Director Tony Scott’s feature film adaptation of author A. J. Quinnell’s Man of Fire premiered in theaters in 2004 with Denzel Washington as John W. Creasy. In a behind-the-scenes video, Scott and the director of photography Paul Cameron provided insight into how they shot the kidnapping scene that launches the main storyline of the 20th Century Fox film.
A former CIA operative and Force Recon Marine officer, Washington’s Creasy reluctantly takes a bodyguard position on the advice of an old friend who realizes Creasy needs to feel useful. Tasked with protecting a nine-year-old girl named Lupita, the daughter of a wealthy automaker in Mexico City, Creasy initially resists developing an emotional attachment to the child but finds himself forming a friendship with her that renews his sense of purpose. One day, Lupita is kidnapped amid the chaos of a gunfight that results in three of the abductors being killed and Creasy sustaining critical injuries, sending him on a revenge-fueled path to rescue her and take down the corrupted forces behind her abduction.
In order to realize Scott’s vision for the kidnapping scene, the crew used hand-cranked cameras as opposed to resorting to digital effects, which the director noted gives the sequence a “documentary feel” in the behind-the-scenes video. Hand-cranked cameras had been the traditional means of ensuring film kept rolling at 24 frames-per-second, but Cameron explained that they were able to employ the old technique in new ways while shooting Man on Fire. “What we’re doing in this film is we’re taking it to another level and using multiple exposures […] at any given time on certain sequences,” said Cameron. “So, literally rolling the film forward, backward, different speeds. Just coming with some techniques that kind of reflect the tension and emotional quality of Denzel’s character.”
During the kidnapping scene, Creasy’s slow realization that suspicious activity is taking place is visually conveyed to audiences through a series of disorienting shots. This portion of the scene was partly filmed by having the camera dolly around Washington by 360 degrees as he observes his surroundings. The filmmakers also shot the scene by placing Washington on one end of a platform while the camera rested on the other and turning it like a merry-go-round for added effect. “So it’s like he’s ‘whirlwinding’, not knowing which way to go,” said Scott of the final result.
The behind-the-scenes video is arguably a testament to the benefits of employing classic filmmaking techniques in the age of digital effects. Even today, some filmmakers turn to practical effects instead of CGI, including Christopher Nolan, who tends to prefer capturing everything in-camera as much possible.
Of course, the video is also a sad reminder of the fact that it has been eight years since Scott passed away. The filmmaker had taken his own life at the age of 68 by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles.
Man on Fire is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Vashi Nedomansky/Twitter
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