
Marvel Recreation Universe (Behind the Scenes)
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Marvel Recreation Universe (Behind the Scenes)
Posted by Dustin on 2021-10-14 at 3:53 PMMarvel Recreation Universe: Behind the Scenes.
We are very happy to announce that the Behind the Scenes Phase of Mru has begun!
For those who don’t know: Marvel Recreation Universe is a Fan Series that Recreated 1 scene from every single Marvel Movie in chronological order using VFX, and Costumes.
It started out as friends filming Recreations in a studio and ended up starring Professional Cosplayers and Actors from all over the world by the end of the Season.
We have decided the Main Story of the Making of Mru will be told through the Power of a Short Film and the Behind the Scenes interviews initially recorded for our documentary will be redesigned as short Behind the Scenes featurettes for each episode.
Me and my team are happy to present our very first Behind the Scenes Featurette:
Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 1: The Winter Soldier.
The WS SR provided many creative challenges and questions including: Do we film on a Blue Screen? How to record a fight sequence on a highway? and much more. in this video, we break it down:
Dustin replied 6 months, 1 week ago 9 Members · 111 Replies -
111 Replies
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Truth be told, I am so hyped when I see your projects because I am also an Avengers fan. You got so many people involved, it’s just amazing!
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Thank you, Istvan! Appreciate the kind and thoughtful reply.
I, myself truly am astounded at how many people the Marvel Movies have impacted and how much the cinematic landscape of filmmaking has changed forever due to these films.
Wait till you see our next production:)
Our final video for the year is our biggest production yet.
All our Recreations have been leading up to one massive video, releasing later this December. represents everything we have been building and I think everyone will see the Mru from a new perspective after it premiers.
Can’t wait for you to see it!!
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I just read this and now I am very excited, Dustin! 😀 When will the video be available for us to see?
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Thank you, Maura! Great question. 😀 We are currently planning for a December 27th release date.
However, we are giving ourselves some leeway, should we run into any unforeseen issues so December 28th, or 29th at the latest.
The finishing touches are being placed on our production now and then it will release!
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Understood. So it’s safe to say that we will not pass into the next year without seeing the latest video 😀
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Marvel Recreation Universe had one of the most unique sets in video producing.
Unlike many productions, we were not inventing something new, but instead reenacting something we have high respect for with a cast and crew brought together by the impact of the Marvel Movies.Multiples of people coming together to recreate scenes that we look up to from movies that we love.
Every cast/crewmember knew what we were creating, and everyone was pushing hard to do these iconic moments and characters justice.
Here is a highlight reel of what the experience was like on Mru’s Sets.
Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode2: Best of/on-set highlight reel.
Link:
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The Thor The Dark World Scene Recreation required us to find a new Thor actor, color grade a costume using Visual Effects technology, and more.
In this episode we break down everything it took to bring our Thor: The Dark World SR to life:
Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 3: Thor the Dark World.
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Our final video for the year is a special one.
From the very beginning, we planned out Mru as one movie, telling a singular and powerful story across one Scene Recreation from every single Marvel Movie, (Avengers (2012) – Spider-Man Far from Home (2019.)
Which we split into parts for a broader reach across YouTube.
Now that dream has become a reality.
All our Scene Recreations can now be experienced as one gigantic movie and massive video.
This includes: Extended Scene Recreations, Scene Recreations never before seen on these forums, Full-Screen versions of Scene Recreations previously only available in Side by Side Comparisons, Endgame Style like- Credits featuring everyone who ever worked on Mru, and more.
Features:
– Avengers (2012) Battle for New York Scene Recreation
– Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1 VFX Test Scene Recreation,
– Extended Director’s Cut Avengers Endgame Cosplayer Portals Recreation: 20 seconds of additional footage, improved color grading/lighting Audio fixed for a smoother and pleasing experience to the ears, All shots in Full-Screen High Definition, and more.
