Sci-Fi ‘Independence Day’ A Model Shoot
Roland Emmerich was promoting his 1994 hit science-fiction movie “Stargate” when a reporter posed a question: Did he believe in space aliens?
When the easygoing German director answered that he did not, the reporter became indignant. “How can you make a movie like ‘Stargate’ and not believe in aliens?” he asked.
“I believe in fantasy,” Emmerich replied. “I believe in the great ‘What if?’ What if aliens showed up? What if tomorrow morning, you walked out of your door and these enormous spaceships hovered over every single city in the world? Wouldn’t that be the most exciting thing that could happen?”
As he left the interview, Emmerich walked over to his writing partner, Dean Devlin, and said: “I think I’ve got our next movie.”
The result is “Independence Day,” an epic science-fiction thriller about Earth under attack by aliens from outer space. It will be released July 3 by 20th Century Fox, where officials are banking on it being the studio’s biggest 1996 release.
The story line begins on July 2, when strange atmospheric phenomena begin to occur throughout the world. All eyes turn skyward as alien spacecraft suddenly appear over major cities. As terror sweeps Earth’s inhabitants, governments mobilize their armed forces. Then, over the next three days, city after city is systematically destroyed by the invaders.
The ensemble cast includes Will Smith as Capt. Steve Hiller, a cocky Marine Corps fighter pilot; Jeff Goldblum as a computer genius who figures out the aliens’ plans; Bill Pullman as the president and Mary McDonnell as the first lady. Also starring are Margaret Colin as the president’s communications director and Goldblum’s ex-wife and, in no particular order, Randy Quaid, Judd Hirsch, Harry Connick Jr., Robert Loggia, Harvey Fierstein, Adam Baldwin and James Duval.
“Waterworld” and “Terminator 2” have shown that the cost of mounting an effects-laden action film can now top $100 million. But Emmerich and producer Devlin say the cost of “Independence Day” will be “not much higher than ‘Stargate,”’ which came in at $57 million.
To achieve this, the filmmakers decided that instead of relying solely on the latest digital computer magic for their visual effects, they would also utilize such simple, “low-tech” methods as filming scale models of cities, airplanes and spaceships. “What is planned is the largest model shoot ever attempted,” Devlin boasted.
When the movie is completed, he said, it will feature not only huge aerial battles using models built in a shop, but replicas to depict the wholesale destruction of New York, Los Angeles and Washington.
Since March, a team of craftsmen have been creating models of everything from the presidential jet, Air Force One, to a 20-foot-by-8-foot Los Angeles street scene.
The array of models also includes assorted incarnations of the White House, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Huey helicopters, F-18 fighters and several kinds of spaceships, from “attackers” to “destroyers” to the controlling mother ship.
“I have shots in this movie that are basically models hanging on strings,” Devlin said, “and I defy you to find those side-by-side with real shots of real planes or side-by-side with the digitally animated shots. … Very often, putting a model on a string in front of a photo of the sky is still better than computer graphics.”