On Location in Ari Aster's Eddington
Fiction and reality overlap many times over
PICTURE-MAKING, for me, always begins with location scouting — (basically, me driving around in circles for months on end looking for the perfect place.) It’s not rational, and I can’t explain what exactly happens while I do this, but nonetheless it’s essential. Something formal about a place will strike me, and I’ll visit it over and over in all different kinds of light, and at some point a story emerges from that.
When Ari Aster and A24 asked me if I’d consider traveling to New Mexico to make a picture for Eddington — my first thought was that I didn’t see how it would work. I’ve been asked to make pictures for feature films many times, and have always said no. I really felt a pull to do this, though — I have such deep respect for Ari’s work, and feel an artistic alliance with him. But — there were so many buts. The time of year it fell in, and my schedule being the way it was, I could really only go to New Mexico for a few days at most. I just didn’t see how I could begin the process without being there, on the ground, in my car, scouting like I normally do.
Nonetheless, Ari’s producer Ann Ruark started sending some location photos from Truth or Consequences, NM. Even if this wasn’t a completely satisfying way to see the town, there were a couple of views that were nonetheless managing to draw me in. Juliane noticed me going back to a particular spot in the location pictures, and she began searching on Google Maps and showing me specific streets, and then I essentially started doing what I’d normally do in the car — going up and down every single street in the town and immediate perimeter looking for the right vantage point.
John Lucas, the Eddington location manager and Ehrin Davis, location scout (who is also a photographer,) were both helpful, too, and Ehrin and I were in touch and he started taking some pictures for me in various places I was interested in. I was honing in.
Unbeknownst to me, I wound up landing on the exact street that the climax of Eddington takes place on. I chose it simply because it felt timeless and nondescript, and it had a gun shop that looked interesting. I had no idea that the gun shop I had found on Google Maps was, in fact, a total construct for the film. (Even now, if you search for ‘Gunther’s Pistol Palace’ on Google Maps, it’s there, and for all intents and purposes looks like a real business.)
Still not having stepped foot in Truth or Consequences, NM, I came up with a concept for the picture. Juliane wrote a description and we sent it to Ari and A24:
GREGORY CREWDSON, UNTITLED, [A24 SPECIAL EDITION], 2024
EXT. EDDINGTON - TWILIGHT
We are positioned in the center of a street in Eddington, an ordinary small town in the American Southwest. This is a barren business district. There are two shops to our right, each with a faded shingle from some prior decade: Nu-Way Laundry/Cleaners, and just beyond it, Gunther’s Pistol Palace. We see a hint of a pink motel to our left, and distant mountains beyond.
It’s quiet and lonely, eerily so. There’s little sign of life, except for a few lights in windows. A pickup truck is in the street, faced away. We can just see the outline of the driver’s head. Further down, a sedan is parked at the curb.
A rain has just come through, leaving the town and its hot roads wet, and evaporating into a sublime steamy atmosphere. A sunset emblazons the sky. Close in frame, a male figure, a SHERIFF, stands in the street. His eyes are beleaguered, his uniform dirtied and worn. His gaze is cast upward at something out of frame that has captured his attention, transporting his thoughts somewhere else, transcending time and space, his own past and future.
Harper and Juliane traveled to New Mexico ahead of me, and Harper helped me find frame remotely over text and Facetime.
I landed in Albuquerque a few days later and reached Truth and Consequences. After thinking about this spot, seeing it on Maps, and in pictures, thinking about it while I swam and anytime my thoughts drifted during the day: I finally saw the street in person. We took more pictures and locked in the frame.
My Director of Photography Rick Sands and our whole lighting team arrived next, and things really started to feel real — in an unreal way. Eddington had taken over much of the town, and most of the businesses were either not real at all, or had some interventions such as signage that was fictional.
We prepped for a couple days — meanwhile, one block over, Ari was simultaneously shooting some of the key scenes at ‘Garcia’s Bar.’ It was such a treat to watch Darius Khondji in action — one of the great cinematographers of all time.
Our shoot day came. Eddington closed down their shoot for the day, and some members of their art department and their SFX team, among others, helped on our set. It was an amazing coming together of creative efforts. (The very talented Aaron Robert Hall is the set dresser featured in this video.)
Throughout our prep and our pre-shoot, we had been working with Joaquin’s stand-in, since Joaquin himself was busy shooting scenes in the film. Finally, Joaquin walked onto the set, and the whole picture came alive with his presence. He looked at me and said, “I don’t like to have my picture taken” which really broke the ice. He was fun, and had an exuberance that was palpable.
After we wrapped, it took some time to work through post-production. It’s always my preference that any picture we put that much effort into be seen as a physical print first. JPEG’s of course become necessary at some point, but I really fight against sending images digitally initially — god forbid they be seen for the first time on a phone.
We finished post-production, and moved on to printing. A24 had still not seen anything, and yet were completely respectful of my wishes to have them see it first as a framed artwork.
We had the full scale 50 x 88in. picture delivered to the A24 offices and unveiled it there.
Months later, David Zwirner graciously hosted an evening in their 69th Street gallery, and Ari and I did a conversation for a small gathering of friends, family, and guests.
A special thank you to the entire team that made this picture possible:
Producer GABY DE CAMPS
Producer JULIANE HIAM
Producer HARRISON HUFFMAN
Producer ANN RUARK
Director of Photography RICHARD SANDS
Production Coordinator BEC SPEAKMAN
Gaffer DAVID MCCABE, JR
Electric KEAGAN FULLER
Electric ACE BUCKLEY
Electric MIKE KIM
Electric ALEX BLUM
Key Grip BRANDON TAYLOR
BB Grip BRIAN YOST
Grip THOMAS SARVELLO
Grip BRYAN LANDES
Grip ALEX FERRARA
Camera Operator DAVE GALLAGHER
Assistant Camera Operator CHRISTIAN BADACH
Eddington Production Designer ELLIOTT HOSTETTER
On Set Dresser AARON ROBERT HALL
Behind the Scenes Video/ Set Photographer HARPER GLANTZ
First AD PETER MCGREW
Key Costumer JERRY SANTANA
Asst. to Mr. Phoenix CAROLINE SAUNDERS
Extras Casting ALESSI HARTIGAN CASTING
Stand In BLANE ARANYOSI
SFX Coordinator EVERETT BYROM III
SFX Tech MCLAIN PRAWITZ
SFX Tech PAUL MALDONADO
SFX Tech DANNY CANDELARIA
SFX Tech JACOB BRADLEY
SFX Tech LUCAS ARGUELLO
SFX Tech LUKE HUSSACK
Set PA BENJAMIN KOMAREK
Set PA DAVID GODINEZ
Set PA WENDY AGUILAR
Office PA RYAN WILLIAMSON
Office PA HARRY CHEN
Location Management JOHN LUCAS
Location Scout EHRIN DAVIS
Location Assistant FORREST HEIDEL
Location Assistant NOE GOMEZ
Transpo Captain BRANDON NERI
Water Truck Driver BRANDEN BIANCO
Stakebed GAGE NERI
Driver GARY GREGOS
Driver JOSE BARELA
Post-production retouching/compositing ZAK ARCTANDER
Printer PAULA BOSWELL
Framer MARC ELLIOTT
Crewdson Trail Log is written and edited by Juliane Hiam under Gregory’s direction. The above behind the scenes videos are by Harper Glantz.
As a photographer myself, what does a Director of Photography do here that Gregory cannot? I am just trying to understand the huge staff that Gregory has and what all the actual roles are. Thanks.
Are signed prints available from A24? Thanks!