At World’s End: Introduction

Filed under At World's End Production Notes by on April 26, 2011 at 3:20 pm {no comments}

Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Geoffrey Rush reunite in Walt Disney Pictures’ / Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” an all new epic tale in the blockbuster series chronicling the fantastical adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. This time around, the quartet is joined by international superstar Chow Yun-Fat as Captain Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski, Captain Jack and the others set sail on the spectacular new adventure, once again laced with lashing of rollicking and irreverent humor, which takes them into new realms of adventure and fantasy. Their two previous “Pirates” adventures smashed records around the world, with “The Curse of the Black Pearl” garnering more than $650 million worldwide, a figure nearly doubled by “Dead Man’s Chest,” which became the third highest-grossing movie in international box office history with more than $1-billion, and a gigantic domestic take of $423,315,812, the sixth highest position in history.

The writers of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” are Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, co-writers of the first film and its follow up “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” also have such hits on their resume as “Aladdin” and “Shrek.” The film is based on characters created by Elliott & Rossio and Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert, and based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. The film’s executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Bruce Hendricks and Eric McLeod.

Johnny Depp has become one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed actors, with a hugely versatile range of performances marking his outstanding career. He was nominated for Best Actor Academy Awards for both “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Finding Neverland.” Depp’s extensive motion picture credits since the late 1980s have included “Cry-Baby,” “Platoon,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” “Ed Wood,” “Benny & Joon,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Don Juan DeMarco,” “Donnie Brasco,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Chocolat,” “Blow,” “Once Upon A Time in Mexico,” “Secret Window,” “The Libertine,” “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” and Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

Orlando Bloom became a major international star with his portrayal of Legolas in Peter Jackson’s award-winning “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy after co-starring in Jerry Bruckheimer’s production of “Black Hawk Down,” directed by Ridley Scott. Since then, the increasingly popular actor has starred in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy,” Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven” and Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown.”

Keira Knightley was first brought to the attention of international audiences in the sleeper hit “Bend It Like Beckham.” In addition to “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” she was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress for “Pride & Prejudice,” and also starred in “Love, Actually,” Jerry Bruckheimer’s production of “King Arthur,” and the upcoming “Atonement,” “Silk” and “The Best Time of Our Lives.”

Geoffrey Rush won an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for his captivating performance in HBO Films’ “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” in which he portrayed the title character. He first became internationally known for his starring role in Scott Hicks’ feature film “Shine,” which garnered him an Academy Award for Best Actor as piano prodigy David Helfgott. He also won a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Film Critics’ Circle of Australia, Broadcast Film Critics, AFI and New York and Los Angeles Film Critics’ Awards for the film. Rush also received an Academy Award nomination for his performances in Philip Kaufman’s “Quills,” and both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for “Shakespeare in Love.”

Chow Yun-Fat exploded into international stardom after more than a decade as Hong Kong’s most popular leading man in a memorable series of portrayals that included director John Woo’s now classic films “A Better Tomorrow,” “The Killer,” “Once A Thief” and “Hard-Boiled.” Chow has also starred in Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Anna and the King” and most recently, Zhang Yimou’s “Curse of the Golden Flower.”

With only seven features to his credit thus far, Gore Verbinski’s highly acclaimed films have totaled more than $2-billion worldwide. His films have included the immensely successful “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” the chilling horror film “The Ring” and the acclaimed drama “The Weather Man,” starring Nicolas Cage.

Jerry Bruckheimer holds an undisputed position as one of the most successful producers in both motion pictures and television. First in partnership with Don Simpson, and then as the chief of Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Television, he has produced an unprecedented string of worldwide smashes, hugely impacting not only the industry, but mass culture as well. Bruckheimer’s films have included “American Gigolo,” “Flashdance,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Top Gun,” “Beverly Hills Cop II,” “Days of Thunder,” “Bad Boys,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Rock,” “Con Air,” “Armageddon,” “Enemy of the State,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Coyote Ugly,” “Remember the Titans,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Bad Boys II,” “Veronica Guerin,” “King Arthur,” “National Treasure,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” and the upcoming “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.”

On television, Jerry Bruckheimer had an unprecedented 10 television series airing simultaneously in the Fall season 2005, a record in the medium for an individual producer. JBTV’s series have included “C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation” and its spinoffs “C.S.I.: Miami,” “C.S.I.: NY,” “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case,” and “The Amazing Race.”

Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Television have been honored with 39 Academy Award nominations, six Oscars, eight Grammy Award nominations, five Grammys, 23 Golden Globe nominations, four Golden Globes, 53 Emmy nominations, 14 Emmys, 16 People’s Choice nominations, 11 People’s Choice Awards, numerous MTV Awards, including one for Best Picture of the Decade for “Beverly Hills Cop” and 14 Teen Choice Awards.

Along with Depp, Rush, Bloom and Knightley, cast members returning to “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” include Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill Turner, Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, Jack Davenport as Admiral James Norrington, Jonathan Pryce as Elizabeth’s father, Governor Weatherby Swann, Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma, Tom Hollander as Lord Cutler Beckett, Kevin R. McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook as Pintel and Ragetti, David Bailie as Cotton, Martin Klebba as Marty and, from the first film, Giles New and Angus Barnett as thick-skulled British soldiers Murtogg and Mullroy. Vanessa Branch and Lauren Maher return for a third time as Jack Sparrow’s favorite Tortuga wenches, Giselle and Scarlett. New cast additions include Reggie Lee (“The Fast and the Furious”) as Tai Huang, Captain Sao Feng’s lieutenant, and a diverse group of international actors portraying the Pirate Lords, including the legendary Keith Richards as Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code.

