Editing Traffic (2000 film) (section)

==Production==
===Development===
[[Steven Soderbergh]] had been interested in making a film about the drug wars for some time but did not want to make one about addicts.<ref name="Hope">{{cite news|title=The 'Traffic' Report with Steven Soderbergh |first=Darrell |last=Hope |url=http://www.dga.org/news/v25_5/feat_soderbergh.php3 |work=DGA Magazine |date=January 2001 |access-date=2011-08-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316021948/http://www.dga.org/news/v25_5/feat_soderbergh.php3 |archive-date=March 16, 2010 }}</ref> Producer Laura Bickford obtained the rights to the British television miniseries ''[[Traffik]]'' (1989) and liked its structure. Soderbergh, who had seen the miniseries in 1990,<ref name="Lemons">{{cite news |title=Steven Soderbergh |first=Stephen |last=Lemons |url=http://archive.salon.com/people/conv/2000/12/20/soderbergh |work=[[Salon.com]] |date=2000-12-20 |access-date=2008-05-25 |archive-date=2008-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622144348/http://archive.salon.com/people/conv/2000/12/20/soderbergh/ |url-status=live }}</ref> started looking for a screenwriter to adapt it into a film. They read a script by [[Stephen Gaghan]] called ''[[Havoc (2005 film)|Havoc]]'', about upper-class white kids in [[Palisades Charter High School|Palisades High School]] doing drugs and getting involved with gangs.<ref name="Divine">{{cite news |title=Pushing Words |first=Christian |last=Divine |work=Creative Screenwriting |pages=57–58 |date=2001-01-02}}</ref> Soderbergh approached Gaghan to work on his film but found he was already developing a film about drugs for producer/director [[Edward Zwick]]. Bickford and Soderbergh approached Zwick, who agreed to merge the two projects and come aboard as a producer.<ref name="Hope" />

''Traffic'' was originally going to be distributed by [[20th Century Studios|20th Century Fox]], but it was put into [[Turnaround (filmmaking)|turnaround]] unless actor [[Harrison Ford]] agreed to star. Soderbergh began shopping the film to other studios, but when Ford suddenly showed interest in ''Traffic'', Fox's interest in the film was renewed; the studio took it out of turnaround.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Red Light, Green Light |first=Rebecca |last=Ascher-Walsh |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2000/02/15/harrison-ford-may-star-steven-soderberghs-next-flick |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=2000-02-15 |access-date=2008-05-25}}</ref> Fox CEO [[Bill Mechanic]] championed the film, but he departed from the studio by the time the first draft was finished. It went back into turnaround.<ref name="Kaufman">{{cite news |title=Interview: Man of the Year, Steven Soderbergh 'Traffic'{{'}}s in Success |first=Anthony |last=Kaufman |url=https://www.indiewire.com/people/int_Soderbergh_Stev_010103.html |work=[[indieWIRE]] |date=2001-01-03 |access-date=2010-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412080246/http://www.indiewire.com/people/int_Soderbergh_Stev_010103.html |archive-date=2006-04-12}}</ref> Mechanic had also wanted to make some changes to the script, but Soderbergh disagreed<ref name="Dargis">{{cite news |title=Go! Go! Go! |first=Manohla |last=Dargis |url=http://www.laweekly.com/2000-12-28/news/go-go-go |work=[[L.A. Weekly]] |date=2000-12-26 |access-date=2010-04-14 |archive-date=2010-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104193957/http://www.laweekly.com/2000-12-28/news/go-go-go/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and decided to shop the film to other major studios. They all turned him down because they were not confident in the prospects of a three-hour film about drugs, according to Gaghan.<ref name="Divine" /> [[Focus Features|USA Films]], however, had wanted to take on the movie from the first time Soderbergh approached them.<ref name="Kaufman" /> They provided the filmmakers with a $46 million budget, a considerable increase from the $25 million which Fox offered.<ref name="Dargis" />

===Screenplay===
Soderbergh had "conceptual discussions" with Gaghan while he was shooting ''[[The Limey]]'' in October 1998; they finished the outline before he went off to shoot ''[[Erin Brockovich (film)|Erin Brockovich]]''.<ref name="Hope" /> After Soderbergh was finished with that film, Gaghan had written a first draft in six weeks that was 165 pages long.<ref name="Divine" /> After the film was approved for production, Soderbergh and Gaghan met two separate times for three days to reformat the script.<ref name="Divine" /> The draft they shot had 163 pages with 135 speaking parts and featured seven cities.<ref name="Hope" /> The film shortens the story line of the original miniseries; a significant character arc of a farmer is taken out, and the [[Pakistan]]i plotline is replaced with one set in Mexico.<ref name="Lemons" />

===Casting===
Harrison Ford was initially considered for the role of Robert Wakefield in January 2000 but would have had to take a significant cut in his usual $20 million salary.<ref name="Daly" /> Ford met with Soderbergh to flesh out the character. Gaghan agreed to rework the role, adding several scenes to the screenplay. On February 20, Ford turned down the role, and the filmmakers brought it back to [[Michael Douglas]], who had turned down an earlier draft. He liked the changes and agreed to star, which helped greenlight the project.<ref name="Daly" /> Gaghan believes Ford turned down the role because he wanted to "reconnect with his action fans".<ref name="Divine" />

The filmmakers sent out letters to many politicians, both [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], asking them to make cameo appearances in the film. Several of the scenes had already been shot using actors in these roles, but the filmmakers went back and reshot those scenes when real politicians agreed to be in the film.<ref>Conversations with Ross: [http://www.rosscarey.com/2011/02/09/episode-24-featuring-sam-jaeger "Featuring Sam Jaeger"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424061938/http://www.rosscarey.com/2011/02/09/episode-24-featuring-sam-jaeger |date=2011-04-24 }}. ''RossCarey.com''. Retrieved 2012-03-03.</ref> Those who agreed, including U.S. Senators [[Harry Reid]], [[Barbara Boxer]], [[Orrin Hatch]], [[Charles Grassley]], and [[Don Nickles]], and [[Massachusetts]] governor [[Bill Weld]], were filmed in a scene that was entirely improvised.<ref name="Lemons" />

===Pre-production===
The project was obtained from Fox by Initial Entertainment Group and was sold to USA Films by IEG for North American rights only. Steven Soderbergh never approached USA Films, and Initial Entertainment Group fully funded the film.

After Fox dropped the film in early 2000, and before USA Films expressed interest, Soderbergh paid for [[pre-production]] with his own money.<ref name="Divine" /> USA Films agreed to give him the final cut on ''Traffic'' and also agreed to his term that all the Mexican characters would speak [[Spanish language|Spanish]] while talking to each other.<ref name="Daly">{{cite magazine |title=Dope & Glory |first=Steve |last=Daly |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2001/03/02/dope-and-glory-soderbergh-talks-about-directing-traffic |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=2001-03-02 |access-date=2008-05-25 |archive-date=2008-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723201207/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,280028,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This meant that almost all of Benicio del Toro's dialogue would be subtitled. Once the studio realized this, they suggested that his scenes be shot in English and Spanish, but Soderbergh and del Toro rejected the suggestion.<ref name="Daly" /> Del Toro, a native of [[Puerto Rico]],<ref name="Méndez-Méndez Mendez Cueto Deynes 2003 p. 139">{{cite book | last1=Méndez-Méndez | first1=S. | last2=Mendez | first2=S.M. | last3=Cueto | first3=G. | last4=Deynes | first4=N.R. | last5=Rodríguez-Deynes | first5=N. | title=Notable Caribbeans and Caribbean Americans: A Biographical Dictionary | publisher=Greenwood Press | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-313-31443-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLPrMMKmynwC&pg=PA139 | access-date=August 10, 2019 | page=139}}</ref> was worried that another actor would be brought in and re-record his dialogue in English after he had worked hard to master Mexican inflections and improve his Spanish vocabulary. Del Toro remembers: "Can you imagine? You do the whole movie, bust your butt to get it as realistic as possible, and someone dubs your voice? I said, 'No way. Over my dead body.' Steven was like, 'Don't worry. It's not gonna happen.'"<ref name="Daly" /> The director fought for subtitles for the Mexico scenes, arguing that if the characters did not speak Spanish, the film would have no integrity and would not convincingly portray what he described as the "impenetrability of another culture".<ref name="Lemons" />

The filmmakers went to the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA) and [[United States Customs Service|U.S. Customs]] early on with the script; they told them that they were trying to present as detailed and accurate a picture of the current drug war as possible.<ref name="Lemons" /> The DEA and Customs pointed out inaccuracies in the script. In addition, they gave the production team access to the border checkpoint to Mexico, as shown in the film during the scene in which Wakefield and his people talk with border officials. Despite the assistance, the DEA did not try to influence the script's content.<ref name="Lemons" /> Soderbergh said ''Traffic'' had influences from the films of [[Richard Lester]] and [[Jean-Luc Godard]]. He also spent time analyzing ''[[The Battle of Algiers (film)|The Battle of Algiers]]'' and ''[[Z (1969 film)|Z]]'', which, according to the director, had the feeling that the footage was "caught" and not staged.<ref name="Kaufman" /> Another inspiration was [[Alan J. Pakula]]'s film ''[[All the President's Men (film)|All the President's Men]]'' because of its ability to tackle serious issues while being entertaining.<ref name="Lyman">{{cite news |title=Follow the Muse: Inspiration to Balance Lofty and Light |first=Rick |last=Lyman |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E3D91530F935A25751C0A9679C8B63&scp=1&sq=%22Follow+the+Muse%22&st=nyt |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2001-02-16 |access-date=2008-05-26}}</ref> In the opening credits of the film, Soderbergh tried to replicate the typeface from ''All the President's Men'' and the placement on-screen at the bottom left-hand corner. Analyzing this film helped the director deal with the large cast and working in many different locations for ''Traffic''.<ref name="Lyman" />

