Other Titles • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) • Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Treasures of the Lost Abyss • Dead Man's Chest • Pirates of the Caribbean 2 • Rummty II • P.O.T.C 2 • Pirates 2 • P.O.T.C. 2
“Please do not feed the iguanas,” implored the call sheets while shooting on White Cay, so as to protect the friendly sole inhabitants and indigenous population from the affectionate attentions of the company. (The company called upon wildlife biologist Joseph A. Wasilewski, based in Homestead, Florida, to make certain the iguanas weren’t disturbed.) Human and reptile respected each other’s space, but the iguanas seemed as fascinated by the filming as the DEAD MAN’S CHEST company were by them. The crew also received an unexpected visitation from another, somewhat more threatening creature while filming on White Cay. “A hundred yards from land a little nurse shark showed up,” recalls marine coordinator Dan Malone. “Most of the crew wasn’t familiar with sharks, so they found it a little unnerving, but we told them, ‘Don’t worry about them, they’re just curious. They’ll swim by and check you out.’ Production shut down for a minute while everyone focused on the shark, and then we got back to work.”
A scheduled summer break in filming brought the company back to hearth and home in early June following the initial spate of shooting in the Exumas, resuming once again in early August back in Los Angeles. Back at the former Marineland site in Palos Verdes, Verbinski continued directing the Pelegostos island bone-cage sequence, and this time, some of the stars—including Orlando Bloom, Kevin R. McNally, David Bailie and Martin Klebba—found themselves in a bone cage set loose from a 100-foottall crane, swinging freely in long, wide arcs. Bloom definitely enjoyed the ride, while some others were looking a bit green in the gills when emerging from their “E”-ticket adventure.
“The bone-cage sequence was crazy,” recalls Bloom. “The first time we dropped from the crane, nobody knew what to expect, and it was like a bungee-jump feeling…your stomach completely leaves you. Believe me, moments like that will never be forgotten!”
Palos Verdes also saw the construction of a 100-foot-long, 50-foot-high cliff wall, also used in the bone-cage sequence, which was required to be maneuverable from a 90-degree angle down to a 45-degree angle. “We had to build a steel wall that’s hinged,” explains Greg Callas, “and incredibly heavy. To make it work, I have two 160-ton cranes to move this wall from point A to point B, and then brace it off.”
Filmed at Disney Studios were sequences inside of Davy Jones’ extraordinary Flying Dutchman captain’s cabin. “Davy Jones’ cabin certainly has a very operatic feel to it,” says Rick Heinrichs. “He plays an enormous pipe organ that we had to design and build from scratch. It plays as a normal organ would, but the pipes have grown fantastically into all of these underwater shapes, with steam coming out of them.
The organ itself has shell and sea life textures, backed up to the window of the stern. We also designed a painting above the organ keys which has a weirdly sweet and romantic feel to it. That was intentional, because we were trying to give Davy Jones’ character some pathos, because he’s mourning the loss of a lost love.”
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