A large contingent of the award-winning “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” creative team reunites for “At World’s End,” including director of photography Darius Wolski, production designer Rick Heinrichs (Oscar nominated for “Dead Man’s Chest’), costume designer Penny Rose, supervising art director John Dexter, set decorator Cheryl Carasik (who shared the nomination with Heinrichs for “Dead Man’s Chest”), film editors Craig Wood and Stephen Rivkin, visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Charles Gibson (both of whom won Academy Awards for their work, along with ILM’s Hal Hickel, on “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”); special effects coordinator Allen Hall (who shared the “Dead Man’s Chest” Oscar with Knoll, Gibson and Hickel); stunt coordinator / second unit director George Marshall Ruge; three time Academy Award-winning key makeup artist Ve Neill and key hair stylist Martin Samuel, both of whom shared an Oscar nomination for “The Curse of the Black Pearl”; and composer Hans Zimmer. Joining this world-class team on the new film is Academy Award-winning special effects coordinator John Frazier (“Spider-Man 2”)

Next Page: Short Synopsis

At World’s End Short Synopsis

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Pirates Of The Caribbean - At World's End

Pirates Of The Caribbean – At World’s End
39 in. x 27 in.

Buy This Allposters.com

It is a dark time as the Age of Piracy nears to a close. Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Company has gained control of the terrifying ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, and its malevolent, vengeful Captain, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). The Dutchman now roams the seven seas, unstoppable, destroying pirate ships without mercy, under the command of Admiral Norrington (Jack Davenport).

Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) embark on a desperate quest to gather the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court, their only hope to defeat Beckett, the Flying Dutchman, and his Armada.

But one of the Lords is missing–Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), either the best or worst pirate ever, and now trapped in Davy Jones Locker, thanks to his encounter with the monstrous Kraken.

In an increasingly shaky alliance, our heroes, including Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (MacKenzie Crook) must first travel to dangerous, exotic Singapore and confront Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) to gain charts, and a ship, that will take them off to world’s end, to rescue Jack.

But even if Captain Jack is successfully rescued, the gathering of the legendary Brethren Court may not be enough to hold back the fearsome tide of Beckett, Davy Jones and their powerful Armada… unless the capricious sea goddess Calypso, imprisoned in human form, can be freed and convinced to come to their aid.

As betrayal piles upon betrayal, it becomes clear that Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Sao Feng, and Barbossa each have their own agenda, and no one can be trusted. Yet each must choose a side, and make their final alliances for one last battle, in a titanic showdown that could eliminate the freedom-loving pirates from the seven seas — forever.

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Stellan Skarsgård, Bill Nighy, Chow Yun-Fat, Jack Davenport, Naomie Harris, Kevin R. McNally, Jonathan Pryce
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Screenplay by: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott
Produced by: Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Eric McLeod
Running Time: 145 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action / adventure violence and some frightening images.
Release Date: May 25, 2007
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Next Page: Chapter 1 – Success Can Be A Tough Taskmaster

Success Can Be a Tough Taskmaster

Filed under At World's End Production Notes by on April 26, 2011 at 2:46 pm {no comments}

Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp

Success can be a tough taskmaster… and coming off of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which garnered more than $1 billion internationally and took third position for the top grossing films of all time, Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski were absolutely determined to once again rise to, and then go beyond, audience expectations.

“It’s scary when you make a picture that’s such a huge success,” confesses Bruckheimer. “You never quite know. It was against conventional wisdom that a pirate movie based on a theme park ride could be such a hit. Then we came back with the second film, and it’s common knowledge in our business that a sequel will make 20 to 30 percent less than the first one. And yet, `Dead Man’s Chest’ made almost double of what `The Curse of the Black Pearl’ took in.”

Bruckheimer attributes the massive success of the first two “Pirates of the Caribbean” films to the enormous amount of hard work put in by the filmmakers and talent on both sides of the camera. “You start with the writing, and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio did a brilliant job creating great new characters and exciting arenas for them to work in. Then you add a director who’s as talented as Gore Verbinski, who gave audiences such a thrill ride in the first film, and took them even further in the second. And what really makes it all come together is when you see actors like Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush going through the paces of what Gore, Ted and Terry worked so hard to create with characters who are engaging, funny, romantic and witty. It took a lot of energy, brain power and time on the part of Gore, Ted and Terry to work out all of those amazing characters, situations and set pieces.

“Then you go behind-the-scenes,” continues Bruckheimer, “with Rick Heinrichs’ production design, Darek Wolski’s cinematography, Hans Zimmer’s music, and the rest of the people who worked so hard on these pictures and helped make them the huge success they became.”

For the third film, the producer and director encouraged screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio to push that envelope even further…quite literally, to the ends of the earth. “What we set for ourselves with Jerry, Gore, Johnny and everyone else,” says Elliott, “was to figure out a way to do two more movies that were of a piece with the first one, and yet still be unique in their own right. What we had to do with each one was, as quickly as we could in the story, satisfy expectations. And then set ourselves the challenge to go past that, and create events that people could never anticipate. Which isn’t easy.”

“The overall theme that we’re dealing with in `At World’s End,’” adds Terry Rossio, “is the nature of what it takes to be a good person, and each person faces that struggle. We embrace the idea that all pirate movies are about moral ambiguity, and good people can be forced into circumstances wherein they do something bad. So from the point of view of every character, they all have to go through that challenge, that transformation, facing their own ability to do something they’re not comfortable with, and making really tough choices. In that sense, every character in the story has a villainous moment at some point.”

“There’s never a trust between any of our characters in the movie,” adds Jerry Bruckheimer. “There’s always a devious plan to benefit their own ends. `At World’s End’ is a movie about who’s going to end up where, when and how, with constant one-upmanship.”

Once again, as with the first two films, Elliott and Rossio were constant presences on the set, from the Caribbean to Hollywood and beyond. “Their contribution was enormous,” says Bruckheimer, “because they would work with Gore and the actors right on set to make sure everything was right for the movie and their characters.

