Film Stills: Behind the Scenes

Filmed at Bravo Studios NYC, this setup represents the alcove room, to be replaced in post production by the digital set.
  
Actor Jared Rinaldi, in the foreground, performed scenes following Keir Dullea due to rights clearance concerns.
   
Makeup Artist Laura Pugliese evens out skin tones & minimizes green reflection in Keir Dullea's face.
     
  
Oliver Zeller provides direction for shot three as Immersive Cocoon designer Tino Schaedler looks on.
   
Long periods between shot setups were not uncommon during the fourteen hour shoot day.
  
Polishing the 1" plexi floor around the expensive Auckland Chair, selected by Production Designer Tino Schaedler.
     
  
The Auckland chair, designed by Jean-Marie Massaud, was generously donated for filming by Cassina USA.
   
Zeller offers more direction. The boxes in the foreground represent the digital set's hallway.
   
Understudy Jared Rinaldi awaits his turn.
     
  
The greenscreen desk used double wall boxes & a wooden door, the latter carried by the director over a mile through NYC in an effort to keep costs down.
   
Gaffer & Key Grip, Tshaka Brookes sets up one of a dozen kino-flo megabanks used beneath the plexi floor.
   
All those kino-flos require a lot of ballasts.
     
  
Director of Photography Shaheen Seth with a Glidecam. Ultimately unused, the camera motion for shot one was implemented in post production.
   
Digital Intermediate Technician, Alexander Peterson and Camera Operator Joe Anderson.
   
Most of these behind the scenes photos were taken by Nancy Dinh, seen here as Joe & Shaheen grapple with the RED Camera.
     
  
Onset Visual Effects Supervisor Quan Tran stands between the productions two video cameras.
   
Executive Producers Michael Brown and Tino Schaedler.
   
To capture the Cocoon's reflection, a 5D Mark II with a fisheye lens filmed simulataneously with the primary RED Camera and was later retimed to match the RED footage.
     
  
The director previsualized shots over the course of several months in 2009. Measurements were constantly made to verify congruency with the digital set.
  
Tshaka and Shaheen prep the monitor light above the inexpensively constructed desktop for shot two, the only pure live action shot in the film.
   
The low camera angle for shot eleven required a makeshift greenscreen facade to be propped up via c-stands.
     
  
Looking into the Immersive Cocoon.
   
The black plexi was used to capture Dullea's reflection in the Cocoon from which a motion graphics interface was to be inserted. The shot was ultimately scrapped.
   
The cold winter weather in February made the green room unpleasant, so the cast preferred the warmer dressing room.
     
  
Shot seven originally called for a curved dolly move. Instead the straight track was angled into the marked hallway.
   
Jared Rinaldi approaches the Immersive Cocoon.
   
For shot three, Dullea was filmed listening to apparent sounds behind him before turning around in the opposite direction. This was cut during edit.
     
  
Dullea reaches out toward the Cocoon door as if it were the black monolith. The section was cut due to an eyeline change that did not correspond with the digital scene.