After the BTS ‘leak’ of Deadpool 3, the director Shawn Levy admitted that he would want to minimize green screens and shoot this MCU film in real locations. Does it sound familiar? Because it seems that shooting mega-budget films in real locations is the new trend. Maybe it’s time to minimize the usage of green screens. Then movies will start to look like movies, and not like cartoons.
Deadpool 3: Leaked BTS show real location shooting
Deadpool 3 is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios. It is intended to be the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and a sequel to Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). Shawn Levy is directing the film. Principal photography began on May, 2023, in London, and at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England (we’ve been there at the Sony BURANO presentation) under the working title Tidal Wave. George Richmond serves as the cinematographer, after previously working with Levy and Reynolds on Free Guy. There is no trailer to show yet. However, a few BTS footage/videos were leaked (intentionally?).
Green screens are ‘Out’ – Real locations are ‘In’
This is what the Deadpool 3 director said after set footage was leaked: “It bums me out that photos have leaked online. But this is the price we pay for committing to real locations. I made a decision very early in prep that even though Deadpool is now in the MCU, I didn’t want another Marvel movie shot on a green screen stage with digital set extensions”. In case this reminds you of other movies, you are not wrong. Actually, the first to implement the ‘real locations’ approach in MCU was Chloé Zhao, when she decided to shoot the mega-budget Eternals by utilizing indie-filmmaking methods. Zhao applied the shooting style of Nomadland to the MCU project. Indeed, Eternals was shot in real locations, most of the time, with particular emphasis on scenery. Hence, we can say that Zhao pioneered the indie-style approach and methodologies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which, until that point, heavily utilized green screen sets.
Dedicated cinematography techniques to allow shooting on real
In recent years, more and more projects have been adopting the ‘real-location’ concept over green screen sets. We can name a few, and they are big ones: Top Gun: Maverick, The Creator, Extraction, Oppenheimer, and more. It appears that the most successful films, and with an unlimited budget, prefer shooting ‘on-real’ rather than building a complete set of in-studios. The Creator is the extreme reference for that. The team has utilized compact prosumer cameras in order to elevate maneuverability, operate lean, and allow travel to real locations all over the world. In Top Gun: Maverick, the team used a real flying fighter jet equipped with a specialized camera setup, in order to enhance realism. And it worked decently. In Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan shot indie-style with IMAX film cameras to amplify authentically. In Extraction, ultra-dangerous stunts were performed on location and not in a controlled studio environment. All of these could be safely executed inside the studios. Nevertheless, they preferred to go shooting outside, with all the hassle. Just to make it more immersive, and to grant a better experience for moviegoers. We totally get it, as movies will start to look like movies, and not like cartoons. Do you agree?
I don’t want to hear them complaining. They are the director, besides the producers they are the boss of the production. They can choose if they want green screen or to shoot on location
Budget permitted
There is way too much green screen utilization in today’s movies. There is way too much CGI and all other forms of digital manipulation as well. Yes, please—let’s go back to making movies that look and feel the way they’re supposed to. That means: shooting real locations, employing practical special effects, shooting on real film, and not post-processing everything to death.
On another note, I have a suggestion for this website. Can you please get rid of the “click to expand full article” nonsense? If I’ve already clicked on the link to read the article, of course I want to see the full article. I mean, that should be obvious. Ever since this “feature” has been added, I’ve been less and less likely to follow links to this site or spend much time perusing it. Simply put, it’s annoying as all get out. Thanks.