FAST X, SHADOWS OF THE PAST COME TO DAYLIGHT
Cinema Writer/Film Critic Efe TEKSOY; wrote the action and adventure film “FAST X”, for America’s Los Angeles-based Internet Newspaper @alaturkanews.
A GHOST FROM THE PAST
The Fast and the Furious series, which has created a global sensation in the cinema world for more than two decades, has made its mark among the most important and popular blockbusters of the big screen. Produced by Universal Pictures, One Race Films, Original Film, Perfect Storm Entertainment, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, and the tenth link in the series, Fast X production budget of $340 million it is the eighth-most expensive film ever made. It opened to a global record of $319 million globally, with $67.5 million debut in North America. Contrary to the fantastic scenes set in space in Fast 9, we can say that Fast X is back to its roots thanks to director Louis Leterrier, who aims to base the story more on reality in this movie. At the center of the story is the concept of “Family” and the word “Family” is used 56 times in this movie. As in every The Fast and the Furious movie, the circle of adventure widens in this movie, and it increases the adrenaline even more by taking the audience to Los Angeles, London, Rome, Portugal, Rio de Janeiro, and Antarctica.
TOPIC OF THE FILM
Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family had defeated all the enemies on their way through many missions and many impossibilities with their clever, brave, and fast driving. Now they face the most deadly and dangerous opponent they’ve ever faced: a terrifying dreadful danger emerging from the shadows of the past, fueled by blood feuds, determined to tear this family apart and destroy everyone and everything Dom loves forever. In 2011’s Fast 5, Dom and his crew destroyed Brazilian drug lord Hernan Reyes on a bridge in Rio de Janeiro and destroyed his kingdom. But what they didn’t know was that Reyes’ son, Dante (Jason Momoa), had witnessed it all and had spent the last 12 years concocting a plan for Dom to pay for his actions.
Stars; Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, John Cena, Scott Eastwood, and Oscar winner Helen Mirren and Oscar winner Charlize Theron. The film also features an outstanding new cast; In the series, which includes names such as Jason Momoa, Oscar winner Brie Larson, Daniela Melchior, and Alan Ritchson, we see Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson returning to the core cast. Additionally, Oscar-winning actress Rita Moreno, one of the last remaining stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age, stars as Dom and Mia’s grandmother “Abuela Toretto”.
The director of the movie is; Louis Leterrier, known for productions such as Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans, and The Incredible Hulk.
BREATHTAKING CARS
With each new installment of the series, a primary directive from the producers and longtime movie car supervisor Dennis McCarthy was to expand the car culture inherent in the Fast DNA. Embracing true classics, whether mods or performance cars, while presenting audiences with bold, new, and unique performance cars has allowed the legend of the speed to sit securely at the pinnacle of automotive cinema. Beginning with Tokyo Drift, the makers of Fast & Furious have wanted McCarthy to create custom-made highlights for these films for over 15 years, and Fast & Furious 10 was no exception. McCarthy says: “If you love cars, I think there is no better series in the world than this. There is no other project I’ve worked on that gives me the freedom to create the cars I love. We increase the number of cars, the action, the number of tracks, and everything in each movie.” In the Fast and Furious universe, cars are extensions of each character. In Fast and Furious 10, too, the cars are cooler, faster, and more powerful than before. Among the special cars of the movie:
- Dom Toretto’s DODGE CHARGER DAYTONA BANSHEE SRT is a 100% electric concept car. The gorgeous lines of the black beauty and her Dodge ancestry have not gone unnoticed by McCarthy and fit Dom’s character perfectly.
- Tess’ 2023 NISSAN Z.
- Cipher’s cool, tech-savvy fit uniquely to the elegant DeLOREAN prototype with gull wings.
- Dante rides the 2022 PAN AMERICA, Harley Davidson’s newest adventure bike. Jason Momoa, a passionate motorcycle rider and collector of classic cars, matched the nail color to his motorcycle.
- Roman’s passion for go big or go was represented by the $7 million 2022 PAGANI.
