Editor’s Note: You probably know Alex Proyas as the director of films like The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days, I Robot and Knowing, but for the last few weeks the filmmaker has been guest blogging on /Film. The post below is his last column. Later this week he will answer some of the questions submitted by /Film readers. Also, be sure to click after the jump to see a clip of the completed plane crash sequence.
One of my most challenging scenes in Knowing is the plane crash. I believe it was essential to have one of the predictions come true early on in the story, something so real and so horrible that we could no longer ignore the list of numbers.
I filmed this scene in one shot with a single hand-held camera. A nearly 3 minute continuous take where nearly everything in shot bloews up or catches fire. There was absolutely no room for even the smallest error. I wanted to take the audience right into the depths of that horrible environment with Nic. It took nearly 2 days to set up, and I must say that I’m really happy with the way it turned out.
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Editor’s Note: You probably know Alex Proyas as the director of films like The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days, I Robot and Knowing, but for the next week and a half the filmmaker has agreed to become a guest blogger on /Film. I asked Alex to blog about some of his influences, and you can now read the resulting blog post below.
I was too young to see The Exorcist in its first run at the theaters, but I remember reading the novel and being scared to death. Many years later when I was able to see the film, its impact was no less potent. I love thrillers with a spiritual aspect… simply because it centers around a danger out of human control. Sell the initial concept (brilliantly achieved by BLATTY), and you have the potential to create some of the most thrilling moments possible. Forget about the scary beats and cheap jumps which sustain most modern thrillers and horrors – I like a film that prolongs tension for so long that even a quick scene cut to a girl lying in bed with special effects makeup scares the hell out of you.
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Editor’s Note: You probably know Alex Proyas as the director of films like The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days, I Robot and Knowing, but for the next couple weeks the filmmaker has agreed to become a guest blogger on /Film. Proyas will be blogging a couple times a week, talking about his inspirations, the state of sci-fi cinema, Dark City, and his upcoming film Knowing.
Peter asked if I wouldn’t mind re-visiting Dark City. It has been over 10 years since I completed the film, though the recent director’s cut was an interesting process to go through. It was fascinating going back and watching the old cuts of the film before they were “tweaked” to satisfy test audiences and studio pressure. I was surprised to see a much more confident and satisfying film before it was compromised.
Although we have made huge leaps and bounds in terms of technology and visual effects, I think the reason why this film seems to hold up today is because of its ideas. I think it resonates even more so today than it did all those years ago.
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Editor’s Note: You probably know Alex Proyas as the director of films like The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days, I Robot and Knowing, but for the next few weeks the filmmaker has agreed to become a guest blogger on /Film. Proyas will be blogging a couple times a week, talking about his inspirations, the state of sci-fi cinema, Dark City, and his upcoming film Knowing. Below you can find a quick introduction post from Alex. Enjoy.
I hope you might find what I have to say about my new movie interesting, and if you don’t – well, feel free to press the page-back tab and read something more to your liking on /Film. Otherwise, check-in once in a while ‘cause I’ll be doing 5 entries all up – the last one will be a Q&A with /Film readers based on any questions you leave in the comments section.
For those of you who don’t know, I have a new film coming out on 20 March called KNOWING. It stars Nic Cage in a role I guarantee you haven’t seen him in before. I think he does a great job and I’m sure when you see the film, you’ll agree.
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