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It seems our resident Zombie has stumbled onto all the yet-to-be released content on the Official RE5 site. He managed to grab the Q&A, Screenshots and a Panorama 3D Quicktime file. I've transcribed the Q&A, which is from someone involved in the production of the "Ceremony" video, from its native (horrible) format for your consumption.
Screen shots and 3d panorama. Huge thanks to Zombie!
1. Why did you decide to take a break from making feature films to make an online project like this?
2. What part of Chris Redfield's story were you the most excited about?
3. What inspired you to use video instead of film?
4. Were there any behind the scenes complications during the filming of any of these?
5. Was it harder or easier to tell a story in 2-3 minutes rather than 90-120?
6. Do you feel that your overall vision was achieved?
7. How long did it take to film each of these episodes?
- MARCUS: Oh, It didn't seem like I took a break from feature films at all because this is as much of a feature film as any of them. You know, this is a wonderful product to advertise because it's actually entertaining and fun. You know? You don't have to sell detergent or baby diapers here. It's something we all enjoy watching. And definitely the type of shoot days we had were more feature film shoot days than commercial shoot days. Not just the subject matter, but the sheer amount of work we had to hack through.
2. What part of Chris Redfield's story were you the most excited about?
- MARCUS: Well, uh, it's really the mix of it. Like if you do a movie you have different scenes and they all make the movie. They're all important. I mean some tell you more about his sunny side, some tell you more about his dark side. Some are faster paced, some are slower paced. This is a whole new way of advertising, of course, where over a certain amount of time this is all being leaked. But dramatically you still have your ups and your downs. I mean, obviously, my most enjoyable to shoot is the stuff where we have the most action where we can play around with big guns. (laughs)
3. What inspired you to use video instead of film?
- MARCUS: Well, I really looked forward to doing this because it was the perfect project for me to not only play with new media but also with the new cameras that are out there. In general, when people come to me they come to me for my 35mm film, so I rarely get the opportunity to shoot something in digital. So I really enjoyed that, and I enjoyed it because it was the right project for it. You know what they say about digital, it's maybe a little bit slick and a little bit cold, and it doesn't have much depth. But I figured if it is something that is dark, that you can really art direct for grit and grain, that that wont show. And if you play atmospheric, and this was a subject matter that really allowed for that, then that would be the perfect vehicle to try that out. You know, if I would have to do the same for a Make-up commercial with an aging supermodel, I most likely would shy away from it. But for this type of project it was really perfect. And I'm looking at it now and I'm saying to myself, "I want to shoot my next feature this way." I was very happily surprised by it.
4. Were there any behind the scenes complications during the filming of any of these?
- MARCUS: Well, there's always something of course. We were shooting under a bridge to look like were in some huge bunker or government instillation, but it was really just under a bridge in the LA river. So, right next to us was a tire factory that started to buffer the tires with a brand new machine. Now I've shot there maybe 20 times over the last few years and I've never had that happen before. You know, it was so noisy that the actors' could hardly understand me, and obviously to record them became a huge chore. Amazingly though, we didn't have to bring them back in for any dubbing. Luckily we got a few good takes in during the lunchbreak of the tire factory and looped the rest in there. It worked out just like it always does.
5. Was it harder or easier to tell a story in 2-3 minutes rather than 90-120?
- MARCUS: Well, to be honest we didn't tell the full story, for that you've got to pay and buy the game. But for the scenes and the sequences that we shot, it all breaks down into a shoot day and we were definitely on a feature pace for things like not having enough time! (laughs) But again having this type of camera, which we don't have to put on dolly tracks and we can just lightly carry around, that really helped and was a solution. Without it, we couldn't have made a dent, I think, in that short time.
6. Do you feel that your overall vision was achieved?
- MARCUS: Well, I'm a tourist here. A game has been made. When I showed the game to the camera department I said, this is the look I really want to catch not because I had to, but because I really wanted to. This game looks more like a great feature than most features do, so it was an easy direction to follow. Really, I think our job was to put our hooks in what was already there and not to disappoint or aggravate the fans and trying to build a great synergy here.
7. How long did it take to film each of these episodes?
- MARCUS: I think we had to do roughly two a day, one before lunch and one after. I think we were blessed with actors who could pull that off, also actors who somewhat looked the part. I was just looking at it again for the first time intercut with the game footage and I really believed that it was them. Most likely everyone who plays this game has their own perception of who each character is or should be in a movie, but I was very happy about the experience of the first one for me, and for that kind of a product and that way of advertising, an anarchic one, and it was definitely something I really enjoyed. I also try and keep a very fast pace while filming. I believe actors like it because they are staying in the flow and for me the flow is very important. If you get interrupted it's the process of pulling teeth. You know in movies they always say at the beginning you do it and it looks like this will never turn into anything and you get nothing done and after the first week or two everyone finds their groove and at the end they all work out somehow. I listen to those stories and think, you know, a day is usually all I've got! It's not like we've got to find ourselves and experience ourselves with the crew and then after a few days we're at full speed, we've got to be on full speed the first hour.
that's exactly what I had last night. Awesome for putting it up.
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