Editing The Patriot (2000 film) (section)

==Production==
===Script===
Screenwriter [[Robert Rodat]] wrote seventeen drafts of the script before there was an acceptable one. In an early version, Anne is pregnant with Gabriel's child when she dies in the burning church. Rodat wrote the script with Mel Gibson in mind for Benjamin Martin and gave the character six children to signal that preference to studio executives. After the birth of Gibson's seventh child, the script was changed so that Martin has seven children. Like the character [[William Wallace]], which Gibson had portrayed in ''[[Braveheart (film)|Braveheart]]'' five years earlier, Martin is a man who seeks to live his life in peace until revenge drives him to lead a cause against a national enemy after the life of an innocent family member is taken.

===Casting===
[[Harrison Ford]] turned down the lead role of Benjamin Martin because he considered the film "too violent"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11455239/Harrison-Ford-his-life-and-career.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11455239/Harrison-Ford-his-life-and-career.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Harrison Ford: his life and career|first=Telegraph|last=Reporters|date=March 6, 2015|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and that "it boiled the American Revolution down to one guy wanting revenge."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://people.com/premium/the-enduring-appeal-of-harrison-ford/|title=The Enduring Appeal Of Harrison Ford|newspaper=People}}</ref> Gibson was paid a record salary of $25 million.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=Spring 2000|issue=540|page=117|title=Livin' Large}}</ref> [[Joshua Jackson]], [[Elijah Wood]], [[Jake Gyllenhaal]], and [[Brad Renfro]] were considered to play Gabriel Martin. The producers and director narrowed their choices for the role of Gabriel to [[Ryan Phillippe]] and [[Heath Ledger]], with Ledger chosen because Roland Emmerich thought he possessed "exuberant youth."

===Filming===
The film's German director Emmerich said "these were characters I could relate to, and they were engaged in a conflict that had a significant outcome—the creation of the first modern democratic government."<ref name=DVD />

The film was shot entirely on location in South Carolina, including [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[Rock Hill, South Carolina|Rock Hill]]—for many of the battle scenes, and [[Lowrys, South Carolina|Lowrys]]—for the farm of Benjamin Martin, as well as nearby [[Fort Lawn, South Carolina|Fort Lawn]]. It was filmed on September 7, 1999, and ended on January 20, 2000.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mansfieldplantation.com/news_popup07.html | title=The Patriot Filmed on Location at Mansfield Plantation }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sciway.net/movies/sc-movie-patriot.html | title=The Patriot - Movies Filmed in South Carolina }}</ref><ref name=TNT>{{cite web|title=''The Patriot'' on TNT|publisher=[[TNT (U.S. TV network)|TNT (TV network)]]|year=2009|url=http://www.tnt.tv/movies/movietitle/?oid=5386|access-date=March 28, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319003955/http://www.tnt.tv/movies/movietitle/?oid=5386|archive-date=March 19, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Other scenes were filmed at [[Mansfield Plantation]], an antebellum rice plantation in [[Georgetown, South Carolina|Georgetown]], [[Middleton Place]] in Charleston, South Carolina, at the Cistern Yard on the campus of [[College of Charleston]], and [[Hightower Hall]] and Homestead House at [[Brattonsville Historic District|Brattonsville]], South Carolina, along with the grounds of the Brattonsville Plantation in [[McConnells, South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Movies Filmed in South Carolina – ''The Patriot''|work=South Carolina Information Highway|publisher=SCIway.net|url=http://www.sciway.net/movies/sc-movie-patriot.html|year=2009|access-date=March 28, 2009}}</ref> Producer Mark Gordon said the production team "tried their best to be as authentic as possible" because "the backdrop was serious history," giving attention to details in period dress.<ref name=DVD>{{cite video|date=2000 |title=The Patriot|medium=DVD|publisher=[[Columbia Pictures]]|quote=Special features – True Patriots featurette|isbn=0-7678-5846-8}}</ref> Producer Dean Devlin and the film's costume designers examined actual Revolutionary War uniforms at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] prior to shooting.<ref name=DVD />

===Musical score===
{{main|The Patriot (soundtrack)}}
The [[Film score|musical score]] for ''The Patriot'' was composed and conducted by [[John Williams]] and was nominated for an [[Academy Award]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Filmtracks: The Patriot (John Williams) |url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/patriot.html |publisher=Filmtracks.com |access-date=November 28, 2012 |date=June 22, 2008}}</ref> [[David Arnold]], who composed the scores to Emmerich's ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'', ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]'', and ''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla]]'', created a demo for ''The Patriot'' that was ultimately rejected. As a result, Arnold never returned to compose for any of Emmerich's subsequent films and was replaced by [[Harald Kloser]] and [[Thomas Wander]].