Scene Deconstruction with Ed Wild BSC

Ed recounts that during the film’s planning stages, they loved the idea of drawing inspiration from the Steven Spielberg films of the 1990’s, particularly the Indiana Jones films. There was a lot of discussion around trying to stay away from CGI and instead using in-camera effects as much as possible.

Ed enjoys camera movement especially when it is motivated by the characters in the scene. He emphasizes that careful planning and communication, particularly with the grip department, ensures the team arrives on set with the right equipment ready to go from the outset. That preparation gives them the freedom to execute complex scenes efficiently, without compromising on time pressures like figuring how to put together a makeshift rig, and rather allowing them to focus on executing the move with precision and intention.

But at the same time, if the shot is extremely short, he feels that it’s often not appropriate to spend a lot of time on a complex rig, instead putting more effort into the longer shots that get more screen time.

But in some parts of the station, strong backlighting meant that John would have appeared as a dark silhouette against a bright background so Ed highlights that “if you’re going to go through all that trouble to put an actor on a moped through an actual live station, you can’t not see it’s him.” As such, for some areas, they used a couple of 9K lights with textile diffusion to lift the foreground.

Ed finds that this type of situation is where the Sony VENICE 2 camera really shines.

One of the challenges of shooting a chase scene like this is making it look fast and out of control, while keeping the shooting environment safe and controlled. Ed explains how he uses foreground objects that move quickly past the camera, or shots angled downwards so you can see the ground rushing past to emphasise the sense of speed and motion.

He explains that sequences like this demand extensive planning, yet still require flexibility: dialogue and blocking can evolve on the day, so the camera team must be ready to adapt without losing momentum.

The scene opens with Luke riding the moped out of an alley towards the camera, which looks great, but for the parts of the chase where there are two cars either side of John a lot could go wrong, so a towing rig was used for the moped to make things safer.

To get right into the action, Ed used electric motorbikes fitted with beams that could lift the camera up and down. These camera bikes could weave between the cars, giving more intimate and dynamic shots than would be possible with a traditional tracking car & arm setup.

Part of the chase unfolds through a bustling market. Ed tells of how when he first arrived at the market, it didn’t look like any preparation work had been done, the market appeared to be operating as normal. But he soon discovered that Barney Hughes, the floor AD had everything setup, orchestrated everything with precision; every vendor was an extra, every movement planned, and every detail designed to feel indistinguishable just like any normal market day.

Ed likes to first dress the set, then from there he looks around to visualise how best to shoot the scene, working around the location after setup in such a way that the scene doesn’t look over-constructed.

Ed likes to play a lot with the camera placement when shooting dialogue; he says that you have to think a lot about any rhythm changes and then how to reflect that in the camera framing. In this scene, Luke is grabbed by the neck, then the scene transitions from dialogue to action – for Ed, that moment where John is grabbed by the neck is part of the dialogue, then the physical action that follows is still part of the dialogue. By thinking of the action as a form of dialogue it helps to create a singular, flowing scene.

When filming in the train, Ed used the Sony VENICE Extension System 2. By separating the camera sensor unit from the rest of the camera body, you end up with a smaller handheld camera that allows the camera operator to shoot from tighter spaces, such as by the train walls during these confined action scenes.

Within the scene, a large knife is thrown along the carriage, embedding itself in a wall. Ed recounts of how during the planning and pre-visualisation stage for the shot, it was expected that some kind of visual effect would be used. But in the end Ed went “old school”.

Nearing the end of the film, the cast have finally reached the Fountain of Youth which is deep inside the centre of an ancient temple. To film this scene, a large circular set which was two stories tall had been built. At the top of the set were large petals that opened to reveal a circular stairwell descending into the temple interior, down to the Fountain of Youth.

Ed wanted to create the sense of a majestic shaft of light illuminating John at the centre of the fountain. But he wanted the light to cascade gently into the shadows so that the dissipation of light was gradual and feel as though the central shaft of light was only just reaching the floor – distinct but not blowing out the ground. Rather than just using a single beam of light, an array of lights was used to create the light shaft as this gave more control. A ring of lights was also used to add very controlled amounts of light into the shadows where the rest of the cast were stood.

Most of the colours you see in the scene were created at the time of filming, reducing the need to manipulate during post-production. Ed really wanted to blur the lines between when they would use practical lighting and in-camera effects or when they would lean on post-production, for example when implementing visual water effects.