Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1184216
and stunts launching both Taika and a stuntman through multiple resets. Taika enjoyed doing his own window jumping stunts. In the end, I think the shot is a hybrid of the stuntman and Taika. For the sequence where the kids get caught in the fall of Nazi Germany/Allied liberation the film was fortunate to have the use of a great little village in the Czech Republic called Zatec. This village had experienced the rise and defeat of the Nazis during WW2 and still had the plaques and stories to show for it. Three groups of reenactment teams were enlisted to play German, Russian and American troops respectively. They brought with them forty heavy troop carriers, field guns, jeeps, armoured vehicles, motorcycles and a tank. Many of the locations used in Czech Republic were on the border with WW2 Germany and shared much of the same architecture, the usual period fixes like satellite dishes and burglar alarms were taken care of by the construction department, as well as lifting the colors of buildings and swapping out street signs. It was the best possible location to make the film; it meant that I could concentrate the art budget on Jojo's house and adding highlights to the already outstanding locations. D C The Czech Village became the exterior of the fall of Germany. Working on a lean budget requires thinking about how certain sets and locations could dovetail together in the edit. The town of Zatec was dressed with loose ground debris to give it the feeling of a chaotic urban war zone. The further along the boys journey, the more ground dressing was added, eventually rounding a corner into a set in a different location full of destroyed buildings in the center of the conflict. I scouted all of the town's streets with Taika and Mihai and let them develop the journey the action would take, the Art Department would offer suggestions and artwork describing set builds and special effects moments along the route. In order to stretch the art budget to its very maximum, not every part of the village could be or needed to be camera- ready. A wide generic area was established for shooting specific scenes and whenever the camera went very wide, detailed foreground dressing was brought in and the camera would let the deep background detail fall away. This was a constant discussion between camera and Art Department every time a new shot was set up. It was a wonderful experience for me to go to Czech Republic for the first time in my life and A. JOJO'S HOUSE EXTERIOR. SET PHOTO. B. HITLER YOUTH OFFICE. CONCEPT SKETCH BY RA VINCENT. C. GERMAN TOWN. CONCEPT SKETCH BY RA VINCENT. D. GERMAN TOWN. THE LOCATION WAS THE BAROQUE VILLAGE OF ZATEC IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC. SET PHOTO. E. GERMAN TOWN UNDER SEIGE. CONCEPT SKETCH BY RA VINCENT. F. GERMAN TOWN. A MODERN FOUNTAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SQUARE WAS REDRESSED AS A MACHINE GUN POST. SET PHOTO. G. BATTLE SEQUENCE. CONCEPT SKETCH BY RA VINCENT. A B