Editing Easy Rider (section)

==Production==
===Writing===
Hopper and Fonda's first collaboration was in ''[[The Trip (1967 film)|The Trip]]'' (1967), written by Jack Nicholson, which had themes and characters similar to those of ''Easy Rider''.<ref name=Mills/> Peter Fonda had become "an [[icon]] of the [[counterculture]]" in ''[[The Wild Angels]]'' (1966), where he established "a [[persona]] he would develop further in ''The Trip'' and ''Easy Rider''."<ref name=Laderman2010/> ''The Trip'' also popularized LSD, while ''Easy Rider'' went on to "celebrate '60s counterculture" but does so "stripped of its innocence."<ref name=Boyd2009/> Author Katie Mills said that ''The Trip'' is a way point along the "[[metamorphosis]] of the rebel road story from a [[Beat Generation|Beat]] [[relic]] into its hippie [[reincarnation]] as ''Easy Rider''", and connected Peter Fonda's characters in those two films, along with his character in ''The Wild Angels'', deviating from the "formulaic biker" persona and critiquing "[[commodity]]-oriented filmmakers appropriating [[avant-garde film]] techniques."<ref name=Mills/> It was also a step in the transition from [[independent film]] into [[Hollywood film|Hollywood]]'s mainstream, and while ''The Trip'' was criticized as a faux, popularized [[underground film]] made by Hollywood insiders, ''Easy Rider'' "interrogates" the attitude that underground film must "remain strictly segregated from Hollywood."<ref name=Mills/> Mills also wrote that the famous acid trip scene in ''Easy Rider'' "clearly derives from their first tentative explorations as filmmakers in ''The Trip''."<ref name=Mills/> ''The Trip'' and ''The Wild Angels'' had been low-budget films released by [[American International Pictures]] and were both successful. When Fonda took ''Easy Rider'' to AIP, however, as it was Hopper's first film as director, they wanted to be able to replace him if the film went overbudget, so Fonda took the film to [[Bert Schneider]] of [[Raybert Productions]] and [[Columbia Pictures]] instead.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=February 11, 1970|page=6|title='Easy Rider' No Accident; Those AIPix Trailblazed For It|last=Setlowe|first=Rick}}</ref>

When seeing a still of himself and [[Bruce Dern]] in ''[[The Wild Angels]]'', Peter Fonda had the idea of a modern [[Western film|Western]], involving two bikers traveling across the country after a drug sale. He called Dennis Hopper, and the two decided to turn that into a movie, ''The Loners'', with Hopper directing, Fonda producing, and both starring and writing. Back in LA, Fonda introduced Hopper to [[Clifford Vaughs|Cliff Vaughs]], who Peter had met after his second arrest for marijuana in 1967, when Cliff interviewed Peter for radio station [[KRLA]]. Over multiple meetings, Vaughs provided his experiences riding a chopper through the South while working on civil rights with the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee|SNCC]] in 1963-65, including being shot at by two duck hunters in a pickup while he was riding his chopper with Iris Greenburg on the back, between Jackson and Little Rock.<ref>'Mississippi Summer Project: Running Summary of Incidents'(1964), SNCC</ref> Vaughs had a handmade poster on his living room wall with collaged letters spelling 'Where has my easy rider gone?' atop a poster from the Mae West film [[She Done Him Wrong|'She Done Him Wrong']].<ref>d'Orléans, Paul (Nov.10, 2014). 'The Chopper: the Real Story' Gestalten. ISBN 978-3899555240</ref> Vaughs was made Associate Producer of the film, and designed/built the two choppers, with the assistance of Ben Hardy and Larry Marcus.<ref>'Cliff Vaughs Filmmaker', ''Choppers Magazine'', Jan 1969</ref> Fonda and Hopper later brought in screenwriter [[Terry Southern]]. The film was mostly shot without a screenplay, with [[ad-lib]]bed lines, and production started with only the outline and the names of the protagonists. Keeping the Western theme, Wyatt was named after [[Wyatt Earp]] and Billy after [[Billy the Kid]].<ref name=biskind/> However, Southern disputed that Hopper wrote much of the script. In an interview published in 2016 [Southern died in 1995] he said, "You know if Den Hopper improvises a dozen lines and six of them survive the cutting room floor he'll put in for screenplay credit. Now it would be almost impossible to exaggerate his contribution to the film—but, by George, he manages to do it every time."<ref name="Golden">{{cite news|url=http://creativescreenwriting.com/terry-southern-writing-to-his-own-beat/|title=Terry Southern: Writing to His Own Beat|last=Golden|first=Mike|date=January 12, 2016|work=Creative Screenwriting|access-date=January 21, 2016}}</ref> According to Southern, Fonda was under contract to produce a motorcycle film with A.I.P., which Fonda had agreed to allow Hopper to direct. According to Southern, Fonda and Hopper didn't seek screenplay credit until after the first screenings of the film, which required Southern's agreement due to [[Screen Writers Guild|writers guild]] policies. Southern says he agreed out of a sense of camaraderie, and that Hopper later took credit for the entire script.<ref name="Golden"/>