– All Scene Recreations no Intermissions,
– Restored Deleted Scene Infinity War SR,
– Endgame like- Stylized Credits featuring everyone who ever worked on Mru, and the country they are from.
– Captain Marvel Scene Recreation One Screen Version,
– Far From Home Scene Recreation with Original Film Audio and fixed White Balance issues,
-Extended Winter Soldier High Way Fight Scene Recreation,
-and more.
This film took me and my team six years to complete. (First day of Prep/ planning December 2015 – Final day of Compositing December 2021.)
This is the way Marvel Recreation Universe is meant to be experienced.
This is The Marvel Recreation Universe Movie.
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The video is finally out! Yeey! 🎉🥳
You all have worked really hard to create these recreational series! Your dedication and energy have attracted many people in this project 😀 I am always happy to see such projects and I can only hope that this is just the beginning of something bigger, because it has a lot of potential!-
Indeed! 🙂 👍
Thank you, Maura! Appreciate the support you have given our Production on these Forums.😀
The Possibilities for the future are exciting!
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You should all celebrate this milestone! I am still astonished by the work you have done considering you worked on a low budget. Imagine what you could accomplish with a big budget.
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You all used green screen to great extent come together. Your work proves that there is talent even though we might not even know it. I looked over and over again at the costumes for example.
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Thank you, Istvan!
I am a huge believer in starting no matter what the Budget. We began with Cardboard helmets for our first VFX Test Recreation and then moved to actually officially licensed costumes after that, our costumes kept improving slowly with every SR.
One of the reasons I believe, we were able to get professional Cosplayers on board with the project is because they saw how hard we were pushing and trying to make our Costumes work with a high-level amount of Green Screen.
It all goes back to our final scene of the Film. It represents one of the main reasons we made Mru.
Peter asks Mysterio how could he do all of this? and Mysterio replies: Because people didn’t believe, and now they will believe anything. That is the story of our Film. We wanted to show Filmmakers what truly is possible.
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I have a feeling that you are just starting to show filmmakers what truly is possible! Your words and Mysterio said it best! At first people only mock you but as time goes by and you start developing your project, they start believing in it!
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Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 4: Deleted Scene: Infinity War: Thor arrives in Wakanda Scene Recreation.
A deleted scene from our Recreation Movie. This scene was cut because it proved too be similar to our Thor Ragnarok Thor vs Hulk Scene Recreation and slowed down the pacing/flow of our film.
Each of the five main characters of our film, Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, and Star-Lord have individual character arcs and their journeys within our film.
This was meant to be Thor Actor Jake Kaufman’s big character moment.
This scene also features Jake Kaufman’s best performance as Thor.
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I am very happy to see more content from you, Dustin! 🙂 I really missed your videos!
Do you have more deleted scenes that you did not use? -
Thank you, Maura! 🙂 Good to be be back. Mru has officially returned with our BTS content for 2022! Great question. We have a couple of other deleted scenes, that did not make the final cut of our film. We will be revealing them in the future as our BTS series continues.😀
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I can’t imagine the amount of work you had to put to create just this deleted scene. Great job team!
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Have you thought about recreating scenes from the new spider man?
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Great question. I have. We have a Vfx Series for our YouTube audience that recreates scenes from new Marvel Movies and Disney+ Shows. The Recreations come out 1-2 times a week and that is where all of our SR’s from the latest Marvel productions are created.
It helps our channel build up an audience while I put most of our focus on finishing the BTS story of our film.
We recreated 5 scenes from the new Spider-Man film. (3 released, 2 filmed and are moving to the Post-Production phase.) -
I should check your YouTube channel more often! 😀 I had no idea you started recreating scenes from Spider Man as well! That’s great, Dustin!
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Thank you, Maura!😀 We have a lot of Spider-Man fans on our channel!
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Thanks! I just saw the elevator scene
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Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 5: Directing.
In this episode, the Cast and Crew of Mru discuss experiences on set and what it was like to work with me on this Production.
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I agree with them, there is no one better to direct this than you, Dustin! Love these videos 😀
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You should be in the crew of the new superheroes movies. You would do a fantstic job!
