MEN IN BLACK 3 Production Notes - Visual Hollywood

More documents

Recommendations

Info

MEN IN BLACK 3 (2012)PRODUCTION NOTESan alien with an exposed brain. By comparison, our 2012 aliens are much more sleek andpolished. "Of course, Baker also designed the lead alien: the bad guy, Boris the Animal, played by JemaineClement. Baker designed a very badass biker costume, complete with goggles that seem to beembedded deep in Boris's eye sockets. "I got the chance to make Jemaine into something hereally isn't," says Baker. "He's really a very gentle man, but in the costume, he is much moremenacing – and, the women on set have told me, sexy. ""When I first came in, Rick Baker sat me down and asked, ‘Are you claustrophobic?'" Clementrecalls, laughing. "He asked me all of these questions – I'm not sure if they were intended toscare me, and they did scare me a little. He also mentioned that a lot of people who do a makeupeffectscharacter only do it once in their careers. " And with good reason: on his first day on set,Clement spent eight hours in the makeup chair (a total that was soon streamlined to three-to-fourhours once they established a rhythm).Of course, it's not all aliens and monsters. Make-up artist Christian Tinsley was tasked withmaking Josh Brolin look just a little more like Tommy Lee Jones: the actor was fitted with amold of Tommy Lee Jones's nose that was found in the studio archives from 20 years ago.In addition, Baker transformed Bill Hader into Andy Warhol. "I really enjoyed the couple ofdays I spent with Bill, doing his makeup, because we love the same kinds of movies. We had alot of fun talking while we were doing the makeup," says Baker. "And, it turns out, he's a fan ofmy work, so he knew what to expect – he was good in the chair. "In the end, it seems that when Baker is working on the Men In Black films, he's like a kid withhis hands on a really great practical joke. "Emma Thompson said to me that one of the things sheliked about the first two Men In Black films was that the aliens aren't necessarily in your face allthe time, but they're there. You know, an alien might appear for only a few frames pastsomebody in the Men in Black headquarters, but it's fun to do that. I think it's cool to put inaliens that people won't even see until their fourth or fifth time around. For example, in thismovie, in the Coney Island sequence, there's a crazy alien in the back playing pinball. You haveto look for it. "THE VEHICLES AND WEAPONS"The Men In Black cars have always been cool," says Sonnenfeld, meaning they would have tofind a car suited to the MIB from 1969. Their answer: the Ford Galaxy. "Not only does it have aniconographic look, but anything called the Galaxy seems like it belongs in our movie,"Sonnenfeld explains.Welch says that the car stands out for its oversized beauty. "We went with the two-door version,which I think is so much better looking than the four-door. It's got a great tail – everything aboutit evokes space travel to me. "Of course, that's not J and K's only way of getting around 1969 New York: they also have© 2012 Columbia Pictures (Sony) 10
MEN IN BLACK 3 (2012)PRODUCTION NOTESmonocycles, single-wheeled vehicles with a gyroscopic center seat.The monocycle is the only way to keep up with Boris, who has his own menacing ride. "Wewanted a bike that blends in with 1969 biker culture, but also fit Boris's design, meaning itshould incorporate organic and hardware in beautiful harmony," says Welch.The 9½-foot-long bike weighed 800 pounds and reached 100 mph. "It's half-creature, half-jetengine," says Harlocker. "It's an amalgamation of all sorts of technologies. "Another integral element to the MIB universe are the myriad gadgets and weapons used by theagents – only now, we get to see some of the earlier, prototype versions during the 1969 scenes.For example, the memory-erasing neuralyzer is, by 2012, sleek. By contrast, in 1969, theneuralyzer takes up an entire room at headquarters. "In 1969, it's the same shape, but a hundredtimes larger and powered by tubes," says Welch. "As our technology always does, it got smallerand cleaner by 2012. Back in 1969 it was still large and clunky – and yet gorgeous. ""The inspiration was MRIs," says Welch. "You get loaded into the machine and spit out the otherside. It's loud and violent and horribly dangerous because it's new technology that hasn't beenrefined yet. "Harlocker's team constructed a vessel weighing 6,000 pounds, 18 feet long and 14 feet high, inwhich only one person could be neuralyzed at a time. "One of the things we tried to do with the1969 scenes was make things big and cumbersome. I think that's funny," he says.Perhaps the most lethal weapons in the movie belong to Boris. Clement explains: "Inside Boris'shands lives his henchman, which we called his ‘weasel. ' It is a horrible, vicious creature thatfires porcupine-like, deadly sharp quills, usually into people's foreheads. " The weasel was acollaboration between Ralston and Baker, and the quills were carried out from Baker's designand realized by Harlocker's team, as they manufactured, painted, and added hair to 125 quillsbased on Baker's design.ABOUT THE COSTUMESYou can't have the Men in Black without their iconic suits, so putting the men back in black wascostume designer Mary Vogt.One might think that a black suit is a black suit, but costumes aren't fashion: each of the leadswould require a number of suits, each designed to do a specific task. "Will and Josh each haveabout 25 suits," says Vogt. "They do different things – there are suits for harnesses, for stunts,for hero shots. "If 25 suits for each of the leads sounds like a lot, get a load of Boris's threads count. "He has adifferent outfit for every different stunt," says Vogt. In recalling the days of easy riders, Vogtsays, "we gave him a light-colored motorcycle jacket with fringe, bandana, and glasses – wewanted the audience to immediately be able to tell the difference between 2012 Boris and 1969© 2012 Columbia Pictures (Sony) 11
Page 1 and 2: MEN IN BLACK 3 (2012)PRODUCTION NOT

MEN IN BLACK 3 Production Notes - Visual Hollywood

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?