According to Terry Southern's biographer, Lee Hill, the part of George Hanson had been written for Southern's friend, actor [[Rip Torn]]. When Torn met with Hopper and Fonda at a New York restaurant in early 1968 to discuss the role, Hopper began ranting about the "[[redneck]]s" he had encountered on his scouting trip to the South. Torn, a Texan, took exception to some of Hopper's remarks, and the two almost came to blows, as a result of which Torn withdrew from the project. Torn was replaced by Jack Nicholson. In 1994, [[Jay Leno]] interviewed Hopper about ''Easy Rider ''on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno|The Tonight Show]]'', and during the interview, Hopper falsely claimed that Torn had pulled a knife on him during the altercation when it was actually the other way around. This infuriated Torn, so he sued Hopper for defamation seeking punitive damages. Torn ultimately prevailed against Hopper on all counts.<ref name=biskind/>

===Filming===
[[File:.00 1505 1968 Chevrolet Impala.jpg|thumb|A [[Chevrolet Impala (fourth generation)#1968|1968 Chevy Impala convertible]] like this was used for filming ]]
The filming budget of ''Easy Rider'' was $360,000 to $400,000.<ref name=BudgetCitations/><ref name=Kiselyak/> Peter Fonda said that on top of this, he personally paid for the costs of travel and lodging for the crew, saying, "Everybody was taking my credit cards and would pay for all the hotels, the food, the gas, everything with Diner's Club".<ref name=Barra2008/><ref name=Kiselyak/> Cinematographer [[László Kovács (cinematographer)|Laszlo Kovacs]] said that an additional $1 million, "about three times the budget for shooting the rest of the film" was spent on the licensed music tracks that were added during the editing.<ref name=Fisher2004/> He already had made two [[outlaw biker film]]s and suggested that a [[Chevrolet Impala (fourth generation)#1968|1968 Chevy Impala convertible]] be purchased to carry his camera smoothly, with speeds not exceeding 25&nbsp;mph.

According to associate producer Bill Heyward in interviews included as part of the bonus DVD feature, "Shaking the Cage", Hopper was difficult on set.<ref name=Kiselyak>{{cite AV media |last1=Kiselyak |first1=Charles |title=Shaking the Cage |type=DVD |publisher=Columbia Tristar Pictures |date=1999}}</ref> During test shooting on location in New Orleans, with documentary filmmaker [[Baird Bryant]] on camera,<ref name="LA Times2">{{cite news |date=16 November 2008 |title=Obituary |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-nov-16-me-passings16.s1-story.html |access-date=22 April 2011 |newspaper=LA Times}}</ref> Hopper fought with the production's ad hoc crew for control. At one point, a paranoid Hopper demanded camera operator [[Barry Feinstein]] hand over the footage he shot that day so he could keep it safe with him in his hotel room. Enraged, Feinstein hurled the film cans at Hopper and the two got into a physical confrontation.<ref name=Kiselyak/> After this turmoil, Hopper and Fonda decided to assemble a proper crew for the rest of the film.<ref name="Kiselyak" />  Consequently, the rest of the film was shot on [[35 mm movie film|35mm film]], while the New Orleans sequences were shot on [[16 mm film|16mm film]].<ref name="LA Times2"/> The hippie commune was recreated from pictures and shot at a site overlooking [[Malibu, California#In popular culture|Malibu Canyon]] on Piuma Canyon Road, since the New Buffalo commune in [[Arroyo Hondo, Taos County, New Mexico|Arroyo Hondo]] near [[Taos, New Mexico]], did not permit shooting there.<ref name="Fisher2004">{{cite magazine| first = Bob | last = Fisher | title = Easy Rider: 35 Years Later; László Kovács on the 35th anniversary of Easy Rider | magazine = Moviemaker | date = June 22, 2004 | url = http://www.moviemaker.com/directing/article/easy_rider_35_years_later_2921/ | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120211125811/http://www.moviemaker.com/directing/article/easy_rider_35_years_later_2921 | archive-date = February 11, 2012 | access-date = 2008-10-19 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Among the [[Extra (acting)|extras]] who appear in the sequence are actors [[Dan Haggerty]] and [[Carrie Snodgress]], musician [[Jim Sullivan (musician)|Jim Sullivan]], and Fonda's daughter [[Bridget Fonda|Bridget]].

A short clip near the beginning of the film shows Wyatt and Billy on [[U.S. Route 66|Route 66]] in [[Flagstaff, Arizona]], passing a large figure of a lumberjack. That lumberjack statue—once situated in front of the Lumberjack Café—remains in Flagstaff, but now stands inside the [[Walkup Skydome|J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome]] on the campus of [[Northern Arizona University]]. A second, very similar statue was also moved from the Lumberjack Café to the exterior of the Skydome.<ref name="rightpalmup">{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=omHzQwAACAAJ | title = Right Palm Up, Left Palm Down: The Log of a Cross-Country Scavenger Hunt | isbn = 978-0970340771 | last1 = Aldaz | first1 = Gabriel | date = April 2010| publisher = Sparkworks Pub. }}</ref> Most of the film is shot outside with natural lighting. Hopper said all the outdoor shooting was an intentional choice on his part, because "God is a great [[Gaffer (motion picture industry)|gaffer]]." Besides the camera car, the production used two [[Truck classification#Table of US GVWR classifications|five-ton trucks]], one for the equipment and pulling an 750 Amp generator trailer, and one for the up to four motorcycles, with the cast and crew in a motor home.<ref name="Fisher2004" /> One of the locations was [[Monument Valley]].<ref name="Fisher2004" />

The restaurant scenes with Fonda, Hopper, and Nicholson were shot in [[Morganza, Louisiana]].<ref name="Fisher2004" /> The men and girls in the scenes were Morganza locals.<ref name="Fisher2004" /> In order to inspire more vitriolic commentary from the local men, Hopper told them the characters of Billy, Wyatt, and George had raped and killed a girl outside of town.<ref name="Kiselyak" /> The scene in which Billy and Wyatt were shot was filmed on [[Louisiana Highway 105]] North, just outside [[Krotz Springs, Louisiana|Krotz Springs]], and the two men in the pickup truck—Johnny David and D.C. Billodeau—were Krotz Springs locals.

