PRODUCTION THE LONG WALK
The film was shot in chronological order, bar the odd exception. “That was interesting, because I haven’t worked in that way before. From the moment the Long Walk begins, until the end of the movie, the camera never stops moving. There was maybe one shot where the camera doesn’t move. We would shoot scenes top to bottom; from start to finish. Francis likes to run whole takes, and he doesn’t want to break them up into pieces, so if an actor fluffed their lines we had to go all the way back to the start. Having worked together for a number of years, on various projects, Willems understands Lawrence’s way of working. “Francis and I work in tandem, and I understand his taste. He doesn’t like equipment to get in the way. I’ve learnt how to make an image that has dramatic and emotional impact without getting in his way. I also felt that this film benefitted from some bits mismatching, in the sense that not everything was perfect, which worked for this.” The team also had a Filmotechnic Telescopic F27 camera crane with a remote head fitted to a small electric vehicle. “We were nervous for the first few days, as we weren’t sure if it would work, and the roads weren’t all that great
were. “There was a real camaraderie between these guys,” he says. “So it was quite sad when a character was killed off, because the actor would have to leave and go back home. In a sense, the film reflected what was going on because of this unique set-up we had on set – without anyone actually dying obviously!” A number of VFX shots were required for the kill scenes, and the VFX team were always present on set. “It’s funny,” recalls Willems. “When I saw the film for the first time as a rough cut, it was a completely different experience from being on set, because the VFX makes a huge impact. It looks so real and shocking. It was quite brutal and violent, but of course being on set you can see the kills aren’t real.” “This is probably one of Francis’ most authentic and grounded-in-reality films, despite being set in this dystopian world,” says Willems. “It’s very different from his fantasy work. It’s always great to work with him, and I came away feeling like this was a real communal experience, where I connected with both the actors and the material. Francis and I, sat next to each other in this little golf cart covered in black tarp in the heat, were just constantly bouncing off each other. It was super fun.”
ALL TOGETHER NOW The cast and crew really connected with the close-knit filming set-up
either, but we got into a groove and just went for it. I really enjoyed it actually, it was good fun to work on. Francis and I would sit on a golf cart with a monitor, and just start moving. We had cameras on tracking vehicles, and we’d just shoot. Then, as we landed at point B of the scene, we would all have to walk back. At one point, the second AC came up to me and said, ‘I’ve just reached 500 kilometres.’ So we really did the long walk ourselves. It was very much a joint effort.” Willems was impressed by how prepared the actors were, especially with how physically demanding the long takes
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