The behind-the-scenes production of Armageddon

Doomsday Scene

Cormac McCarthy is one of the most influential novelists in the United States today. His 1992 work "All the Pretty Horses" was adapted into "The Wild Horse", and the 2006 "No Country for Old Men" was adapted for the screen by the Coen brothers and won the Oscar for Best Picture. The film was adapted from a novel called "The Road," which also won him the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The film depicts a story of human beings looking for hope and struggling to survive after the destruction of the earth. The most unforgettable thing in the novel is McCarthy's depiction of the doomsday scenery. So how can we find such a desolate scenery in life? Director John Hillcoat said: "The novel did not specify what caused the destruction of the earth, so I decided to abandon all background explanations and let the audience guess what happened." In order to find this kind of apocalyptic scene, we have to eliminate all signs of life—no colored things, no plants, no brightly colored clothes, no small animals—what we need is a monochromatic world. But I don’t need an artificial world. I want the world in the movie to remain as original as possible. The hard work paid off and we finally found the right location in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is the second largest city in Pennsylvania, and its suburbs were once home to residential areas for heavy industry companies. When the last recession hit, most businesses closed and these workers moved out. So in the 1980s of the last century, this small town was abandoned and no one lived there, not even homeless people came here. After the director discovered this geomantic treasure, he set up camp here and started filming the movie. In order to express the concept of doomsday more appropriately, the director also took great pains in the music of the film. Different from the bombardment of sound effects in ordinary Hollywood movies, Hillcoat used sound elements very sparingly in the movie. He said: I didn’t want the sound and images in the movie to look out of tune, so I basically didn’t add any music to the movie. It can be said that this movie is a movie without music. And in order to make the background sound equally apocalyptic and silent, I asked the sound engineer to use a one-way microphone. Only the sound of the wind was recorded, listening to the whirring, monotonous, and even boring and unpleasant groaning of the earth in the movie. I had a different feeling about the film.

Due to the lengthening of the shooting time, the weather is gradually getting warmer, the trees are sprouting new buds, and the snow on the ground is gradually melting. This is the director's biggest headache. Hillcoat said: The thick clothes on my body are gradually becoming unbearable, and the sun is getting stronger and stronger, which gives me a headache. Before each shooting, we had to sprinkle a layer of artificial powder on the ground, and the actors had to pretend to be cold. During post-production, we also added white mist to their breath. If there is really no other way, everything can only be done in the later stage.

Viggo Mortensen challenges his acting skills

Although Viggo Mortensen, who is known as an actor in the film industry, has rich acting experience, but he has no doubts about "The Road to Doomsday". "The father's role in "Still dare not take it lightly. This star, who is good at starring in low-cost independent films, encountered great challenges when filming this film. He said: When the director found me, I was preparing to take a good rest. In the past two years, I was busy shooting various fashion hair movies. For two whole years I was working, so I decided to open a few photography exhibitions and relax. Later, Hillcoat came to me and showed me the script and the original novel. I knew I couldn't refuse this role. This exhausted father perfectly matched my psychological and physical state at that time, and I also felt that although this father was tired and didn't know what would happen when they walked to the beach, he was still full of hope. So I think it's very appropriate for me to play this role. After Mortensen agreed to play the leading role, things became much simpler. For director Hillcoat, a highlight of the movie was settled; for Mortensen, all he needed to do was to maintain his hair and beard. And lose a little weight.

In order to achieve the compassionate spiritual state of his father in the novel, Mortensen began to build himself. He began to read selectively, listen to fixed music, and arrange his daily schedule as strictly as a monk. He even changed some of his eating habits. He said: No matter what living environment they are in, people will have their own ideals and hopes. I've talked to a number of homeless people who are very diverse, either violent or affable. But they all have one thing in common, that is, they hope they can improve their current lives. For such a Taobao life, humans after the end of the earth will also have compassion. However, under the weight of the layers of pressure, they may forget to have sympathy, and some may just become angry. Because the need to stay alive, to have food to eat, and to wear clothes will make human beings lose their minds and their own sociality-this is the earth shown in the novel. I dare not say that the movie can surpass the novel and become a first-class work, but it will definitely give people inspiration that is different from ordinary movies.

My body almost froze for the plot

The young actor McFee talked about his filming experience. For the role in the film, when artificial heavy rain poured down on him, he originally imagined that The romantic McPhee discovered that reality was far crueler than fantasy. Under the director's strict reshoot requirements, his body was almost frozen due to ultra-low temperature. This kind of shooting is difficult, far more than once. The young actor answered reporters' questions without any stage fright. He also admitted that because he was often with the adult filming team, he was far more mature than his peers. However, he added mischievously that once the filming was over and he returned to his friends, he would become a little kid again.