Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/607566
DIRECTOR'S CHAIR www.postmagazine.com 21 POST NOVEMBER 2015 felt the pressure to try and top the one before. You want to try and exceed expectations as much as possible. But I think there was definitely more pressure with this one, as it's the final one, the conclusion, and you want to go out in as epic and emotional way as possible." What were the main technical challenges of pulling all this together? "We had so many physical production challenges, as we shot the final two mov- ies back-to-back and did them in a sort of block shooting pattern where they'd share sets and we'd shoot both movies simultaneously. And we were prepping this as we were finishing the last one, which was a little tricky. This one has some pretty large set pieces, such as this big sequence down in the sewers under- neath the Capitol. And there are quite a few up in the streets of the Capitol, that all needed a lot of vigilance in terms of the stunts, choreography, safety, visual effects and so on. So it was a very tech- nically-challenging shoot." How tough was the prep and shoot? "Parts of it were very tough, although parts were really fun. We tried to shoot in as many real environments as possible, so there was a lot of location shooting — from Atlanta and Boston to Paris and Germany — and you have to deal with very com- plicated sequences, not on a controlled soundstage, but out in the elements where you have to deal with weather, changing light and all of those issues. So it's tricky, but the pay-off in the end is that we're in these large, immersive environments that add all this reality to the visuals and story." How early did you have to integrate post into the shoot? "Right from the start and we're thinking about post all the way through. So the edi- tors were on very early, and Charlie Gibson, the VFX supervisor, and even some of the VFX houses like D Neg [Double Negative], were on from the start. So during prep they're all involved in the planning in terms of the scheduling, the location choices and so on." Do you like the post process? "I do and it's actually one of my favorite parts of the whole process. The prep phase is kind of fun as you have it all in your head and you're trying to figure it all out, but shooting to me is like a battle. It's tricky and tough, and you're dealing with a lot of different personalities, and you've always got the clock ticking and the meter run- ning, and all the pressure of the cost and worrying about it all and what might go wrong. And then you sit down in post and it's so calm by comparison and civilized, and you actually get to see the movie you shot come together bit by bit. So for me Lawrence and Lawrence: The director, on-set, with the franchise's star.