The Hyper-Stylized World Of "Speed Racer"

Speed's quest for racing glory takes him around the world, from the Thunderhead racetrack in his hometown to the multi-continent Casa Cristo 5000 road rally to the Grand Prix in Cosmopolis. To create the varied settings and action sequences, the Wachowskis called on the expertise of some of the most innovative designers, visual effects artists and digital photographers in the field, many of whom they'd worked with in the past. The directors handed the critical task of overseeing the creation of the film's 2000-plus visual effects shots to visual effects supervisors Dan Glass and Oscar winner John Gaeta.

"We wanted to have locations from around the world that would normally be impossible to shoot, like exotic foreign cities, arid deserts or icy mountain roads," explains Owen Paterson. "Places where most directors wish to shoot but couldn't because it's either too remote or can't accommodate a film crew. Instead, the decision was made to take the best of those rare and exotic locations and 'virtualize' them, allowing the visual effects department to incorporate them into scenes."

The final imagery in "Speed Racer" was created using actors against green screens joined with high-definition digital image captures of far-reaching locations, including Italy, Morocco, Austria, Turkey and Death Valley. These images were captured by a small camera team using ultrahigh resolution digital still cameras and later pieced together to create 360-degree panoramic backgrounds known as QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) spheres, also informally referred to by the "Speed Racer" team as "bubble photography."

Dan Glass notes, "Because the bubble photography unit is made up of only a few people and requires considerably less equipment than a full-scale production team, we were able to use exotic locations that typically don't give access to large film crews."

"The idea is to get freer and freer with our creative process," offers Gaeta. "When the images captured were tiled together, it created a panoramic view in which you could put the camera where you want in postproduction, and see what you want to see at pretty much any focal length. We expanded on our 'Bullet time' concept from 'The Matrix' with 'Racer time,' which is similar to 'Bullet time' but includes attention to planes of depth."

The Wachowskis were the first filmmakers to utilize Sony's F-23 HD camera, which had not yet been released to the public when principal photography began.

"We used the first five F-23 cameras that Sony made, and the cameras performed beautifully," says director of photography David Tatersall, who had worked on "Star Wars: Episodes II and III," both shot in HD. "This was a perfect choice for the look that Larry and Andy were aiming for. We composed our shots to look very sharp, super saturated and very glossy."

"We pushed the colors beyond the usual limits to produce what we called 'pop¬timistic' or 'techno-color' imagery," adds Glass.

To render the film's myriad of visual effects shots, the Wachowskis achieved what they called a "live-action anime look" using a visual-layering technique that allows the foreground, mid-ground and background to stay in focus, much like that of traditional 2D animation. This technique came to be called by the filmmakers "2½D technology." Glass explains, "In the film, each layer-the foregrounds, mid-grounds and backgrounds-were created separately. The way these planes move against one another has a quality we've all grown up seeing in cartoons; it's like a second language to children." Intentionally striving for emotion over realism and blurring lines of perspective, for instance, was quite liberating for the visual effects team. "We're playing against perspective and creating images that deliberately break the rules."

"Anime is such an expressive format," states Gaeta. "In the cartoon series, which was of course hand drawn, there are unrealistic perspectives deliberately created to spark emotions. It's less about what's real and more about what the artist wants you to feel. Translating this into live action involved a process that is, in the simplest terms, like creating moving collages."

While many of the sets and locations in "Speed Racer" were virtual versions of the locations or computer generated, a handful of practical sets were also built. Production designer Owen Paterson describes the world of "Speed Racer" as "taking place in a fusion retro-futuristic era, a parallel reality where the optimism and fashion of the 1960s is juxtaposed with the hyper-competitiveness and technology of the future. Larry and Andy didn't want the world of 'Speed Racer' to be confined to a specific era."

Two contrasting milieus are presented in "Speed Racer": one that the Racer family inhabits, which is safe and suburban, and another that is sleek, ultramodern and

overrun by corporate advertising. "The Racer family lives in an uncomplicated suburban

landscape where the colors are warm, bright and very saturated," says Paterson. "We

did a lot of the concept work in Los Angeles and were influenced by the mid-century

modern style of homes there."

In contrast, Royalton Industries is based in the ultramodern city of Cosmopolis, a

colder reality that is lit artificially by outdoor billboards and corporate logos. Paterson

states, "We've taken the skyline of a bustling, modern city like Shanghai or Hong Kong,

both architecturally and from an advertising sense, and then applied that to the very

multinational conglomerate-driven world run by Royalton. It's global branding and

marketing on steroids." Inside, Royalton's office is a spacious but sterile environment,

largely silver grey, but accented with shades of purple to convey a sense of power,

wealth and extravagance.

As the Racer family is the heart of the film's story, so too was the Racer family

house the heart of the production's shoot. It was on this set that many of the film's most

endearing family moments unfolded. Additionally, unlike a typical suburban home, the

focal point of the Racer family living room was the Mach 5, parked right in the middle of

house.

Coordination between Owen Paterson and costume designer Kym Barrett was

essential. Says Barrett, "All the characters have a color palette: Pops and Mom are red

and green, respectively; Speed wears blue and white. To set off those costume colors,

we used a lot of orange, turquoise and fuchsia pink in the house. We tied it all together

with red floors, 'Racer Red' as we called it." For sequences shot against green screen,

Barrett had to find alternative color schemes as anything green would disappear

onscreen.

"In my first meeting with Larry and Andy, they told me they wanted rich primary colors," continues Barrett. "Instead of getting into too many specifics right away, they started the process by describing their concept of creating a live-action cartoon for all ages. Once that was established, they left me to my own devices."

