The behind-the-scenes production of Star Riders

When Western Movies Hit Aliens

In 2006, a novel about a mysterious gunman in a western town who led the town residents to fight against aliens was published. This comic created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg caused quite a stir once it was released. The combination of the yellow sand sky in the west and the alien spaceship was particularly interesting, which also caused the movie The company's attention, after several rounds of copyright purchase and resale, the film was finally determined to be produced by DreamWorks. Talking about his views on this story, Steven Spielberg, who served as the producer of the film, said: "This story is quite special. On the one hand, it tells how a hero in a small western town survives. This hero On the other hand, it focuses on alien creatures and what happened after the aliens arrived in the desolate west. The audience can see how these two lines go hand in hand. , Western films also need some new ideas. This film genre has now reached a dead end. It is time for some fresh blood to join in, so that the audience can have some new and different feelings about this very familiar film genre. "Cowboys and Aliens" is directed by Jon Favreau, who is famous for "Iron Man". Jon Favreau, who was originally a third-tier actor, shocked everyone with his success in directing "Iron Man" in 2008. No one expected that this comedy supporting actor whose acting career had been at a low point could actually make a major commercial production. It was so beautiful that after directing "Iron Man 2", Jon Favreau once again took the lead in the 2011 DreamWorks summer production "Cowboys and Aliens". Regarding this movie, Jon Favreau said: "In my impression, the elements of Western movies were established decades ago, and I also think of Clint Eastwood, His cowboy image is deeply rooted in people's hearts. I have also thought about how to direct a Western movie myself. What method should I take to avoid just copying the successful Western movies in the past? When I saw " "Cowboys and Aliens", I began to have some new ideas. Aliens are indeed a good entry point, and their appearance will make Western movies completely different. Later, Spielberg and I were completely different. Talking about this issue, he previously made a classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". I talked with him about his movie. I think that based on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Cowboys and Aliens" "The story can be made in another way. We should have a big fight with aliens, and our hero is a mysterious gunman. After confirming this, the filming of the movie has entered a very smooth stage. "

However, for "Cowboys and Aliens", Jon Favreau also admitted that he had a lot of struggles during the filming: "The core point of this story is, Aliens came to a western town, and no one knew what to do, but a hero who was not recognized by everyone stepped forward to save the residents. The story sounded boring, but it would be different if many details were added. For example, the performance of the protagonist's incredible marksmanship can capture the audience. But the question arises: How should we express the protagonist's marksmanship? There are many directions, including whether to use 3D. This issue had already been considered during the filming stage of "Iron Man 2". At that time, I finally gave up on 3D. Should "Cowboys and Aliens" be 3D? This was also a question that I studied repeatedly. During the producer's meeting and discussion, the details of the film were slowly determined. I didn't want to make a conventional Western movie, but the overall style of a Western movie is like this. If it changes too much, it will not only feel weird to the audience. , even I couldn’t accept it, so I was cautious in seeking some breakthroughs and changes in traditional Western movies. This was a careful process that happened all the time during the filming of "Cowboys and Aliens".

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Between seriousness and fun

Western movies have always been known to the audience for their tense gunfights, the neighing of horses, and the sky full of yellow sand. When talking about this time Regarding the overall style in "Cowboys and Aliens", Jon Favreau said: "Of course I will maintain the basic elements of Western movies. These are the influential styles that have been recognized by everyone for many years and are also the four-character symbol of Western movies. However, in "Cowboys and Aliens", I still chose some new things to put in. Everyone will see the humor of this movie. It will not become a spoof of how the aliens brought the West to the West. The town is in a state of chaos, but the aliens in the film are obviously not as vicious and boring as in "Super 8" (laughs). There is not much difference in the production time of the two movies. Spielberg (who is also the producer of "Super 8") and I have made an agreement from the beginning on which elements I need for this movie and which elements I need. It can be given to "Super 8". We work very harmoniously and have a good understanding. The audience will definitely not see aliens like those in "Super 8" in "Cowboys and Aliens". "The style of "Cowboys and Aliens" is positioned as an upright western style. Therefore, how to maintain the seriousness of classic western movies and make it interesting has become the biggest question fans have about it. And about this , screenwriter Roberto Orci, who has written the first two episodes of "Transformers", "Star Trek", "Mission: Impossible 3" and other scripts, said: "You want it to be an adventure story. So even though we take this movie very seriously, which is a combination of the cowboy western and alien genres, you expect there to be a lot of jokes in it, but you don't want the characters in the story to be deliberately funny or to treat what's going to happen. The story is loose. You want them to break out of their own existence, and that's the most humorous thing you can think of. "It must be said that the screenwriter and director put a lot of cowboy interaction elements into the movie to enhance the fun.

So in this movie, for the important protagonist-the alien, and How to design? When talking about this, Eddie Pascoro, who serves as the deputy director at Industrial Light and Magic and is also the special effects supervisor of this film, said: "The director and I both like science fiction movies from the 1960s and 1970s. We also hope that in the era when the film takes place, the 19th century, the image of extraterrestrial visitors imagined by people of that era can be seen as much as possible. Therefore, the design of the alien will have a retro feel. This is not the most important thing. What is important is the design of the alien spacecraft, which is a highlight of the film. We referred to many photos of real UFO incidents witnessed decades ago, as well as eyewitness descriptions. According to With that information, we ended up designing a special spacecraft. "Daniel Craig, who has become famous since the "007" series, has filmed movies with different themes such as "The Golden Compass" and "Rebel" in the past few years. The image of a tough guy has become more and more popular. This time in "Cowboys and Aliens" In "Man", Daniel Craig plays a mysterious Western gunslinger. Regarding this movie, Daniel Craig said: "This is a very special science fiction movie. It has the characteristics of a traditional Western movie, but it also The director added many different elements into it. I have always wanted to make a Western movie. I like the feeling of cowboys galloping through the wilderness in Leone's movies. I also like the wild imagination of science fiction movies. "Cowboys and Aliens" blends the styles of western movies and science fiction movies, which made me addicted to western movies and science fiction movies at once. ”