To shoot the film in the desert, the director and his cinematographer spent weeks selecting the dunes.
In addition to being one of the most brilliant directors in today’s cinema, the Canadian Denis Villeneuve is one of the most meticulous, a character that is quite difficult to handle when it’s your turn. film in the desert to recreate the amazing sand planet of Arrakis where the story is set Dune.
Indeed, the need for Villeneuve and his cinematographer, Greig Fraser, to find the “perfect dunes” for one of the scenes in Dune. Part 2FORMS the director himself confessed that the desert is no longer one of his favorite places to film. “For the game I wanted a dune with a particular shape,” the Empire director explained.
“But Greig needed the same dune in a certain light. So Patrice (Vermette, the production designer) He spent weeks wandering among the desert sands. We look like fools! I still find sand in my shoes every morning. I was traumatized by the sand,” Villeneuve said happily.
But the filming of Dune. Part 2 is a sandbox hell for its director, even more so for Vermette who, like the first film, have to deal with carrying bottles full of sand in the desert so that the dunes look “consistent” when changing location. “We have not repeatedly any location,” explained the designer.
Goodbye to green screens
As everyone knows, Denis Villeneuve is a big detractor of green screens, so for filming two films Dune He moved his entire team to the Jordanian desert in Abu Dhabi to create the most realistic locations possible. However, green screens are required for some parts of the films.
But because the sun reflects the sand causes the light to change and they are not useful for post-production, and the team of Dune. Part 2 had to invent green curtains the color of desert sand or to capture the spectacular view of Arrakis.
