If It Bleeds We Can Kill It / Part 3 Behind The Scenes Look At The Predator

So at last we get to the special effects and, in a movie like Predator how could we forget them.Between the main character disappearing before our very eyes, Carl Weathers having his arm blown off and the infamous 'razor break' scene coupled with, of course, the amazing multi-vision sight of the Predator.

Let us start with the 'Dylan losing his arm' scene where Carl Weather’s character decides to take 
on the Predator while wielding two MP5 machine guns. Fans that can recall the VHS version will find this scene slightly hilarious. To be fair I hadn't personally noticed the wardrobe malfunction until I saw it on one of those movie mistake sights. Since then however, I couldn't take my eyes off it-finding it so damn obvious!

 

  

The mistake I am referring to was evident when he turned, screaming(as he had just been shot with a blazing hot bolt of plasma),  and as his arm fell from his side, its tattered fleshy remains continued to fire the gun in an epic slow motion, bullet stuttering scene of violence-it was. Only when you looked more closely and realised that his severed arm was in fact tucked behind his back and a carefully placed prop took the fall. By the time DVD version came out, this part had been edited, but I thought I'd put a picture in for comedy value. Classic misdirection.

For the most part, the Predator spent the movie ‘cloaked’ appearing as nothing more than a smudged blur as the technology of its armour bent the light around it. The special FX team on Predator achieved this through use of a red suited predator (the normal use of a green suit/background wouldn't have created any contrast against the jungle so red was employed)They then later used computer aided graphics to add in the blurred image over the top of the red suit to give the impression that light was passing through its cloaked form.

 

The heat seeking vision of the predator was achieved by amalgamating different spectrum's into one. Firstly, the heat of the jungle was intense and therefore the standard heat vision cameras would not have been able to decipher the body heat from the jungle itself. So by taking two cameras, one switched to opposite colour schemes to pick out the heat in blues, and then the other camera to work as standard red and oranges, they were then able to amalgamate the two images so that when played back the actors heat signatures became clearer against the blue background of the jungle. Thus creating the hunters ability to pick out its targets through the dense jungle canopy.

Throughout the movie there were many stunts performed with props and a lot of well timed explosives. The scene for example, when ‘Blaine’ falls with a hole burst in his chest and Mack picks up the mini-gun and starts dismantling the jungle with thousands of rounds of angry bullets fired in vengeance. The scene had to be well constructed, with explosives placed in the trees and logs, all timed to go off at precise moments to give the effect that the carnage was being wrought with the weapons fire which, in all honesty, would not level the jungle in the manner it did. According to the movie, all you need is a Gatling Gun, grenade launcher, M16 Assault Rifle and some MP5 machine guns and one can completely level the jungle of all trees and life for fifty yards. Gotta love movie thinking!

Lastly we get to the Mack razor scene, the one effect that still makes me cringe to this day. The more I think about it, the more I wonder how he never tore a larger piece of his cheek off in the process, that is of course had the razor been real.

The movie has him neurotically shaving his smooth skin over and over as he lies in wait of the Predator. Losing focus, he begins to press even harder against his face until eventually the razor snaps against his cheek and leaves a thin line of blood in its wake. Apart from being a good advertisement for Bic, I have yet to see anyone do this in a movie since. The scene did however, remind  me of an incident I had myself when I bought twenty razors from the pound shop. Yes you guessed it, they cost me a pound, 5p a razor. Although this scene is very similar to what happened when I tried to use them!

For this scene to work, the razor prop was drilled up through the handle allowing a thin tube filled with the fake(I hope it was fake blood but for this blog lets just say they used hamster blood-really spark an outrage here)

By removing the blade it allowed him to shave over and over and then, when pressed, the blood left the top of the razor onto his face. With respect to Bill Duke, he did indeed snap that against his skin with unpredictable outcomes. I am not sure how many razors they went through for that part but in the interests of safety

DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!

If It Bleeds We Can Kill It: Predator Part 2 Behind The Scenes

With the cast all introduced, lets get to the good stuff!

So I won’t lie, the first time I saw Predator I felt this overwhelming urge to drop down and start doing some press ups followed by climbing up the front of my bunk beds to hang and do pull ups-Arnies’ enormous guns were enough motivation to get even the laziest person out of their beds and into a gym.

But once my puny little young guns (literally as I believe I was 7 year old when I first watched it. You can debate the bad parenting later) began to burn, my motivation began to wane and as I slumped down onto the floor, the movie still playing away, my focus began to change.

Especially when HE walked on screen. 

A 7ft alien Rastafarian  creature with more gadgets that Macgyver could ever hope to make. The younger generation won’t remember Macgyver but for those that do-here is a nostalgic pic that has absolutely no relevance whatsoever to my blog other than the guy was awesome.

OK Focus, the Predator. Played by the late gentle giant, Kevin Peter Hall

Kevin was used to playing suited characters due to his enormous size. He stood just over 7ft and had been cast in previous movies to play the character ‘Harry’ in Harry and the Henderson's.

What Kevin brought to the role of Predator was something unique. The original model for the predator had been this long legged, almost bird liked head creature than moved awkwardly through the jungle. The majority of the movie had already been shot prior to the introduction of the actual Predator character, and once it arrived on set, the director John Mcteirnen voiced what everyone else on set were thinking “uh oh”

The original design was underwhelming, too small and its running gait could only be described as ‘gangly’ not really the look you want for a sophisticated hunting alien that travels the galaxy searching for worthy prey!

With the budget nearly spent and the movie missing its key character, the director sent the original suit back with the simple message “You surely don’t really want us to use that”

Luckily they agreed with him and thanks to a suggestion from Arnold, they called in Stan Winston, a special FX guy that had worked with creature models before in movies like the Terminator and Alien.

Stan quickly sketched up some drawings (much of what we see the Predator as today) and on a flight over he was sitting next to another famous director James Cameron, whom he had done work with on the Aliens movie. James saw the images of the Predator and made a simple comment that would change how we see the hunter forever. He said “I've always wanted to see a character with mandibles”

Now remember that James Cameron was not working on the Predator, he was merely making a suggestion and one that would stick in Stan’s head, motivating him to do extra drawings and include the mandible face that we all know is hidden under the helmet.

So with the new suit made, it was back to the heated jungle of Mexico to finish filming.Climbing into the suit, Kevin very quickly began to get a feel for the movement and traits for the Predator, none of which were instructed to him but in fact his own interpretation of the alien. The director loved every bit of it and couldn't wait to get filming.

Credit needs to be given to Kevin, as in the intense heat of the Mexican jungle coupled with the inch thick rubber/latex suit he was wearing, he apparently never complained once. The head section of the costume could be removed and the cast tried, where possible, to get this off asap when not in shot. But credit has to be given to the gentle giant for not complaining and getting down to business even after 40 takes in the afternoon sun.

With all the hard work that he put into the movie and the intolerable conditions he endured without complaint, director John Mcteirnon thought it was only fair that he should get his face into the movie, casting him as the rescue helicopter pilot at the end. Kevin got one line in the entire movie.

I won't repeat what he tries to say.