The big news about the Wachowski Bros’ adaptation of Speed Racer was originally that they were shooting the film in such a way that everything in the frame would be in focus, just like how everything in a cartoon is in focus. I was under the impression that this would require heavy duty camera skill and technique; turns out that it might just require green screen.
Empire Online’s Sex Guru Olly Richards talked to dreamy star Emile Hirsch*, who said that the whole movie is being shot 300 style. Says Hirsch: "There were no sets, just us and the green background. I haven’t seen anything of it finished yet, there was a lot of trust [in the Wachowskis] involved. It’s going to be crazy. Was the monkey real? Yes."
I have to admit that this is a little disappointing to me. I was expecting plenty of CGI, especially in the racing scenes, but the world of Speed Racer (in my memory, anyway) isn’t so stylized and wacky that it needs to be completely computer rendered. I was hoping to see the Wachowskis do their revolutionary ‘all in focus’ technique on sound stages and sets. And if the whole thing is green screen, why the hell did they need to go all the way to Babelsburg, in Germany?
We’ll know more about the look of Speed Racer soon enough – with a May 9, 2008 release date, we should be seeing some kind of footage by Christmas.
*After Into the Wild he would be my boyfriend. If I was a girl or gay. Or if he was willing in general.