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All That Water Is Making 'Aquaman' "Super Complicated" to Shoot

L

LordOfLore

Banned
Link.

James Wan is no stranger to franchises. After kicking off three hugely profitable horror series — Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring — he moved into the big leagues with 2015's Furious 7, which grossed more than $1.5 billion globally. Now he's in the midst of shooting Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa, Warner Bros.' solo take on the character who's set to enjoy his biggest platform to date in this November's Justice League.

This week, Heat Vision hopped on the phone with Wan to discuss the prequel/Conjuring universe entry Annabelle: Creation, and during the chat he was game to answer a few questions about the forthcoming DC superhero entry. It came as no surprise when Wan said that shooting a film that takes place mainly underwater comes with a big set of challenges.

"It's a very technically challenging shoot to be on," said Wan as he was being shuttled to the film's Australia set. "Working with water, and even the dry-for-wet sequences are very complex. ... Our equivalent of two people sitting around chatting in the underwater world is super complicated. You have to think about CG with the hair, and how their clothing moves, how are they floating, what kind of rig we put them on and all that stuff. "

The director went on to stress that much of this challenge derives from his commitment to shooting as much with the real actors as he can, skirting CGI wherever possible. "That just makes it very difficult and time-sucking and time-challenging to do all of this," he continued. "So it's not an easy shoot — but hopefully it will pay off in spades down the line."

Speaking of waterlogged shoots, last month video of star Dolph Lundgren practicing underwater stunts for the film hit the web, giving fans their first glimpse of King Nereus in action. Aside from The Expendables franchise, the role is Lundgren's highest-profile one in years, and Wan was quick to sing the actor's praises when asked about casting the star of such brawny '80s and '90s action films as Rocky IV, Masters of the Universe and Universal Soldier.

"When I was in the process of writing this character [King Nereus] in the world of Aquaman, a friend of mine, [director] Mike Mendez, was working with him on one of his films, and Mike was just raving about how great Dolph was," said Wan. "And I thought 'Oh my god, Dolph would be great for this role as well!' So it kinda came about from that roundabout way."

Noting that Lundgren has a "regal" quality that makes him perfect for the part, Wan also went on to praise the star's acting chops. "He's a really strong actor," Wan continued. "I don't think anyone gives him enough credit for how serious he actually takes his craft. He's taking it very seriously on this film."

If nothing else, Wan has joined the franchise at a good time. With Wonder Woman catching fire both commercially and critically this summer, there's more momentum behind the DC Extended Universe than we've seen in quite some time. For Wan, it's a good motivator. "Positivity in any way is always a good thing," he said with a laugh. "So yeah, I think it's great. I think when people are happy and excited, it helps the overall cause, you know?"

Aquaman is slated for release on Dec. 21, 2018.
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Reminder that shooting underwater is like the hardest thing ever in the movie business and part of the reason people like Cameron has spent millions on making it easier and less likely to end with people dead after doing movies like The Abyss.
 
P

Platy

Member
Aquaman has lots of adventures at land ... isn't a better idea to make the first movie land focused and if it reaches WW level of money makes the second underwater ?
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
Platy said:
Aquaman has lots of adventures at land ... isn't a better idea to make the first movie land focused and if it reaches WW level of money makes the second underwater ?
Click to expand...

Seems like there is going to be a decent amount of the film shot above water too. But at this point in the superhero movie game, it's all about differentiating yourself from the competition. That's why Logan is a neo-western superhero movie. That's why Spider-man: Homecoming is a John Hughes-inspired superhero movie. Making an Aquaman movie without any of the things that make Aquaman interesting and compelling, his whole underwater kingdom, would do the film no favors in a crowded market.
 
D

DecoReturns

Member
I was thinking about this.

How is shooting in water gonna be. Then again i know nothing of aquaman. I just assume he's in ocean most of the time
 
R

Raptor

Member
Platy said:
Aquaman has lots of adventures at land ... isn't a better idea to make the first movie land focused and if it reaches WW level of money makes the second underwater ?
Click to expand...

