Cinematographer Stanley Cortez was fired soon after production began because his classical style did not match the naturalistic style Roman Polanski wanted for the film and proved too time consuming. Polanski had to find a replacement in only a few days and chose John A. Alonzo. As David Fincher and Robert Towne describe on their DVD commentary, two scenes shot by Cortez are in the film. The orange grove fight with the farmers (but not the following porch scene with Evelyn) and the drive back to Los Angeles at sunset are Cortez’s work.
“The breathing thing, which is interesting, because she committed to this idea early on, I mean she had worked in a old folks home and I certainly had been able to describe my experience with watching my father die, was that this breathing thing that happens is so disconcerting and it creates this anxiety (…) but it was really critical, I think, to make sure that this isn’t one of those…this isn’t a pretty deathbed.” - David Fincher, Benjamin Button commentary
(via mikbeth)
“We were setting up to do this shot. We just want to see Cate sort of tugging this child along as he’s forgetting how to walk. And she walked off down the sidewalk and they kind of edged over to the edge of frame and disappeared behind the tree. Then, right at this moment the little boy tugs on her hand and she bends down to find out what it is that he wants and he puckers up his lips and gives her this kiss. And I’m watching this on the monitor and I’m going, ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing.’ I mean, I wish it was a little more center framed, but it was amazing. And then the picture starts to bounce, the whole image starts to bounce, and I look over and Kim Marks who’s the camera operator has taken his eye off the eyepiece and he’s looking at me and he’s giving me the thumbs up and he’s nodding his head. (laughs) and I’m yelling at him, ‘Turn around and put your eye on the eyepiece!’ We had to go back in and stabilize the shot. It’s one of those things where the happy accident becomes your friend and then of course your enemy is enthusiasm and excitement.” - David Fincher, Benjamin Button commentary
(via mikbeth)
“You know, there’s all these guys in shorts with mag lights and walkie talkies and stuff walking around. And here comes Katherine (Cate’s dance double) and she walks up in identical wardrobe as Cate. And she starts dancing. Just the sound of people’s chins hitting the floor was like, ‘Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud’. You would think a scene that takes place in the dark with a woman dancing for a man in a gazebo would be, ‘Yeah yeah, let’s get this done’. But the grips were like, ‘Maybe you should do one more.’ ‘I don’t know Dave, is that your best work’?” - David Fincher, Benjamin Button commentary
(via mikbeth)
“Now, my friend Tarsem [Singh] did me an incredible solid and we cut him loose— Brad was gonna be in a bunch of different places over the Christmas holidays. So we sort of sent him an Araflex and he flew to all these places. Originally, we were gonna go to ten other locations. So in I think in four days, he shot us all the material we could ever want on, what I call, ‘The Razor’s Edge’ montage. If you gotta get somebody to do second unit, you might as well get somebody who can shoot better than any DP or director that I know of. We would watch it and go, ‘My God, it’s so beautiful’.” - David Fincher, Benjamin Button commentary
(via mikbeth)
“The fabulous Elle Fanning. We shot this scene 3 times. The first time there was all this stuff where Benjamin tried to do a headstand. The scene was just too long. So we cut it back to this. Then we ended up having a different actress play the grandmother, so we re-staged it. But always, Elle Fanning was ready and prepared. And amazing. She has this amazing life in her little face.” - David Fincher, Benjamin Button commentary
(via mikbeth)
“Some people take umbrage with the notion that an 80 year-old man should be underneath sheets with a 7 year-old girl. And my response is, that’s the fucking point of the scene.” - David Fincher, Benjamin Button commentary
(via mikbeth)
Julia Ormond filmed her scenes last, two weeks before end of shooting. During that period, Cate Blanchett had to undergo four hours of daily makeup to play a near-dead Daisy. She could only lie on the hospital bed for a short period of time due to excessive heat generated by studio lights and the blankets.
The movie props were donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
Principal photography was targeted to last a total of 150 days, excluding the time it would take to create the visual effects for the metamorphosis of Brad Pitt’s character to the infant stage.
