Matrix Reloaded Filming Wants to Shut Sydney Down

ro_len writes "News.com.au is reporting the producers of the Matrix Realoaded are looking to shut down Sydney for the filming of the final scene which involves flying a helicopter across the city at less than 600 feet above ground. It is supposed to be the most complicated sequence ever filmed." Just plain nuts. Here is a previous story about the trailer, and another one announcing the film.

at least it won't be CGI.

[vidalsasoon]

A cartoon draw-over would be original. Those matrix style movements are overused.

Most complicated stunt ever?

[tfreport]

Who decided that? The movie company that is making it?

Sounds a lot like some PR mumbo jumbo to me.

This vsCGI

[viking099]

I always thought this was the kind of stuff that CG effects were supposed to replace.
Personally, I like it, as I (and I'm sure many of not most people) can tell the difference between CG and real stuff.
Plus, the adrenaline factor should be fairly high, because you KNOW that it was done in the "real world" (tm), and not on come computer screen somewhere.
I can't wait to see it!

Film Industry is Nuts!!!

[Coplan]

Abeit, I like a good action flick as good as the next guy. But shutting down a whole city? A pretty major one at that! If it were for scientific experimentation, then I could maybe be persuaded to support the concept. But for the sake of entertainment?

How much money in the form of opportunity cost do you think the city might lose?

Seems a bit OTT

[sheriff_p]

Surely computer graphics these days are advanced enough to eradicate the need for real filming? Maybe this is all just a giant publicity stunt?

Shutdown for 2 days?

[iceT]

They must just be talking about the flight path and some margin around it.....

gee, I hope they talk to God and get a good weather day...

Re:Stupid if you ask me.

[Hollinger]

Part of what makes CG look so, well, CG, is those unrealistic camera angles. There are some things that just don't work when you're point of view isn't governed by the laws of physics.

Re:This vsCGI

[paradesign]

this is the stuff that cgi cannot replace, the realism just wouldnt be there, now the fight scene at the subwaystation, thats what cgi is for.

Not a low as it sounds

[deggy]

I regularly fly around at 200 feet during the course of my job. 600ft is pretty high really, and certainly high enough for an above-average helecopter pilot to maintain control while flying down a wide city street.

Re:Matrix Reloaded

[Jucius Maximus]

"I'd rather be Tom Cruise - he gets all the chicks."

Be careful what you wish for. Tom Cruise is stupid enough to fall for Scientology [xenu.net].

Re:This vsCGI

[st0rmshad0w]

No this is the kind of stuff that MODEL MAKERS were supposed to replace. But then again they're a nearly extict breed these days due to over reliance on CG.

I remember alot of great scenes that were done with model work. Including cockpit perspective fly-thrus.

cities as publicity stunts

[squidinkcalligraphy]

There is another story about at The Age [theage.com.au] website. A funny quote was from the premier of NSW, saying "Sydneysiders had to put up with such disruptions ... if the city was to keep its reputation as a hot filmmaking destination." Funny, I thought that cities were for living in and business, etc, etc, not for rich-ass movie companies to play with. But again, we have dumb politicians bowing down to the almighty dollar. Hey, this just confirms in my mind that sydney is willing to prostitute itself out to feed an overwhelming addiction (but I'm from melbourne, so I spose I would say that)

But at the end of the day, I reckon them filming it is just a publicity stunt - that way they'll at least the entire population of sydney to watch the movie ("see, honey - that's where I work"), buy the DVD, get the action figure doll. Sure, it'd prolly b cheaper to do it all on the computer, but u can't buy people's sentimentality.

Don’t you think they know this?

[Conrad_Bombora]

This is the matrix remember?
You know the movie that knocked Hollywood on it's ass with bitching CGI, not lame CGI like phantom menace.
Why where the FX better in the Matrix then in Phantom Menace?
Answerer, the filmmakers of the matrix realize that not every thing can be done with computers. Some shoots just look better when filmed with real sets not CGI blue/green screen sets.

"Matrix Alley"

[Howzer]

For most of the last couple of years I worked on Clarence St right across from "Matrix Alley" as it has come to be called, just down the hill towards Darling Harbour from the QVB.

They shut down this part of the city regularly during the filming of the first one and this latest one, and it caused few if any problems, although one bicycle in the immediate area did go under during that time it had nothing whatsoever to do with the filming.

Of course it did wonders for productivity as we'ed crowd to the windows whenever some kind of limo/minivan would pull up to try and catch a glimpse of someone famous, all the while trying to be cool and say how we "weren't really that interested" and stuff. Heh.

Now that the "Eastern Distributor" is finished it's actually pretty easy to divert traffic out of the center of the city, so I really think the byline of "Shut Down Sydney" is going a bit far.

Sounds like a publicity machine in overdrive to me.

Directoral pissing contest

[Neuracnu Coyote]

Why not just shoot the thing at 5 in the morning and digitially chop out any people that may be hanging around the streets?

Because Cameron Crowe got to shut down Times Square for a few minutes while making Vanilla Sky. The Wachowskis pissing match does not impress me.

Furthermore...

[Dephex Twin]

Isn't that what computers are for?

Did the Star Wars crew not create entire cities?

mark

Re:This vs Models vs CGI

[Saint Fnordius]

It's all about costs. They *could* make a CGI or model version, but they probably thought a little palm grease would save them time and money.

If they get blown off for being too wacky/arrogant, then they'll look at whether to do models, CGI or a mixture of both.

Even with all the cash the Matrix made, they still need to avoid blowing the budget with this movie. I don't blame them for investegating this angle.

Re:shutdowns

[dman123]

Don't forget that we're talking about 1988 or 1989. CGI was not exactly as easy as it is today. The SFX in the movie were pretty low key and not supposed to get in the way of the story. I think it's a pretty safe bet that a few hours of filming and minor disruption in the middle of Iowa easily beat the expense of trying to go with a computer.

The car scene was easily the most emotional one in the movie. A fake shot would have killed the mood. Ah shucks... you've made a geek get all teary.

You don't understand.

[BlackTriangle]

He's an American. Be gentle with him.

Re:Seems a bit OTT

[dswensen]

If they use computer graphics instead of actually filming it, not only will people be completely unimpressed, but they will bitch about how fake the CGI looks, regardless of how fake it actually looks, and talk about how much better it would have been if it had been made with stop-motion by Ray Harryhausen himself.

I think they're going for "actually filming it" as a more impressive effect than using CG.

Re:What I did for summer vacation

[GlenRaphael]

Isn't that what movie sets are for? Can't they rebuild a replica of the city they want on some backlot?

That's certainly what they did when they needed a freeeway [thematrixonline.com]. Whole cities are probably harder to build cheaply.

(By the way, who the heck is this [thematrixonline.com]? She's cute.)

Re:What I did for summer vacation

[Mastoid]

(By the way, who the heck is this [thematrixonline.com]? She's cute.)

This question is hilarious, considering how the rest of this forum is debating how realistic CGI is.

(Dude, take a closer look.)

Re:Directoral pissing contest

[ignavus]

Why not just shoot the thing at 5 in the morning

Too many people coming out of night clubs.

Actually, the safest time to film in George Street Sydney is probably on the first Tuesday in November, around 3.15pm. A certain famous horse race would guarantee that the streets of Sydney are absolutely empty at that time - Sydney is practically a ghost town while everyone stays indoors to watch the race.