“Children of Men” Behind the scenes of a long take that depicts the overwhelming “situation”

Crowded cars, attacking mobs, and long takes

The most effective way this film pursues vividness is through the use of "long takes." When we think of the future, we tend to think of fast editing with quick cuts. However, what Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki pursued was a future depicted with a documentary touch. In particular, the mysterious combination of the long take and the future created a suffocating tension.

The main long takes used in this work are the scene of a bomb attack occurring in downtown London, the scene where a moving car is attacked by a mob, the scene where a new life is born for the first time in 18 years, and the scene where a new life is born for the first time in 18 years. Furthermore, there are four exciting battlefield sequences that occur at the climax.

Twelve years have passed since the film's release, and it seems to have become common knowledge that none of these scenes are completely one-shots. In other words, just as Cuaron's ally Alejandro González Iñárritu tried to do with Birdman , this film also skillfully splices together footage when necessary to make it look like a single cut. be.

However, even considering various circumstances, there is no doubt that the shooting was done with the premise of ``taking as many takes as possible.''

For example, a scene (247 seconds) in which a cramped car with five people inside is raided by a mob. The Cuarón team commissioned experts to build a specially modified vehicle that could withstand long takes to complete this extremely difficult shoot.

“Children of Men” © Photofest / Getty Images

The remodeling process is as follows. First, they removed the roof of the car and created a space above it that could accommodate Cuaron and several other staff members. A special camera was installed there that could be rotated with the joystick and could move back and forth between the front and back while capturing each person's facial expressions. Furthermore, two driver seats were installed at the tip and end of the vehicle, allowing a stuntman to operate in a low position similar to an F1 driver. This made it possible for the actors to drive in both forward and reverse directions without having to drive. By the way, it is said that the actors had to recline their seats one by one to create space for the camera's movement in the narrow interior of the car. The series of rapid movements seemed almost like choreography.

At the end of this sequence, the camera finally pops out and we get our first clear view of the car. However, what is shown here is not the special vehicle used in the shooting, but the Fiat Multipla. It is clear from this "swap" trick that the video has changed somewhere, but the great thing about this work is that you never know where. No matter how many times I watch it, I'm left dumbfounded, as if I've just been shown the ultimate magic.

Long climax and miraculous gore