Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events(2004)
Director:
Brad SebornenBrad Silberling
Starring:
Jim Carrey
Meryl Streep
Liam· Liam Aiken
Country/Region: United States/Germany
Dialogue Language: English
Distribution Company: DreamWorks Film Distribution Company
Release date: December 16, 2004 in Australia
Plot:
Violet (played by Emily Browning), Klaus (played by Liam Aiken) ) and Sunny (played by Kara Hoffman and Salby Hoffman) are three young children. Although they are very young, none of them are simple. Violet is the eldest of the three children. He likes to invent and create all kinds of weird gadgets. He thinks about pulleys, levers, gears and the like all day long, and every time he thinks about a problem, he Tie his hair up with a ribbon so as not to hinder his thinking; Klaus is younger. He is a very smart child. Although he is only 12 years old, he is already well-read. He has an amazing memory and knows how to distinguish American crocodiles from ordinary crocodiles. , and also knew who killed Julius Caesar; the youngest child, Sonny, was only 2 years old, not much bigger than a boot. Although his body was small, he had four big and sharp front teeth and liked to bite things. She expresses her thoughts through a series of indistinct screams. Except for Violet and Klaus, generally no one knows what she wants to say.
The three children originally had a happy and wealthy family, but due to a mysterious and ruthless fire, their parents were unfortunately killed in the fire, and the three children became orphans. Their parents left them a large inheritance, but they couldn't use it until they reached adulthood. The children whose families had been destroyed needed to find a new guardian and a new home, so the three children were led by a close friend of their parents and began a journey to find a new home. Eventually, a distant relative, Count Olaf (Jim Kelly), took them in and became the legal guardian of the three children, and the children finally found a new home. But the children gradually discovered that Olaf was a cunning and greedy man. He took in the children solely to seize the huge inheritance left by their parents. In order to achieve this evil goal, the cruel Olaf plotted a car accident and attempted to kill three children.
But Olaf's conspiracy did not succeed, and the children successfully escaped from Olaf's clutches. The escaped children came to the home of the famous snake expert Uncle Monty (played by Billy Connelly), but as soon as the children arrived at Uncle Monty's home, a laboratory assistant who claimed to be named Stefano found Arriving at Uncle Monty's house, the children quickly recognized the lab assistant as Olaf in disguise. As a result, the children escaped from Uncle Monty's house and came to the house of their kind and kind but somewhat neurotic aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep), and the haunting Olaf disguised himself as A sailor with a prosthetic leg found his Aunt Josephine's home. The children had no way to escape, so in order to survive, the three children launched a desperate struggle with Olaf.
Highlights:
·Before the filming of the film, the original author Daniel Handler once said: "I begged them not to make it, don't find a good director and good actors, don't to adapt any of my novels, and they chose three! My last hope is that legions of volunteers will read my words and buy all the tickets and not see this movie."
·There are more than 100 animal actors in the film. In the reptile room scenes, 70 reptiles often appear, including venomous cobras, Egyptian cobras, vipers, rattlesnakes, tree pythons, jungle carpet pythons, Iguanas, scorpions, water snakes and a 200-pound turtle.
·The 10-foot-long table in Count Olaf's residence is made of mahogany and has steel columns in the legs.
·There are 5 scenes in the film that take place on or near the lake. The crew built the largest reservoir in North America at the Downey Studio, covering an area of ??2.5 acres, 10 feet deep, and filled with as much water as 2.5 million gallons.
·Jim Carrey takes 3 hours to put on makeup every day.
·There is a very peculiar car in the film, which perfectly matches the fairy-tale atmosphere of the film. The car is the Tatra 603 sedan produced by the Czech Tatra company, which was born in 1955. In the Czechoslovak Republic at that time (now the Czech Republic), this was a luxury car with a gorgeous and spacious appearance and an extremely sophisticated interior. It was a VIP model specially used to receive senior officials and foreign affairs. The improved version featured in the movie was produced between 1968 and 1975.
·Director Brad Sebornen admitted that a body double was used for the baby in the film.
·The film is adapted from the first three children's books in the series: "The Bad Beginning", "The Reptile Room" and "The Wide Window".
·Scott Rudin had always planned to produce the film and have Barry Sonnenfeld direct it. Later, due to budget problems, Rudin and Sonnenfeld withdrew one after another.
Christie Carlson Romano was the original choice to play Violet.
·Liam Aiken, who played Klaus, grew 11.4 centimeters during the filming of the film, so his costume required constant adjustments. By the end of the film, he was significantly taller than the person who played him. Sister's Emily Browning is still tall.
