SUMMER 2016 FILMING UPDATE WITH MATT BUSCH

June 26, 2016By Aladdin3477Community News, Production News

Writer/Director Matt Busch gives a sizzling Summer update from the set of ALADDIN 3477:

“Hello! As I write this it’s nearly 3am and I’m taking a break from putting together rough edits on Aladdin 3477! We are still waste-deep in principal photography but the light is at the end of the tunnel! I know it seems like an extraordinary amount time to be in physical production for a movie, but when you see what we’ve been pouring our blood, sweat and tears into, I think this will really surprise everyone. We have lightning in a bottle for sure. I’ve never been more excited or passionate about a project.

“As per usual, the lack of updates is not an indication of production in a lull, but rather the opposite. I’m dying to show everyone some concrete footage and stills, but I know from the promotional side of all of this, there is such a thing as too much too soon. Lots I’m dying to announce- soon! However, here is a quick update of what we’ve been up to since the last update…

“Last Fall we started shooting all of the scenes that take place in Aladdin’s apartment, which is basically a giant abandoned storage container he has souped up as his man cave. Aladdin 3477 is a globe-trotting adventure, but the apartment is the set that has the second-to-most amount of screen time, so we went all out to make it really cool. Wait until you see this place Aladdin calls home!

“Because of scheduling conflicts, we didn’t wrap Aladdin’s apartment scenes until January of this year. Unfortunately, this meant some of the actors had to shoot in below-freezing weather, wearing nothing more than sandals, cotton pants and thin T-shirts! There were many scenes at the edge of an open hangar door, meant to look like they were standing against a sweltering Asian backdrop. The actors were definitely troopers and pulled it off well!

“In the spring of this year, we built and shot not one, but two different life-size spaceship sets. These were really fun for me as they bring more of a sci-fi element to the setting. The first ship is called a SLAG Dropship. It’s one of the ships for the main villain, Lochan Shyamal. It’s super dark and has a intricate Alien vibe to it. Mostly shot for small scenes showing SLAG warriors and RoMows traveling from one place to another, but there is also a prominent fight scene that takes place on board. I don’t wan’t to say much about it yet, but it’s brutal and the hardest-hitting thing we’ve shot so far! Even our cameraman got a bloody nose while shooting it!

“The other ship set we built was a life-size interior of the Ratana Katana, which is Keeta Ratana’s cruiser. This set was so cool and was easily the hardest one for me to say goodbye to! The ship looks nothing like the Millennium Falcon, but the inside cockpit has a similar set-up where you can easily see our characters interacting as they travel.

I think this will really surprise everyone. We have lightning in a bottle for sure. I’ve never been more excited or passionate about a project.”

“At the very beginning of Summer, we were able to shoot a few new SkySail scenes. This is Aladdin’s ride- it’s kind of like a small sailboat that soars in the sky. We also managed to film our epic romantic flight with the Princess. While this story is nothing like Disney’s Aladdin, this is kinda like the “A Whole New World” scene, minus the singing.

“A new thing we tried experimenting with (to successful results) was switching from shooting composited shots with blue screens as opposed to green screens. When we started production, my head said to go with blue, since I figured with most objects in the sky you’d want blue reflections or spill (if any). I was strongly advised then to go with green, because allegedly green has more numerical information and is easier to key out (or something like that). So for the first two years, we had been using green screens, but I’ve never been 100% satisfied with the results. Even if the key is perfect with no spill, there are still at times noticable green reflections bouncing back into people’s faces, etc. So beginning with this new set of SkySail scenes, we have invested in a ton of blue screens to see if there is an improvement. To be honest, there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable difference in whether blue or green keys better. However, the fact that blue is bouncing back into the objects instead of neon green… Huge improvement for sure.

“Just a couple weeks ago, we wrapped our first Hong Kong marketplace scenes. These were wild- we transformed our backyard into a beautiful mini-market and filled it with extras. The scenes came out awesome and you’ll get to see how our version of Aladdin gets the five-finger discount on select items!

“Which leaves us to what we are doing next! We are just now finishing construction on the epic Taj Mahal throne room, but we still have lots of painting and detailing which will take weeks. (Not to mention, Lin Zy and I will be in London next month exhibiting at the Star Wars Celebration, and yes we will have some Aladdin 3477 sneak peeks to show!) In addition to the Taj, we have more Hong Kong city scenes to shoot, as well as a fight scene that takes place on the SkySail! Lots more to share soon not only about the production but some tie ins, events, and fun ways you can be involved. Stay tuned- and be sure to follow me on Instagram where I’ve been showing sneak-peek photos from the set: http://www.instagram.com/Matt_Busch_Instagram.”

-Matt Busch