“Screenwriting is a real craft,” Bruckheimer explains. “Back in the 1930s and `40s, Hollywood decided to bring out journalists, novelists, anyone who could write, and many of them failed at screenwriting, which is a very different art form. Ted and Terry are masters of this craft. They love movies, old and new. They’re on top of everything happening in film. They know what it takes to write a great character, because they’ve studied and worked at it for years. And they’re fresh…Ted and Terry take pirate movie conventions that might seem mundane and clichéd, and flip them in a way to make them interesting and new. Along with Gore, they’ve completely re-invented the entire pirate movie genre.”

The geographic range of the story expands all the way to old Singapore and mythical realms beyond, such new characters as Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng are introduced, and one crucial character is re-introduced: Captain Barbossa, freshly returned from the other side of the pale, this time in an uneasy alliance with his old nemesis Jack Sparrow against the forces of the East India Trading Company. We also get to meet the entire international Pirate Brethren in their hideaway of Shipwreck City, a rogue’s gallery of cutthroats from all the seven seas, including the Keeper of the Code, Teague, played by none other than immortal Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Also returning from the first film are Murtogg and Mullroy, the two thickest skulls in 18th century British uniforms.

Next Page – Chapter 2: Pirates Saga by Numbers and Awards

Revealing the True Nature of all the Characters

Filed under At World's End Production Notes by on April 26, 2011 at 2:14 pm {no comments}

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Main Characters.

In the aftermath of the “Dead Man’s Chest” sweep of worldwide box offices, the stars of the film were still processing its impact. “It’s shocking you know,” admits Johnny Depp. “I’m still sort of amazed that so many people in so many corners of the globe embraced the films and Captain Jack, and in a lot of ways just sort of claimed ownership of the character. Nothing like this has ever happened to me, but what’s happened with `Pirates’ hasn’t happened to many people. It’s very, very moving and emotional, the idea that people feel this very strong connection with Captain Jack. You know, seeing little kids dressed up as the character, talking like him. It’s just amazing.”

Depp was enthusiastic to pursue the development of Captain Jack’s journey in “At World’s End.” “When we last saw Jack in `Dead Man’s Chest,’” Depp explains, “he was swatting his way into the mouth of Kraken, and when we pick him up again in `At World’s End’ he’s in Davy Jones’ Locker, which is kind of beyond the idea of purgatory, a kind of hell in which he’s surrounded by himself. I thought it was a brilliant idea of taking this guy and not have him face his demons, but rather the various sides of his personality.”

“It’s an interesting idea that Jack Sparrow has an honest streak that will likely be his undoing,” adds screenwriter Ted Elliott. “He says it in the first movie, it actually does happen in the second one, and in this third film Jack has said, in effect, look, I’ve given up on the whole honest streak thing because we all saw where that one led to. That becomes Jack’s struggle throughout… what are you willing to do to get what you want?”

“Johnny Depp is a very surprising, unusual and unique actor,” adds Jerry Bruckheimer, “who creates memorable, original characters that audiences just fall in love with. Captain Jack was unlike anything that audiences had seen on screen before, a drunken, swashbuckling character who can barely stand up sometimes, yet is so clever and smart that he outwits everybody around him. And Johnny does this on every movie. Whether it’s Willy Wonka in `Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ J.M. Barrie in `Finding Neverland’ or `Donnie Brasco,’ he creates something so indelible that you can’t quite put your finger on how he invents that magic.”

Geoffrey Rush, an unabashed enthusiast for the three films, was thoroughly delighted to once again transform himself into Captain Barbossa. “I’ve always thought that `Dead Man’s Chest’ and `At World’s End’ are really one big film, with a cliffhanger interval,” he notes. “I say that quite selfishly, because I don’t do anything in the second film. I’m dead. But I have a fabulous sort of curtain line at the end of the movie. But `At World’s End’ galvanizes 15 major plot lines that have all been simmering through the first and second movies, and kind of brings them home.

“There’s a shift in Barbossa’s character in the third film,” Rush continues. “I think that in `Dead Man’s Chest,’ Davy Jones becomes the villain or dark force at the center of the film. And with Barbossa being absent, when he re-emerges, he actually comes back as a kind of politician, which is great for me because it meant I didn’t have to play the same flavors, or work off the same dramatic palette as in the first film, which was pure rivalry with Jack. I mean, that’s certainly still there, but my job in `At World’s End’ is to make sure that the romantic true heritage of the pirates being the vagabond brotherhood at sea maintains its identity against this rather ruthless corporate world of the East India Trading Company that wants to stamp it out. So I become an arch manipulator, and I think Barbossa’s familiar qualities of betraying people and forcing them to do things they don’t particularly want to do, is how he works.”

“We’re all still in character,” adds Orlando Bloom, “but thankfully, the character development is really great in the third film. Will Turner definitely has a few more edges. In the second movie, the major conflict for Will is whether to choose between his father or his love for Elizabeth. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to rescue his father, Bootstrap Bill, and he also wants to be with the girl he loves, but the two are opposite magnets that push away from each other.

“By the time `At World’s End’ begins,” Bloom continues, “Will has embraced the pirate code that he so hated at the start of `The Curse of the Black Pearl,’ to pursue his own purposes. A promise has been made that he will save his father’s life, and Will will try and do everything he can to honor that vow…not forgetting that he still loves Elizabeth, and wants to get her back into his life. The third movie reveals the true nature of all the characters, and it’s great to go on a journey with Will where you’re not quite certain which direction he will turn to.”

“There’s a certain amount of guilt that Elizabeth feels about having delivered Jack to the Kraken at the end of `Dead Man’s Chest,’” says Keira Knightley of her increasingly strong minded and determined character, “but I think that was something that had to be done at the time. But then she finds out that actually, what they really need to do is save him. Elizabeth is certainly more than the girl who stands in the corner by this point in the story. It’s been great to play a girl who’s strong and interesting, and isn’t afraid of a fight.”