·In the film, the home of Klaus, played by Liam Aiken, was burned down. During the premiere of the film, Liam Aiken heard that his home was on fire and had to immediately abandon the premiere. Go home for a visit.
·When the children first met Count Olaf, Jim Carrey said: "Wait a minute, say the last sentence again." This sentence is not a line in the script, but It was Carrey who wanted to try again, but the cameras didn't stop at that moment.
·The casting director was looking for a candidate to play Violet in a ballet school. Later, the casting director took a fancy to Emily Browning on TV while exercising in the gym.
·Two weeks before the film was completed, director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki had to withdraw from the filming of the film due to his role in "The New World", and Robert Yeoman (Robert Yeoman) He replaced him for the second half of the third part of the film.
·The director initially considered using CG animated babies.
·The weird-looking locomotive in the film was an experimental locomotive produced by the Baldwin Locomotive Factory at the end of the steam engine era in 1942. It was specially used on the Pennsylvania Railway. The dynamic pictures of the locomotive were made with special effects, because as early as In the early 1950s, all such locomotives were scrapped.
·When Aunt Josephine was looking through her scrapbook with the children, a photo of Josephine when she was young and traveling in Africa appeared. This photo was none other than Meryl Stewart. Rip in Out of Africa.
Tim Burton had hoped to direct the film and appointed Johnny Depp to play Count Olaf and Glenn Close to play Aunt Josephine. Later Tim Burton and Johnny Depp exited one after another, and Brad Sebornen replaced Glenn Close with Meryl Streep.
Wonderful dialogue:
Count Olaf: All that I ask is that you do every little thing that pops into my head, while I enjoy the enormous fortune your parents left behind.
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Olav: All I ask is that it pops into my mind that it is a very small thing for you, yet I love the large legacy your parents left behind.
Count Olaf: Now that we're a family, I can be the ulll-timate DAD.
Count Olaf: Now that we're a family, I can be your father. .
Klaus Baudelaire: How could they do this to us?
Klaus: How could they do this to us?
Violet Baudelaire: They're just mean people...
Violet Baudelaire: They're just mean people...
Klaus Baudelaire: Not them . Mom and Dad.
Klaus: Not them. Dad and Mom.
Interesting shot:
·When Sonny bites something, he can only hear the sound of biting but not see the action of biting.
·When Count Olaf said goodbye to the children, his hand was on the car door handle, but in the shot inside the car, his hand was on the window.
Behind the scenes production:
This film is based on the 11 best-selling children's book series "Potter" created by the famous author Daniel Handler (pen name: Raymond Snicket). Adapted from the first three books in "Lyle's Adventure". It is no exaggeration to say that Handler has pushed traditional children's literature to a new level that is difficult for other writers to reach. The huge success of Handler's works is no less than that of "Harry Potter", and the "Harry Potter" series of novels was squeezed out of the "New York Times" best-selling children's book list for the first time. "The Adventures of Baudelaire" series of children's books has been on the best-selling children's book list for more than 600 weeks and has sold more than 27 million copies worldwide. It has won awards from the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and U.S. News and World Report" and other authoritative media and enthusiastic praise from readers.
Producer Walter F. Parkes said: "From the Brothers Grimm to Dickens, from 'Bambi' to 'Finding Dory,' orphans have always been an important theme in family literature. , ironically, it is this subject that is often the most hopeful and caring, as it sheds light on the challenges that all children will eventually face: growing up and the complex relationship with the adult world."
Production. Author Laurie MacDonald said: “What makes these stories classic is that they allow children to deal with some of the inevitable fears of a safe environment, and they also instill a sense that no matter what happens, Everything is finally getting better."
When director Brad Sebring, who has directed "Elf" and "City of Angels", first received a call from the production company, he said: Raymond Snicket didn't know anything about it until he walked into a toy store in London out of curiosity. He was surprised to find that the dolls of characters from Raymond Snicket's stories were very interesting, although they were smaller than those of Harry Potter. The doll was smaller in size, but it was enough to attract Seiboning's attention. Seiboning fell in love with Raymond Snicket's stories and developed into an out-and-out book fan.
Director Seiboning was very surprised by the super cast of this film. He said of Jim Carrey: "I think Jim Carrey is an extraordinary actor. He can Disappearing into the character, in fact, you can find that no one is better at transforming into different characters like a chameleon. He is the first choice to play Count Olaf."
For Jim Carrey. He said that Count Olaf is a role that he cannot miss because Olaf has so many personalities. Even if you hate him, you can't help but like him.