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We were close. We were an extra on the film Cherry featuring Spider-Man star Tom Holland and Directed by the Russo Brothers, Directors of Avengers Infinity war and Endgame.
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You were close – but don’t give up! One day in the future, when a new Marvel movie will come out, I will look on the credits to see your name and I will tell my grandkid that I know Dustin!
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I am still impressed by the cosplay quality. I wonder how they made the props.
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Thank you, Istvan! Our Iron Man Cosplayer has a short series of images on his Instagram home page showing how he made his Iron man suit. Link: https://www.instagram.com/captcash/
And our Thor Cosplayer created a video series showcasing his Thor Cosplay build step by step on his YouTube channel. Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvrSEUK3czZgKiXsLdIzqonc3OyOfIQPY
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Wow, Dustin, I was looking at the video with T hor’s Axe from Avengers Infinity War. The whole process seems so complex but he explains it so well 😀
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Thank you, Maura! Daniel is a fantastic Cosplayer and teaches the mechanics of Cosplay expertly. 🙂 Cosplay is not a diffacult as people first guess, when you start breaking it down in to steps.
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Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 6: Endgame Cosplayer Recreation Breakdown part 1.
In this episode,we break down our Endgame Cosplayer Recreation shot by shot. part 1. This is a special video release because we are celebrating 50 public videos on our channel!
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You’re the coolest person I’ve met online, Dustin! I have so much to learn from you!
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Hello Dustin!
If my teachers would see your “Marvel Recreation Series”, they would be so impressed! Do I have your permission to share a few of your videos in one of my classes?
Amy-
Hi Amy! Thank you! Absaloutley! Thank you for asking. All of our videos are available free to share with the public and are designed to help inspire and educate Filmmakers. Feel free to share them with as many people as you like! (As long as their are no reuploads of our content to other YouTube channels.) Dustin
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Thank you for answering me! I am so excited to share them in my next class, directly from your youtube channel!!
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Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 7: Age of Ultron
Our Age of Ultron Scene Recreation required us to create a Motorcycle scene from scratch, figure out how to strap a shield onto Captain America’s back, and more.
In this episode, we break it all down.
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I enjoyed watching Age of Ultron but I did not expect to see it in my feed this morning. Seeing more from MRU always makes me happy.
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Thank you, Alex! Age of Ultron is a great Marvel film. And Ultron, is one of my favorite Marvel villains. A big regret, I have with Mru is not being able to feature a SR with Ultron. We chose the Hydra base sequence as it worked better for our film, but I’ll always be saddened that we didn’t get to play around with Tony Stark’s A:I nemesis in our series.
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The recreation is more difficult than it might seem at first. Most people look at a movie and they don’t see what goes behind the scenes. They don’t even see what is behind the scenes of a recreation smaller project. There is a lot of work involved. A lot of work!
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Thank you, Julia! Well said. There is always a lot more work behind the scenes on productions than what meets the eye!
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Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 8: Ant-Man
Our Ant-Man Scene Recreation required us to blend cgi water with practical water background plates, find creative solutions to costumes, and more.
In this episode, we break down everything it took to bring our Ant-Man Scene Recreation to life.
This SR is very special to me, as it was one of the few non-negotiable sequences in our film.
Many Scene Recreations changed during the brainstorming and Pre-Production of our Film, (Our Winter Soldier SR was originally the Elevator sequence before the it was changed to the Highway fight.)
but from some of the earliest planning of our film, this SR remained the same.
Link:
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I had no idea that you changed between “the Elevator sequence” to “the Highway fight”. Did you manage to film anything in the first option you had, or the whole brainstorming took place before you even started filming?
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Great question! Thankfully, we changed our Winter Soldier SR in the brainstorming/planning sessions before we filmed our Winter Soldier Scene Recreation.