- Tej’s choice of car is an American-made hypercar, the 2023 HENNESSY VENOM F5 COUPE worth $2.75 million.
- Han’s black/burgundy 1971 DATSUN 240Z matched Sung Kang’s love of the classic car.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
While our heroes were scattered across Los Angeles, London, Rome, Portugal, Rio de Janeiro and Antarctica, veteran Fast and Furious production designer Jan Roelfs and his team of craftsmen, sculptors, painters and builders built the sets at film studios located outside London. They also built partial embankments to existing buildings and structures in Rome, Turin and Lisbon. Roelfs continually upgraded the production design of The Fast saga, with the goal of creating a clear visual landscape and capturing the atmosphere and emotion of each film’s story. Fast & Furious 10 required Roefls and his team to go a little further.
- Flashback scenes from Fast & Furious 5 required Roefls to return to the Fast archives to reshoot some set designs from the Rio bridge, slums, and police headquarters.
- Toretto backyard set was also included. So Roefls and the construction crew rebuilt the set behind the studio. But in key scenes inside the house, the ground floor, upper floors, front and back verandas were built in the studio.
- For some players like Jordana Brewster, seeing the Toretto house was like going back in time. Equipped with a lot of research and archives of the series, the set decoration department under the direction of Kathryn Pyle (The Old Guard, The King’s Man) preserved the original elements in the interior of the house and included Toretto moments that lasted a lifetime in the house.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Innovative camerawork and lighting design has always been a key part of the Fast universe, and director of photography Stephen F. Windon, returning to his role for the 7th time in the series, was excited to adapt new camera technology and lighting techniques for each film. Stephen F. Windon has this to say about the footage; “When I first started Tokyo Drift, 17 years later, I still never thought we would make another movie here. It was quite remarkable. The extraordinary thing about this series is that you come back every two to three years and join the same big group that comes back to do more. We’re always trying to find new ways to do something nice and fit in. When I first started the amazing Fast & Furious, we shot with 35mm, now we shoot digitally. While the majority of my camera work is premeditated, there are often moments of inspiration that kick-start new ideas.”
QUARTER MILE RACE
The Tuner Party and its accompanying Quarter Mile Race feature in every episode of Fast & Furious, and during the making of Fast & Furious 10, director Louis Leterrier came up with a special camera idea to kick off the important racing segment of the movie’s Mod Party in Rio de Janeiro. The impromptu idea included four different cars and back-to-back shots of the scene where the actors sit in the driver’s seats and then shift gears to kick off the action. To achieve this, Windon, camera department, set supervisor Steve Ellingworth (Fast & Furious 6), chef Peery Evans (Fast & Furious 9), special effects Alistair Williams, and their crews teamed up with a camera system built on an electric monorail sliding system and special equipment. They designed it and had the camera hover over four cars to capture this groundbreaking scene.
COSTUME DESIGN
- Costume designer Sanja Milkovic Hays has a special and rare relationship with Vin Diesel and they spend hours talking about character evolution and the course of the series.
- Milkovic Hays finds it exciting to see men starting to challenge traditional gender norms in fashion and to see men wearing colors and styles traditionally attributed to women. This is especially evident in Dante’s costumes.
- The purple pants and shirt that Dante wore at the Modification party in Rio were made without deciding on Dante’s car color. Jason Momoa loved the color so much that the production team also matched the color of Dante’s car with his outfit.
- Milkovic Hays found a python jacket for Dante that gave the impression that he was wearing the skin of another animal. At the same time, his costume at the end of the movie reflected this.
- Brie Larson (who previously worked with Milkovic Hays on Captain Marvel) also worked with the costume designer on Tess’ appearance in Fast & Furious 10. Together they created Tess’ unique style.
- Milkovic Hayes and director Louis Leterrier wanted the wardrobe of the Brazilian Modification Party to be as bright, bold and colorful as the city itself. • Since it was necessary to dress up a large number of extras with different body types in the Modification Party, the team had to diversify their costume designs.
