People aren't often aware of the monumental effort that gets put into even just the previsualization for scenes in their favorite movies and shows, like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Aside from the groundbreaking "stagecraft" tech used for The Mandalorian, audiences usually tend to be oblivious to how elaborate the crew has to get in order to pull off some of the more unlikely shots.
That's why a Reddit user and apparent hardcore Marvel fan by the name of "wandavisionbaby" decided to show off a side-by-side comparison between the production footage in a particular scene from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and its finished product. It's oddly beautiful to see the unrefined film, blue screen and all, with the always wonderful Zoë Saldaña dutifully hitting her marks with the same intensity seen in the final film. But one particular bit of surprise comes from how unexpectedly developed the computer-generated spaceship is even at this early stage in production. It's intense, but probably still less stressful than the production of Chaos Walking.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 scene involves Saldaña's character, Gamora, trying to escape a brutal onslaught from an attacking spaceship, piloted by her sister Nebula (families, right?). In the film itself, Gamora is shown racing through a desert environment while dodging blasts, eventually ducking into a cave as Nebula (played by Karen Gillan) attempts to follow in a berserk rage. Naturally, her ship begins to tear apart, as one does when crashing through a narrow passage of rock. This development effectively saves Gamora, who then goes to grab one of the giant weapons that were knocked off the ship.
https://old.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/n8t270/splitscreen_comparison_of_production_dailies_with/
The unfinished footage pieced together from various shots known as "production dailies" depicts all this, just without the fancy effects. The thing is, even considering Saldaña is essentially running around a bunch of big blue stages and pads, there are still a surprising amount of practical effects that made it into the final product. For instance, when Nebula's ship crashes as Gamora looks on, where the ship itself begins to burn in the movie, the unfinished version shows a bright orange light slowly increasing in intensity to depict the illumination from the fire on Gamora's face. It really goes to show how CGI (computer-generated imagery) can't do everything on its own.
Speaking of CGI, the shots of Nebula's ship are, for the most part, very similar to their finished versions. While the background is still just a placeholder and some of the shading and texturing work is rough, the ship's model and animations appeared to have already been established for these "dailies" even at this point in production. One might argue that just using some quick drawings would be quicker, but then again, beginning the CGI work early on could go a long way in making sure production doesn't go for much longer than expected. Plus, more CGI means the cast, crew, and even Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn have fewer props to take home.
It's already an impressive scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and now fans can see just how impressive it still was in its earlier stages. Every production is different, so it's likely that this example shows just one of many possibilities when it comes to filming. But knowing this much work is put in all the way through should hopefully give a few people some more appreciation for their favorite films.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is now available on Disney Plus.
Source: Reddit/marvelstudios