STACK NZ Mar #82

DVD & BD

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I went into a comic book store on the last day shooting... I didn’t buy any comics but I offered my services

Strange Secret #4 The shoot was delayed due to the Shakespearean commitments of Benedict Cumberbatch. When Benedict Cumberbatch signed on to play the role of Doctor Strange , he was already booked to play Hamlet on the stage in London’s West End – and the Shakespearean play clashed with the time period set aside for the Marvel film shoot. Instead of casting a different actor, the filmmakers pushed back the shooting schedule to accommodate Cumberbatch’s work commitments. “It was incredibly flattering,” reveals the actor. “I’m very glad they did that. The role of Doctor Strange involves a weight of responsibility, but it’s a great motivator to try and do a good job and fulfill the promise they’ve given to you. It’s a very good place to start from.” Strange Secret #5 Thor: Ragnarok directorTaikaWaititi shot the movie’s tag scene between Thor and Doctor Strange, Scott Derrickson didn’t shoot every scene in Doctor Strange . “The two things I didn’t shoot were Stan Lee’s cameo and Strange’s scene with Thor at the end of the movie,” explains the director.

complicated to shoot. There are tons of time-bending visual effect scenes in the movie, which are explored in depth within five behind- the-scenes featurettes that accompany the in-home release – but director Scott Derrickson vividly remembers the most challenging sequence to shoot. “Technically, the reversal of the Hong Kong destruction was the most difficult scene of my career,” the director admits. “It was the most difficult scene by a mile, because what we had to do was unprecedented. Nobody has ever shot a scene like that

before. Every single shot had to be specifically designed and we had to do multiple passes. We basically had to shoot every shot four or five times using motion control, which is time-consuming and expensive because you’ve got to shoot things and then you’ve got to play them in reverse. You’ve got to synch the actors to the reverse version, but then move it forward. It was an incredibly complicated thing to pull off and it took weeks – but it was worth it because we created something audiences have never seen before.”

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