Director Steven Caple Jr. has revealed what it was like to film in Machu Picchu’s hallowed site for the new Transformers film – and it wasn’t all easy sailing.
The seventh edition of the multi-billion dollar franchise, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, was released last week and stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback.
Visually, the production did not cut corners for the picture, taking an epic automobile chase to the real Williamsburg Bridge in New York City and even trekking up to Machu Picchu in Peru for the ultimate Autobots clash.
Now, director Steven, 35, who previously worked on Creed II and The Land, has revealed how the crew managed to preserve such a hallowed spot while capturing all of the necessary shots.
The filmmaker said the filming on the enigmatic Incan Empire location as “difficult” since cameras were not permitted to touch the “holy” ground – not even for a breather.
He also told how they had to’shut down’ filming on multiple occasions, one due to heavy mist and another due to a frog.
Chatting to Metro.co.uk, Steven said: ‘Macchi Picchu is beautiful, very majestic. We shot there for roughly two weeks, and it was tough.
‘You know, it was one of those scenarios where we weren’t in control of the environment at all, so it would rain at any given moment, clouds would get in front of us, we can’t see like 2ft in front of us, so we had to shut down the cameras.
‘We couldn’t let any of the equipment touch the ground, everything was sacred so we had to carry things for hours. And I’m talking camera equipment, all of it.
‘So it was tough to shoot there but it was well worth it, it was an experience. I think we captured a lot of the magic that was there, and even a little bit of the history too. ‘
The director went on to describe how a ‘poisonous frog’ prompted the team to ‘clean’ the set and suspend production one day after it was found near to actress Dominique.
‘Apparently this frog we were warned about this entire time was behind Dom and Dom saw it, and so we had to clear set to see if we could find this frog,’ he explained.
‘So that was pretty scary.’
Because bats were flying around in a nearby cave, they had to re-record all of the sound in one area of the film.
Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime alongside Anthony, 31, and Dominique, 32, from Hamilton, while Pete Davidson is the man behind Mirage.
Ron Perlman plays Optimus Primal in The Capture, while Michelle Yeoh plays Airazor in Everything, Everything, Everywhere.
Meanwhile, Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage portrays the wicked enemy Scourge well.
Steven, on the other hand, prefers the scene on Williamsburg Bridge, which is a vehicle chase with a twist.
‘The fact that Anthony Anthony Ramos’ character Noah is learning about this robot while they’re having this car chase sequence feels really unique to me,’ he explained.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is in cinemas now.
Source My Celebrity Life.