“Keira became a woman through the course of making these three films,” notes Jerry Bruckheimer, “and Elizabeth is a character who has an enormous arc. She starts out as a kind of spoiled rich governor’s daughter, and through the course of the story becomes a woman who bucks convention and becomes as fierce and competitive a fighter as Will and Captain Jack.”

Bill Nighy was also delighted to take Davy Jones more than a few steps further in the third film, and again infusing the devilish character with a large dollop of recognizable humanity. “Davy is now in service to the East India Trading Company and Lord Cutler Beckett, certainly the first time he’s been in service to anybody. He’s no longer the free lord of the seas. In `At World’s End,’ you see how love and betrayal wrecked Davy’s life and ruined his existence. He just wants Calypso, and peace from this terrible love pain. He suffers in a major way. Davy is a lover, and he’s been deeply, deeply hurt, devastated by the loss of this woman. People like Davy who never connected with anyone, ever, and then do and lose it, cleave for all time. And these are dangerous men, you know, they’re almost certainly emotionally damaged. It’s a central fact of Davy Jones’ life that he’s never getting over it.”

“I have had a long life with Gore already, and it’s a very pleasant life,” smiles Stellan Skarsgård, who returns as Will Turner’s cursed father, Bootstrap Bill. “And it’s surprising because when you work on a production this big, you would think that working in front of the camera would be very different from the kind of independent films I’ve done before. But it isn’t, because it’s very intimate around the camera. You work basically in the same way, or you’re free to try things. Gore is not only a technical director, but he’s very interested in actors and to see what actors can produce. It’s one of the reasons I wanted this job…because when I saw `The Curse of the Black Pearl,’ I saw a bunch of actors who enjoyed themselves and obviously had a lot of fun.”

Bootstrap Bill also continues on a progressive arc throughout the third film. “It’s pretty sad, because his deterioration has gone quite far. He’s already falling apart, and only has glimpses of remembering and vague ideas about his relationships to people. As with other crewmen of the Flying Dutchman, Bill is becoming more and more a part of the ship, losing his humanity.”

Explains the compulsively witty Jack Davenport of his character, James Norrington, “Where you left me off at the end of the second film, I was still modeling homeless person chic…but with Davy Jones’ heart in hand. I well know that I managed to give the heart to probably the last person on earth or indeed the high seas that I should have given it to, it’s now allowed me in the third film to once again dress like a Mardi Gras float. I’m much more comfortable in blues and yellows, and I once again sport the deeply flattering white wig. So joy is unconfined all around.”

On a somewhat more serious note, Davenport says, “In `At World’s End,’ Norrington comes to realize that he’s made a terrible mistake, and he has to live with that. In terms of his feelings for Elizabeth, he’s not the same swooning chap that he was in the first film, which I think is a good thing in terms of deepening the character. She broke Norrington’s heart, very embarrassingly and very publicly. Subsequently, I don’t think he harbors any great illusions about them sailing off into the sunset together. In the third film, he looks on rather helplessly at the gigantic mess he’s created, and he has some opportunity for redemption.”

Tom Hollander, the charming Englishman who plays the distinctively uncharming Lord Cutler Beckett, was also dazzled by the success of “Dead Man’s Chest.” “Being in the third biggest grossing film of all time, I felt like it was as if I’d been standing next to the man who discovered penicillin,” jokes the actor. “It was thrilling, a fantastic feeling. Being a part of something which people absolutely love is just wonderful. It’s been quite a tough job, but amazing as well.”

In the third film, Beckett’s cold-bloodedness ascends to even more dastardly levels. “Davy Jones can be seen as the main villain of `Dead Man’s Chest,’ but Beckett becomes his boss in `At World’s End,’ so technically speaking, I’m on the top of the heap of villainy,” adds Hollander. “Davy Jones’ heart is my secret weapon, what’s known in show business as `leverage.’ Because he who has the heart of Davy Jones controls the seas. So even though Beckett is physically unintimidating to Davy Jones, he has his heart, which although a gloopy, nasty, smelly thing, gives him all the power.

Next Page – Chapter 4: Some New Faces Aboard

Special Effects: Squid-Faced Captains…

Filed under At World's End Production Notes by on April 26, 2011 at 11:00 am {no comments}

Special Effects: Squid-Faced Captains...

Special Effects: Maelstroms, Squid-Faced Captains and Blue Balls… were all, and much more, within the domain of visual effects supervisors John Knoll of Industrial Light + Magic and Charles Gibson, both of whom shared an Academy Award for their ground-breaking, widely acclaimed work on `Dead Man’s Chest’ with animation supervisor Hal Hickel. For `At World’s End,” another previous Academy Award winner, John Frazier, also handled many of the film’s massive special physical effects. Knoll, Gibson and Hickel had little time to rest on their Oscar laurels. That was just the eye of the hurricane, for the early morning after accepting their honors for “Dead Man’s Chest” at the Academy Awards podium, the trio were right back at work at the approximately 2000 visual effects shots required for “At World’s End.”

Even in today’s digital universe, in which every other feature film seems to have complex CGI effects, audiences and critics alike praised the film’s effects as a genuine, quantum leap in what can be accomplished on screen using state-of-the-art technology.

As always, though, Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer fully expected Knoll and Gibson to raise the bar a little higher for `At World’s End.’ “This is a very large show for us,” Knoll admits. “There will be many more visual effects shots than `Dead Man’s Chest,’ and because of the extremely short post-production schedule, I’m supervising some, Charlie Gibson is supervising others, and the rest are distributed among a number of visual effects facilities.

