M. Night Fans

Production Update #6: N.Cali is wrapped; crew is on the move again

Rohan — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:02:38 +0000

As the cameras began rolling director Shyamalan called action at Will Smith and his son, Jaden in Humboldt Redwoods State Park; Mr. Shyamalan for years had the plan to make a film with Will Smith. The busy men decided to wait a little longer though, but for the right reasons. Will wanted to collaborate with Shyamalan on a special project. As the years past, finally they got to sign the dotted lines on a paper with the heading in bold text that read, After Earth. As the cameras rolled in silence under a gray sky in Redwoods State Park after wrapping Philadelphia and before that Costa Rica, Shyamalan’s brows remained furrowed focusing on his artistic vision.

On the 58^th day, which was Tuesday, May 2^nd,the crew stopped the cameras and commenced packing their belongings. After Earth represents a belief, says Shyamalan that as an artist sometimes you have to be raw and exposed. The film tells the story of a father (Will Smith) and son (Jaden Smith) whose ship crash lands on earth, one thousand years after it has been abandoned by mankind. The script was originally written by Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli), rewritten by Shyamalan and finally polished by Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) in late 2011, and also by The Hurt Locker scribe, Mark Boal.

Times-Standard was invited to the ‘After Earth’ base camp, a state-of-the-art tent city that bloomed and disappeared on a small gravel bar off of Dyerville Loop Road in less than two weeks. The production camp, hidden from roads and well-guarded, was the staging ground and feeding area for the more than 400 people who had been working since last Monday on the science fiction film. The camp was a miniature city of hyper-concentrated activity, with dozens of gleaming white semi-trailers, trucks and vans. The center of the camp is a large kitchen and cafeteria where — as the crew broke for a 30-minute lunch break — hundreds of people gathered to eat salmon steaks, chicken, ribs and a variety of salads and desserts. Even California Highway Patrol officers and State Park Rangers joined in on the meal. Executive Producer Bennett Walsh sat in his clean, quiet trailer to talk about why the film chose Humboldt County.

”I think the parks have been phenomenal — because they’re a character in the film,” Walsh said. “The director, Will — they love what they’ve been getting here.”

Walsh, whose credits include the “Kill Bill” films and “The Kite Runner,” doesn’t stick out in Humboldt County with his shoulder-length hair and calm demeanor. He leaned back in his chair as he talked about traveling around the world making movies. “This is definitely one of the top locations.”

Walsh said the film’s production designer had a distinct vision, a “smashup” of the North Coast’s redwoods and the rainforest of Costa Rica, where the crew filmed earlier this year. Extensive scouting in Humboldt and Del Norte counties left a difficult choice, but the filmmakers eventually decided on Humboldt Redwoods State Park because the groves were less dense than others found in Redwood National Park.

The crew in their off hours enjoyed local entertainment and food, sharing notes about their favorite restaurants in the county. Walsh didn’t divulge any specifics on the project’s budget, but the sprawling base camp, meals and transportation — not to mention a $60 per diem for the 400-member crew, according to Walsh — indicated that it was no small sum.

On the sets of his films, if Shyamalan’s eyes are on his actors, his attention is also on the crew walking around making sure that everyone is in the circle. Every detail was covered from a steady stream of shuttles between set and base camp to small flags placed around every poison oak plant. Walsh said that the county’s experience with filmmaking influenced the decision to film in Redwoods State Park. Every place we’re going to, we’re going for the look, says Walsh. You also have to have the infrastructure. We soak up a lot of resources. We roll in like a storm.

Now some of the crew members are in search of a different land. Shyamalan is going to shoot the film in Utah for 6 days; few members are already in the region scouting locations while rest of the crew will take rest for 3 weeks. According to Shyamalan, editing will begin from Monday 5/7/2012.

[Updated] Production Update #5: Shyamalan rolls the camera in N. California

Rohan — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:07:20 +0000

M.Night Shyamalan and crew have invaded the small town in Northern California on the coast as we reported it earlier. (See our article below) The plan is to shoot in this area for 8 days; main shoot is what Shyamalan called it before they arrived in Northern California. Today (4/23/12) the filming commenced at Burlington Campgrounds as the crew called ‘Action’ while the smoke machines were running. And, towards the end of the day the crew began moving all the big equipment as it seemed like the shooting was wrapped at the Burlington area.