Nothing on the table, look at Superman Returns, it may never be a Wan/Momoa Aquaman again if this flops.
 
P

Penguin

Member
It's not just shooting in water as he said, but since people move differently in water even when staging scenes they have to account for how everything else would move.

I'm curious to see the results though.
 
cr0w

cr0w

Old Member
Platy said:
Aquaman has lots of adventures at land ... isn't a better idea to make the first movie land focused and if it reaches WW level of money makes the second underwater ?
Click to expand...

This would be about as big a misstep as setting 90% of Masters of the Universe on Earth. No one wants to see that.
 
W

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
I'm sure I read an article about Dunkirk that said when shooting in water, double the normal production costs for scenes.
 
Glass Rebel

Glass Rebel

Member
It's sad that regardless of how good this looks, it's gonna look amateurish in comparison to whatever Cameron is cooking up.
 
T

TheGreatDirector

Banned
Yeah, water is consistently one of the most difficult and expensive aspects of filming. Many of the most expensive movies in the world revolved around setpieces involving it, notably Waterworld. Even with the advent of CGI I imagine it's difficult to recreate the specific look of real people underwater with the myriad of physics and lighting challenges involved. It's nice to hear that James Wan is trying to do as much possible without resorting to CGI in the first place and hopefully it does pay off.
 
J

JCHandsom

Member
Inferno313 said:
Seems like there is going to be a decent amount of the film shot above water too. But at this point in the superhero movie game, it's all about differentiating yourself from the competition. That's why Logan is a neo-western superhero movie. That's why Spider-man: Homecoming is a John Hughes-inspired superhero movie. Making an Aquaman movie without any of the things that make Aquaman interesting and compelling, his whole underwater kingdom, would do the film no favors in a crowded market.
Click to expand...

Just look at Iron Fist and see where jettisoning all the weird/interesting stuff gets you.
 
T

The Argus

Member
jett said:
James Cameron sends his regards.
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latest
 
S

SpaceWolf

Banned
Platy said:
Aquaman has lots of adventures at land ... isn't a better idea to make the first movie land focused and if it reaches WW level of money makes the second underwater ?
Click to expand...

If you wanted to strip the property of everything that makes it unique in the first place, I guess you could. Otherwise, you're just making another story about a muscular man beating up muggers in New York City, or whatever.
 
R

ReiGun

Member
Platy said:
Aquaman has lots of adventures at land ... isn't a better idea to make the first movie land focused and if it reaches WW level of money makes the second underwater ?
Click to expand...

Yeah and while we're at it, let's make a Green Lantern movie and set most of it on Ear...

....Oh.

Sub Boss said:
I don't even remember what Aquaman does outside water
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Mostly the same things as other heroes.

Even Aquaman's most interesting land-based stories are related to Atlantis or the sea in some way. Because he's Aquaman. Water is his thing. Like the aforementioned Green Lantern, you could build story that strips away the unique setting, and unlike that movie, maybe even make it work. But why would you want to?
 
P

Penguin

Member
zma1013 said:
Just stick a fishtank in front of the camera and shoot the scene through the fishtank.
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I mean kind of what they are doing

I imagine using the tech from Justice League, which is like a giant claw that moves the characters about on green screen to capture the gravity of being underwater

Aquaman-Green-Screen-Justice-League.jpg
 
cr0w

cr0w

Old Member
Xero said:
You put smart instead of petty there.
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I was being sarcastic and taking the piss out of the people who will go along with any ridiculous suggestion if it means they get to hop on the popular hate train of the moment.
 
P

Platy

Member
Penguin said:
I mean kind of what they are doing

I imagine using the tech from Justice League, which is like a giant claw that moves the characters about on green screen to capture the gravity of being underwater

Aquaman-Green-Screen-Justice-League.jpg
Click to expand...

Sounds easier to go the Gravity way and do the bodies CGI =P
 
S

SpaceWolf

Banned
I like to think for Plan B, Warner Brothers has a copy of the screenplay for Splash in a glass case somewhere, just with the name of Daryl Hannah's character crossed out and replaced with Aquaman's.
 
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