for the extras and six chemical
toilets for the cast and crew only. Yesterday they ran out of chemicals. It was
ten times worse than any outhouse. I nearly vomited.
I am sitting inside Francis's little thatched dressing-room hut. It is nice to
be alone for a few minutes. The light is filtering through the woven mat walls,
making bright little rectangles on my legs. The wind is blowing the palms
outside. When I close my eyes it could be the sound of the wind in the pine
trees at the mountain cabin at home. Maybe it's because the coconut palms are
about the same height as pines. I can hear the voice of one of the military
advisers in the hut a few feet away talking to Martin Sheen. He was cast as
Willard on Francis's trip to L.A. This is Martin's first day on the set. He was
at our house last night until curfew at 1:00 A.M. I was very impressed with his
humanness. I tried to tell him that today and immediately felt awkward. We got
up at 4:45 again this morning and now I am starting to fade. I don't know how
Francis keeps it up. He made some espresso with lunch today, which helps.
April 26, Baler
We ate breakfast at 5:00 A.M. in Manila. Now it's 9:22 and I'm starving. I'm
sitting here on these sandbags fantasizing about what I'd eat if I were in San
Francisco. I guess I'd go to Mama's at Washington Square Park and have the
works.
I don't even have any peanuts.
Cleaning out my purse/camera bag, I just realized that I haven't worn any
lipstick for several weeks. I looked in the tube; it was melted over to one
side.
This morning we are
Somebody broke into the wardrobe department yesterday and took the asbestos
gloves the fire crew wear when they run in to get the suits off the burning
stunt men. They sent someone to Baler to buy more; all they could find were
bridal gloves.
On the set, it's very easy to get into a conversation about still cameras.
Everyone seems to have at least one, or is deciding what additional equipment
to get in Hong Kong. Nat was asking me about mine. The conversation got around
to lenses. I said I only have one. He said, "What, a rich lady like you
has only one lens? Even your driver has four." I had this little twinge as
if I were doing something wrong. Actually, the photographs I want to take could
be shot with an Instamatic. I'm interested in recording some moments that are
in front of me. Just isolating out some things from the rest, not making it
beautiful or moody, or interesting, not judging it, only reporting what I see.
Any camera would do. I like the one I have. I'm used to it. I'm attached to it.
I guess I have the ultimate luxury: I have all I want.
April 27, Baler
As I was flying in the helicopter from the set to the Baler airstrip, I
suddenly remembered how scary it was to go up in a helicopter those first few
times. Today we were riding with the doors off and no seat belts, just holding
on to the camera mount with one hand and balancing a stack of film cans with
the other. It was about the same as traveling that route in the jeep, except a
lot faster, not so bumpy, and the view was fantastic.
May 2, Baler
The road from the little town of Baler to the set consists of two ruts worn in
the sand by the production trucks and jeeps. Every day, several workmen lay
palm fronds on the worst places to give the vehicles a little more traction.
The ruts end at a lagoon. Some buildings with thatched roofs and woven mat
walls have been built there to house the wardrobe, the makeup department and
the long tables where lunch is served. The set and all the other equipment are
across the lagoon. A stream of boncas and little motorboats ferry people back and
forth. Today, two boats collided bringing people across for lunch. Those of us
who weren't able to crowd into those first boats laughed at the people who fell
in. There were two still photographers who dunked their cameras and were pretty
upset. It looked as if it would be a long time before another boat came, so
Doug and I walked into the water, fully dressed, and made our way to the other
side. It was up to my armpits at the deepest point. It was refreshing. My
clothes stayed damp for several hours.
This afternoon, I shot my first interview. It was with Bobby Duvall. I was
pretty nervous trying to look through the camera and talk with him at the same
time. I wanted him to direct himself. I hoped it would be better than answering
a set of preplanned questions. His character is a cocky air cavalry colonel who
likes to wrap up operations early and go surfing with his troops. In the
script, his helicopter unit attacks a coastal village and lifts Willard's boat
into the mouth of a river at a place where the surf is good.
Bobby talked about basing his character on a West Point officer he knew: a guy
whose life only made sense if there was a war. He talked about the details of
his costume, the spurs on his boots, his ring, his belt buckle and Stetson hat.
He took off his shirt. He was tan and hard. He had his belly sucked in.
This, when i first read it, and now knowing the places that she writes
about, shocked me a little at first, .. the idea of landing a helicopter and
exploding the shit out of the reef, where only days before i had tried to step
lighly, not to break any of the bizarre structures growing there... but then, I am really glad they did shoot
this movie as uncompromisingly as they did.
I bought it for the small-screen when i was in London last week, and it
remains an amazing movie. Make up
your own mind on these kind of ethics i guess...