Besides the Sony truck and a Universal Studios truck moving around at the basecamp, a group of costumed and turbaned athletic men were leaving the filming site, and it looked like a tribe from the future chasing Will and Jaden. Note: We will try to keep this segment of the production updated as long as Shyamalan and crew are shooting in N. California. So, check back soon. [Updated]: Today we obtained a sketch of the turbaned men, which you can see below next to the crew member images that were posted yesterday. The sketch gives us an idea how the turbaned figures looks like. They can be described as sleek, androgynous, along with being athletic. What you guys think?

Update: Here we go, we obtained some more images from the set. Yesterday (4/24/12) towards end of the day crew headed towards Founders Grove, where they will be shooting all Wednesday if rain doesn’t interrupt the process. Thanks to ‘Elizabeth’ for giving me the permission to use the images of the crew at work below.

Will bring more updates later.

[Updated] After Earth: Filming location in Northern California

Rohan — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:27:26 +0000

Looks like for Mr. Shyamalan everything is going according to the plan. He is on top of the schedule and ardently occupied with the filming of After Earth. Last week, he finished filming in Philadelphia and the whole cast and crew packed their belongings to travel to California. The filming will commence this week from Weot, a remote location in the redwood forest. The town of Weott is located in the far Northern California historically known for its surrounding majestic redwood forests. The town is named for the Native American Wiyot Indians that have lived there for years and still command a dominating and fascinating percentage of the area. After the filming in California Mr. Shyamalan is going to take a 3 week break and will start shooting in June from Utah for 6 days. According to Times-Standard the shoot will take place in some of the county’s old growth stands through from April 23 to May 5.

The filming permits show that first and second unit crews will film during this time with at least three scenes being filmed by Shyamalan…Permits with the state park also offer an idea of the action that the forest will see over the next few weeks. It lists aerial stunts, minor pyrotechnics and a chase scene that includes actors swimming across the Eel River. The permits also say that Mattole Road may be closed for several minutes at a time during filming on certain days.

A number of major movies have been filmed on the North Coast, including “Return of the Jedi,” “Outbreak,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “The Majestic.”

And, in case those who are not aware of the plot, it is about a young man (Jaden Smith) and his estranged father (Will Smith) crash land their spaceship on Earth, one thousand years after it has been abandoned by mankind. The father, badly injured from the crash, is captured by a remaining Earth-dwelling colony, leaving his son to find and save him on a planet that is now a strange and dangerous place. The film is co-produced by Smith, Shyamalan and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Production Update #4: Night to take 3 week hiatus, and my short Q&A with Khalid Brooks

Rohan — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:48:16 +0000

M.Night Shyamalan’s After Earth is still more than a year away and to keep ourselves occupied and our readers entertained, we’ve been focusing on the production of the film from the beginning. If you happened to be not cognizant of the whole process, I suggest you scroll down the front page of our site and read all the articles and see the images from the set of the ‘After Earth.’ The film is being shot in four different locations; they commenced with Costa Rica and then headed to Philadelphia, where they have been shooting for weeks now. On Thursday, April 12^th, Mr. Shyamalan tweeted, “We are flying to California on Thursday,” and also stated, “Philly is wrapping on Wednesday.” Considering the day and date of his tweets, I am going to say that they are going to wrap Philadelphia this coming Wednesday and on Thursday they will commence their work on the film in Northern California (location unknown) to complete the main shoot. After the California shoot, Mr. Shyamalan is going to take a 3 week hiatus, and then resume shooting on June 6^th from Utah.

And for the past week or so, I’ve been in touch with the passionate and hardworking Mr. Khalid Brooks via Twitter. You can follow Khalid here, and if you like to you can follow me on Twitter as well. Khalid was Jaden’s stand-in, who got the opportunity to work with M.Night Shyamalan for the first time, and since I am a huge fan of the man, I wanted to get Mr. Brooks’ opinion on working with Night. And, he was kind enough to answer some of my questions. It’s been a fun and short Q&A with him, which you can read below.

