About Castaway

The best actor has suffered

The best actor Tom Hanks has been very proud of himself in the past two years, so he is naturally generous and fat, but this is not the same as a character who has lived alone on a desert island for 4 years. There was a gap, so Robert deliberately shot the film story backwards--shooting the scene after Chuck was rescued first. After that, Robert gave Tom a long vacation to go to the gym while he went to catch the scenes of "Danger". After "Danger" was wrapped, Hanks also lost more than 40 pounds, and the crew started working again, and production was officially completed in June this year.

Hanks first conducted survival training on a remote Mexican beach, learning to spearfish and grill food from local ingredients. After completing pre-production on an island in Fiji, Hanks launched a weight-loss campaign. For the chubby Hanks, losing weight is a headache: he can only survive on light sushi every day. So Hanks, who had a double chin at the beginning and was as strong as an ox, finally turned into a dried "coconut nut." To make matters worse, Hanks also contracted a staph infection during filming. When the crew got together for the second time, Hanks had already become "Tarzan". No wonder he said afterwards: "If I had known it would be so hard, I wouldn't have done it if I had given millions more dollars."

Defaming the Russians

Due to Chuck's special profession, there are many exotic scenes in the film. One of the scenes in the Russian branch where Chuck reprimanded his subordinates for procrastination was in Filmed in Russia, unexpectedly it attracted the attention of the Russian State Duma. A member of the Duma protested that Hollywood films always vilify the image of Russians, and this time they even described Russians as lazy people, expressing their desire to boycott this film. DreamWorks immediately clarified in an interview with the Moscow Times that this plot was actually a satire on those workaholic Americans and did not mean to disparage the Russians at all.

The difficult filming process

The filming process of this film is the same as the difficult survival experience in the wilderness. The actors and crew all endured harsh challenges, and the entire film The shooting was regarded as one of the most extraordinary shooting projects of the year. The filming of the film took 16 months, and the filming was suspended for as long as a year. However, the reason for the suspension was not due to unforeseen circumstances, but to allow Tom Hanks to lose 55 pounds and grow his hair longer. During the shutdown, director Robert Zemeckis led the production team of "Cast Away" to shoot "Danger" starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer.

In fact, as early as the early preparation stages of the film, Zemeckis and Hanks had repeatedly considered that if they wanted to realistically depict the passage of time and the pain Chuck suffered in the film, Filming had to be stopped. During this time, Hanks not only completed his physical transformation, but also underwent subtle changes emotionally. "When we got back together," Zemeckis recalled, "we saw a spark of life in Tom's eyes, and he had found what Chuck felt like."

In production designer Rick Rick Carter, director of photography Don Burgess, executive producer Joan Bradshaw, producers Steve Starkey and Jack With the assistance of old partners such as Jack Rapke, Zemeckis began filming "Cast Away" in January 1999. Unlike most films, this film is shot in chronological order as the story develops.

The crew’s first stop was Moscow, which is an already dramatic city. Here, Chuck’s work and life were introduced. The photographer used a moving lens to show the rhythm of Chuck’s life. During filming in Red Square, the crew even closed off the entire square.

After completing a week of filming in Moscow, the crew returned to the Los Angeles studio for filming. In February, the whole team went to Fiji, and the hard work had just begun. As early as June 1998, the main creative staff began to search for a suitable desert island, and finally found the deserted Monu-riki Island in the northwest of the Fiji Islands. Monu-riki is a volcanic island, only 99 acres in size. You can walk around the entire island in 2 and a half hours. The unique topographic features, pristine beaches and coconut groves are the charm of the island.

Getting permission to shoot on the island went through a complicated and long process, which required not only patience, but also study of local customs and habits in order to win the favor of the island owner. The filming contract drawn up with the Fijians also included environmental management regulations, and an environmentalist was responsible for supervising the entire filming period on the island.

After completing the first phase of filming on the island, in April 2000, the crew returned to Monu-riki Island for a week of filming, and then transferred to Namotu and Tavarua Islands. The port can accommodate the crew's small fleet of boats, making it the perfect location to film Chuck's escape from the deserted island amid dangerous waves and rocks. The crew completed filming in Fiji one and a half days ahead of schedule, and then returned to Los Angeles to shoot special effects scenes in the studio.

The welcome ceremony for Chuck returning to civilized society was filmed at the FedEx Super Center in Memphis. 1,200 FedEx employees became extras, and even FedEx founder Fred Smith appeared. in the picture. The film's screenwriter, William Broyles Jr., began writing the script with Smith's permission, and FedEx provided unprecedented support during the filming of the film.

The film is clearly divided into three parts. The "first act" before the plane accident was mostly shot with a handheld camera. The dynamic shots reflect the fast-paced world of the protagonist. To use an old saying, it is "a race against time"; the "second act" on the desert island lasted more than an hour. , is the essence of the entire film - there is no music, no dialogue or voice-over, the camera stays in a fixed position most of the time, and there is no movement tracking even when the characters leave the camera, as if time has frozen. In the "third act" after leaving the desert island, the camera began to move up and down, push and pull and other romantic techniques, like ups and downs of music. The real "supporting character" of the film is a volleyball named "Wilson". "Wilson" is a sports brand, and the volleyball appeared in a package drifting to the island. The real reason Hanks chose this brand was that his beloved wife’s last name was Wilson. The film reveals the endurance of life, especially when you are isolated and helpless, how to maintain mental health, overcome countless natural barriers while overcoming your inner consciousness of helplessness and desire to give up. The film makes people think deeply: family, work, relatives, life, what is eternal?

Highlights

Approximately one and a half hours of sound in the entire film was re-added in post-production.

Most of the night scenes on the desert island were shot during the day, with the night sky and dark background added in post-production.

If Chuck's name is abbreviated to "C", the name together is "C. Noland", and when pronounced, it is "see no land".

Contrary to public belief, FedEx did not pay the producers a penny.

A volleyball in the film was later auctioned and sold for US$18,400.

A revealing shot

Although the story of the film took place in 1995, the Jeep Cherokee driven by Chuck was a 1999 model