Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/859699
The apes are on the run. Since the last film, 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, war has been raging between humans and apes, and the apes have been backed into a hidden fortress deep in the mountains of Northern California. Over the course of this new film, the apes travel up the coast, across the Central Valley, into the Sierras, Death Valley and finally, into Nevada. I was thrilled at the prospect of mining California for these locations and dreamed of keeping the whole film in the state. The producers quickly relieved me of those dreams—as you can all imagine, incentives here in California are still not sufficient to get the attention of a major motion picture. So I turned my attention to the usual suspects: New Mexico, Louisiana and Vancouver, and it was quickly evident that there was no competing with Canadian incentives. I had a really good experience shooting a portion of Dawn in Vancouver, but I was devastated at the prospect of leaving behind the American team that had performed so brilliantly on most of that film. There were several months of prep in Los Angeles stretching out before me, so I put those concerns aside for the moment and went about assembling an exceptional concept team. Lots of the Art Department from the first film were back and Maya Shimoguchi, whom I had worked with earlier in the year, came on to supervise. On paper, things seemed much more straightforward this time around than they were on my first round with this team on Dawn. Director Matt Reeves was adamant that the script was in good shape before we started prep, a minor miracle in this day and age. His mission statement was to make a modern epic along the lines of The Bridge on the River Kwai. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes pushed the boundaries of motion-capture technology in real-world environments and I was excited to continue the trajectory and push them even further. This film planned to shoot on the Arri ALEXA 65, reaching Previous spread: A sketch drawn in Illustrator ® by Vance Kovacs of the ape trench. Vance provided a lot of inspiration for the opening battle with this image of the apes on horseback raining bombs down on the humans. Below: A Photoshop ® painting over a location photograph by Illustrator Joe Studzinski of the hidden ape fortress. "Coquihalla Canyon in British Columbia is one of the most stunning locations I have ever experienced," writes Mr. Chinlund. "I knew right away it would be the perfect spot for the fortress." Bottom, left and right: A study model by Set Designer John Berger of the ape trench exterior built in Burnaby, BC. John Berger's sketch models were invaluable to explore form language during the design of the trench. A set photograph of the finished trench, on location in Burnaby. The construction of this defensive structure was a monumental task, built entirely of pine and cedar trunks.