Rohan: I would love to get your opinion on working with M.Night Shyamalan and the experience you had working with him.

Khalid: Night is awesome to work with. He’s very warm and he makes working around him fun. I think the movie will turn out great.

Rohan: Cool. Is this your first time working with a well-known director? As a stand-in, did you have any lines?

Khalid: Yup! And, no, I didn’t have any lines, but I got to do scenes and rehearsals with the actors before Jaden.

Rohan: Nice! What’s your favorite film of M.Night Shyamalan?

Khalid: My favorite Night films is basically… all of them! I love how he directs his films, and it’s also great to watch him LIVE.

Rohan: Thanks a lot, Khalid for taking the time to answer my questions. We wish you great success in future.

Khalid is done working on After Earth now; we wish him a great success in future. Khalid is not only an actor, he is also a singer, dancer and writer as he loves the entertainment field. We will continue to bring more updates, so check back with us again.

Production Update #3: 32 Days Done

Rohan — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:32:51 +0000

Despite all the negative remarks from the regular folks to most of the critics and bloggers post ‘The Last Airbender’ release, Mr. Shyamalan as a writer/auteur remains confident. Few weeks back, he packed his gear along with his crew and flew to Costa Rica to shoot his next project After Earth, a film, which stars none other than one of the most famous and talented actors of our generation, Will Smith. We’ve been for the past months or so trying to keep M.NightFans.com up to date with all the latest news and images from the set of After Earth, a way to show support and most importantly appreciate the work of this confident artist, whose past films has inspired us for years.

32 Days done. This short phrase was typed by him via Twitter, a milestone in my opinion at least for an artist, who has stayed confident all these months despite being stone-walled by negative words. Mr. Shyamalan on March 18^th revealed that they wrapped Sophie Okonedo, who in the film plays a mother to Jaden and wife to Will. Any reports of images and stories from the set of the project has remained a bit down lately, in calm manner That’s the style of the director. We published an article, which you can read below. It sheds some light on the crew’s movement; we reported that by the end of February 2012 the crew will move to Philadelphia and will keep rolling the cameras until April 2012. For the past week, Mr. Shyamalan had an intense moments as he tweets, on the cockpit of a ship. And, states that “wait till you see the performances from Will and Jaden.” – Yes, Mr. Shyamalan. We cannot wait to see the performances. Shyamalan will shoot After Earth in Philadelphia until April as reported, and then he will head to Northern California.

Production Update #2: After Earth Costa Rica Location Wraps Shooting

Rohan — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:14:48 +0000

For the past few weeks, Mr. Shyamalan has been sharing some interesting pictures from the set of his new film, After Earth from Costa Rica starring Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith in the lead. After Earth tells the story of a father and son who crash land on earth 1,000 years after mankind has deserted the planet.

The cameras commenced rolling on February 6^th, 2012 in Costa Rica rainforests, via Twitter, Mr. Shyamalan and via their facebook profile and whosay profile both Mr. Will Smith and son, Jaden Smith have been sharing their pictures, which can you find in the articles below. The cast and crew of the film arrived in Costa Rica on February 4^th, and a day later, Shyamalan himself arrived on the set. This is the first time that he is going to shoot in digital and on February 8^th, he revealed that he is using the new Sony F65 camera. Today, Mr. Shyamalan again via his twitter stated that he has wrapped the shooting in Costa Rica; now the cast and crew of the film will head to Philadelphia, where they will be shooting through the end of April 2012. One confirmed shooting location in the Greater Philadelphia is the Budd Manufacturing Facility. As soon as we obtain information regarding more location information, we will update the site immediately.

The shooting in Costa Rica was a smooth process for the whole crew. There were no major delays or anything except one day they had to halt the shooting due to heavy rainfall, and also a minor earthquake occured one day, which didn’t do any harm or damage to anything or anyone. After that they resumed their work. After Earth will hit the big screens on July 2013.