While shooting the cemetery scene, Hopper tried to convince Fonda to talk to the statue of the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Madonna]] as though it were [[Frances Ford Seymour|Fonda's mother]], who had committed [[suicide]] when he was 10 years old, and ask her why she left him. Although Fonda was reluctant, he eventually complied. Later Fonda used the inclusion of this scene, along with the concluding scene, as leverage to persuade [[Bob Dylan]] to allow the use of [[Roger McGuinn]]'s cover of "[[It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)]]".<ref name=Kiselyak/>

===Post-production===
Despite being filmed in the first half of 1968, roughly between [[New Orleans Mardi Gras|Mardi Gras]] and the assassination of [[Robert F. Kennedy]], with production starting on February 22,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/category/this_day_in_indie_history/P100/ |title=This Day in Indie History |magazine=MovieMaker |access-date=2011-01-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907224851/http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/category/this_day_in_indie_history/P100/ |archive-date=2012-09-07 }}</ref> the film did not have a U.S. [[premiere]] until July 1969, after having won an award at the [[Cannes film festival]] in May. The delay was partially due to a protracted editing process. Inspired by ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]],'' one of Hopper's proposed cuts was 220 minutes long, including extensive use of the "[[Flashforward|flash-forward]]" narrative device, wherein scenes from later in the movie are inserted into the current scene.<ref name=Kiselyak/> Only one flash-forward survives in the final edit: when Wyatt in the New Orleans brothel has a premonition of the final scene. At the request of [[Bob Rafelson]] and [[Bert Schneider]], [[Henry Jaglom]] was brought in to edit the film into its current form, while Schneider purchased a trip to Taos for Hopper so he wouldn't interfere with the recut. Upon seeing the final cut, Hopper was originally displeased, saying that his movie was "turned into a TV show," but he eventually accepted, claiming that Jaglom had crafted the film the way Hopper had originally intended. Despite the large part he played in shaping the film, Jaglom only received credit as an "Editorial Consultant."<ref name=biskind/>

It is unclear what the exact running time of original rough cut of the movie was: four hours, four and a half hours, or five hours.<ref name=Kiselyak/> In 1992, the film's producers, Schneider and Rafelson, sued Columbia Pictures over missing negatives, edit footage and damaged prints, holding them negligent concerning these assets. Some of the scenes which were in the original cut but were deleted are:<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Birnbaum |first=Jane |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1992/05/15/easy-rider-controversy |title=The ''Easy Rider'' controversy |magazine=EW.com |date=1992-05-15 |access-date=2015-10-14}}</ref>
* The original opening showing Wyatt and Billy performing in a Los Angeles stunt show (their real jobs)
* Wyatt and Billy being ripped off by the promoter
* Wyatt and Billy getting in a biker fight
* Wyatt and Billy picking up women at a drive-in
* Wyatt and Billy cruising to and escaping from Mexico to score the cocaine they sell
* An elaborate police and helicopter chase that took place at the beginning after the dope deal with police chasing Wyatt and Billy over mountains and across the Mexican border
* The road trip out of L.A. edited to the full length of [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]]'s "[[Born to Be Wild]]" with billboards along the way offering wry commentary
* Wyatt and Billy being pulled over by a cop while riding their motorcycles across a highway
* Wyatt and Billy encountering a black motorcycle gang
* Ten additional minutes for the volatile café scene in Louisiana where George deftly keeps the peace
* Wyatt and Billy checking into a hotel before going over to Madam Tinkertoy's
* An extended and much longer Madam Tinkertoy sequence
* Extended versions of all the campfire scenes, including the enigmatic finale in which Wyatt says, "We blew it, Billy."

''Easy Rider'''s style—the jump cuts, time shifts, flash forwards, flashbacks, jerky hand-held cameras, fractured narrative and improvised acting—can be seen as a cinematic translation of the [[psychedelic experience]]. [[Peter Biskind]], author of ''[[Easy Riders, Raging Bulls]]'' wrote, "LSD did create a frame of mind that fractured experience and that LSD experience had an effect on films like ''Easy Rider''."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.laweekly.com/1998-07-09/news/the-trip/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206221527/http://www.laweekly.com/1998-07-09/news/the-trip/full/ |archive-date=6 December 2013 |title=The Trip |last=Whalen |first=John |website=[[LA Weekly]] |date=1 July 1998 |access-date=2014-01-13}}</ref>