“Usually, when a challenge like that is thrown down,” continues Knoll, “you think about `Well, how are we going to execute this, and is there any aspect of that that we can’t do with our current toolset? And if there is, I have to talk to research and development about getting some modifications so that we can do these shots. And that’s a situation that happens pretty often. On almost every film, we do something that’s new, or tools that need to be modified.”

The massive setpieces in which Knoll and Gibson needed to make mighty contributions-Davy Jones’ Locker, Singapore, the Green Flash and of course, the gigantic Maelstrom which climaxes the film-always combined visual with mechanical and “in-camera” effects. Explains Knoll, “Gore feels very strongly, and I agree with him, that it’s important to have real elements in there. As much as you can do real, the more plausible and realistic the final results will be. Gore’s a strong proponent of trying to get practical elements on set, to get these as much on camera as you can and then use visual effects where you really need them. And also, not to rely too much on one technique. So in one shot, for example, you’ll have a background extension that’s a miniature, and in another shot we’re doing something with computer graphics. As long as you’re switching things around a little bit, the audience doesn’t key into being able to see the artifice of one particular technique, and we end up with a better looking result.”

One aspect of “At World’s End” which was not particularly worrying Knoll was Davy Jones, which, as portrayed by Bill Nighy and brought to life by the supervisor and his ILM team of artists, had amazed the world in “Dead Man’s Chest.” For that film, Knoll and ILM created a new motion-capture system which they called Imocap, drastically simplifying what was previously required for such techniques. Rather than needing 16 cameras, Knoll and his team invented a system that was completely mobile, requiring just three cameras and sensor-embedded suits for the actors, without the cumbersome separate sound stage and blue screens that had been the mainstay of the system before their innovations.

“Davy was our big focus in the second film, and I think we have all the look and rendering technology down at this point. Hal Hickel, our animation supervisor, and his team are familiar with the character now, so we’ve got a good repertoire to work from for Davy and his Flying Dutchman crew. In fact, the 16 primary Dutchman crew members created for “Dead Man’s Chest” was increased in “At World’s End,” particularly for the Maelstrom sequence. Says Knoll, “We definitely take some of the characters that were more background in the second film, and shuffle them around to the front to get a little mileage out of them.”

Knoll admits that “of all three pictures, probably the most fun aspect of any of them has been our involvement in the creation of Davy Jones. That was a really great partnership with Bill Nighy, who gave a fantastic performance on set, and all that without any real proof of concept. You know, we asked him to wear the unsettling computer gray `pajamas’ on set, and we couldn’t really show him what it was going to look like when it was done, but he dove right in there and delivered these great performances, created an amazing character and gave us fantastic material to work with. The artists back at ILM did a fantastic job modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering, just beautiful animation. I think Davy Jones is a really special character in every way.”

For the extraordinarily challenging post-production process, Knoll explains that “because of the size of the show and the number of shots we have to finish per week, we need to have regular feedback from Gore. So, given that he’s just as busy as we are in post-production, when he’s editing the movie, working on sound, ADR, all of those finishing touches to get the movie done, it’s not convenient for him to fly up to ILM in San Francisco from Los Angeles. And it would be a big imposition on my time to be flying down regularly when I really need to be with my crew at ILM. So we do these video conferences twice a week, at least up until the final weeks. Then, when we get into the final weeks, we do them every day!

“We go over all of our work in progress on a two-way video conference so that Gore can see both the shot that we’re working on. Because a lot of what we do involves hand gestures and that sort of thing, it’s important to actually see each other while we’re doing that.”

Of all the bizarre sights that the “Pirates” company was privy to-and heaven knows, there were many-perhaps one of the strangest was the dumping of some 175,000 lightweight, plastic, blue balls from two nets high above the Site 9 hangar floor in Palmdale, and onto the deck of the gimbal-mounted Black Pearl. The truth is, they only looked like blue balls, but they were, in fact, thousands of skittering, jittery, watery crabs. Or at least, they would be by the time John Knoll and ILM got finished with them.

Explains Knoll, “There’s an important scene during the Maelstrom sequence that involves a hundred thousand crabs which rain over the whole deck of the Black Pearl and sweep away everybody in their path like some kind of crustacean avalanche. Gore came up with the idea of using the blue plastic balls, just like the ones that are in the ball pits of children’s amusement areas. He thought that the balls would literally knock everybody off their feet without doing any real damage because of their light weight.

“I might have been inclined to try and accomplish that effect with digital doubles,” Knoll continues, “and maybe use some sort of wire rig to show the pirates being knocked down. But Gore is a strong proponent of trying to get practical elements on set, to get as much into the camera as you can, and then use visual effects where you really need them.”

“The crabs themselves are computer generated models. We built one detailed version of the crab, and then several variations on it.”

When the balls rained down upon the company from the netting, crew members’ maturity levels seemed to drop to the equivalent, say, of a five or six year old, as they merrily began to pitch the balls at each other in all directions on the Black Pearl… Gore Verbinski perhaps most enthusiastically of all. And considering the fact that it was an exhausting day #252 of the combined shoot, it’s understandable that about three hundred cases of blue balls could be such an instant morale booster. “It’s amazing to see a bunch of grown men and women turn into three-year-olds,” laughs stunt coordinator George Marshall Ruge. “You know, seeing Orlando Bloom fling a blue ball at Geoffrey Rush… that’s unique. It was, like, is it time for the parents to come and pick up the kids?”

Ultimately, Verbinski sought to combine the best of the old with a walloping dollop of the new. Profers executive producer Mike Stenson, “’Pirates’ is a unique combination of the `Lawrence of Arabia’ days, where you go out there and shoot everything in camera, and the most state-of-the-art technology. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much longer the industry will be able to support that. I think it would be sad if, at the end of the day, we ended up shooting everything on sound stages with green screens and digital effects, as opposed to actually being able to go out and shoot practical material all over the Caribbean. But then again, something like the Maelstrom is so technically difficult, that you couldn’t have shot it on location no matter what amount of money you had. It had to be done on an effects stage.”

