WORLD LOCATION SCOUTING FOR ALADDIN 3477

October 18, 2012By Aladdin3477Production News

Beginning this December, international location scouting for the upcoming Aladdin 3477 movie will begin! Director Matt Busch and his partner in crime, Lin Zy (who serves as the film’s Producer and Visual Choreographer) will be traveling the East for nearly a month by Jet, plane, train, car, foot, and elephant! The countries visited will range from India to China, and everywhere in between.

The extensive trip will serve 3 purposes, according to Busch. “For one, I’m expecting to get some incredible inspiration over there. The movie is going to feel very ethnic, and I think it would be silly for me to try and convey these locations in the future without having been there in the present.” The second purpose is to of course scout potential filming locations later in production.  Thirdly, Busch will be doing some preliminary filming for background plates and test special effects shots.

We’ve got some really wild shots we’re planning. For compositing purposes, we need establishing locales to begin with. But we’re going all out. Not just static shots, but tracking, and even flying!

The journey will begin in India, primarily in areas near Delhi (New and Old), Arga, and Jaipur. Busch comments, “Underneath the Sci-Fi, I want this to have a Hindu flavor to it. I’m convinced that India will be a Strong location that’s central to the story. I’ve always had that in my head, so I’m looking forward to starting there.”

After a week in India, the small crew will spend a week in Thailand, visiting exotic locales near Bangkok and Chaing Mai. “Apparently, there are certain locations you can only get to by elephant, so I’m looking forward to several elephant rides throughout the journey.”

Next, the adventure moves to the Kingdom of Cambodia, visiting ancient temples in areas like Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, and Teay Srei. “We’ll be spending Christmas in Cambodia!” exclaims Busch, “I’m very intrigued by Cambodia because I know nothing about it, but when I was researching the kind of temples I wanted to have, visually, Cambodia kept coming up over and over again.”

The crew will be making one-day stops in places like Jordan and Japan, but the last major leg of the tour will be a week in China. Busch plans to shoot throughout Shanghai and Hong Kong, cities that both already look like worlds of tomorrow. Busch and Lin Zy will celebrate New Year’s Eve in Hong Kong.

A lot of people don’t know this, but the original Aladdin story takes place in China. The names are Arabic, but this classic Arabian Nights tale is actually set in China.

In addition to filming plates for the production, Busch plans to document the travels for the upcoming series of Aladdin 3477 Video Production Diaries, which will be available to see here, as well as the Aladdin 3477 Facebook Page and Busch’s YouTube Channel.  The first Video Production diary is expected to drop this November.  Stay tuned!