July 12, 2006

•                          Get It Right the First Time
  

   

  
  

  Walt Disney had his studio at risk on the largest production in the history of Hollywood.

  
  

  The big action scene was the fight between the men of the submarine and a giant squid.

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  The scene was filmed in front of a sunset colored backdrop which made for a boring and fake looking scene.

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Finally they got the idea to film it during a night storm at sea and the scene became a classic.

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  It was not only a fight with the squid, but with the elements of sea and storm. But only after a great loss of money shooting it the first way did they come up with the new idea.

  
  

   

  
  

  Storms action scenes at sea had been a stable of movies since the silent era. Why hadn't anyone thought about doing that with the squid scene in the first place?  It would have saved a lot of time, money, and risk.  If only anyone, even the studio garbage man had said, "Say, why don't you film it in a storm at night." It would have been the obvious way to do it.

  
  

   

  
  

  Realistically speaking, it's difficult to come up with the right way of doing things all the time. But when you have a large amount of time and money at stake. Remember     and try to think it out. Maybe you'll get it right the first time.

  
  

   

  
  

  One the special edition of the DVD you can see a great 90 min. documentary on the making of this movie. It's really inspirering.  Also look for Charles Grodin's first screen appearance as the dummer boy on the ship. He has a 3 second shot.  Gotta start somewhere.

  
  

   

  
  

  

  • 3:16 am
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