In addition to his tremendous work designing and constructing the motion base gimbals for the Palmdale hangar, John Frazier and his team of longtime collaborators were responsible for a bewildering number of other physical effects. “Our function as special effects men as, if it moves or it’s in the atmosphere, we do it,” says the multiple Academy Award winning artist. “It could be smoke in the air, or coming up with the concept for the right kind of rain that Gore wants, or wind, or cannon fire.” In fact, Frazier’s pyro unit provided no less than 982 pounds of black powder for the Maelstrom battle, and fired off the cannons some 1200 times, and the ringing ears of the cast and crew are living proof of the physical effects wizards’ high decibel output!

Next Page – Chapter 15: Props: Weapons, Maps, Rings or Whatever 

Props: Weapons, Maps, Rings or Whatever

Filed under At World's End Production Notes by on April 26, 2011 at 10:28 am {no comments}

Props: Weapons, Maps, Rings or Whatever

Whether it’s the weaponry of all nations, drooping telescopes, Jack Sparrow’s rings, pieces of eight which actually resemble pieces of junk, a Pirate Code book or practically anything else one can imagine being handled in the pirate world, property master Kris Peck and his merry band could be relied upon to, by hook or by crook, come up with the goods. With the aide of armourer Harry Lu and historical adviser Peter Twist, Peck either found or fabricated a multitude of weaponry for pirates of all nations, the crusty Flying Dutchman crewmen and East India Trading Company troops.

As Gore Verbinski himself is the first to point out, filmmaking is a collaborative art. And for the past dozen years, one of the director’s closest collaborators has been James Ward Byrkit, a true jack-of-all-trades who, though unseen and (for the time being, anyway) fairly unknown by the millions of “Pirates” trilogy fans, has made indelible contributions to the films on several levels. Byrkit’s end roll title is the rather enigmatic “conceptual consultant.”

He explains, “We had to come up with our own credit, because what I was doing sort of became a lot more expansive than just storyboards. Gore and I started working together when he was directing commercials, and I would storyboard for him. Then, when he started making movies, he would bring me in from time to time and my work expanded. For “Pirates,” we would talk about the script, story, themes, character beats, things that go beyond traditional storyboarding. The best part about films like Pirates of the Caribbean is that there’s lots of room for creative enhancement.”

In addition to the more than 3,000 storyboards for “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End” that Byrkit created (he also did three weeks of consultancy work on “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” doing the very first drawing of the Black Pearl and other ships), he also bounced back and forth between departments, such as production design, props and the pre-visualization team, helping with simplified animatics of the overwhelmingly complex action sequences that were a blueprint for Verbinski on set, and later, for Industrial Light + Magic’s visual effects.

One project that truly demonstrates synergy between behind-the-scenes artists is the magical map to uncharted realms that our anti-heroes acquire from Singapore pirate lord, Captain Sao Feng, in “At World’s End” that will take them to… well… not only World’s End, but places beyond, around, and upside-down. “We had this big meeting back in July 2005 for which Gore called everybody in,” recalls Byrkit. “He knew that he needed this great map, but wasn’t sure what form it would take. He just knew that he wanted it to be very special, and something we hadn’t seen before. He also wanted there to be secrets to the map: perhaps it changed form and revealed things. We came up with things as varied as something like a pop-up book in which you grab the center of the map and pull it out like a Chinese lantern, or the idea that if you shone a light underneath the map it would project this whole universe, like a planetarium, on the ceiling or the walls. I actually bought a bunch of Chinese lanterns and tried to paint a globe on them, and spent about a week of research and development trying to see if it would work. And after a week, I just knew that it wasn’t going to work.

“So I went back to an earlier idea that I had about a circular map with rings that represented metaphorical places to which you could travel, which I thought tied into the whole “Pirates” theme. Gore and I had been talking about the notion that “Pirates of the Caribbean” takes place during a time in history in which the maps weren’t yet filled in, which means that anything is possible in the world. There are all these places in the world that are Terra Incognita-lands that are unknown-so they could have monsters, they could have magic, they could have new civilizations. I loved the idea that this map was very old, made before the Enlightenment, before people got so scientific about mapmaking, when they still blurred the geographical realities with metaphorical inner journeys which are as important as physical journeys.

“When I showed the mockup of the circular map to Gore,” Byrkit continues, “he said `That’s it! Now, not only do the rings move, but you need shapes to start appearing, and land masses that become shapes.’ I went back and, based upon several conversations and input from Gore, painted a final map which took several months, because it kept evolving. The rings can line up in infinitely different ways, like a combination lock, and each way reveals some new secret, some unknown territory, some unexplored place, some metaphysical place, some parallel universe.

“It took seven or eight months of putting all the elements together, testing them, and making them right. I had several hundred phrases and names of places which I needed to be translated into Chinese calligraphy, so propmaster Kris Peck brought in an expert named J.C. Brown who’s worked on films like “The Last Samurai” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” to make sure the brushstrokes were right. The original painting was done on washi-handmade Japanese rice paper-that I treated with layer upon layer of transparent washes of watercolors, some acrylic and artist inks. It has a really amazing, transluscent quality to it, and you can tell that there’s a history to it. Over the centuries, pirates have added their own secrets, scribbled notes to each other, just unlimited mysteries that it holds within.”

The final map, burnished with the patina of time, was converted by Peck into an actual prop and created the mechanics that make the rings turn in an entirely “practical” manner, with no CGI enhancements. “The inner workings of the map underneath are really beautiful,” enthuses Byrkit, “like a grandfather clock.”

