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The Thing (1982 film)
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===Filming=== ''The Thing'' was storyboarded extensively by [[Mike Ploog]] and [[Mentor Huebner]] before filming began. Their work was so detailed that many of the film's shots replicate the image layout completely.{{sfn|Dowd|2017}} Cundey pushed for the use of [[anamorphic format]] aspect ratio, believing that it allowed for placing several actors in an environment, and making use of the scenic vistas available, while still creating a sense of confinement within the image. It also enabled the use of [[negative space]] around the actors to imply something may be lurking just offscreen.{{sfn|Kirk|2011}} [[File:Alamy WM 1506.jpg|thumb|left|Principal photography began in August 1981 in [[Juneau, Alaska]].|alt=A distance shot near Juneau, Alaska. The area is covered in untouched white snow with mountain peaks in the distance. To the right of the image, nearer the photographer, is an uncovered outcrop of rocks.]] [[Principal photography]] began on August 24, 1981, in Juneau, Alaska.{{sfn|Freer|2016}}{{sfn|GamesRadar+|2008}} Filming lasted about twelve weeks.{{sfn|The Official John Carpenter|2008}} Carpenter insisted on two weeks of rehearsals before filming as he wanted to see how scenes would play out. This was unusual at the time because of the expense involved.{{sfn|Swires|1982|p=19}} Filming then moved to the [[Universal Studios Lot|Universal lot]], where the outside heat was over {{convert|100|°F|°C|sigfig=2}}. The internal sets were climate-controlled to {{convert|28|°F|°C|sigfig=1}} to facilitate their work.{{sfn|Foutch|2013}}{{sfn|GamesRadar+|2008}} The team considered building the sets inside an existing refrigerated structure but were unable to find one large enough. Instead, they collected as many portable air conditioners as they could, closed off the stage, and used [[humidifier]]s and [[Spray bottle|misters]] to add moisture to the air.{{sfn|Swires|1982b|p=38}} After watching a roughly assembled cut of filming to date, Carpenter was unhappy that the film seemed to feature too many scenes of men standing around talking. He rewrote some already completed scenes to take place outdoors to be shot on location when principal photography moved to [[Stewart, British Columbia]].{{sfn|Hemphill|2017}}{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} Carpenter was determined to use authentic locations instead of studio sets, and his successes on ''Halloween'' and ''[[The Fog]]'' (1980) gave him the credibility to take on the much bigger-budget production of ''The Thing''. A film scout located an area just outside Stewart, along the Canadian coast, which offered the project both ease of access and scenic value during the day.{{sfn|Hemphill|2017}} On December 2, 1981, roughly 100 American and Canadian crew members moved to the area to begin filming.{{sfn|The Official John Carpenter|2008}} During the journey there, the crew bus slid in the snow toward the unprotected edge of the road, nearly sending it down a {{convert|500|ft|m|adj=on|sigfig=2}} embankment.{{sfn|Beresford|2017}} Some of the crew stayed in the small mining town during filming, while others lived on residential barges on the [[Portland Canal]].{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} They would make the {{convert|27|miles|km|adj=on|sigfig=2}} drive up a small, winding road to the filming location in Alaska where the exterior outpost sets were built.{{sfn|Foutch|2013}}{{sfn|Abrams|2016}}{{sfn|Swires|1982b|p=39}} The sets had been built in Alaska during the summer, atop a rocky area overlooking a glacier, in preparation for snow to fall and cover them.{{sfn|Hemphill|2017}} They were used for both interior and exterior filming, meaning they could not be heated above freezing inside to ensure there was always snow on the roof. Outside, the temperature was so low that the camera lenses would freeze and break.{{sfn|Foutch|2013}} The crew had to leave the cameras in the freezing temperatures, as keeping them inside in the warmth resulted in foggy lenses that took hours to clear.{{sfn|GamesRadar+|2008}} Filming, greatly dependent on the weather, took three weeks to complete,{{sfn|Swires|1982b|p=38}} with heavy snow making it impossible to film on some days.{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} Rigging the explosives necessary to destroy the set in the film's finale required 8 hours.{{sfn|Swires|1982c|p=28}} Keith David broke his hand in a car accident the day before he was to begin shooting. David attended filming the next day, but when Carpenter and Franco saw his swollen hand, they sent him to the hospital where it was punctured with two pins. He returned wearing a surgical glove beneath a black glove that was painted to resemble his complexion. His left hand is not seen for the first half of the film.{{sfn|Abrams|2016}} Carpenter filmed the Norwegian camp scenes after the end scenes, using the damaged American base as a stand-in for the charred Norwegian camp.{{sfn|Menzies|2017}} The explosive destruction of the base required the camera assistants to stand inside the set with the explosives, which were activated remotely. The assistants then had to run to a safe distance while seven cameras captured the base's destruction.{{sfn|Swires|1982c|p=28}} Filmed when the heavy use of [[special effect]]s was rare, the actors had to adapt to having Carpenter describe to them what their characters were looking at, as the effects would not be added until post-production. There were some puppets used to create the impression of what was happening in the scene, but in other cases, the cast would be looking at a wall or an object marked with an ''X''.{{sfn|Foutch|2013}} Art director [[John J. Lloyd]] oversaw the design and construction of all the sets, as there were no existing locations used in the film.{{sfn|Swires|1982b|p=38}} Cundey suggested that the sets should have ceilings and pipes seen on camera to make the spaces seem more claustrophobic.{{sfn|Swires|1982b|p=38}}
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