Meryl Streep’s daughter is very obsessed with the filming plan of the film, so as a mother, she definitely doesn’t want to miss out on the film, and she likes the role of Aunt Josephine very much.
Emily Browning, who plays Violet, said: "My character has a sense of responsibility. She feels that since her parents have passed away, she has to shoulder everything. She is a smart, kind and An optimistic child."
Rick Heinrichs, who won an Oscar for "Sleepy Hollow", served as the film's production designer. He said: "I designed and produced it. The best sets I've ever been on are when you're in them and have no idea of ??the place or time, and that's what happened in this movie.
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The film was entirely shot in a Hollywood studio. Director Seiboning said: "The biggest challenge in filming the film is that we create the world in a studio. We follow the tradition of old Hollywood movies. Shooting, carefully examining each scene will not be limited by time, reflecting the timeless quality. In this environment, we can better use sound, light and atmosphere to tell stories. ”
As early as nine months before the filming of the film started, the behind-the-scenes team was already in place, including two-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Final Battle" "Planet" art director John Dexter, three-time Oscar-nominated set designer Cheryl Carasik, and "Chicago" Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Colleen Atwood, etc.
Set designer Cheryl Karasik said: "The research work in the pre-production of this film is undoubtedly the most meticulous of any film I have ever worked on. . "Since the film's story takes place in an uncertain time period, it provides enough space for Karasik's creative freedom, prompting her to push everything to the extreme. Karasik does not miss any garage sales and flea markets in California, carefully searching for Objects that could be used as props and decorations. In the end, it was estimated that nearly 85% of the sets were improved.
In order to make the interior of Count Olaf's residence appear ominous, Karasik decided to add some. The material is distressed. This kind of work is more difficult than renovation. Karasik uses acid etching to distress the curtains. After two weeks of treatment, the new fabric looks as if it has been 100 years old.
< p>Traditional Hollywood techniques were revived in the filming of this film. In order to preview the overall effect of the set, the crew used miniature models to create vast wheat fields and endless railroad tracks, and the crew combined background plates and mandatory vision. , so that the terrain and environment can be deceived in the limited studio space.“The production of this film was the most complex challenge we have ever faced,” producer Law said. Leigh Macdonald, who co-produced "Gladiator", "Men in Black" and "Twister" with Walter Parks, said that the filming of this film was actually two movies rolled into one. First, the crew first shot in 10 studios at Paramount, and then moved to Downey Studios in the suburbs of Los Angeles, which used to be the factory where Boeing manufactured space shuttles. In total, the entire film required 70 studios. Different sets, 5 of which were on the water, often had 3,400 people working in different studios at the same time. The residence where the children were housed took 14 weeks to complete and decorate, and Count Olaf's mansion took even more time. 20 weeks.
Tom Peitzman, the film’s special effects producer, said: “The difficulty of making special effects is to eliminate the artificiality of the special effects and integrate them seamlessly with the film’s images. In this film, the main special effects were accomplished through real sets and buildings, not computer simulations. "Michael Lantieri, who has previously worked with director Brad Seborning on "Elf" as the film's special effects supervisor, said: "For this movie, we should let The story drives the special effects and allows them to express the character's personality. "Landieri's ideas are fully reflected in the film. Aunt Josephine's fear of losing her mind and Count Olaf's cunning evil are all highlighted in the magical special effects.
There are more than 400 special effects shots in the film, most of which involve the little baby Sunny. This role is played by a pair of twin sisters. Although 80% of them are real shots, only under special circumstances. Able to use special effects. The interesting thing about these two little sisters is that when they eat at the table, they sometimes hang themselves up by their mouths, which coincides with the little baby Sonny. However, the special effects are combined with real people. The combination of babies is by no means as simple as ordinary works. The special effects department decided to use motion capture technology, but a difficult problem immediately arose, because motion capture technology needs to obtain the facial data of the characters and then input it into the computer, which will use the data to generate movements and expressions. , but getting a baby to stay still or make the desired expression is a fantasy.
In the end, the special effects department adopted a technology from Industrial Light and Magic, using a push-type collector with soft rubber protrusions to successfully obtain the baby's facial data, and then capture as many of the baby's expressions as possible when they were in their natural state. Fortunately, the Hoffman twins who played the little baby Sonny were very cooperative. Under careful guidance, the special effects team successfully obtained all the data, and even director Seiboning was full of praise for the two baby actors. In addition, because one of the two Hoffman sisters is more expressive, she grabbed 90% of the scenes.