Karl Luthin has been to war many times.

He recently fought alongside Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s latest cinematic attempt, “Lincoln.”

Well, sort of. 

Luthin was never featured in any of the scenes, but his props were. 

Luthin has provided props and horses for films for more than 30 years and estimated working in about 125 different pictures as the owner of KEL Equine Productions.

For “Lincoln,” four semi-trailers were loaded with props—pots and pans, harnesses, cotton bales and limbers, and much more—and rode more than 800 miles to Richmand,Va., where  filming took place. 

“Lincoln” stars Daniel Day-Lewis and focuses on the last few months of President Lincoln’s life. 

The film is based partly on the book “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Luthin and his crew members stayed on the set for 22 days, with a break for Thanksgiving, during the end of 2011. 

He provided 10 heads of horses, six Army freight wagons and set dressing for the film.

The horses were conditioned for their role in the film months ahead of time by pulling freight wagons. 

On his farm, Luthin gave a tour of three trailers of props, each one stuffed with rugs, headpieces, saddles and costumes detailed to look like they came from a specific era.

When building prop pieces for a new production, Luthin said he tries to provide accuracy. 

Luthin pulled out a belt from a rack of weathered ones and pointed at the carvings engraved into the buckle.  

He said when there are even the slightest of errors, he receives phone calls from friends eager to point out them out to him. 

Luthin said he does the same. 

“It is a minor detail on camera. It really isn’t going to show, but someone will notice,” Luthin said.

Luthin spends hours researching in his history books to make set pieces that will accurately depict the era in which a movie or mini-series is set. 

Ammo boxes, chipped and dented from the times they were used on sets, were in another cart.

With several films under its belt, KEL Equine productions was hired by the movies’ horse wrangler, Doug Sloan, whom Luthin has known for 20 years.

While working on the set, Luthin and a few members of his crew said Spielberg “shoots in the round,” meaning while he was focused on one particular scene, there would be props and extras in the background ready to shoot another scene.

Luthin said the people on the production staff were on their toes for any change in direction Spielberg took.

Though KEL provided props for the film and traveled to its location, Luthin said he never actually had the opportunity of meeting Spielberg.

“There’s always a reasonable distance between us and the director,” Luthin said.  

The same can’t be said about Larry Johnson, who has worked with the company for 27 years, and nearly trampled the critically acclaimed director as he rode past the set in one of the carriages.

Johnson said it was not by choice.

Luthin explained Speilberg is very concentrated when directing and at that moment was deep in thought and failed to notice the oncoming carriage.Johnson, however, managed to bring the horses to a halt just before crashing into him.   

Despite having a resume listing many big Hollywood films—“Glory,” “Ironclads,” “The Patriot,” “The Last Samurai,” “The Last of the Mohicans”—Luthin said he does not receive too much praise for his work. 

There have been surprising moments when people notice his props in a film. 

Luthin said on a business trip, a man he was working with talked his ear off about the detailed saddles used in “Glory” and then realized Luthin had designed them. 

“Pretty soon he stopped and went, ‘They were yours, weren’t they?’” Luthin said.

Though his props are used during the course of filming, Luthin said sometimes they only shine on camera for a brief moment because several hours of footage are cut during the editing process. 

He mentioned that in 2004’s “The Alamo,” starring Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton, scenes featuring his props were cut.

KEL provided costumes and props for the Mexican Army depicted in the film, and when the movie premiered, Luthin said he wondered what had happened to the movie they had spent months shooting. 

“The director cut hours of footage and focused more on dialogue,” Luthin said, “but that can happen when you work in the background.”

In his years managing KEL, Luthin has simplified the way he negotiates deals with production companies. 

Luthin said production companies rent whatever they need from him through buyouts.

In a buyout, the company pays a set price to rent equipment during the course of production.

He said production companies also rent by the unit, which was described as a lot more tedious, because an accountant working on the film has to go through a list to determine what equipment was used and charge for it. 

KEL’s first movie was “The Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas,” and from there, Luthin said, his involvement in cinema and television mushroomed. 

Johnson said Luthin has had to drag him to every movie set they have worked on.

Johnson attributed everything he has learned about horse riding and all of the sights he has seen to Luthin.

Luthin’s props will be seen on the big screen in “Lincoln” on Nov. 16. 

Jaime Lopez can 

be reached at 581-2812 

or jlopez2@eiu.edu.