In addition to such poetic places on the map, depicted in Chinese characters, as “Ghosts of Lost Souls at Sea to be Shepherded Through the Watery Passageway,” “Forgotten Sailors Sleep with Eyes Open Dreaming of a Salt Water Death” and “The Rich Man Finds No More Hope of Continued Life-Death Will Always Be A Stairway Behind,” there are also paintings of several creatures both real and mythological on the map, including a dragon, a tiger and another small creature who looks curiously like an early version of a certain undeniably cute little animal who was to become the world’s most legendary mouse. But when asked about it, Byrkit just mischievously smiles, and says “There are some secrets on the map that are beyond even my understanding!”

As costume designer Penny Rose is the first to point out, Captain Jack Sparrow’s indelible, pirate-bohemian look never, ever changes from “The Curse of the Black Pearl” to “At World’s End.” Well, almost never. Because if one looks at Captain Jack’s expressive, ever in motion hands, one will notice that in between the first and second films, the rings on his fingers (if not on his toes) grew from one to four.

In conversations between Johnny Depp and Penny Rose, the two decided that Captain Jack has had a few ladies in his day, sometimes very rich, sometimes widowed, sometimes with husbands far away. So every now and then, Witty Jack (as Tia Dalma aptly dubs him) gets into their jewelry boxes and helps himself to, shall we say, a souvenir of their romantic encounter. Then it was up to Kris Peck to supply the actual items, which were carefully chosen by Depp according to what he most felt Captain Jack would care to show off as part of his overall couture.

“The original ring that I wore in “The Curse of the Black Pearl” with the little skulls was one that I found about 17 years ago in a thrift store or something,” recalls Depp of the piece of jewelry which Captain Jack wears on his right index finger. On the wedding finger of his left hand, the good Captain sports a black and gold ring with three diamonds and a floral design, decidedly feminine and undoubtedly one of the pieces of memorabilia of a one night, or two hour stand with an elegant lady of high or low quality (Johnny Depp decided that she was, in fact, a Spanish widow). What Peck calls the “dragon ring,” a large item with a graceful gold dragon, wings outstretched, embedded in jade, is worn on Jack’s left index finger. However, in “Dead Man’s Chest,” while perusing Tia Dalma’s treasures in her swampland shack, Captain Jack considers exchanging the dragon ring for one with a large purple stone in a solid gold base…then decides to stealthily nick it instead, slipping it onto his left index finger, and moving the dragon ring to his left thumb, thus gracing four of his ten digits with elegant adornments.

Next Page – Chapter 16: The Wrap of Captain Jack: At Production’s End

This purple ring was artfully re-created by Kris Peck from a 2,400 year old original that was actually owned by Johnny Depp until the Fates had their way, and it tragically went missing during the filming of Dead Man’s Chest. Seems as if it wasn’t only Captain Jack who had a light-fingered touch!

Nothing But Praise for Gore Verbinski

Filed under At World's End Production Notes by on April 26, 2011 at 10:06 am {no comments}

Nothing But Praise for Gore Verbinski

As for the director’s punishing schedule, “Gore has been on these two movies for so long without a break that I’m not sure if he remembers the names of his kids at this point,” says Bruckheimer, half-jokingly. “He’s a consummate professional and perfectionist, so every little frame receives his complete attention. That’s the kind of director you want to work with.”

Two years is a long time in anyone’s life, and for the cast and crew that made it through all 284 combined marathon shooting days of “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End,” approaching wrap brought a bagful of seriously mixed emotions. “I’m proud of the journey we’ve all made over the past two years on these two movies,” states executive producer Eric McLeod. “It’s been a huge part of our lives, and I think in the end the crew will look back on the sacrifices they made and feel that it’s worth it, because a film like this is not a job. You make it through with a great group of people, and we’ll all be asked about them for years to come. We’ll all be telling stories about what it was like to work on the second and third `Pirates of the Caribbean’ films. To survive these two years, it was about getting along with others and being able to deal with constant change. A lot of people have come and gone on these films…we’ve had over 4,000 people work on both movies, but there was a core group that stayed on the whole time. These were films that could wear you out if you didn’t just focus and keep moving forward.”

Adds unit production manager Doug Merrifield, “Our crew are the top guns of the movie industry, the best of the best. There’s a certain type of crew that you need to be able to pull off these big pictures, and we certainly had that across all departments.” That, of course, included the cast. “It was a very physically challenging picture, and it’s a long time over the course of two years to stay in character,” notes Merrifield.

“It’s been such a chunk of my life,” notes Mackenzie Crook. “It’s not just been a job, like other films I’ve done. This is the `Pirates Period’ of my life, like my childhood, or youth. “It’s going to be like breaking up with your girlfriend,” said Martin Klebba incisively just before he wrapped his role. “There are no egos on set, everybody gets on together, and it’s a really nice working atmosphere,” adds Naomie Harris. “With all of the special effects and stunts, sometimes the shooting was really tough, but the nice thing is that everybody works together as a team and pulls together at those moments. It’s also nice to do a movie that my brother and sister, who are 11 and 7 years old, can to go see and enjoy with the rest of the family. That means more to me than breaking box office records.”

“Because I am a fan of the first and second `Pirate’ movies,” confesses Chow Yun-Fat, “working with Johnny, Geoffrey, Keira and Orlando was just like a little child walking in dreams. Working with them gave me great pleasure, and I was very, very happy.”

Adds Jack Davenport, “It’s been an odyssey, an experience that’s unrepeatable, the end of an era in terms of filmmaking. It has a kind of `Apocalypse Wow’ factor. I think my greatest treasure on this job has been watching the crew conquer the logistical and artistic demands. It’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen in any group of filmmakers in my life.”

Once again, the actors had nothing but praise for their fearless leader, director Gore Verbinski.

“I honestly don’t know how Gore is able to be upright after all that he’s done,” says Johnny Depp of his director. “Everything that he retains in his brain…it’s weird. The truth of the matter is that, as an actor, you could almost not read the script at all and just rely on Gore. He’d never steer you wrong. He knows exactly every point that needs to be made. He’s just a wizard. It’s shocking and mind-boggling what Gore is capable of.”

