``JFK'' orchestrated bashing, Oliver Stone's challenge to Kennedy assassination Part 1

Obtaining filming permission was extremely difficult

---

The filming of the movie once again put Dallas in the middle of the Kennedy assassination, causing psychological unrest among the people. This also affected the obtaining of permission for the surrounding buildings. In particular, the negotiations for the use of the Textbook Depository Building, which is said to have been the scene of the assassination, were difficult because permission had to be obtained from five commissioners individually.

The sixth floor of the building where Oswald is said to have fired the shot was a museum and could not be used for filming. Therefore, the seventh floor, which has the same structure, was built by stacking 3,000 cardboard boxes for textbooks to recreate the atmosphere of the time, but Stone insisted on shooting the sniper scene from the sixth floor. It was clear that the realism would be enhanced if Gary Oldman, who plays Oswald, was standing by this window to shoot the sniper scene. In anticipation of this, the trees visible from the window were trimmed to the same shape as they were at the time.

However, there were about 25 board members in the museum on the sixth floor, and it was impossible to stand at the window without the permission of all of them. In a normal shoot, it would have been natural to lend it out for free, but in the end, $50,000 was paid to the museum. Furthermore, the time was strictly limited, and only five people, including Stone, the film crew, and the actors, could be in the room during the shoot, and finally permission was granted.

“JFK” (C)2016 Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC. All Rights Reserved.

But there was an even bigger problem. Production designer Victor Kempster and art director Alan Tomkins wanted to restore the exterior of the Textbook Depository building to its original appearance. They planned to restore what had been demolished, change the window frames to their original colors, and recreate the sign. Initially, permission was granted without any problems, but then one of the five commissioners said he would not allow any changes to the building's exterior. Stone and his team persuaded the other three commissioners to side with them, and they voted to approve the renovations. At one point, Stone was worried that they would have to recreate the assassination scene in a city other than Dallas, but five months of negotiations paid off.

"JFK" began filming at Dealey Plaza in Dallas on April 15, 1991. A crew of 800 people, including local staff, came to the $4 million assassination site, which recreated the November 22, 1963 assassination. More than 10,000 Dallas residents came to watch the filming.

When the voice called out "Action!", the extras stationed along the road applauded and cheered. A limousine carrying an actor dressed as Kennedy approached slowly along the smooth road. Then a gunshot rang out. When the camera called "cut," the limousine reversed back the way it came, and then started moving again, and again the gunshot rang out, and the Kennedy actor lowered his face. Stone recalled the scene as follows:

"We blocked off traffic and shot the president multiple times... It was like a psychic. We shot him in a variety of positions, in a variety of styles. We just kept shooting." (Oliver Stone)

The two-week shoot at Dealey Plaza involved more tedious procedures than a typical movie shoot. At the time, 35mm film was the norm, but because the images were too clear, 16mm film, which has a rough grain and is also used for newsreels, was also used extensively. In addition, 8mm film was also used, just like the footage taken by bystanders at the time, in an attempt to blend the archival footage with the new footage in a natural way. If you're not familiar with film, it's hard to tell what is real and what is new. However, this method would soon be highlighted as a major problem with JFK.

Thus, filming seemed to have started smoothly, but perhaps it was sacrilege to recreate and repeatedly shoot a nightmarish moment in history. Soon after, an incident occurred that froze the set.

Part 2 is here

[Main references *This article includes the first, second and third parts]

"Uncovering the Truth Behind the JFK Kennedy Assassination" (by Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar, et al., translated by Nakamata Machiko and Hakamazuka Noriko, Kinema Junposha), "Oliver Stone: The Man Who Turned Films into Bombs" (by James Riordan, translated by Endo Toshikuni, Shogakukan), "Everything I Need to Know About Film: I Learned on the Battlefield of Vietnam" (by Fredrika Horstmann, translated by Ieda Shoko, Media Factory), "Chasing the JFK Assassin" (by Jim Garrison, translated by Iwase Takao, Hayakawa Bunko), "Filmmakers Speak Out" (by David Breskin, translated by Yanagishita Kiichiro, Daiei Publishing), " The Truth About the JFK Assassination: Kennedy's Pathologist Breaks His 28-Year Silence! ” (Bungeishunju), “Empire of Images: Modern History of American Television” (Simul Publishing), “Kinema Junpo”, “Screen”, “Cine Front”, “Weekly Bunshun”, “Weekly Yomiuri”, “Toki no Horei”, “Asahi Journal”, “Asahi Shimbun”, “Yomiuri Shimbun”, “Mainichi Shimbun”, “The New York Times”, “ JFK” theater pamphlet https://www.nytimes.com/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Text: Guinea Pig Yoshida

Born in 1978. Movie critic. Another name is Ichiro Yoshida. He has written for ``Eiga Hiho'', ``Kinema Junpo'', ``Eiga Geijutsu'', ``Scenario'', etc. His books include ``Introduction to film criticism! ” (Yosensha), co-authored with “Film director Takeshi Kitano. ” (Film Art Company) and others

Watch now

View work information

"JFK<Director's Cut/Japanese dubbed complete version>"

Blu-ray now on sale

¥1,905+tax

Released by: Walt Disney Japan

(C)2016 Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC. All Rights Reserved.