Behind the scenes
When the Western Movie Hits the Aliens
In 2006, a novel about a mysterious gunman in a western town led the town's residents to fight against the aliens was published. The comic, created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, caused quite a stir when it was released, and the combination of the sand in the west and alien spaceships was particularly interesting, and it also attracted the attention of the studios. Notably, after several rounds of copyright purchases and resale, the film was finally produced by DreamWorks. Talking about his views on the story, Steven Spielberg, the film's executive producer, said: "This story is quite special, on the one hand, it is about how a hero in a small western town survives, the hero its own story; on the other hand, it focuses on alien creatures, in the desolate west, what happens after the aliens come. The audience can see in the story how these two lines go hand in hand. And , Western films also need to have some new ideas to join, this genre has now reached a dead end, it is time to add some fresh blood to let the audience have some new and different feelings for this very familiar genre already."
Jon Favreau, best known for Iron Man, directed Cowboys and Aliens. Jon Favreau, who was originally a third-tier actor, was shocked by his success in directing "Iron Man" in 2008. No one could have imagined that this comedy supporting role, whose acting career has been in a low state, could actually make a big commercial production. So beautiful, so after directing "Iron Man 2", Jon Favreau once again provoked the 2011 DreamWorks summer production of "Cowboys and Aliens". For this film, Jon Favreau said: "In my impression, the elements of Western movies have been established decades ago, and I also think of Clint Eastwood, His cowboy image is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and I have also thought about how to let me direct a western movie, and what way should I take to avoid me just copying those successful western movies in the past? When I saw " Cowboys and the Aliens, I started to have some new ideas, and the aliens were a really good starting point, and it would make a Western movie completely different. Then I and Spielberg Talking about this issue, he made a classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" before, and I chatted with him about his film. I think on the basis of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Cowboys and Aliens" ” could make the story another way, we should have a big fight with aliens, and our hero is a mysterious gunman. Once this was established, the filming of the film entered a very smooth stage.”
However, for "Cowboys and Aliens", Jon Favreau also admitted that he had a lot of struggles in his heart when filming: "The core point of this story is that aliens came to the western town, and everyone I don't know what to do, but an unrecognized hero stepped forward to save the residents. The story sounds boring, but if you add a lot of details, it will be different, such as the protagonist's amazing marksmanship These can catch the audience. But the question comes again: how to express the protagonist's marksmanship? There are many directions, I have been pondering. Including whether to use 3D, this question was in the shooting stage of "Iron Man 2" I have already thought about it. At that time, I finally gave up 3D, and whether "Cowboys and Aliens" should be 3D? This is also a question. After repeated research on these issues, in the meeting and discussion with the producer, slowly I decided on the various details of the film. I didn’t want to make such a conventional western movie, but the overall style of western movies is like this. If the changes are too great, not only the audience will find it weird, but even I myself can’t accept it, so I am very Discreetly seek some breakthroughs and changes in traditional Western movies, which is a careful process that has always happened in the filming of "Cowboys and Aliens". "
Between serious and fun
Western movies have always been tense shooters, The neighing of horseback riding and the yellow sand and other elements are well known to the audience. Talking about the overall style of Cowboys and Aliens this time, Jon Favreau said: "Of course I will keep the basic elements of Western movies. , these are the influence styles that have been recognized by everyone for many years, and are also the symbol of the four words of Western movies. However, in "Cowboys and Aliens", I still chose some new things to put in, everyone will see this movie Humor, it won't turn into a spoof, how the aliens toss the western town to the core, but the aliens in the film obviously won't be as vicious and 'boring' as "Super 8" (laughs) . The production time of the two films is not much different, and Spielberg and I (who is also the supervisor of "Super 8") have made an agreement from the beginning, which elements I need for this film, which elements Elements can be given to 'Super 8', we work well together and have a tacit understanding, the audience will definitely not see the aliens in 'Super 8' in 'Cowboys and Aliens'."
The style of "Cowboys and Aliens" is positioned as a straight western style, so how to maintain the seriousness of classic westerns and make it interesting has become the biggest question for fans of it. And about this, Roberto Orchi, who has written the first two episodes of "Transformers", "Star Trek", "Mission Impossible 3" and other scripts, said: "You want it to be an adventure story. So we even Take it seriously for a movie that combines westerns, cowboys and aliens, and you expect a lot of jokes in it, but you don't want the characters to be hilarious or lax about what's going to happen. You want them to break free from their respective existences, and that's the funniest thing you can think of." It must be said that the writers and directors put a lot of cowboy interaction in the film to enhance it. sense of fun.
So in this movie, how to design the important protagonist, the alien? Talking about this, Eddie Pascoe, the deputy director of Industrial Light and Magic and the special effects director of the film, said: "The director and I both like the sci-fi movies of the 1960s and 1970s, and we also hope that the film will take place in the film. In that era, in the 19th century, the image of the aliens that people in that era imagined could appear as much as possible. Therefore, in the design of aliens, there will be a retro feeling. This is not the most important thing, the important thing is for the aliens. The design of the starship, which is a highlight of the film, we refer to many photos of real UFO incidents witnessed decades ago, as well as eyewitness descriptions, and based on those materials, we finally designed a special universe. Spaceship."
Daniel Craig, who became a hit in the "007" series, has filmed films of different themes such as "The Golden Compass" and "Rebels" over the past few years, and the image of a tough guy has become more and more popular. In "Alien", Daniel Craig plays a mysterious western gunman. For this movie, Daniel Craig said: "This is a very special sci-fi movie, he has the characteristics of traditional western movies, But the director added a lot of different elements into it. I have always wanted to make a western movie. I like the feeling of the cowboys galloping through the wilderness in Leone's movies, and I also like sci-fi movies. The kind of unrestrained imagination. "Cowboys and Aliens" integrates two styles of Western movies and sci-fi movies, which makes me fully addicted to Western movies and sci-fi movies at one time."
Trivia
The film is based on the 2006 comic book of the same name by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.
· This film is the second time that "Indiana Jones" and "James Bond" have collaborated on the screen, the last time being Harrison Ford and Sean Connery in "Indiana Jones 3: Holy Warriors". Interestingly, Daniel Craig once starred in the Indiana Jones spin-off: "Young Indiana Jones Adventure: Desert Heroes".
· This film is DreamWorks' third book adaptation, the first two being "Road to Destruction" and "Beyond the Hedge".
·The aliens in this film consciously refer to the shape of the aliens in "Alien vs. Predator", as well as "Encounters of the Third Kind" directed by Spielberg.
·The film had been struggling with whether to use 3D cameras for shooting at the beginning stage, but in the end director Jon Favreau insisted that only 2D film cameras should be used for shooting.
Originally planned to be played by Robert Downey Jr. as Jack, but was replaced by Daniel Craig due to scheduling conflicts.
It was originally planned to play Ella by Eva Green, but in the end Eva Green gave up the role and replaced the role with Olivia Wilde.
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