This movie is just being show on TV, and it always gets me to wonder: in the scene were the president walks to the podium, he is greeted by the people, the interesting thing was that it was from a real occasion, where the president (Bush senior) was being greeted. The film makers then digitally grabbed the head of the actor playing the president and applied to the body of Bush.
Good effect, but why was it necessary? In the end, the criminal attacks and then penis, I mean panic ensues, and the movie switches to the location (recreated from the real greeting) now used for the movie with extras and actors running around, meaning that the location and actor playing the president were there, why then not have the greeting scene then filmed with the extras and actors just there, instead of going to the now extra expense of making a digital scene with stock footage?
Well, filling a whole convention hall with extras would be pretty expensive. Plus, you’ve go to get them all to cheer at the right times, and keep their motivation and energy up through multiple takes. Plus, if there were balloon or confetti drops in the scene, that’s a whole continuity nightmare right there if the actor playing the president flubs a line after they’ve covered the stage with flecks of paper. Got to sweep them all up for the reshoot!
This way, they have the actor do his lines in front of a greenscreen. They can do as many takes as they need to get it just right. Scenes involving action that didn’t take place in Bush’s speech can be shot with a tight angle, so you can’t tell that there’re only ten or so people in the room. You don’t have to worry about someone in the crowd doing something that screws up the whole shot, because the footage already exsists in its final form and you know exactly what’s going on with them before you even start filming. And, most importantly, you don’t have to pay 500+ extras for one or more days of filming, plus providing food, costuming, insurance, emergency medical care, bathrooms, and all the other things that make up the incredible overhead of a Hollywood movie.
Bottom line: doing it this way was cheaper and easier.
I recall hearing the story about the actor’s head being superimposed over actual footage of Bush, but I thought it was the scene where is coming down the steps from Air Force One.
Miller:
On that case it would be ok, but there was no speech in that scene, the president is just walking to the stage greeting people and then the attack happens.
Shoeless:
Yes, the actor’s head was also superimposed in that scene.
