The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark George Lucas & Steven Spielberg Lucas Had Finished a Popular Movie, American Graffiti, and Was Working on Star Wars

THE MAKING OF RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK GEORGE LUCAS & STEVEN SPIELBERG LUCAS HAD FINISHED A POPULAR MOVIE, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, AND WAS WORKING ON STAR WARS. SPIELBERG HAD FINISHED JAWS. STAR WARS MADE HOLLYWOOD INTERESTED IN WHAT LUCAS WOULD DO NEXT. AT HIS HOME IN CALIFORNIA, LUCAS HAD WRITTEN SOME IDEAS ABOUT AN ADVENTURER. HE NAMED THE ADVENTURER AFTER HIS DOG, INDIANA. THEY BOTH HAD LOVED OLD MOVIE SERIALS SERIALS WERE SHOWN EVERY WEEK BEFORE A MOVIE, AND THEY HAD CLIFFHANGER ENDINGS. LUCAS ASKED SPIELBERG TO DIRECT, AND THEY MET WITH LAWRENCE KASDAN, WHOM THEY ASKED TO WRITE THE SCRIPT. OVER THREE DAYS IN 1978, THEY SHARED THEIR IDEAS OF AN ADVENTURER SEARCHING FOR LOST SUPERNATURAL TREASURE. THEY SHOWED KASDAN THIS PICTURE FROM A ZORRO SERIAL. THE LOOK THEY RECALLED HUMPHREY BOGART IN THE FILM, THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. THEY LIKED THAT LOOK, ESPECIALLY THE FEDORA. THEY HAD SKETCHES OF WHAT INDIANA SHOULD LOOK LIKE. LUCAS HIRED AN ARTIST TO MAKE FOUR PAINTINGS TO SET THE LOOK FOR INDIANA SMITH. SPIELBERG DIDN'T LIKE SMITH AND CHANGED IT TO INDIANA JONES. THEY HAD TO GET VISUALS OF THE BAD GUYS, TOO. THE BIONIC ARM WAS DROPPED LONG BEFORE SHOOTING STARTED. ONCE THE SCRIPT WAS FINISHED, THEY HIRED ARTISTS TO DEVELOP THE LOOK OF THE SET PIECES FOR THE FILM. STORYBOARDING ONCE KASDAN FINISHED THE SCRIPT AND THEY GOT THE LOOK, THEY MADE STORYBOARDS FOR EACH SCENE. THEY HAD TO STORYBOARD EACH SCENE AND EACH SHOT IN THE SCENE. EVERY SCENE AND EVERY SHOT WAS STORYBOARDED. WITHOUT THE STORYBOARDS, THE DIRECTOR AND CREW WOULD ALL HAVE DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT WHAT THE FILM WOULD LOOK AND FEEL LIKE. AS LUCAS AND SPIELBERG WORKED OUT A DEAL WITH PARAMOUNT PICTURES FOR A $17 MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET AND TO START SHOOTING IN 1980, VISUALS WERE BEING CREATED. THEY SPENT MONTHS CASTING BUT COULD NOT FIND INDIANA. SPIELBERG WANTED HARRISON FORD, BUT LUCAS WAS RELUCTANT TO USE SOMEONE WHO HAD APPEARED IN HIS OTHER FILMS. HE WAS HIRED MAY 1, 1980, JUST ONE MONTH BEFORE SHOOTING STARTED. SPIELBERG TOOK THE STORYBOARD AND HAD MODELS OF EACH SET MADE TO BRIDGE THE SCRIPT TO STORYBOARD TO ACTUAL FILM. IN THE TOP PICTURE, HE LOOKS AT THE MODELS TO SEE THE BEST ANGLES TO SHOOT THE SCENE. TO SAVE MONEY, RAIDERS WAS SHOT ON LOCATION IN FRANCE, TUNISIA, THE U.S., AND ON SET IN LONDON. THE USED ELSTREE STUDIO, THE SAME STUDIO AND CREW THAT SHOT STAR WARS. THEY BUILT THE GERMAN AIRPLANE IN LONDON, TOOK IT APART, AND REBUILT IT IN TUNISIA. (TO SAVE MONEY, THEY BUILT IT WITH TWO ENGINES, NOT FOUR. THEY BUILT THE GERMAN AIRPLANE IN LONDON, TOOK IT APART, AND REBUILT IT IN TUNISIA. THE PLANE DID NOT FLY, AND TO MAKE IT MOVE IN THE SHOT, THE CREW HAD TO PULL IT. HERE THE CREW IS PREPARING TO SHOOT THE SCENE WITH THE PLANE. NOTE THE CAMERA ON THE DOLLY SO THE CAMERA CAN MOVE AS THE SHOOT CONTINUES. SHOOTING STARTED IN JUNE 1980 IN FRANCE, USING A U-BOAT FROM ANOTHER MOVIE TO SAVE MONEY. THE SCENES WERE NOT SHOT IN ORDER. THESE SCENES ARE AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. THE SUBMARINE AT SEA WAS REALLY A TWELVE FOOT MODEL. A SPECIAL EFFECTS CREW SAILED IT BY REMOTE CONTROL TO A SMALL ISLAND IN WASHINGTON STATE. AN ARTIST CHANGED THE ISLAND INTO A TOP SECRET NAZI ISLAND IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. HERE'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SPECIAL EFFECTS. THE SECOND CREW SHOT THIS SEAPLANE ON LAND THEN PAINTED IN AN OVERLAY OF WATER. BACK IN LONDON, THE CREW BUILT HUGE SETS. THIS IS THE CAVE FROM THE BEGINNING. NOTE THE BOULDER TO THE RIGHT. HERE IS A LOOK AT THE BOULDER AND THE TRACKS UPON WHICH IT WOULD ROLL. THE CREW SET UP THE ICONIC OPENING SCENES OF THE FILM. NOTE THE DOLLY CAMERA SO THE CAMERA COULD ZOOM IN AND OUT. EVEN THE HUGE SCENE OF THE OPENING OF THE ARK WAS SHOT INSIDE THE STUDIO IN LONDON. IN THE FALL 1980, THE SCENES IN EGYPT WERE SHOT IN TUNISIA, CLOSE TO WHERE MUCH OF STAR WARS HAD BEEN SHOT. RECALL LUCAS'S AND SPIELBERG'S VISION WITH THE OLD MOVIE SERIALS. IT TOOK 73 DAYS (TWO AND A HALF MONTHS) TO SHOOT 318,755 FEET OF FILM. IT WRAPPED TWO WEEKS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. As Spielberg edited the movie, the Paramount Pictures marketing department started using images to create movie posters and previews to sell the film. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK GROSSED $242,374,448 AT THE BOX OFFICE (ON A FINAL $18 MILLION BUDGET). LUCAS'S AND SPIELBERG'S VISION OF BRINGING OLD MOVIE SERIALS BACK TO THE SCREEN WAS A HUGE SUCCESS. THE IDEA WAS WAS WRITTEN AS A SCRIPT, ARTISTS MADE THE LOOK, THE SCRIPT WAS STORYBOARDED, THE SETS WERE MADE, AND THEN THE FILM WAS SHOT. MOVIES ARE A LONG PROCESS! .

Load more