However, it was difficult letting go of a Recreation that had been apart of our Film’s layout for a long time. Me and Jon Anderson (Captain America/ Spider-Man actor/ Co-creator of Mru, and Executive producer) discussed the Elevator sequence back when we were filming our very first sequence for the film: Guardians of the Galaxy 1 Scene Recreation. (June 2018.) and it was one of the reasons he was onboard to perform Steve Rogers in our Production.
Jon was unsure of the change to the Highway Fight SR at first, and it took some time discussing it with him before we made the switch.
Ultimately , due to actor drop outs , I was the only actor available at the time to perform the Shield Thugs, and we felt that Multiple versions of me battling Jon as Cap in an elevator would have been too distracting for the audience, so the Elevator SR was dropped.
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And I thought my assignments were difficult. You had to overcome so many challenges!
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Thank you, Julia! The greater the challenges, the greater the rewards!
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So many cool tricks and improvisations. I had no idea how you did most of them when I saw the videos.
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I recently watched “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and I was thinking about you the whole time. Ok, that didn’t sound right. I was thinking of how you would recreate some scenes from the movie.
Do you have it in your future plan though? 😀-
We have something in common, Istvan! I was thinking to ask the same question!
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Lol. Great question! The question has crossed my mind as well. Currently, the answer is no. Recreating a scene from Doctor Strange Multiverse of Madness is not in the plan.
I don’t want to get caught in a trap of recreating scenes from new marvel films when I would rather be doing other things in Filmmaking.
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I understand. Well, then, now I am excited to see the other projects you will be working on. Would you mind giving us a few “spoilers” ? 😀
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Thank you, Istvan! Sure.😀 The number 1# reason we made Mru was as a pitch for Marvel to direct a Film or Disney+ Show for Marvel Studios. That is the plan. We have been pushing this goal since the beginning of Mru.
We have emailed, the heads of visual development at Marvel Studios, had a person who has worked with MS in the past send a message for us, Met the guys in person who worked on the High way Fight in Winter Soldier, and showed them images of our Highway Fight SR and Mru, messaged different people associated with MS in just about every way you can think of,
We had a crew member when we were an extra on Cherry setting up a in-person meeting with the Russo brothers, (Directors of Avengers Endgame) before a jealous crew crew member, (Head of extras) Fired us.
And much more. Later this Summer, we will be mailing a personalized letter to MS Headquarters with a Usb that has our stuff on it, and a stylized E-book about the making of Mru filled with pictures and BTS insights along with a Giftcard, thanking them for their time as one of my mentors suggested.
I will continue to go for this dream until the last Mru BTS video is out. I know they know Mru exists by now, Now, it is all about getting a meeting with them.
The people crazy enough to think they can, are the one’s that do
-Steve JobbsWhen this happens, I’ll do that.
If it fails… Plan B. I’ll make a Feature Film instead.
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This sounds like the kind of story you end up reading years later on how a famous person started. I wish you the best of luck, Dustin! You got us all excited, I am confident you can get them excited as well, once you get the chance to meet them in person!
Plan B sounds great as well!
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Thank you, Istvan! I agree. If you guys feel it, there is a great chance they will as well!
Thank you!
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It would be amazing if in a few years from now, I will go to the Cinema and see a Marvel movie directed by you. I would bring all my friends with me at the cinema and tell them all “Dustin made this!”. They already know your MRu videos 😀
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That will be an incredible day. And an amazing movie! The thought of that day helped me get through the most difficult days of Mru.😀
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Here, in my country, we have a saying.
If they throw you out of the door, don’t give up! You can still use the window to get back!And if they throw you out of the window as well, you will just make your own door in the walls!
Hope that makes sense in English as well. Bottom line is: keep on trying, don’t give up and you will be successful! One way or another! -
Thank you, Lili! That is a great saying. It translates very well to English.
Thank you for the encouragement!
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Regardless of the project that you will work on, I wish to support you, at least by following your progress and watching your work when it is done. You have done a great job with MRU and there is no doubt in my heart that you will do an even greater job with the next filmmaking project! Good luck, Dustin!
