<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > preface</h1>
In 2005, many studios were visited by a special guest, a man dressed as a sergeant in Halo, carrying the script of Halo and Microsoft's agreement.
This is the screenwriter Alex. Garland made a gimmick. As a Fan of Halo, he believed that using a non-commissioned officer to deliver a script would increase the appeal of success. But the fatal thing is Microsoft's agreement.
Sergeant Major
Microsoft said in the agreement that it would ask for $10 million in licensing fees and take 15% of the box office. Companies that were originally interested in the script, after reading Microsoft's conditions, refused. Just when Alex was at a loss, 20th Century Fox responded.
20th Century Fox decided to invest with Universal Pictures and persuaded Microsoft that the licensing fee was $5 million and only took 10% of the box office. After the agreement was approved, Fox and Universal hired Peter Jackson, who had directed the Lord of the Rings series, as a producer, and Neil Bronkamp as a director, to jointly develop the project.
Lord of the Rings
However, the project did not go well, dragging on until 2006, and it was still in the script stage. 20th Century Fox can't stand the wait, because one of the conditions microsoft promised to license is to shorten the authorization time. If the development is not completed within the limited time, the copyright will be recovered. So 20th Century Fox said to the project team: either start construction immediately and reduce the budget, or don't shoot it!
Peter Jackson and Neil Bronkamp are both people who can't be reconciled. Look at this, directly one shot and two scatters!
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > alternative project</h1>
In fact, during the script run-in, Peter Jackson and director Neil Bronkamp have designed some of the alien weapons to be used in "Halo", and some have already made finished props.
This firearm was originally designed for Halo
Most importantly: in order to shoot this film, the two people and the team have set aside time for the schedule. If you don't shoot, then you will basically be idle for a while. So they started looking for alternative projects.
Coincidentally, director Nil bronkamp had previously directed a short film called Aliens in Johannesburg, which told the story of an alien spacecraft parked over Johannesburg in the form of a pseudo-documentary. Peter Jackson was interested in the story. And it involves aliens, guns that are made and designed, and they are just used. Perfect!
Gun design draft
Director Neil Bronkamp co-wrote the script with his wife TritaShire.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > script</h1>
Because the original film is just a short film, similar to the news interview like "There are aliens from Johannesburg". So the tone of the film was also set as a pseudo-documentary. However, it needs to be expanded and polished to enlarge the stage. So the director added elements of alien system, mechs, apartheid system, and racial conflict.
As a South African, the director naturally understands the local apartheid system. The film is called "District 9" because in 1966, District 6 in central Cape Town was declared a white district. Other ethnic groups were forced to migrate to slums 16 kilometres away. Naturally, there have been many incidents of refusal to migrate, forced migration, and forced demolition. These events provide a lot of inspiration for the director.
Persuaded to leave the ninth district
Some film critics once said: You can use blacks, Asians, Mexicans, Jews, Arabs and other people to bring into the movie "prawns", you will taste more irony.
The prawn in the movie refers to the Pakton prawn. It is not actually a shrimp but a nautoptera insect. It resembles a cockroach, a cockroach. This prawn is an omnivorous insect that feeds on other small insects, invertebrates, and even feces. Locals believe that this insect is extremely disgusting.
Prawns in Parkton
Another theme in the play is the concern about outsourcing power to monopolies. The MNU organization in the film, although it does not indicate the scope of this organization's rights, but this organization has a news department, a research department, a weapons department, a sales department, and violent machines such as the army. Does it look familiar? In fact, this is the same as OCP in Robocop. Because director Neil Bronkamp is an iron fan of the old Robocop. I'll talk about this later.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > start shooting</h1>
Everything is ready and the shoot begins.
The director chose his hometown, South Africa, the birthplace of apartheid, for filming. In order to pursue realism, most of the filming locations: the ninth district where the prawns gather, is the real slum. The director said: Johannesburg in winter is no different from Chernobyl.
In order to capture that desolate, chaotic picture, the crew chose to shoot in the winter in South Africa. South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, so winter is July.8. It took more than 60 days to shoot. By the time some footage was reshooted in December, some of the plants had grown. The crew had to cut it down to create a desolate atmosphere.
Alien mothership in the distance
The director said: "There has never been a movie like "District Nine". We have nothing to refer to. If there is, it can only be said that it is "Alien", "Terminator", "Robocop" and other movies. But I'm referring to that second-hand sci-fi vibe. I don't want my movies to be smooth and tidy everywhere. I call it tattered sci-fi.
In the design of the aliens, the crew made a variety of attempts. Because the aliens in "District 9" are involved in the plot, but they are not fully involved. So the alien character is designed to be human, but brutal. The real challenge is the shape. If you come to ask for help, you are fragile and lovely; if you come to invade the earth, you are as strong as a warrior. But how to design such a complex participation in the plot? Finally, identify species designed with similar shells. This creature will cause people to be disgusted in the first half of the film, and as they participate in the plot, people must also feel the change of mood through the change of their expressions. So the best design is to be like a human, walking on two feet, with a face, which can convey expressions and form an emotional connection with the audience.
Peter Jackson's Weta Special Effects Company didn't get much involved because it was going to produce the post-production of Avatar, just the special effects of the mothership. Other special effects were made by looking for Image Engine. The director said that finding Image Engine production was a gamble. Because Image Engine has never done special effects for such a big project, District 9 is Image Engine's first film project.
Let's start here. The next issue is coming soon. The next issue will talk about the political turmoil caused by "District Nine" and how the director paid tribute to him as a die-hard Fan of Robocop.
This article is originally hand-typed. Plagiarism must be investigated! Welcome to discuss the research with you.