Friday, October 30, 2015
The cool secret stories behind 10 of the most iconic movie scenes
sploid.gizmodo.com: Harrison Ford and Sean Connery taking off their pants and wearing just underwear in scenes from Indiana Jones because it was too hot? Jack Nicholson being too good at breaking down doors in The Shining? Martin Sheen actually being drunk and slicing his hand and fighting Francis Ford Coppola off screen in Apocalypse Now? These are the stories behind some of the most iconic scenes in some of the most iconic movies of all time.
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I love how much innovation and discovery comes form accidents, not just in the world of film, but in every discipline. In theater so much of the time, I feel like the best moments of a show come from the right p people seeing exactly the right thing go wrong at the right moment. Someone falls through a wall during tech? “OH! That looked great! I want to repeat that every night!” All the lamps on a particular set of dimmers blow at the same time? “Oh! I want that effect right at the end of the big dance number! How much will it cost?” In film, I think there is a whole world of magical moments that were just barely missed because it was an off shoot rehearsal, or because someone said cut just a little bit too early. Its amazing to me how we have built entire cultures and industries off of a series essentially un-planable events. Mistakes and screw ups can be the aha! Moment. Its always tricky creating an environment where those things can happen without fear, but with necessary safety.
If amazing discoveries can come from accidents in film, then those that come from live theatre are truly indescribable. Not only do live performances not have the benefit of editing out scenes and only showing so much, but they also have a crew and production team behind them who must roll with the punches even more so than in film and television. The comradery and humility which come from the inability to un-ring such bells is to me one of the key differences between theatre and film. I have met nary a theatre artist without a backstage horror story, and myself have seen everything from sets falling apart to orchestra pits being showered in feathers. The sense that what happens happens also serves to bring the audience along for the ride, something that a screen eliminates. We as artists learn and grown from these mistakes, but we also come to appreciate our triumphs and the support of the world we live in even more so because of them. Though I hope to go into film and television design someday, I know that I will never be able to choose between screen and stage production because they are apples and oranges when it comes to what an audience can and cannot see. Ideas gone rogue are what define an artist far more than perfect execution.
It is amazing how many times great things come from accidents. I know it happens in theater all the time and I am sure there are hundreds of more examples of when it happens in movies. Sometime people do not even know what they want when they are looking for exactly the right effect until they see it. And sometimes the only way to see something you were not looking for is when it happens by accident. Now I wouldn’t say all of the examples in the video were an accident per say. In a few instances because of different events there were delays which allowed better quality acting or production. I thought theater and film were different in the sense of a quick time frame but I guess they aren’t that different. One of my many hypothetical career paths is working on movies or tv shows and this showed me some insight into what type of situations I could run into even though you can never know.
It's always wonderful to see just how many cool things come from accidents or mishaps. Often movies are very secretive about how they do things, and what happens behind the scenes. But I think seeing those mishaps and difficulties makes the movie-going experience that much cooler-I know that what I am watching was filmed in a studio somewhere and that is part of the magic. Knowing that an accident caused something to happen and that they just kind of went with it makes the experience that much more interesting and fun, and in no way detracts from the illusion. Another great thing about these stories is how much they show about the cast and crew of these films- they were able to roll with the punches and make something even more incredible than would have been created otherwise. Knowing that an actor is actually bleeding and was able to act through it cements their incredible performance. That a movie is flexible enough to capitalize on these mistakes is wonderful.
One of the things I love most about theater is that it changes as you go and the project really evolves by doing and facing challenges they arise. As someone who aspires to work in the film industry probably as a production designer or director, it's exciting to hear that that same energy exists on a film set, and that quick problem solving that stimulates bold and innovative work is a vital part of the film industry. After watching this video I found it really interesting that many iconic film scenes had outside factors influence the way they were shot. My favorite is probably Steven Spielberg's issue with the mechanical sharks on Jaws that forced him to find a new way to represent the shark hunting underwater. Because of this set back with the mechanical sharks needing constant repair from the salt water, he adopted the stalking underwater shots that became some of the most successful and terrifying in the film. As someone who has aspirations to work in film, I'm glad to hear that the same creative spontaneity that exists in theater is also present in film.