- Considering the last minute changes in the scene, the team prepared two different outfits for everyone.
- Most of the shopping for costumes was done for translation. It was bought from other parts of Europe, especially for Club clothes.
- The team also paid tribute to Brazil by including Brazilian soccer team t-shirts and other Brazilian-inspired clothing.
MUSIC
The producers for the soundtrack of Fast & Furious 10 are renowned composer, multi-instrumentalist, conductor, and actors in the Fast & Furious series, Avengers Age of Ultron, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Now You See Me, The Mummy, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Super Mario Bros.Movie, he turned to Brian Tyler, who had composed music for over 100 feature films such as The Brothers Movie. Tyler has been involved in the Fast saga from the very beginning. Regarding this, he says: “The idea of creating a musical language for its fast-paced universe has always been something I’ve enjoyed because the series is constantly evolving and the music I’ve created has evolved with the movies. The characters and the story became more epic, more dramatic and more emotional. In this way, this movie is really unorthodox, not only visually, but also in terms of character. The fact that all of these music is included as new music and the addition of characters creates an increasingly rich structure for the film. It’s a composer’s dream!” says Tyler, noting that he enjoys constantly expanding the musical language for legends and characters. Also, musician Tyler, Fast & Furious 10; He created dynamic music by adding hip-hop, bass, hard-core drill, lo-fi, reggaeton, progressive hip-hop, IDM, metal, industrial, and even modified psy-trance. Tyler also introduced the orchestra to instruments including chorus, analog synth, live drums, 808 drums, sub bass, hand percussion, guitars, and much more. Tyler; “Musically, it was the most complex piece of music I’ve ever created. I can’t wait for audiences to listen to it in the movie and on the album! When I include too many melodies and emotions in the music, the emotional impact of the action scenes is also felt stronger. Added to that is my super-intricate production, which combines an enormous orchestra, choir and hip-hop, electronic music, and sound design.”
UNDER THE LINE INTERNSHIP AND GLOBAL TALENT DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION
Launched in 2021, Universal’s Below the Line Internship is run by Global Talent Development and Inclusion. NBCUniversal offers on-the-job and off-the-job internships with mentoring in select below-the-line departments on some of its film projects worldwide. With the demand for experienced artisan and artist talents increasing in the industry, this innovative and inclusive experience trains the next generation of costume designers, accessory masters, camera operators, technicians and many other staff important to any production team, and recruits new talents in collaboration with local partners. In May 2022, NBCUniversal announced a groundbreaking partnership with the Mayor of London and Film London to provide promising talent and the opportunity to work behind the camera. With this new collaboration, Universal and GTDI launched Under the Line Internship program in the UK in Fast & Furious 10. Six interns from Film London’s Equal Access Network (EAN) received mentorship throughout production, along with their salaries provided by the partnership. EAN is a Film London program that helps underrepresented communities enter the film and TV industry. This collaboration will also help outstanding interns graduate from the Mayor’s Academy of Creative Screen Industry Talents. Intern placements include Digital Imaging Technician, Accessories, Costume Executive Assistant, Camera and Production departments. Founded in 2017 by Universal Filmed Entertainment President Donna Langley, GTDI is the first diversity, equality and inclusion department in a film studio. The commercially managed group has created programs, initiatives and strategies, ensuring that DEI is at the forefront of the business culture and content creation of Universal Pictures, Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation both in front of and behind the camera. Building on NBCUniversal’s overall commitment to DEI, GTDI has partnered with Television and Broadcasting organizations in their efforts to influence film and television, creating filmmaking opportunities for underrepresented talent for their Television and Broadcasting peers in their efforts to influence both TV and cinema, and industry access. Since its inception, GTDI has built an impressive and inclusive talent pool through live-action and animation writing programs, directing and composing initiatives, and below-the-line internships, putting 70% of its talents in the production tag for NBCUniversal content.
EFE TEKSOY
