Much of this B footage was filmed with an enormous IMAX format camera as part of a complex, cutting edge technique to make the image of Hyde appear much larger. Along with a special IMAX camera team, a group of 10 SFX makeup technicians came to Prague to work fulltime with the Hyde suits, which included a range of prosthetics depicting progressive stages of hypertrophic deformity. All were utilized in a stunning scaled composite morphing shot that takes place aboard the Nautilus depicting the excruciating transmogrification of Jekyll into Hyde. Like Flemyng, actors Stuart Townsend and Richard Roxburgh required extensive SFX makeup applications for certain scenes.
One of the film‘s most elaborate and colorful scenes is set against the famed Carnival masquerade street party in Venice. More than 500 extras clad in elaborate period costumes are joined by firebreathers, jugglers, giant stiltwalkers, and other assorted flamboyant revelers. The festive nighttime sequence was staged and filmed over two nights, including second unit coverage.
The Carnival sequence was shot on the exterior Venice set at CKD, by far the largest and most imposing set in the film. The area was roughly the size of four football fields and was comprised of 80 facades, hundreds of shopfronts, and three water-filled canals. When the city is rocked by a series of devastating explosions, some of the sets crumble, collapse or split apart. Two dozen SFX technicians were habitually stationed on the rooftops to throw debris and large fake stones below during takes.
“The sets are fantastic and the scale of this film is epic,” admires Sean Connery. “The construction and design are as good as anything I’ve encountered in all my years.”
When the League arrives in Venice aboard the Nautilus, they disembark the ship accompanied by Nemo’s sailors, guards and a cadre of well equipped deep-sea divers. But the most impressive spectacle to emerge from the Nautilus is a breathtaking vehicle that whisks the League at daringly high speeds through the streets of Venice. Gleaming white and adorned with bold silver appointments, this spectacularly ostentatious car is declared “the future” by Captain Nemo; the “Nemobile” by crewmembers on set.
The twin-steering, front alignment chassis was built in London by Retromotoring, and was powered by a Range Rover LSE 4.2 V8 engine, with independent suspension, hydraulic supports to raise and lower the car, and dual front wheels. The fiberglass body was made in Prague and retrofitted to the car’s engineering. The 23 x 9 foot vehicle, which reached speeds up to 59 mph, was a beauty to behold - and a bear to drive. Eddie Perez, doubling for Shane West, did much of the driving for frenetic stunt sequences that roar through narrow towpaths, colonnades and a 12-foot-wide footbridge.
“The car is amazing,” says West. “It makes the Batmobile look silly. I get to do some driving myself, and it was like nothing else I’ve been in. It’s possessed.”
The large size and scope of the film’s sets are contrasted by the miniature work of New Deal Studio in Los Angeles. The firm created a remarkable set comprising 30 Venice buildings at one-fifth scale. The largest of these model buildings is 18 feet tall, weighing more than 1,000 pounds. The set was built six feet above ground atop hydraulic lifts, which were lowered to simulate the effect of the buildings sinking into their foundations.
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