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Thank you, Alex! I am excited to be creating original content and stories again!
(After our MRU Bts series finishes.)
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And here I am, complaining that Uni is tough. Have you considered making a tiktok vlog about your plan and document its progress as well?
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Great question! I have, but decided against it. The last thing I want is for this to become a public campaign. That feels to me more like it is being forced on the studio and is the opposite of my intentions.
I would rather represent myself for consideration quietly, behind the scenes the way Studios prefer it , than loud, and aggressive.
There was a Batman fan film that created a petition to get the Director to create a D.C series for HBO Max a year ago. Nothing has happened so far, and to me that feels too demanding and undiplomatic.
Even if a petition succeeds, it would not be a decision the executives made for themselves. And the atmosphere on set would reflect that.
I would rather MS come to the decision out of wanting to work with me, than anything else.
If they decline at this time, than I will accept the choice, and move on.
There are always opportunities in the future to work with MS, when I have more productions under my resume.
We will have a BTS video on our channel, where I will mention it in the middle, but other than that, We’ll leave the decision to MS.
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I did not think of it this way. I completely understand what you say.
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Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 9: Captain America Civil War Cap meets Spider-Man
Our Captain America Civil War Scene Recreation #1 required us to add additional camera shakes and movements, layer 3d objects on top of each other to create a more dimensional look , and more.
In this episode, we break down everything it took to bring our Captain America Civil War Scene Recreation #1 to life.
This Scene Recreation is interesting because it was not in the initial Film Layout, and was a last minute addition to our Film.
When we were prepping to film all of Jon’s Spider-Man scenes, I realized that after the long wait for Jon to perform Peter Parker, ( The role was promised to him in March 2019, and we began filming him as Spider-Man in October 2020) we did not have any sequences featuring him fighting as Spider-Man.
So we added this sequence to the film that he way could jump/flip and get in action as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
(Initially, Spider-Man and Captain America battled in this SR, (Filmed, but no vfx added.) and we cut it in the editing room, as the final dialogue interaction between Cap and Spider-Man worked better for the sequence.
(Also, we had another action heavy Captain America Civil War scene, with our Captain America vs Iron Man SR, so the battle between Steve Rogers and Peter Parker got cut.)
This SR is our most popular SR, and I think a lot of that comes from Jon’s genuine respect and love for the character of Peter Parker. It really comes off the screen and you feel it.
Link:
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It seems to me that John was the real MVP here, because he successfully completed two tasks. It is not easy to be both Captain America and Spider-Man.
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Agreed. He was. Jon was able to give both characters distinct personalities and make the interaction believable.
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Something I am still learning how to do in my own short films which I have to prepare for my Assignments.
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It can take some practice. The guideline is to make each character distinctive in their own way. Through different camera angles, outfits, hair cuts, and personalities per character. Character 1 could be sitting, while character 2 is standing, Character 1 eats while character 2 twirls a pencil in their hand, etc.
One of the best actors to do this, is Ryan George, from the popular series Pitch Meetings. In the Behind the Scenes episode of the show he gives some great tips, and explains how to cut your audio so it sounds like two different people are talking in the same room at the same time.
Link: https://youtu.be/OEaSnmf1JwY
Another great example is Seth Rogen portraying two different characters in the film An America Pickle.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/tHsqU8yK3Nc
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Marvel Recreation Universe BTS Episode 10: Captain America Civil War Cap vs Iron Man
In this episode, we break down everything it took to bring our Captain America Civil War Scene Recreation #2 to life.
Initially, the plan was to film both our Snow themed SR’S (Age of Ultron and Iron man vs Cap) practically, outside in the Winter. When, all of Mru’s filming schedule was transferred to the summer due to actor availability, both of these episodes changed to cgi, and blue screen.
This SR is interesting, as it is the only SR filmed at our Studio where Jon does not perform the role of Steve Rogers.
We looked at the our planned recording layout for Jon’s final Principal Photography day and I realized Jon was not going to be able to complete everything required within the given time frame.
