The adaptation of George RR Martin’s prose cost $15 million per episode, and according to “The Three-Body Problem” he broke a record in terms of expenses. It is estimated that shooting each of the eight episodes of the creators’ new series cost $20 million (which gives us $160 million for the whole thing). $20 million at the current exchange rate is PLN 79,758,920. Let us remind you that Jacek Sasin for the envelope elections in 2020, which ultimately did not take place, spent PLN 76,507,400. Although the latest data show that the elections could have ultimately cost as much as PLN 88 million, the amount of PLN 70 million has become a symbol in human consciousness and culture.
Behind the scenes of the series “The Three-Body Problem”
David Benioff emphasizes that the project is truly unique to him: “Liu Cixin’s science fiction books combined hard, practical science with unimaginably fanciful spectacle, which is really very difficult to do, but it is new and fresh. We are trying to do something similar with adaptation. DB Weiss adds: “We wanted the viewer to feel like they were watching history, not watching TV.” “I don’t think any of us have ever done something like this before,” says third showrunner Alexander Woo, who previously worked on True Blood. He wasn’t exaggerating, because viewers will have the opportunity to see, among others: an anti-gravity scene where 30 million Mongol soldiers rise into the air. No one has ever done anything like this before, say the creators of the series.
Production on “The Three-Body Problem” began on November 15, 2021, at the world-famous Shepperton Studios in England. Filming for the series lasted nine months and ended in August 2022. Most of the production was shot in England, with locations including London, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Portsmouth, Kent, Oxford, Sussex and Bedfordshire. The team also traveled to Badajoz in Spain, the UN headquarters in New York and Cape Canaveral in Florida.
A particularly difficult challenge for the filmmakers was to combine the sets set in the extremely technologically advanced virtual reality environment of the online game played by the series’ characters with scenes taking place in the real world into a coherent and convincing whole. Teams of set and costume designers had to create visually credible costumes and sets, among others. from Renaissance England, ancient China, 1960s-era China, and Genghis Khan’s Mongol empire.
In addition, there were modern plans and interiors from contemporary Oxford and beyond. Prop designer Jack Garwood sourced as many items as possible from antique shops in China to recreate the sets from the 1960s, including cups and teapots. Very detailed documentation of real locations was also collected and then recreated. Prop designers even handmade the cigarettes the characters smoke. First they twisted them and then put them in period packaging.
‘The Three-Body Problem’ – a frame from the set of the series Promotional materials / Netflix 2024
On the other hand, it was necessary to create props that had to look like extremely technologically advanced devices that were several generations ahead of humanity’s capabilities. Therefore, we also needed a team of really good specialists in computer graphics, special and practical effects. Particularly important was the wireless Virtual Reality helmet, which the series’ characters use to play a mysterious online game.
Set designer Bernadette Caulfield says that it was one of the first things they managed to design, although it required a lot of research: “It quickly turned out that we wanted our VR set to have a perfectly smooth finish, so that no joints were visible .We had no idea how it was going to work. I think what we did was an absolute nightmare for the visual effects department, but it’s something truly beautiful. It’s a seamless helmet that looks like it was cast from a single metal that has a mirror-like shine “In addition, there is a beautiful white box with the player’s name embossed on the lid. It is a beautiful prop that perfectly sets the tone for what and how is happening in the virtual world,” the artist praises.
“The Three-Body Problem”: No one has ever done things like what we’ve done here before
In addition to the appearance of historical buildings and costumes from different eras, the creative team had to develop a way to generate such elements as: a 30 million-strong Mongolian army, breakneck lighting of virtual reality in which the sun does really strange things, and – warning, a minor spoiler! – the design of dehydrated bodies that then rehydrated and regained their original shape.
Bernadette Caulfield emphasizes that “The biggest challenge was the number of sets. Nothing was used for more than two days and these are not small things that we build for one selected day or half a day of shooting.” Deborah Riley, production designer who has been working with Benioff and Wiess since the fourth season of Game of Thrones: “I think it’s very important that the audience first believes in the world the characters live in. So at the beginning I have to shoot blindly a bit , when I’m trying to figure out what exactly the tone the showrunners are going for. Once we agree on the concept, it’s about building the plan in the time and budget we have. To create very realistic sets, you need a lot of layers of visual messages, including: props. Great set design goes hand in hand with excellent direction, cinematography and costumes. When we have all these elements, there is a chance that we will not only arrange the scene, but also inspire actors who will enrich the story for the benefit of the audience.
The team was very keen to balance the virtual visuals present in so much of the series. A lot of practical shots were shot for this purpose. The more advanced the scenarios were, the better it became clear how much different departments would need to work together to maintain a unified vision.
Visual effects producer Steve Kullback and SFX supervisor Mike Dawson worked particularly closely together. Let us remind you that SFX is all procedures that can be directly implemented on a film set, reproducing real and physical phenomena. Their use allows you to achieve results that would be impossible to achieve in a natural, uncontrolled and spontaneous way.
Dawson explains: “Our effects come on set and are shot with a lens, and then there’s the VFX stage [techniki używane w produkcji filmowej. Stosuje się je, by tworzyć elementy, których nie da się nagrywać na planie zdjęciowym. Najczęściej służą do wygenerowania takich elementów jak eksplozje, ogień, dym, cienie lub odbicia światła – przyp. red.]. We either complement them or they complement our work. Close cooperation is necessary here. When we’re recording elements like rain, wind, fires, explosions, snow, blood, our job is usually to compose and deliver the foreground of the shot, and the visual effects complement that. If we are shooting a desert landscape, the desert in the scene is shot ‘virtually’: we have sand on site and a set set. And besides, the LED lights turn on – these are visual effects.”
‘The Three-Body Problem’ – a frame from the set of the series photo: Ed Miller / Netflix 2024 / Promotional materials
It was important to coordinate all tasks with Éamonn McKinney, Green and Blue Screen Manager. He controlled the environment in which VFX effects were then applied. For production purposes, screens were created in various sizes – from meters high to over 18 meters high and wide; this way it was possible to adapt to changing requirements when shooting different scenes.
David Benioff emphasizes: “This series is the equivalent of four films in terms of visual effects, but Steve Kullback didn’t have as much time to prepare as he did with four films.” Finding specialists who would be able to prepare individual shots was a real race against time, and Kullback’s extensive network of professional connections, which brought in specialists from all over the world, was very useful here. How did it work out in practice? Viewers can find out for themselves from March 21, 2024 – then the entire season of the series appeared on the platform.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
