The behind-the-scenes production of the Transparent Demon

About the film

In 1989, producer Douglas Wick came up with the idea of ??making a movie about the invisible man. He explained: "At that time, special effects technology was developing Changes have begun to occur, and with the help of advanced technology, invisible people can be depicted as never before. Therefore, in addition to the general concern about invisible people, the feasibility of visual technology is also improving day by day. ”

Until. Wick found Andrew W. Marlowe, the screenwriter of "Air Force One", and the film's script began to take shape. Like Paul Verhoeven, Marlowe was fascinated by the story's psychological implications for the liberation of social conditioning. In addition, he is also very interested in the world of special effects and is a frequent visitor to special effects laboratories and production companies.

Verhoeven recalled: "When Andrew wrote the script, some of the special effects he requested were still impossible at the time. He hoped that new technologies would emerge during the preparation period of the film, and his Avant-garde ideas promoted the development of special effects technology."

Later, Douglas Wick handed the script to the famous director Paul Verhoeven. Wick said: "I have always wanted Paul to direct "Transparent." "The real difficulty in shooting this movie is not the special effects, but finding an excellent filmmaker to use special effects to interpret the plot and make the special effects become part of the plot. Paul not only showed talent in mathematics and science in special effects, but also An outstanding narrator, the audience will be fascinated by his images."

When talking about his passion for science fiction films, Verhoeven said: "When I came to work in the United States, I knew. I don’t know much about American culture, and I don’t want to worry about breaking the rules of American society or making mistakes, so shooting a science fiction film is the safest choice.”

Verhoeven’s debut in Hollywood was “Machine.” "Men", its success is well known, followed by the same science fiction theme "Total Recall", "Starship Troopers" and other types of "Basic Instinct" and "Showgirls", it can be said that they are all extraordinary. In these films, Verhoeven incorporated his own loves, hates, and views on life.

After reading the script of "Transparent", Verhoeven said: "The characters in the film are very clear. In the theme of invisibility, the plot of the film is developed very cleverly. I like space, time and plot. With its extreme unity, this script gave me the feeling that a sophisticated study of evil could not be more appropriate to describe this story. The story begins as a benevolent scientific adventure, mixed with a little humor, but when we see the sunshine, gentleness. "Sebastian Kane transforms into a crazy, evil monster, he really becomes the devil." Verhoeven, who grew up in Europe during World War II, believes that the film's story. The age-old moral topic is still being discussed. Thousands of years ago, Plato wrote about the Invisible Man. He believed that we have no morals ourselves, and that morality is formed by the perceptions and expectations of others. Plato said that if the Invisible Man existed, then the Invisible Man would be obsessed with his own abilities, and if he abused them, he would steal, rob, rape, or even kill, whatever he wanted. Plato proposed that there is no moral standard that can lead people to be good. Because we are afraid of prison, we will not commit crimes.

In addition to moral themes, Verhoeven was also very optimistic about the story idea of ??turning heroes into demons. At the beginning of the film, the audience will root for Sebastian as a heroic figure, but as he experiments on himself and becomes invisible, the evil side of his humanity begins to emerge. The audience will be faced with a choice: how long will they support Sebastian, or will they deny him completely? Or is there some remaining approval for him? Verhoeven believes that the film has changed from the initial sci-fi suspense thriller to the final horror film. It is cold, profound, terrifying, and can be called a contemporary gothic.

Before the filming of the film started, the main creative staff believed that they should avoid the clichés of similar films. They not only made pencils and water glasses float in mid-air, but also used other methods to express the characters. Verhoeven said frankly: "I had no idea about the complexity and difficulty of the technology required to make this film. Everything was far beyond my imagination."

In fact, everyone underestimated the film Regarding the difficulty of production, Scott E. Anderson, the film's special effects supervisor, said: "We had no experience at the time and had to compare this film with "Starship Troopers."" The difficulty in special effects lies in the performance. Sebastian's process of gradually becoming transparent, and his strange actions after becoming invisible.

Verhoeven said: "Scientifically speaking, invisibility seems impossible, but everything we have now was once unbelievable. If you accept the premise that invisibility exists, then This film is quite real."

When talking about casting for the film, Verhoeven said: "I know that there will be many technical difficulties during the production of the film, but if you play Seb. Stian's performance was unsuitable and it all meant nothing. Even though he was invisible and only visible in water and fire, his performance was still important. We couldn't use a stand-in. A talented and willing actor, he had to endure a lot of discomfort.”

In the end, Kevin Bacon got the role.

Verhoeven admired the versatility of Bacon's acting style. Verhoeven believed that Bacon was a down-to-earth actor. He once starred in "Apollo 13". The filming process of the film was particularly difficult, and he had to be in a state of weightlessness and endure strong dizziness. . Verhoeven recalled: "At the first meeting, I told him how difficult it would be to play a transparent person. Most of the time, he would be painted blue, black or green, and it would be uncomfortable to apply and remove the paint. Sometimes, He will also have a rubber mask on his face, and there will be contact lenses covering his entire eyeball, which is dangerous to his body."

The reason why I was attracted by this story. was attracted, in addition to the rare opportunity to work with Paul Verhoeven, by the character of Sebastian, a self-absorbed, power-hungry, self-centered and spoiled child. , his charm is enough to capture the audience's attention. When he becomes invisible, he is fascinated by this strange ability and becomes a crazy monster."

