The biggest surprise of the Hollywood movie "Alpha: The Return of the Wolf" that is being released is to create a prehistoric world that will be recognized by both audiences and professionals, just like the avatar planet created by Avatar. The prehistoric scenes in the film, the Milky Way flashing wasteland, the knife-like cliffs towering, the long sky is vast, the sunset is magnificent, people are immersed in it, and they can't distinguish between virtual and reality.
Natural scene or special effects production?
The story of Alpha: The Wolf's Return is set during the Ice Age 20,000 years ago. The protagonist, 17-year-old Koda (Curti Smit McPhee), is a Solot of the Krumanu tribe who lives in what is now southern France and Spain.
At the time, much of Europe was covered by a thick ice sheet two miles deep and uninhabited. The bitter ice winds howl, the harsh winter lasts for nine long months, and dangerous beasts roam the vast wilderness in search of prey.
In order to restore the life of the Solots, the crew invited Dr. Jill Cook, senior curator of the prehistoric department of the British Museum, as the technical consultant of the film to help the crew restore the prehistoric scenes. The location of Alpha: The Wolf's Way Home is mainly in the wilderness of Alberta, Canada, and the prairie near Vancouver.
Located in western Canada, bordered by the U.S. state of Montana to the south, Alberta is one of the only two provinces in Canada that is not near the sea, with the Rocky Mountains to the west and the plains to the east.
The plains of southern Alberta are flat, belonging to temperate grassland areas, the land fertility is high, but the annual precipitation is small, in addition to the river zone suitable for the growth of trees, the vegetation is dominated by overgrown herbaceous plants; large herds of bison running, cowboy horses, from time to time in alberta grasslands.
It is home to the famous Banff and Jasper National Parks and five World Heritage Sites. Albert Hughes, the director of "Alpha: The Wolf Returns," was a picture controller who, while preparing the film, wrote a 400-page shooting plan and pulled an Australian director of photography to look for locations with him, running around, and finally choosing the south Alberta, Canada, where the landscape and light were very suitable for the film.
The crew built a prehistoric tribal village on a high ground in a canyon in the wilderness of South Alberta. Overlooking the River Polyfo, surrounded by deep grass, the view is very beautiful and unforgettable.
The crew also filmed Alfa: The Wolf's Return, a World Heritage Site, in Alberta, at Dinosaur Park, which found 150 complete dinosaur skeletons from the Late Cretaceous period, 75 million years ago. "We've entered a place like never before in a place that doesn't seem to have been eroded by time," says producer Andrew Lorna. Wherever you go, you can step on some kind of fossil that has been around for millions of years. ”
During filming, the crew laid rubber on the trail to minimize footprint. Local climate change also has a direct impact on filmmaking. They did most of the shoot before the rains, and then in April, the dinosaur park received snowfall, which unfortunately shortened the shooting time.
Director Albert Hughes realized the special challenge of "Alpha: The Return of the Wolf Companion" in terms of historical reproduction. "It's hard to fully replicate the Ice Age right now, so we shot it at a real location in Alberta and also had to shoot it on location in Vancouver. Alberta is special in that its vast plains look particularly like open tundra, which is exactly what Europe looked like during the Ice Age. ”
Based on locations such as Alberta, Hughes and the crew had to put together scenes like a jigsaw puzzle, and then combine special effects to make the film finally present the effect of the magnificent Ice Age.
A "foreign language film" for everyone
Language is another feature of this film. The prehistoric humans in the film speak a language that no one understands, and it sounds a bit like a Nordic language. How are they designed and why are they designed?
Producer Andrew Rhone explains: "The script didn't have much dialogue at first, which was intentional by the director because he wanted the film to be more emotional. After much discussion, the director decided to create a language for the film that humans spoke at that time. ”
The crew went to the Chinese-Word Creators Association, where the staff specialized in creating languages that had been created for Game of Thrones, Avatar, and Superman.
What did humans say twenty thousand years ago? There is no historical record of this, and only some understanding can be done through fossils and bone fragments. After research communication, the crew approached Kristen Schleier, an Associate Professor of Anthropology in Canada, to help create a prehistoric language.
After three and a half months of research, Schlerle created the language of Alpha: The Wolf's Return, The Sorut language, which includes 1500 words. She prepared for the actors a chart of cromanu pronunciations, based on the pronunciation and recordings of the International Phonetic Alphabet. She also mentors actors through Skype.
The dialect spoken by the Swedish actor Jens Herten, who plays the leader of the lion tribe in the film, was also created by Schler. He once recalled, "It wasn't easy to learn at first because the language had little to do with the language we speak now." I can speak now in conjunction with modern body language, such as nodding, but humans of the past probably wouldn't. The biggest challenge is not being able to show the movements that modern people have, such as standing with their hands crossed at the waist. Another body language must be found, and each movement of doing so can express oneself. ”
As the language consultant of the crew, Schler has been following the crew to shoot. Johanneson said, "At first I tried to master the phonetic transcription and pronunciation, but it turned out to be too difficult because the amount was too large. She created a real language system with its own rules and systems, so I later only learned vocabulary so it was easy to get started. ”
One day, John Nathan was watching Curtie Smit McPhee shoot a scene, and he excitedly said, "Curti is speaking Sorut, and I can understand what he's saying!" ”
What was fashion like 20,000 years ago?
Language is only part of what actors learn. The tribal scenes of 20,000 years ago, the tools used by humans, and the costumes are all subjects that the film crew needs to study.
For the director and crew, accuracy is paramount. A week before filming begins, the actors attend a training camp for the new Toulut, led by British archaeologist Carl Lee (the film's flint consultant). Lee specializes in jungle craftsmanship and tool weapons made by humans in the prehistoric period 20,000 years ago, and is also an expert in the field of flint.
Lee helped the crew replicate a variety of tools from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age, including stone tools and spears, which is an area he specializes in. Lee had no previous experience working with actors. "I thought the actors didn't want to get their nails dirty," he said, "and it turned out that the actors just rolled up their sleeves and didn't care about the dirty mud at all." They practiced firing with flint stones, making spears and planing tips, and also practicing throwing techniques. Soon everyone mastered these skills. ”
Clothing and makeup are also important issues. Costume designers Sharon Davis and Hughes had met while making the film The Book of Ellie. The costumes in the film look modern, but fit the style of the film. Through the study of historical data, Davis was shocked to find that these primitive people were actually very intelligent, and they even had needles to sew warm clothes.
Jill Cook also contributed her valuable research to the Ministry of Clothing. Davis recalled that Cook proved with archaeological research that they could sew clothes, wear fur inside, wear fur on the outside, decorate themselves with a lot of jewelry, and jewelry would be used for trading. They take great care of their hair and put oil on their faces. They are a relatively advanced civilization, and they have also made their own soft leather shoes. Based on this, the crew created a prehistoric fashion that seemed very modern to some viewers.
The garments were very heavy, some over 40 pounds. The actor is very tired when he wears it. Although it is very warm to wear these costumes in February, they are heavier in the rain in Vancouver. In some of alberta's sweltering heat, the actors dressed as if they were walking in a sauna.
But this prehistoric costume helps the actors get into the state faster. The actor who plays Hunter Lu in the play said, "Once you put on these clothes, you feel like a changed person." The crew constructs a real world from 20,000 years ago to the greatest extent possible.
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