most treasured animations, Beauty And The Beast, must have been a formidable challenge
for the filmmakers as they had to decide how to re-imagine iconic characters, scenes, songs,
and locations from the 1991 Oscar-winning movie. Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here,
and in my last video I revealed some incredible facts you probably didn't know about Disney's
animated classic, but now, in this video, I want to let you in on some amazing secrets
and facts about the making of the new live-action Beauty And The Beast. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran tested
lots of different shades of yellow on camera before choosing the final colour for Belle's
ball gown. Once that was decided, the dress took 180
feet of satin organza, 3,000 feet of thread, over 2,000 Swarovski crystals, and more than
12,000 hours to make! Gold leaf filigree was also printed on the
top two layers of the gown in a design which matched the ballroom floor.
As for the dress Belle wears right at the
end of the movie, the print for that was actually based on an original 18th-century apron that
the film's costume designer bought during her student days. The household objects like Lumiere, Cogsworth,
and Mrs Potts were brought to life using a time-consuming mix of computer-generated effects
in post-production and solid models during on-set filming. For example, a real version of the wardrobe
Garderobe was built and rigged with pulleys and various devices so she could move on set. But, when we see Garderobe dress Belle, that
was created thanks to the magic of visual effects in post-production.
As for Lumiere, the filmmakers wanted to incorporate
actor Ewan McGregor's personality into the singing candelabra, so they used performance
capture technology to film McGregor moving and dancing how he thought Lumiere would. Also, before filming began, McGregor and the
other actors who played the enchanted characters recorded their dialogue so it could be used
as a guide for the cast and crew during the actual shoot. So, when Dan Stevens was filming a scene with
Lumiere, for instance, he was acting opposite an LED light on a stick and hearing McGregor's
pre-recorded voice! Then during post-production, McGregor and
his fellow enchanted character actors recorded their dialogue again so it matched the tone
of what was happening on screen. Apparently, the most difficult object to design,
according to director Bill Condon, was Mrs Potts.
Although the animated version of the character
has a spout for a nose, Condon told the Hollywood Reporter that when they tried that for the
live-action version, she ended up looking 'like a pig', and he added that 'there was
no way to make that spout nose appealing in three dimensions.' When you see the servants in their human form,
do look out for how their costumes and hairstyles mirror their appearance as enchanted objects! For example, the buttons on Cogsworth's human
costume have Roman numerals on them, just like his clock-face. And the design on Cogsworth's waistcoat and
epaulettes also echoes the pattern we see on him when he's a clock. And if you look at his hairstyle, you'll notice
that it's inspired by the shape of Cogsworth the clock's head! Bringing to life the Busby Berkeley-style
song-and-dance number, "Be Our Guest", was a massive challenge that took the movie's
crew six months to prepare, one month to film, and more than twelve months to finish. When I spoke to director Bill Condon recently,
he said that initially they did consider creating the Beast using prosthetic make-up, but because
that wouldn't have allowed a subtle facial performance to come through properly, they
didn't pursue that option too long before deciding to go high-tech and combine physical
and facial performance capture to bring the Beast to life.
The physical performance capture part involved
Stevens acting alongside fellow cast members on practical sets, which was anything but
easy as he had to wear 10-inch metal stilts as well as a prosthetics muscle suit that
weighed 18kg and a grey Lycra bodysuit covered in visual effects markers. And beneath all that, Stevens also wore a
special cooling vest which the crew plugged in between takes to help regulate his temperature. The second part of playing the Beast took
place later and began with Dan Stevens' face being covered in phosphorescent make-up, which
looks blue in ultraviolet light. With his special make-up on, Stevens then
acted out all his scenes again, but this time he did so from just the neck up, sitting alone
in a booth, surrounded by cameras to capture his facial performance, which the movie's
VFX teams then used to give life to the Beast's face on the big screen.
Belle's hometown of Villeneuve was built on
the huge backlot at Shepperton Studios, and was the movie's biggest set, measuring over
28,000 square feet. And that size was certainly necessary for
the film's first musical number which features over 150 extras, hundreds of animals, 28 wagons,
and a myriad of highly-detailed props and set decorations. When it came to designing the fictional town's
look, the movie's production designer took inspiration from a village in the south of
France called Conques. The film's story is set in mid-18th-century
France, so for the look of the Beast's castle, the art department was heavily influenced
by the very ornate Rococo style popular during that period and which included lots of intricate
designs, curved shapes, plant motifs, and gold.
As for the castle's ballroom, that features
a 12,000 square foot faux-marble floor with a pattern that was actually inspired by the
ceiling design in a Benedictine monastery in Bavaria, Germany. And the ballroom's ten huge chandeliers are
based on ones from the Palace of Versailles in France. The set for the enchanted forest around the
castle features about 20,000 icicles, a frozen lake, real trees, and a pair of 29-foot high
ice gates! It was built on Shepperton Studios' biggest
stage, which measures over 9 and a half thousand square feet, and it took the movie's crew
15 weeks to make it. Before filming began, director Bill Condon
worked one-to-one with each of his actors to fine-tune their characters' personalities
and backstories.
After that, the cast did a table read of the
full script and they even performed some of the musical numbers in full, giving the read-through
the feel of a live concert for the movie's crew! By the way, that musical read-through took
place on the 15 April 2015, which, coincidentally, was also the birthday of Emma Watson who plays
Belle, Luke Evans who plays Gaston, Emma Thompson who plays Mrs Potts, and Nathan Mack who plays
Chip. Now, have you seen Beauty And The Beast yet
and do you like how it's been adapted? And were there any scenes or costumes or songs
that you especially enjoyed in the new movie? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments
below! And if you enjoyed this video, a thumbs-up
is really appreciated and I've got more Beauty And The Beast videos on the way including
a chance to win this awesome Disney hardback book, so, do subscribe and turn on your notifications
so you don't miss my next Beauty And The Beast video. And in the meantime, check out these other
videos you might like by tapping or clicking the screen here. Thanks for watching and see you next time.
Yippee ki-yay movie lovers!.
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