Elizabeth Sue in the film. She plays Sebastian's ex-girlfriend Linda. She said: "Linda is a romantic and dedicated woman. She lives in Sebastian's powerful shadow. In the end, she must control and subdue the love she once loved. I'm very interested in this super heroine." Su doesn't want to play a strong female fighter, she prefers to play a sensitive, ordinary and intelligent woman.

About the filming

After the actors were cast, producer Alan Marshall cast Verhoeven's long-time collaborator Allan Cameron ) was invited to Los Angeles as the film's production designer. In Sony's Studio 15 in Culver City, California, the crew set up laboratories, observation rooms, recovery rooms, medical equipment areas, maze-like tunnels, etc. As the world's largest soundstage, Studio 15 is nearly 360 feet long, 160 feet wide, and more than 40 feet high. The huge space allows the secret underground laboratory in the film to be fully reflected.

Cameron said: "I wanted to create a closed atmosphere. At the beginning of the film, it was like a safe scientist's home. However, as Sebastian transformed, the laboratory became more and more... Dangerous and terrifying, and then interesting when the Invisible Man starts hunting, it became the ideal setting for a haunted house."

Marshall recalled: "In the script, the location where the story was supposed to take place was. The underground bunker from the Cold War era was abandoned 30 years ago. Under the gray exterior, the U.S. government now built a high-tech secret laboratory. The bunker was designed by the art department, including the old ones from decades ago. Air conditioning and air filtration systems, rusty machinery and aging electrical systems. The older parts of the bunker are separated by stainless steel walls and huge sheets of plate glass, creating a sharp contrast between old and new. Cameron designed a huge S-shaped corridor with complex curves so you can't see what's around the corner. There are also a large number of pipes laid on the roof, through which Sebastian can hide.

There was a scene in the film where the underground sprinkler fire extinguishing system caused the main passage to flood, and the invisible man appeared partially in the water. Cameron and special effects coordinator Stan Parker Stan Parks designed a large-scale circulation system for this purpose, which not only circulates water, but also maintains a certain water temperature to avoid discomfort to the actors.

The elevator is the only passage from the underground laboratory to the outside world. The crew decided to use the large three-dimensional parking lot near the studio to build the elevator set, so that there are floors every 10 feet, and the viewing angles are also particularly free. .

After completing filming at the California studio, the crew rushed to Washington for filming. Producer Marshall said: "Our goal was to find the landmarks of the capital. In order to avoid the restrictions caused by tourism, we chose to shoot in August." After nine months of negotiations, the crew finally got the location to shoot the Pentagon. license. In the past 10 years, only two films have been allowed to film at the Pentagon.

About special effects

Some of the special effects in the film did not rely on any digital special effects, and the total of 560 special effects were far more complicated than expected. The first thing that required the use of special effects technology was the layer-by-layer transparency process of Sebastian's body. Today's audiences are no longer satisfied with imagination, but want to witness and experience this process with their own eyes. As a result, director Verhoeven used the most groundbreaking special effects technology available today and recruited leaders in the field.

Special Effects Supervisor Scott E. Anderson said: "We are fortunate that Columbia Pictures has funded research on human movement, physiology and animation, and the results of this research happened to be helpful in the production of this film's special effects. "

Verhoeven said: "There are three transformations in the film. One is an experiment on a gorilla, and the other two are on Sebastian. It was a failed recovery. Sebastian's invisibility process was a multi-level gradual transformation. When the radioactive liquid entered the body, his body seemed to be liquefied, and the muscle system subsequently disappeared, revealing the skeleton. , blood vessels and organs, and then internal organs, blood vessels and bones disappear one after another.

"

Imageworks technicians spent a lot of time learning about the real structure of the human body through medical equipment and medical school, participated in anatomy classes, witnessed autopsy, and took photos and drawings. Verhoeven said: "Through My daughter, we were surprised to discover a museum in Florence, Italy. The collections in the museum are all wax sculptures of anatomical models. We can clearly see blood vessels, muscles, fat, bones, tendons and internal organs. These models were completed between the 16th and 17th centuries, and were all made by a woman, showing that the anatomy of the time was quite sophisticated. We studied her work, and she became our technical consultant 3 or 400 years ago. "

In order to complete the transformation scene, the producers used newly written software. This software is called "Volume rendering" (three-dimensional rendering), which can simulate the contraction of muscles, bones, joints and other The activities and details of the internal structures of the body.

The two anatomy consultants of the film highly praised the contribution of the film. They believe that the research conducted by Imageworks for the filming of this film will promote the development of medical anatomy. They were looking for detailed and accurate mannequins, but it was impossible to complete such an expensive project in education and academia. The research was originally intended to make the special effects in the film exciting, but now it has the potential to be. The most valuable teaching tool.

In addition to creating the invisible man, there was also a lot of work involved in the film: "When shooting scenes where the invisible man is in physical contact with other people. , we first filmed the actors’ performances, then removed the invisible man, and everything covered by the invisible man had to be refilled. "Verhoeven has experience filming "Starship Troopers" and he knows the difficulty of this job.

In order for the special effects technicians to remove himself from the picture, Kevin Bacon worked on many They would be painted green, blue or black, wear contact lenses and wigs, cover their teeth and wear tights.