Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1480624
T H I R T E E N L I V E S | P E R S P E C T I V E 6 1 In the summer of 2020, Ron Howard and I began working together, breaking down Bill Nicholson's script for Thirteen Lives, the story of the complex rescue of the Wild Boar soccer team from Tham Luang cave in Northern Thailand. For several months over Zoom calls, with his executive producer and first AD Bill Connor, we worked through storyboards, talking to the divers whose story we were portraying, and sharing ideas back- and-forth based on images we found that spoke to us, or things we were learning directly from those involved in the events. This time was essential for helping us zero in on a path forward, simplifying the daunting two-and-a-half-mile rescue journey deep into the cave down to a number of key sets that would tell this story. Ron was keen to let the events unfold as authentically as possible, with a level of documentary-style realism that highlighted the heroism of not only the divers, but the massive international volunteer effort surrounding the rescue. As the months progressed, and the pandemic rolled on, it became clear that the production would not be able to shoot anything at the site of the real cave, so we settled on shooting the film in Queensland, Australia. With its rainforest conditions much like Northern Thailand, we were confident that we could find an exterior location to build our large cave exterior and its supporting base camps. We had intended to go into Village Roadshow Studios with their existing water tanks to build the tunnel sets, but Baz Luhrmann's Elvis was suffering delays due to the pandemic and would remain in the stages too long for us to follow. So, we changed course; knowing that we were committed to Queensland for its look and generous tax credit, we began looking for alternative warehouse spaces which could facilitate the design, engineering and fabrication of our own tanks and cave system. For the build of the story's main exterior sets, the cave entrance and supporting base camps, the production settled on a farm in Mudgeeraba, Queensland. A portion of the multi-acre site was cleared and gravel was laid to outline the groundwork for the substantial cave entrance build at one end of the property, and the build of the government buildings used for meetings and A. SCALE MODEL OF CHAMBER 1. B. CHAMBER 1 CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION.