The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) is the largest organization of Location Managers and Location Scouts in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries. Their membership plays a vital role in the creativ
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40 • LMGI COMPASS | Spring 2021 So how did they get permission? It wasn't easy. "Commercial activity is not allowed under their charter," says McDougall. "We had to get very creative in structuring the deal to ensure their Executive Board would be happy. Then it had to go for a vote by the membership. It took months." "That's the thing: In fairness to every location person in the world, you have to touch on logistics," says Polley, "because we can all go out and take a picture of something, but arranging to actually get a location like that is what makes it happen. Believe me, I would love to just scout … it's the best part of the job, but there's more to it than that." For another Mumbai set scene, Nolan had written a sequence where The Protagonist and Neil have to enter a fortified high-rise in the city by rappelling up the side of it. "We had scouts looking at high- rise apartments all over Mumbai," says Polley. The architecturally stunning, 23-story Neelam Shree Vardhan Tower fit the bill perfectly. Located in an affluent area of Mumbai called Breach Candy, where many of Mumbai's senior politicians and business leaders live, the building was owned and occupied by a single family and was used for both interior and exterior scenes. The 20th floor was used as the structure for the rappelling sequence and the 17th floor for a key meeting between The Protagonist and one of his contacts in a luxury apartment. Crowley and his team built the market at the base amidst lush palm trees. With two tricky locations in process, Nolan had saved his most complicated request for last: He wanted to get an establishing shot at the magic hour by flying a helicopter over the city and up to the tower with an IMAX camera attached to it. "That was a little unsettling," says McDougall, "because the LMs I had spoken to before going to India told me no guns, stunts or traffic control were allowed, and absolutely no helicopters." In order for the helicopter work to even be considered, they would first require the approval of the military, who are very cautious due to ongoing tensions with Pakistan. Adding to the complexity, the infamous 2008 "Hotel Mumbai" terror attacks were planned by a Pakistani-American who had posed as a film scout while gathering information. "One of the first things we were told by the military was that we could not fly after sunset," says McDougall, "and that is, of course, exactly what the director wanted." They quickly realized the only way to get that approval would be an appeal to the highest level of government. "Using the state film office, we were able to work our way up through the government until we were able to set a meeting with the Secretary for the Chief Minister," says McDougall. Things started to flow after that meeting and the team was assured the support of the state government. However, as helicopter approvals would also need to come from the federal level, this process also took many months and required numerous meetings. "I would come into the office every day asking, 'hey, did we get permission?' and they'd go, 'not yet!'" says Hayslip. "It was down to like, 'we're flying the pilot in,' 'they're rigging the IMAX camera.' 'We got the landing zone!'" Everything was falling into place—except for the permit. Finally, just days before the shoot, final approvals were granted. Once again, Polley and her team had made it happen. "That aerial shot was the biggest accomplishment on this movie in terms of Mumbai," she says, "in fact, on The Dark Knight, Chris had planned an aerial shot that was denied at the last minute, so this was quite a coup because it was another thing that had never been done before. Local producer Dileep Singh and Colin were instrumental in making it happen." On the day, there was a military observer in the helicopter to ensure the pilot strictly adhered to the approved flight path and time limit. "They landed 15 minutes after sunset which gave us one take to get the shot," says McDougall. "It all worked perfectly." Final Thoughts After 14 weeks of prep, Tenet shot for 96 days in a total of seven countries. In addition to Estonia and India, they shot in the U.S., the UK, Denmark, Norway and Italy. That's a kind of global scale filmmaking that really doesn't happen anymore unless your film features a character named 'Bond' or members of the 'Impossible Mission Force.' Polley, of course, had her own impossible mission force, and it hasn't escaped her that they truly did pull off the impossible. "It truly was an extraordinary team in every sense of the word," she says, "and I also have to thank Julie Hannum, Amanda Stevens in the UK and Enrico in Italy. Really, just everyone on the team. They all did phenomenal work." Of her experience working on the film, Polley says, "First of all, it was an honor working with Chris. I hope I get to do it again. He's such an intelligent, interesting person who's so creative and truly loves locations. I'm also grateful for getting to experience the culture in each country we went to. When you're working in these places, you get to see the way everyday life operates—something you never see as a tourist—so I love Tenet for allowing me to see through the eyes of the locals and especially for giving me the opportunity to work in India which has always been one of my favorite places in the world." Director Chris Nolan behind the camera in the opera house