Film Trivia - Con't: 12. "There is a graveyard in the Pembroke location and as a joke some
of the names on the tombstones were characters that Mel Gibson had played in
other movies." - Special Effects Artist Bill "Splat" Johnson
13.Screenwriter
Robert Rodat originally gave the lead character (then Francis
Marion) six children, because Mel
Gibson had six children. When Gibson and his wife had their seventh,
Rodat added another child to the script.
(Ed.: There has been some discussion about this. Although, this would be a good
explanation for why Rodat gave Marion six children, when he was actually childless
and unmarried-not a widower-during the war. It also fits because one child,
William,
is the only child that has no scenes.)
14. During filming, morale among the extras and reenactors got so low,
that the producers feared that they would walk, so Mel
Gibson was asked to speak to them and tell them how important they were
to the film. (Ed.: It wouldn't be surprising if the cheerleaders and marching band were
as much for the morale of the extras, as for Emmerich's birthday.)
15. The big battle scenes as well as the scenes of General
George Washington at Valley Forge (Ed: which were largely cut)
were filmed at the Darby Farm in Chester County, South Carolina. This is the
location where the reenactors chose to sleep in tents and served as the production's
base of operations from September to December.
16. Historic Brattonville provided locations for the Camden plantation,
interiors of Charlotte
Selton's plantation and interiors of the Howards' home. Mansfield Plantation
served as exteriors for Charlotte's plantation. Middleton Place was where the
British ball was shot. Botany Bay Plantation on Edisto Bay was the setting for
the beach slave camp.
17. The production then moved to Charleston, using the College of Charleston
and the Colonial era street that still remains. Production wrapped at a man-made
marsh near Charleston known as Cypress Gardens, a fully realized swamp created
in the late 1920s, which was used for the militia's island hideaway.
18. On the last night of production, the crew was treated to a rare
lunar eclipse.
