From shooting jets flying between the 12,000-foot mountains of the Cascade Range to capturing dynamic voyage sequences in San Francisco, the production team is behind. Top Gun: Maverick In collaboration with the Navy, we scrutinized remote areas on the west coast and realized a lofty vision of the script on a large screen. The decision makers behind the film, which joined the multi-billion dollar club over the weekend, met on Wednesday to discuss the logistics for filming the blockbuster.
From June 27th to June 30th, Hollywood Insiders are the industry’s top physical at a few-day networking event organized by the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), which consists of six and more than 300 commissioners. We talked about the movie at a brunch honoring production pros. Continent.Brunch, AFCI and Hollywood ReporterDozens of production executives gathered across major studios to chat about quiches, fruit platters and pastries.
The panel featured with Lee Rosenthal, President of Paramount Studios Physical Productions. Top Gun: Maverick Executive Producer Tommy Harper, Location Manager Mike Fantasia, and Aerial Coordinator Kevin La Rosa.Conversation moderated by THR Editorial director Nekesamung Bimoudi has covered scouts at the filming location to partner with the Navy to film the film.
“We had to quickly develop a plan to step into the California door,” Harper said. “But one of the things we all talked about when talking to the Navy is that we need to know where the jets are. You want to set up a store somewhere before traveling to the jets. No. You’re in the jet and want to control your shoots and schedules accordingly. Thank you for shooting the whole movie in California, a little bit in Nevada and Washington. “
Once he understood where the jets were, Fantasia scouted in detail the different geographic areas of each flight sequence made available for production by the Navy.
“It’s not just about flying the F-18 at 650,000 miles per hour everywhere,” he said. “There, I looked into the military operations area and found that some were suitable for the script and some weren’t. The fusion of the script and the location resulted in a lot of flying in the Death Valley area. It’s a sequence. And jumped out of Fallon for some other sequence. Then headed north to Whidbey Island and flew through the Cascade Range, which is 12,000 feet around. It’s probably the most difficult place to fly in the air because you’re flying deep and deep valleys in the mountains. If you have a problem, it will take a while for them to find you because you’re nowhere else. “
Fantasia added that the Navy was instrumental in the reconnaissance process to see how jet shots were transformed into large screens. He recalled: [a view of the] It’s a landscape, but it’s great to see a jet plane there. The Navy will say, “We will get there tomorrow and we will jump over.” “
Rosenthal said that director Joseph Kosinksi actually “shot two films, an aerial story and a ground story.” Regarding the logistics that divide shooting into two categories, Harper said: Now, we’re going to shoot a ground story, just as all the other movies are filmed in full crew. Then we had our aerial crew … a very fine and detailed number of people we would travel when we shot in the air-maybe 70, so many Not people-taken it. Scaled down as efficiently as possible to capture an aerial story off the ground. “
Panelists recalled a case where the aircraft carrier had to change production schedules and relocate when it was unable to leave the docked port.
“We had to pivot,” Harper said. “We had to understand something for two days. We didn’t shut down. We had to put the obsolete plans on the carrier overnight, so we shot the next day and hundreds of them in the carrier. I was able to get the extras. I laid the crew on the dockside of the ship and never shut down. We were always on the move. “
Harper said stopping production is by no means an option. I added. “There is no insurance for this kind of thing. You know you are going to spend money to get the jet out of the depot. You know you are spending money on the crane operator. I don’t know how much it costs. I know it’s much cheaper than shutting down. “
However, insiders said career malfunction was not the biggest obstacle to filming. They said the honor went to the sailing scene from Jennifer Connelly’s character. According to them, the problem was that there was no wind in the port of San Pedro, which was originally supposed to be shot. They eventually decided to move the scene to shoot in San Francisco.
Asked why the film resonated with viewers, La Rosa said he didn’t spend money on production and didn’t accept mediocrity.
“This is Top gun My favorite rule: there’s always an aircraft behind the lens, “he said. “The target aircraft is always there. The pilot is always flying.”