It is really cool to see behind the scenes work. We watch movies all the time but rarely get to see how it comes together so I always jump at the chance to see behind the scenes work. It makes the actors in those movies more human and realistic in my eyes. I haven’t seen a lot of the movies talked about in this clip because I don’t do suspense or horror movies but getting a glimpse behind the scenes makes me feel like I understand the film world more. It is definitely very different than the theatre world and how things are approached like being able to not wear pants for a scene because it is too hot could not work on stage unless it is in the script. These clips make me appreciate film and tv and what they do and how they make me forget that these people I am seeing on screen are real everyday people with jobs.
It's pretty wild to see the organic path movies take to the silver screen. It is easy to simply imagine works bursting to life, fully formed, but even the most iconic films were artistic labor that could have failed just as easily as they succeeded. I particularly liked the mistakes and accidents that actually improved the film. Shortcomings can feel like they could ruin a project, but sometimes they push us to simply come up with a more creative solution. Sometimes the first idea isn't the best one. With huge creative processes like these, it is good to know that products can still evolve and change, even with tons of money on the line. This isn't to say that these decisions will always be the right ones, but it is still exciting to see commercial endeavors explore and change as much as smaller artistic ones, and to know that they can make the same kind of breakthroughs and mistakes.
I actually already knew some of these stories before watching this video, and I was disappointed that some small details weren’t put in. If I’m correct, Jack Nicholson also improvised the iconic “Here’s Johnny” line in that same scene. I also believe that the actress who played Regan in “The Exorcist” had injured her back performing stunts for the movie.
Regardless, it is interesting how the little unplanned things that happen while we go about following our plans to the best of our ability can often be more successful than months of preparation. I think it’s really important to understand how to work with what’s in front of you, whether you’re a performer, a designer, a director, or anyone else, so that you may seize any opportunity that presents itself regardless of whether or not it has been planned. Happy accidents can sometimes be priceless, but they aren’t always purely accidents. It’s recognizing when you’re in the right place at the right time.
Its always fun to hear about how some of the iconic movie scenes were made, and to hear some of the ‘back stage gossip’ about them. I am eternally grateful for any reason that caused Harrison Ford and Sean Connery to end up in their underpants, and really don't care what the reason was, but knowing why simply adds to the joy. Best Jurassic part story ever, I’m happy to know the animatronic dinosaurs did intact terrorize the cast and crew. They should have released a short of the dinosaurs ‘attacking’ the crew, it may have done better than the new jurassic park movie. I’m not surprised that the Jaws sharks kept malfunctioning, they were electronic, there were bound to be leaks. I love that the shark was named Bruce and I hope they just kept numbering them, and had a favorite one. I also wonder if they got all the ones that sank and if not, I know where I want to go if I ever learn to scuba dive.
This to me is part of the magic of the film industry. I love movies, and unlike theather, when things can go wrong any night, with film, you only see the pristine, unblemished final cut. So, to me it's always fascinating to see the innerworkings and imperfections of films- espeically with a list of incredible directors like Copolla, Spielberg, Scott and Kubrick. To me it makes these genius directors a little more human, and gives an insight into who they were. For instance to me this shows how brilliant, yet inspiring to work with and genial Spielberg is. All he wants to do is create a great film, yet also make it a good and comfrotable experience for his actors and crew, and I find that endearing. I mean, he let them take off their pants for crying out loud. That's so charming. And with Scott, and Coppola on the other hand, it shows how grueling it really is/was to work with them and what they demanded. And it doesn't really show it here, but I've seena lot of behind the scenes with Kubrick and he was malicious towards his actors.
It almost seems like there is this classic ‘accident on set turned into one of a kind movie magic’ storyline that is very commonplace in the film and television world. Even though these happy accidents are in fact accidents, when they work out or become an integral part of a movie, they almost seem legendary. There is something really fascinating about this phenomenon, and I think it might be based in the organic process that often happens in the arts. Movies are one of a kind, even though re-makes exist, what is unfurling on set while a movie is being filmed has never happened before, those circumstances have never been encountered in that exact way before. Somewhere in that original experience rests a parallel to human life, and it is in that parallel that I think we as humans find comfort and joy. When you find out about one of those happy film accidents you become awestruck with the process of creating, and seem to find a certain nostalgia in remembering events of your past that were once happy accidents as well.
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