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JUDE LAW as Remy, ALICE BRAGA as Beth and director MIGUEL SAPOCHNIK
on the set of Repo Men.
Many of the places used have never been seen on film
before, such as a new terminal at Pearson Airport.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the crew
found a suburban neighborhood that reminded it of
the cookie-cutter homes in Edward Scissorhands.
They used that area for Remy and Carol’s home, the
place where Remy can no longer simply abide by the
rules of picket-fence life.
To draw the fine line between now and the near
future, many of the locations needed to be augmented
in postproduction with computer-generated effects.
For example, the scene in which Jake and Remy
cruise downtown was filmed overnight at Dundas
Square, Toronto’s version of Times Square. Though
it’s a busy spot, the fairly low skyline was digitally
enhanced with additional structures and a monorail.
Creating the visual effects was a lengthy and
involved process for AARON WEINTRAUB and his
team from digital studio Mr. X. The scope of their work
needed to create the futuristic world exceeded 350 visual
effects shots. To accomplish this, a variety of techniques
such as environment enhancement was used. It became
necessary to design and augment existing locations, such
– 20 –
as creating cityscapes and malls
with CG buildings, digital matte
paintings, jumbotrons and advertising
blimps.
A digital set design was used
for the factory floor sequence; it
required CG set extensions, crowd
replication and character animation.
As well, an actor’s arm was
replaced with a CG robotic arm for
the sequence in the abandoned
freighter. Additionally, the concept
design and implementation of the
LCD wallpaper in Peter’s (Remy’s
young son) room featured a digital
wall treatment that displayed
footage of sharks swimming.
“Blood and gore enhancements” were used
primarily in the long corridor sequence in which
Remy and Beth (toting an arsenal of weapons) fight
their way through multiple adversaries. The reclamation
room sequence in which Beth inserts her arm into
Remy’s chest was achieved by a multilayer compositing
of live-action motion-control plates and
prosthetic elements.
For the tropical island sequence, the filmmakers
wanted an area that reminded them of some of the
uninhabited beaches in Fiji. They found what they
were looking for on a tiny island in the Florida Keys.
“We wanted it to look like it was a completely abandoned
or deserted island,” explains Sandefur. “There
were structures in the background that we were able
to remove digitally. It’s one of the few places in the
Keys that actually looks like it’s desolate.”
Dressing the Cast:
Film Costumes
Costume designer Caroline Harris had the difficult
task of creating designs for Repo Men’s world of