“Gore is one of the greatest directors I’ve ever worked with,” profers Bill Nighy, who should know after his long international career on both stage and screen. “Every actor on the film will tell you the same thing. Nothing gets past him in terms of the authenticity of performance, and Gore knows that no matter how many special effects, wonderful landscapes or ships, what it comes down to are two people communicating. Not only can he spot what’s wrong, but he can really help you. I just can’t say enough about him.”

“Gore never ceases to amaze me with the energy and focus that he has,” says Mackenzie Crook. “On this, which must be one of the most complicated film projects ever undertaken, to make two incredibly plot and character-driven movies simultaneously, so that some days we’d be doing a scene from `Dead Man’s Chest’ in the morning and a scene from `At World’s End’ in the afternoon, or vice versa, he at all times knows what comes immediately before and after the scene you’re shooting, and where you should be in the scene emotionally, even if you’ve forgotten…which I often did.”

“I would argue that the crew we had on these two movies, many of whom were on the first film as well, is the finest ever assembled in Hollywood,” says screenwriter Terry Rossio. “Everybody is A-list all the way.” Adds writing partner Ted Elliott, “And Gore is a superstar. He’s the heart and soul of the whole production. He has abilities that just seem almost impossible to see. I’ve never seen the right person be in the right place so profoundly as Gore on these films. His ability to multitask, to have expertise in the worlds of acting, screenwriting, cinematography, studio politics, is beyond the capabilities of normal men. The guy is an alien creature.”

“Gore wakes up every day as if it’s day one of shooting,” says executive producer Chad Oman. “So even if you’re 100, 200 days into the schedule, he’s just excited as if it’s the first. He’s running around the set like a kid, cheerleading everyone, trying to get the best out of the cast and crew. Gore’s as smart, if not the smartest, of all the people I’ve worked with in any field. And at the same time, he has a great artistic sensibility. Ted and Terry laid the foundations of the tone, and then it goes through Gore’s filter, with its very interesting intellectual and absurd sensibility.” Adds Mike Stenson, “Gore is absolutely a perfectionist. Any director who gets to that level of success has to have a kind of mini nuclear power plant inside of them that just keeps them going.

Adds first assistant director Dave Venghaus, “Gore brings an energy to the set that’s addictive. He wants the best, not only for the film, but from everybody. I’ve never seen Gore sit down. He’s involved in all aspects of filmmaking. He never runs and hides in his trailer, but is on set from the beginning to end of every day. He’s there in the mix, gets as wet as everyone else, gets as dirty as everyone else. He dives in, and expects you to keep up with him, to anticipate, and to give 200 percent.”

Everyone was also glad to have spent another large chunk of their lives in the world of a Jerry Bruckheimer film.

“Jerry is sort of the Great Protector,” explains Johnny Depp. “He wards off all and any evil spirits. And if anyone had anything really grave at stake in the beginning, it was Jerry. Talk about rolling the dice. I mean, for an actor, you come in, do your bit, and if works it works, and if it doesn’t it doesn’t, and it’s on to the next one. But Jerry really took a risk.”

Adds Orlando Bloom, “It’s funny, because Jerry Bruckheimer is huge, a gigantic force in the industry, but he’s also a mate, a really good guy with a wealth of work behind him, but just a man loving his work and loving life.” Says Lee Arenberg, “Jerry is the last true Hollywood producer/storyteller in that he allows his filmmakers to go for it. He’s like the best poker player in the world, who holds all the cards, but knows when to use them.”

“What’s great about Jerry is his calm,” says Eric McLeod. “I mean, a film like this is its own maelstrom, and Jerry is the calmest person on the set. He’s approachable, you can always go to him with problems. He’s been doing large films like this probably longer than anyone else in the history of film, and he has a world of experience in knowing how things work out in the end.”

Notes executive producer Mike Stenson, “Jerry is like a great NBA coach. He puts an all-star team together, pushes for the best from everybody, and calls the plays. Jerry tends to be more hands-on than most producers, which is why, when you look at his body of work over a 25 year period, there is a certain sensibility to it all.”

“It’s been quite a ride,” mused George Marshall Ruge. “It was an odd feeling to come to the end, because everybody became family, and we’ve poured a lot of emotion and soul into this project. On the one hand, there was relief, because at the pace and with the length of the shoot, we were eventually going to drop. But there’s also great sadness that we’re leaving our `Pirates home.’ Hopefully, we’ll be able to reunite many times over the years, and out paths will cross many times. So it was a time for reflection, proud of what we did, sad, happy, relieved and looking forward to reunions.”

“Jerry Bruckheimer came up to me at one point and said `It’s pretty big, isn’t it?’ And I said, `Yeah, it’s all downhill from here. And he said me, with a grin on his face, `That’s what they told me when I did `Beverly Hills Cop.’”

In the end, as Bruckheimer explains, it all comes down to the fundamentals of what brings people into a movie theatre, which has changed little despite the enormous leaps in technology from the time audiences stared wide-eyed at the Melies Brothers’ special effects spectacles at the turn of the 20th century, howled uproariously at the comic exploits of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, or sat at the edge of their seats at fantastic feats of derring-do by Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn.

“Our biggest challenge for `At World’s End’ is to entertain the audience,” says the producer, “and just make sure that they have a great time. The film is even more intricate than `The Curse of the Black Pearl’ and `Dead Man’s Chest.’ It has enormous battles, character turns, romance and humor. It’s what we all make movies for, and all of the elements of why people have gone to the movies for the past hundred years or so. We want to suck the audience into our magical world on that screen, take them to places they’ve never been before with characters they fall in love with…and in the end feel a little better than when they walked into the theatre.”