===Principal photography===
Half of the first day's footage came out overexposed and unusable.<ref name="Daly" /> Before the financiers or studio bosses knew about the problem, Soderbergh was already doing reshoots. The insurers made him agree that any further mishaps resulting in additional filming would come from the director's pocket.<ref name="Daly" /> Soderbergh shot in various cities in California, Ohio, and Texas, on a 54-day schedule and came in $2 million under budget.<ref name="Hope" /> The director acted as his cinematographer under the [[pseudonym]] Peter Andrews and operated the camera himself to "get as close to the movie as I can" and to eliminate the distance between the actors and himself.<ref>{{cite web|last1=French|first1=Phillip|title=Traffic|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,,430492,00.html|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=March 29, 2018|date=January 28, 2001|archive-date=April 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418174448/http://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,,430492,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hope" /> Soderbergh drew inspiration from the cinema verite style of [[Ken Loach]]'s films, studying the framing of scenes, the distance of the camera to the actors, lens length, and the tightness of eyelines depending on the position of a character. Soderbergh remembers, "I noticed that there's a space that's inviolate, that if you get within something, you cross the edge into a more theatrical aesthetic as opposed to a documentary aesthetic".<ref name="Hope" /> Most of the day was spent shooting because a lot of the film was shot with available light.<ref name="Kaufman" />

For the hand-held camera footage, Soderbergh used [[Panavision cameras|Panavision Millennium XL]]s that were smaller and lighter than previous cameras and allowed him to move freely.<ref name="Hope" /> He adopted a distinctive look for each to tell the three stories apart. For Robert Wakefield's story, Soderbergh used tungsten film with no filter for a cold, monochrome blue feel.<ref name="Hope" /> For Helena Ayala's story, Soderbergh used diffusion filters, flashing the film and overexposing it for a warmer feel. For Javier Rodriguez's story, the director used [[Mexican filter|tobacco filters]] and a 45-degree shutter angle whenever possible to produce a strobe-like sharp feeling.<ref name="Hope" /> Then, he took the entire film through an [[Ektachrome]] step, which increased the contrast and grain significantly.<ref name="Hope" /> He wanted different looks for each story because the audience had to keep track of many characters and absorb a lot of information, and he did not want them to have to figure out which story they were watching.<ref name="Lemons" />

Benicio del Toro had significant input into certain parts of the film; for example, he suggested a more straightforward, concise way of depicting his character kidnapping Francisco Flores that Soderbergh ended up using.<ref name="Lemons" /> The director cut a scene from the screenplay in which Robert Wakefield smokes crack after finding it in his daughter's bedroom. After rehearsing this scene with the actors, he felt that the character would not do it; after consulting with Gaghan, the screenwriter agreed, and the filmmakers cut the scene shortly before it was scheduled to be shot.<ref name="Divine" />

[[Rancho Bernardo]], [[Balboa Park (San Diego)|Balboa Park]],<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Sklar |first=Debbie L. |date=2025-04-04 |title='Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!' and 9 other off-the-wall movies filmed in San Diego |url=https://timesofsandiego.com/arts/2025/04/04/attack-of-the-killer-tomatoes-and-9-other-off-the-wall-movies-filmed-in-san-diego/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405081551/https://timesofsandiego.com/arts/2025/04/04/attack-of-the-killer-tomatoes-and-9-other-off-the-wall-movies-filmed-in-san-diego/ |archive-date=2025-04-05 |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=[[Times of San Diego]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[downtown San Diego]] and [[La Jolla]] were utilized as the environment for the film.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Benninger |first=Michael |date=2016-03-01 |title=Hot Shots |url=https://www.pacificsandiego.com/things-to-do/pac-hot-shots-story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809120653/https://www.pacificsandiego.com/things-to-do/pac-hot-shots-story.html |archive-date=2020-08-09 |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=Pacific San Diego |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Post-production===
The first cut of ''Traffic'' ran three hours and ten minutes.<ref name="Hope" /> Soderbergh cut it to two hours and twenty minutes. Early on, there were concerns that the film might get an [[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system#X is replaced by NC-17|NC-17]] rating, and he was prepared to release it with that rating, but the [[Motion Picture Association of America|MPAA]] assigned it an R.<ref name="Hope" />