Production Blog

TIANMO, CHINA

October 21, 2007 8:15 PM

The dawn is breaking over the Great Wall, the original wall made of tamped earth that towers across the horizon. The sun is real; I had the wall built. Soon Jet Li, the Dragon Emperor himself, will mount a 50-foot high colossus of himself to wake his 5,000 Terracotta Warriors from 20 centuries underground and lead them in one final battle against the O’Connell’s and the Mystical Forces of his ancient enemy played by Russell Wong who has been raised by Michelle Yeoh. Armies will clash. Good vs. Evil. The living vs. the Undead.

In other words, it’s Monday on “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.”

We have made the move to China north of Beijing in a desert valley perfect for my climactic scene. Hundreds of our Chinese art department craftsmen have labored for months to prepare the site for this day and the other sixteen like it that we will spend shooting out here, commuting an hour and a half each way on bumpy, dirt roads congested with donkey-pulled carts taking in the corn harvest. Sometimes, the cart is so loaded, it takes up the entire country road and we have to pull onto the desert floor to let them pass.

I have 2000 people (200 Americans, French Canadians, and Brits, 100 from Hong Kong, 1700 from Mainland China) working on the film now with 1500 here with me and 500 technicians in Shanghai with Vic Armstrong who is directing the Action Unit at the Shanghai Studio. There both teams will ultimately film a wild chase with the O’Connell’s in a fire-works truck on the tail of The Emperor Mummy, his Chariot racing drawn by four bronze horses right through the Bund Area of Shanghai, Chinese New Year, 1946. Sparks will fly, indeed.

The move from Montreal to here was so smooth, I was truly amazed. Producer Chris Brigham and China Producers Chiu Wah Lee and Doris Tse KarWai, and China Production Supervisors Mitch Dauterive and Er Dong Liu actually performed a miracle. Not a wrench, a lens, a crane or a roll of film enters China without enormous red tape. To move 200 westerners on a Friday to shoot on a Tuesday seemed virtually impossible—but they did it. As a guy who produced 17 films, my jaw was suitably dropped, my hat way, way off to them.

The weather has been very kind, blessing us with beautiful autumn light and D.P. Simon Duggan and I have been following the sun around to maintain the finest cross and backlights for all the scenes, shooting towards our Wall in the mornings and the Colossus of Jet in the afternoons. Even during a wicked sand storm, the sun stayed out and I kept shooting. Days start at 5 a.m. and end around 4:30 p.m. with a constant hustle from sun up to sun down.

The thing that has affected me the most is the true “ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM” feeling that is palpable here in China. That’s the Olympic slogan that’s plastered everywhere but, in daily life, it is totally true. They cannot be helpful enough whether it’s directions to a great restaurant or getting crystal sharp focus on a 600 mm. lens on take 1. I have a truly international crew including Malaysians, Croatians, Slovenians, and Taiwanese, in addition to Americans, Australians, Quebecois, and New Zealanders. There has been only harmony and hard work, smiles, translators, and the polyglot hum before and after each shot. If the world could work like this movie set, it would be a much better place to live. I have always felt a brotherhood among international film people from my first experiences at Cannes in the 1970’s. Everyone’s problems seem the same: money, time, vision. “C” camera operator Tony Cheung is a cinematographer of many films. When he, Simon and I talk T-stops, n.d. filters, lenses ratios—the words may be different but the meaning is crystal clear.

To be here at dawn, to feel the brother/sisterhood is to know how lucky I am to be successful in my career path, to be privileged to work with so many talented people, to trust my cast and their instincts, to feel the beautiful pulse of a big movie at my fingertips.

Maybe all directors have this feeling at some point in a production—but everything on “The Mummy 3” is just bigger. Jet is climbing on the shoulder of his own colossal sculpture protruding from the golden sands of Tianmo so I must close and call “Kai shi!’ which obviously means “Action!” in Mandarin.

A new Todd Grossman video called “Company Move” is coming shortly so you, too, can get a sense of all this. Until then, bye for now.

Rob

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