What TV and Film Creators Have Done to Really Impress Their Audience

Many producers, directors, and actors in big screen projects seem to be ready to do anything to impress their viewers. As audience members, we get to enjoy these movies and shows, but often don’t have the slightest idea that the actresses are wearing nettle fabrics, or that crew members poured soda under the motorcycles to make the stunts work.

We at CHEERY watched these films and shows and had no idea how much work the people behind the scenes did to capture our imaginations. And our bonus at the end of the article proves that creators are even ready to redo some scenes to please the audience.

The Batman

Zoë Kravitz started preparing for the role of Catwoman about 2 months before filming began. She studied how real cats and lions move and fight so she could use their movements to look more like them. Other crew members also had to do a lot of work: for example, it took one year to create the Batman suit for Robert Pattinson. First, the actor’s body was scanned, then, after every single detail was reviewed and approved, the suit was made. In the film, more than 20 suits were used, and all of them were of very high quality.

No Time to Die

Before filming the chase sequence in this James Bond film, 8,400 gallons of Coca-Cola were poured on the streets of an Italian town. This was done to make the cobbled streets less slippery for the motorcycles.

Loki

To show how monumental the library and archives of the Time Variance Authority are, the creators of Loki filmed in an American hotel called the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. But the 53 atrium floors were not enough, so CG-artists added extra effects to make the building appear endless and added the statues of the Time-Keepers for scale.

The Northman

Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, and the others actors in this film had a tough time. The creators wanted to make everything look as accurate as possible. So, Skarsgård had only one pair of shoes during the entire filming process. When they broke, the crew just used leather strips to piece them together. The actors wore clothes made from nettle and other fibers, and one of the characters wore the varafeldur coat that was made according to the methods of the time, using the long coarse wool from the outer coat of Icelandic sheep.

Squid Game

In the Glass Stepping Stones scenes, the actors were 4.9 ft off the ground. But even this height was enough to make the actors nervous. It was even harder for them during the tug-of-war scene. This scene was 33 ft above the ground, so the fear in many of the actors’ faces was very real.

Dune: Part One

Composer Hanz Zimmer spent one week in Utah recording the sounds of the desert to incorporate into the score. The soundtrack also includes bagpipes for the House Atreides theme to highlight how ancient the House is. Zimmer hired 30 bagpipe players and asked them to play in church.

Black Widow

In order to film the chase scene with Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova in Budapest, the crew used 13 cars. The stunt crew didn’t feel pity for the cars: they turned off the stability systems, replaced the engines, and even redid the bodies completely. It wasn’t easy for the actors either: in one of the scenes, they had to be in the wind tunnel against bluescreens.

Game of Thrones

The costume designers had around 2 dozen wigs for the actresses. Each of them cost around $7,000. They could be washed and styled just like actual hair, but putting them on was not easy: actress Emilia Clarke needed around 2 hours to hide her dark hair. And the Dothraki wigs were specially made to create the illusion that the characters hadn’t washed their hair for several weeks.

Blade Runner 2049

On the set of the sequel of the famous dystopia, Roger Deakins was the cinematographer. He had previously worked on The Shawshank Redemption and The Big Lebowski. He decided that only a single camera would be used instead of the 9-camera setup that was originally suggested. The choice of the lead female character was not easy either: Ana de Armas had to do several auditions and study English for 4 months to get the role of Joi.

Jungle Cruise

In order to shoot the underwater scene, the creators decided not to use a real river, but built a special reservoir instead. In the film, the main character, Lily, had to dive in to solve an ancient puzzle. It was the first time Emily Blunt had to do an underwater scene, but she did great: she held her breath for 30 seconds for each take and didn’t panic in that tight space.

Cruella

In this film, we saw many dogs: Cruella’s Buddy, the chihuahua Bluebell, and of course, the famous Dalmatians. To make the process simpler, the crew sometimes replaced the real animals with CG copies. In the end, director Craig Gillespie admitted that he couldn’t even tell which frame shows a real dog and which a CG dog.

The Suicide Squad

Daniela Melchior that portrayed Ratcatcher 2 was cast from a pool of 200 actors. She even had to interact with real rats during the audition. The creators also managed to create a beach set that had real waves and a palm tree forest. Director James Gunn said it seemed too expensive at first, but it ended up being cheaper than using a real beach where the team would have to plan around the tides and the movements of the sun.

The Crown

The Crown is considered to be one of the most expensive series in TV history. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent, and it seems that a lot of the money has been allocated to the costumes. For example, Elizabeth’s wedding dress is an exact copy of the dress the Queen wore for her real wedding. It was $37,000. Costume designers spent 7 weeks creating it.

Bonus: When creators are not afraid of fixing their mistakes

During the first days after the release of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, the creators were heavily criticized for making rather obvious mistakes. Instead of Emma Watson, an image of actress Emma Roberts appeared on the screen during a segment narrated by Emma Watson. And twins Oliver and James Phelps were mislabeled as each other. So, the creators decided to commit to the extra expense and remove the original version of the film from all sources. They then uploaded the new one, with all the mistakes fixed.

Do you think that all this tremendous work and immense costs are worth it? And can ordinary viewers notice all the effort?