Cowboys & Aliens – An Interview with Mark Ulano, CAS

July 18, 2011
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Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof, the wild ride of Cowboys & Aliens stars Daniel Craig, Adam Beach, Noah Ringer, the lovely Olivia Wilde as Ella, Harrison Ford as Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde and Sam Rockwell as Doc.

Based on a graphic novel of the same name, Cowboys & Aliens is set in 1875 against the backdrop of the New Mexico Territory. When a loner (Craig) who has no memory about his past staggers into the desert town of Absolution, he discovers the people there don’t welcome strangers kindly.

Rejected by the town, Ella (Wilde) helps him realize who he is and that the mysterious shackle around his wrist can be the key to avoid annihilation from an alien attack. Now banded together, the town’s two unlikely groups fight together against an alien force in a showdown for survival.

With the help from boom operator Thomas Hartig and utility David Brownlow, Mark Ulano, CAS, the film’s production sound mixer, played an important role by capturing the performances and surrounding audio for the show’s final mix.

S&P caught up with Mark on the road and would like to thank him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share his experience on set.

This is your third movie (I believe) working with Jon Favreau – What’s life like onset with the Iron Man director? How is he different from the other directors you’ve worked with?
Actually it’s my fourth film with Jon, starting with Zathura. Jon is unique in that he had a well established career as an actor giving him special insight into the needs and rhythms of his fellow actors when he’s directing. Also, he’s old school, in that he maintains a well oiled repertoire company behind the camera allowing for a very evolved and wonderful shorthand among the orchestra players/crew members. This can really free him up to focus on the unique elements at hand and not worry about whether his departments understand his intention.

What was it that made you want to work on this film more than the others you could have jumped on?
It was a summer shoot so my wife and kids could spend the summer with me in Santa Fe, great script, great cast, one of my core “film families” and I’ll admit to being a great fan of Mr. Ford.

How did the storytelling influence your sound recording? Were there any scenes you decided to enhance the sound with additional plant mics? Did the schedule permit you to capture any additional field recording?
We were constantly choosing and selecting additional elements in the field, often bundling sync affects simultaneously with our dialogue work. There was this one scene where most of the hero cast were riding, talking, moving from group to group within the master shot and, without zone defense for dialogue and effects, the detail work would have had to be completely reconstructed later. We always work at getting the material on-the-day. You can always not use something if it doesn’t work for the scene, but not getting it in the first place is vastly inferior choice.

The storytelling is always the dominant influence on my work. This show was an enormous challenge as almost all remote locations, working in Run&Gun mode, scampering up and down rock formations, back country on gators, lots of multiple camera with large actor ensembles on horseback as we were chased by mosquitos the size of humming birds. The infamous and relentless New Mexican wind and dust played its part as well.

I think this is your first Western – Are there any inherit disadvantages working in the “desert”? How did the locations effect your mixing? Did you tend to be more off the cart for this film? Did you have to bring in any other gear from your normal kit?
The environment totally dictated equipment choices for this one. My primary set up was a Zaxcom Deva 5.8 with a Mix 8 and a Lectrosonics Octopak. Enormous flexibility in a very small, adaptable package.

I feel like this movie for Harrison Ford was fresh version of Indy &Star Wars rolled into one – How was it working with Ford, Craig, Wilde and the rest of the cast?
Well, I had a different take on the antecedents of this horse opera. Harrison’s part seemed to me to be more of a respectful homage to the Henry Fonda/Once Upon a Time In The West archetype with Daniel’s character an excellent rendition, without imitation, of the silent, effective Clint Eastwood archetype. Great counterpoint to each other.

What will people who watch this film be talking about when they leave the theater?
It’s a great popcorn movie, a real character driven ride with great performances, strong storyline, and dynamic action set in the American West of the 1880′s: with aliens attacking as the cherry on top. A fun ride.

What will we be hearing from you next?
We’re near the end of our second of three movies this year. First was the Stephen Frears gambling comedy, Play the Favorite, starring Bruce Willis, Cathryn Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Hall and Vince Vaughn. We’re in the final weeks of shooting the Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) Scientology drama starring Philip Seymor Hoffman, Juaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Laura Dern. Then we begin Quentin Tarantino’s American Slavery Era epic Django Unchained, starring Christof Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo Decaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. This one will see a Xmas release 2012. Following that is Jon Favreau’s Magic Kingdom. Hard to say after that.

Cowboys & Aliens is scheduled to be released in North America on July 29… Feel free to check out the trailer below. (Photos courtesy of Mark Ulano, Universal/Dreamworks)