In referencing the original cartoon, Barrett found a stylized pop Americana of the 1960s, in which her Racer family costumes would find their root. Barrett used primary colored fabrics, at times patterned, to achieve a retro-futuristic look. Speed Racer's outfit in the cartoon series remained the same in every episode: the trademark blue polo shirt with white collar, white trousers and tan racing gloves, as well as a red kerchief and red socks. When initially creating the "Mach Go Go Go" hero in the 1960s, Tatsuo Yoshida was inspired by Elvis Presley's look in "Viva Las Vegas." Barrett took creative license to update the appearance of Speed, but gave a nod to the original series by outfitting Emile Hirsch in Speed's classic outfit for the Casa Cristo 5000 rally race.

Trixie's color palette was candy-colored pink, matching her zippy helicopter and spirited personality. "I loved my outfits," says Christina Ricci. "My character's very girly, but also a little bit of a tomboy."

Barrett had Spritle and Chim-Chim in mind when she approached Los Angeles-based designer Paul Frank, whose monkey face graphic graces the wildly popular line of apparel and accessories for children and adults. Frank invited Barrett to visit his company's warehouse, where she found the famous monkey-faced pajamas and thought they'd be perfect for Spritle.

Barrett recalls, "As Paul and I talked, we thought, 'Why not give Chim-Chim the same pajamas but in reverse?' So Paul agreed to design a graphic of a boy's face for us, from which we created Chim-Chim's pajamas. Everyone got a kick out of them."

For the look of the various racecar drivers, including Snake Oiler and Gray Ghost, Barrett aimed to create outfits that reflected the established car designs. "Since the cars were designed in advance, I sat down with Owen and discussed the motifs, colors and textures for each driver," explains Barrett. Snake Oiler's scaly, rock star-inspired costume and the Norseman-inspired attire of the Thor-Axine Inc. team were Barrett's personal favorites. "I was fortunate because many of the drivers were stunt men who were game for anything and not worried about looking silly. We had a great time with the costumes."

To design and handcraft the leather racing jumpsuits used in the film, Barrett sought the help of two skilled leather makers from London with whom she had worked on "Eragon," Patrick Whitaker and Keir Malem.

For Racer X, says Barrett, "We wanted to retain the Masked Racer's imposing physical presence from the cartoon. Racer X is a superhero, but not the caped kind, so we came up with a look that combines the essence of a superhero and motorbike racer. We decided to create a leather suit that was more everyday, one you could walk around in that didn't need a lot of maintenance, and didn't feel as though it was pulled out only to fight crime."

"One of the first things Larry and Andy said after giving me the part was, 'The suit's gonna be pretty tight,' which was probably their way of saying, 'Get in shape,'" laughs Matthew Fox.

Once on set, the leather jumpsuit presented a unique physical challenge for Fox. "The suit heats up really fast. I was only able to do short takes at a time during the fight sequences before I had to cool off."

By far the most challenging fight scene was staged on the set created for an overnight pit stop during the Casa Cristo 5000 road race. Ninjas hired by Royalton's fixer Cruncher Block invade the hotel rooms of Speed Racer and Racer X for a late night assassination attempt.

"The fight sequence involving Racer X, Speed and the ninjas was a lot of fun to create," says supervising stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski. "The tone for each of the fights was decidedly different. The ninja that fights Racer X is pretty serious, so he gives Racer X a run for his money, but the ninja that fights Speed is actually more of a 'nonja,' because we wanted it to be a little more comedic."

"When Racer X throws a punch you can expect some bone crunching," asserts Fox. "His blocks are very efficient and have a real rhythm to them." Fox enjoyed the benefit of extensive martial arts training prior to working on "Speed Racer." "I've practiced Tae Kwon Do for a couple of years and competed in tournaments in the past, so the martial arts stunts in this movie gave me a chance to revisit those techniques."

However, training for fight sequences was a new experience for Emile Hirsch.

"Working with the stunt team was pretty challenging. I mastered a little bit of Kung Fu

and really enjoyed it. I liked learning the different sequences, and came to appreciate

how much commitment and focus it takes to be a good stuntman."

"We gave Emile the basic building blocks for becoming a stuntman. He is a fast

learner," adds Stahelski. "Speed Racer" marks Stahelski's fifth collaboration with the

Wachowskis, having worked on all three "The Matrix" films and "V for Vendetta."

"The brothers love working with the same people over and over," comments Joel

Silver about the Wachowski brothers' repeated collaborations with such behind-the¬

scenes artists as Owen Paterson, John Gaeta, Dan Glass and Kym Barrett. "It gives

them a familiar shorthand, which is key on any film set and especially on a project of this

scope."

On his first experience working with the Wachowskis, Hirsch offers, "I had no

idea that they would be so funny. You see 'The Matrix' trilogy and think, 'Those are

pretty serious guys.' But they're both fun-loving people. I think they're just kids at heart;

that's why they were the perfect directors for this project. They really love what they're

doing and it shows."

Fox says, "Working with Larry and Andy and such an incredible cast and crew was amazing. There were moments when the entire cast was assembled, and you'd look around at everybody in costume and you could hardly believe you were there. We had an awesome time."

"It was an honor to work with the Wachowskis," Rain remarks. "What I love most about this project is that the story is about hopes and dreams. So when kids see this movie, the story might give them hope that if you try very hard, you can accomplish amazing things."

Silver concludes, "We have wanted to make this movie for a long time, and we're fortunate enough to have had such a great team of actors, artisans and technicians working together to drive this 20th-century classic into the new millennium. We're thrilled to have the chance to introduce 'Speed Racer' to a new generation and very proud to make a family film that audiences of all ages can enjoy."

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