Our Cap vs Iron Man, SR is one of the most intense Scene Recreations acting wise, with a fairly tight schedule and I did not want to drain all of Jon’s energy and acting capacity he would need later across the day, so I performed both roles for this SR.
This SR became the second most challenging SR visual effects wise in our Film, as every punch/ reactions to punches during the fight for Iron Man and Cap were filmed separately and then synced in the edit.
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Thank you, Maura! Sometime you can’t find the background you are looking for and need to create your own!
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There is no better method to unleash your inner createivity than when you are in a situation where you need to find a way to make it work. I believe this is how innovation is also born.
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Thank you, guys! I agree. 85% of Filmmaking is solving unexpected problems and creating improvisations to situations.
A big part of Recreating, is finding a way how to recreate these iconic sequences. -
In this episode, we break down everything it took to bring our Doctor Strange Recreation to life.
This was the 1# most challenging Scene Recreation Visual effects – wise that I composited in our Film. And it was the SR, I was the most afraid of when we started editing the sequences in our Film.
We pushed the visual effects for this SR further then we ever had before at this point, as Doctor Strange is Mru Creative Consultant, Christian M.’s favorite Marvel Film and I wanted him to love this SR.
Christian M’s involvement with Mru dates all the way back to very begining of our Production.
Christian was the lead-Camera man on some DIY Star-Lord Costume tests for our Guardians of the Galaxy 1 SR in June 2017, before Jon joined the Production, and before we knew anything about visual effects or had any previous experience with Green/Blue Screens.
Christian was a friend of Jon’s and that is how me and Jon met.
Every Scene Recreation for Mru, and major move in the Production were discussed with him, before moving forward.
If Christian felt a SR idea did not blend well with the Film, and would not receive the proper reaction from Mcu fans we wanted, than it got cut.
One of the things that helps make Mru work well, is we surrounded ourselves with Marvel fans during all phases of the Production.
Jon brought a admiration and deep knowledge and understanding of theses characters, on screen and comics history, Christian brought a love for Marvel, and a devoted passion for what a Marvel Recreation project should feel like, and I brought the Filmmaking experience, enthusiasm, and a vision to pull it all off.
Together, all 3 of our strengths helped make Mru.
This is also, a special week in Mru history as 2 years ago, July 27th 2020 with the test pilots, and vfx tests complete, our production was officially green lit and we filmed our Winter Soldier Highway Fight SR and Iron man 3 SR, day 1 of Principal Photography for our film.
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This conversation has gotten really long. I think you need to start a new post for the next one, the video did not embed in this last episode. I will not lie, I am a big fan of Doctor Strange. In the movies, the actor Benedict Cumberbatch is a great fit for this character, too. Your actor is a great fit as well! Why were you talking like you were whispering though? 🙂
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Thank you, Julia! That is an excellent idea! I’ll create a new thread for the next BTS episode post.
Great question. We film all our Behind the Scenes discussions in large quantity. When the lighting and camera is set up, we typically record 6-10 episodes at a time, 2-4 hours at a time. It works the best for our schedule and time we have in our Studio.
The Doctor Strange episode was the final episode in this set, and I was out of breath from discussing previous SR’s. it was also quite late at night when we filmed our last episode for the day. 🙂
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After Captain America and Spider Man, now it’s time for Doctor Strange! 😊 Regarding what Julia said, you can create a new post for each BTS video if you think it helps.
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Indeed! Next up, Guardians of the Galaxy!😀 Thank you, Maura! I’ll create a new thread for the next BTS episode post.
I would rather keep the Mru on big forum threads instead a large amount of small ones as I feel this will make it easier to follow and read in the future.
Plus, I want to keep all of our posts detailing different behind the scenes information about Mru easy to find quickly for a secret BTS project releasing later this year.
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We have created a new thread continuing our Mru Behind the Scenes Series.
Marvel Recreation Universe Part 3 (Behind the Scenes)
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