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After Earth: New Casting Calls and a confirmed filming location in Philly

Rohan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:46:34 +0000

Alright, some more interesting updates to share here. According to NBC Philadelphia, After Earth cast and crew is going to pack their belongings from Costa Rica later this month, for they will be filming in Greater Philadelphia next. The fans in Philadelphia keep an eye out there and report to us some pictures if you can. We are not sure how many locations are there in Philadelphia that they will be shooting, but one confirmed location is Budd Manufacturing Facility at 2450 W. Hunting Park Ave in North Philly.

And, Heery Casting just updated their information regarding two new casting calls. They are looking for a young actor who can pass for Jaden Smith at 3 and teens who can play cadets. Read on for more details:

Young actor needed

Heery Casting is looking for a young actor, age 3-4 years old, to play Jaden Smith at age 3. This role will shoot in the Philadelphia area during March, 2012. The film is being directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Both SAG and non-union will be considered. Must be an African American boy, age 3-4, and MUST resemble actor Jaden Smith.

Please email: heeryproject@gmail.com

Please include in the body of the email: -Name -Age -Height -Weight – all clothing sizes -Phone numbers -2 photos: A close-up & A full body (jpg format) taken within the last 3 months NO HEAD SHOTS! -SAG status & SAG membership number (If applicable) Put “young Kitai” in the subject line.

___

Teens for “After Earth”

Heery Casting is looking for TEENS to portray military cadets to work as background on a feature film to be shot in the Philadelphia area.

This is for the new M. Night Shyamalan project. Shooting will begin at the end of February and run thru April 2012.

NEEDED: Teens of all ethnicities Ages 14-19 in EXCELLENT Physical Condition SAG and Non-Union

All roles are considered local hires and you must have your own transportation and housing in the Philadelphia area. Pay will be at the SAG background rates. Both SAG and non-union may apply.

If interested and available, email: heeryproject@gmail.com

Please include in the body of the email: -Name -Age -Height -Weight – all clothing sizes -Phone numbers -2 photos: A close-up & A full body (jpg format) taken within the last 3 months -SAG status & SAG membership number (If applicable)

Put “CADET” in the subject line.

If you are interested to be a part of this film, go ahead apply for either postition at heeryproject@gmail.com

First Look at Jaden Smith in After Earth Costume

Specter — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:44:44 +0000

Shooting is underway for the sci-fi/adventure project After Earth, starring father/son pairing Will Smith and Jaden Smith, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

The cast and crew are currently in Costa Rica, and have been sharing photos from the set over the last week. This one shows the young Jaden in costume. He seems to also look like he’s growing up pretty quickly. He’s looking more like his father all the time. See the full costume after the break.

If you want to know the plot of the movie: it centers on a father and son who crashland on an earth that has become uninhabitable, and the son, considered a failure as a warrior, is put in a position in which he has to save his father, who has already proven his worth as a hero.

Zoe Kravitz and Sophie Okonedo co-star star as sister/daughter and mother/wife respectively.

Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana) was recently brought on to polish up Shaymalan’s script, and Colombia Pictures is planning a June 7, 2013 release.

Some photos from the sets of Shyamalan’s After Earth

Rohan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:05:03 +0000

Here come some fresh images from the sets of Shyamalan’s sci-fi movie After Earth starring Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith. The production is currently underway in Costa Rica. Via Twitter Mr. Shyamalan yesterday revealed that this is the first film he will be shooting digitally; he is using the Sony F65. And, he stated the reason he chose this type of camera is because of its ability to convey naturalism as well as its technical latitude. The forests in Costa Rica are very dark.

And today Will Smith via his official facebook profile shared some interesting pictures of himself and his son Jaden from the sets. Enjoy.

Production Update #1: Shyamalan’s directing begins

Rohan — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:37:29 +0000

Things are moving fast lately; last week Shyamalan’s crew boarded their planes to Costa Rica where they will be filming in one of the rainforests there. Location is unknown and again for that if anyone in the area is available you can always contact us for latest production updates. According to Mr. Shyamalan, After Earth is a dream project for him. We are excited as much as he is. We will continue to bring palatable updates and images as soon as we obtain them. Via Twitter, Shyamalan released two images from the set of the film in Costa Rica, which you can view below. In the one of the images he is looking down at a lake thinking how to get a reflection shot, and the second image he is standing behind the trees directing his crew.

M. Night Fans

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