Production Companies New Line Cinema, Hard Eight Pictures, Kumar Mobiliengesellschaft mbH & Co. Projekt Nr. 1 KG, Matinee Pictures, Practical Pictures, Zide-Perry Productions
“Jim Wong’s movies are very action-driven and the sheer logistics of what has to happen in a scene has been a major influence in how we approach lighting and shooting it,” says director of photography Rob McLachlan. McLachlan and production designer Mark Freeborn worked together closely to create the look of the film. McLachlan is an alumnus of Final Destination and Freeborn worked with Wong and Glen Morgan on the stylish thriller Willard.
“Right from the inception with Final Destination, the idea was that if this is going to be scary, we can’t tip our hand to the audience,” says McLachlan. “We can’t give the viewer any clues that they’re about to be scared. What makes these films work is that the environments look very familiar. Everything you see is within the realm of reality and naturalism. We’re not being very theatrical with the lighting, which most horror films tend to be.”
“From a design perspective, I wanted this one to be a little darker than the first two films,” says Freeborn. “We pushed the imagery a little further this time, made it a little blacker, set the visual mood a little more strongly than in previous incarnations.”
Before Wendy, Kevin and their friends ever set foot on the roller coaster, aptly named ‘Devil’s Flight,’ they must pass through an ominous portal guarded by a 40-foot devil.
“Colors can speak volumes about the attitude of a set – about what the set means to the actor and in fact, can infect the actor with a particular mood in some situations. Red was the only color for our horned friend,” Freeborn remarks. “We were lucky in that the real roller coaster had red cars laid on a red track. We carried the red theme into the coaster platform, our largest stage set, and that tied the whole package together.”
Morgan and Wong’s script is like an intricate jigsaw puzzle, with each small piece fitting into the next to reconstruct the fractured image. “Jim and Glen both love playing with text and imagery - with film trickery, a kind of connect-the-dots,” Freeborn continues. “In the midway scene that opens the film, there is imagery that connects to the events that occur later on. There’s an illuminated sign for one of the rides called the ‘High Dive’ in which the letter ‘v’ goes dark. At one of the midway games, a sign reads ‘Test Your Skill’, but the way the camera sees the sign the letter ‘s’ in the word ‘skill’ is obscured.”
Toby Lindala, special makeup and prosthetic effects supervisor, gets to play flat out with the many gags in Final Destination 3, fashioning picture perfect death and dismemberment. “I first worked with Jim and Glen on the first season of “X-Files.” They’ve always been great to work with. They come from such a strong writing background that there haven’t been any drastic changes in the script from the first draft. It’s been nice that we’ve been able to spend the time working out gags,” Lindala says.
From the vibrant energy of the young cast to the collaborative machinations of the filmmakers and crew, making the film was an exciting experience for all involved. And as the filmmakers prepare to unleash their work on the world, they are excited to see how their target audience – young adults – are able to handle the ride.
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