Hi there !
I'm really sorry because it took such a long time to continue with my posts.
But I've learned my lesson. I'll work on that and I'll write more and faster on my next presentations.
Now, here's the third and last part of the Production Design Review for Minority Report -
This time, it's getting really technical.
Well, one of the most remarkable aspects of this movie is its technological performance indeed. The high end production design includes a futuristic police force equipment which really rocks ;-)
I'm really sorry because it took such a long time to continue with my posts.
But I've learned my lesson. I'll work on that and I'll write more and faster on my next presentations.
Now, here's the third and last part of the Production Design Review for Minority Report -
This time, it's getting really technical.
Well, one of the most remarkable aspects of this movie is its technological performance indeed. The high end production design includes a futuristic police force equipment which really rocks ;-)
The PreCrime gadgets
Basically, police work doesn't change so much in 2054. (Except the fact that the telepathic/emphatic PreCogs foresee the murders of course.) Anderton and his team are based in a command center which is optically a mixture of modern business center, convention center and office hall, built within a lot of concrete, metal and glass elements. Especially the glass is an essential part of this film's production design.
John Anderton is using a high performance interface system, similar to an advanced touch screen, wearing sensitive gloves, to collect the "fractions" of visions that are extracted and recorded directly from the PreCogs' minds. Combining these visual and audible fractures, the force is able to determine and locate the next crime scene and the perpetrator (his or her name given by engraved red or brown balls that are produced at the same time, based on the PreCogs' mind streams as well).
Knowing the place, time and the murder's name, they go after it by foot or air, using an advanced hovercraft (which ironically reminds me of a kind of slug or shell). Protected by the familiar jump suits, pads and helmets, the cops use a lot of digital locating and communication systems, always acting very flexible, strong, effective and fast. Once they arrested a "target", the person gets secured and stabilized in gigantic underground "storage" system that shelters all potential/future murderers.
Anderton and his colleagues are prepared for nearly every kind of threat. They are trained for hand to hand combat, using "vomit sticks", and sonic blast guns. Visible during one of the main action sequences: John is tracked down by officers of the justice department, hiding in a car factory. He manages to fight them with their (and his) own weapons and confronts young agent Danny Witwer (who later even sympathizes with him) on a moving platform, before escaping in a brand new Lexus car version.
Basically, police work doesn't change so much in 2054. (Except the fact that the telepathic/emphatic PreCogs foresee the murders of course.) Anderton and his team are based in a command center which is optically a mixture of modern business center, convention center and office hall, built within a lot of concrete, metal and glass elements. Especially the glass is an essential part of this film's production design.
John Anderton is using a high performance interface system, similar to an advanced touch screen, wearing sensitive gloves, to collect the "fractions" of visions that are extracted and recorded directly from the PreCogs' minds. Combining these visual and audible fractures, the force is able to determine and locate the next crime scene and the perpetrator (his or her name given by engraved red or brown balls that are produced at the same time, based on the PreCogs' mind streams as well).
Knowing the place, time and the murder's name, they go after it by foot or air, using an advanced hovercraft (which ironically reminds me of a kind of slug or shell). Protected by the familiar jump suits, pads and helmets, the cops use a lot of digital locating and communication systems, always acting very flexible, strong, effective and fast. Once they arrested a "target", the person gets secured and stabilized in gigantic underground "storage" system that shelters all potential/future murderers.
Anderton and his colleagues are prepared for nearly every kind of threat. They are trained for hand to hand combat, using "vomit sticks", and sonic blast guns. Visible during one of the main action sequences: John is tracked down by officers of the justice department, hiding in a car factory. He manages to fight them with their (and his) own weapons and confronts young agent Danny Witwer (who later even sympathizes with him) on a moving platform, before escaping in a brand new Lexus car version.
Sex, drugs and visions in 2054
Despite all the shiny, futuristic technology, there are also the dark sides of (misguided and encroached) advanced techniques and progresses. For example the medical section: A surgeon who once has been arrested by John for burning his victims, now helps him to remove his eyes and replace them with others, so he can get into the PreCrime center and kidnap the PreCog Agatha without being recognized by the eye scanner.
Despite all the shiny, futuristic technology, there are also the dark sides of (misguided and encroached) advanced techniques and progresses. For example the medical section: A surgeon who once has been arrested by John for burning his victims, now helps him to remove his eyes and replace them with others, so he can get into the PreCrime center and kidnap the PreCog Agatha without being recognized by the eye scanner.
The scene refers directly to Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and the doctor also mentions the booming black market which stills seems to be quiet popular among the future citizens. John gets a "facial transformer" which allows him to infiltrate the facility easier. Agatha and the other PreCogs are stabilized in a pool of special liquid and narcotics that keeps them calm and half dreaming all the time, supervised by a technician (who secretly has a crush on agatha).
Later on, John brings Agatha to Rufus, a guy who's offering a "mind box" service which allows costumers to get plugged into external virtual mind streams and experience their own purchased visions in booths (e.g. sexual desires, simple everyday situations, even the imagination of murder).
Later on, John brings Agatha to Rufus, a guy who's offering a "mind box" service which allows costumers to get plugged into external virtual mind streams and experience their own purchased visions in booths (e.g. sexual desires, simple everyday situations, even the imagination of murder).
Of course, this environment reminded me a lot of Kathryn Bigelow's still much underrated Strange Days (1995). He helps John to extract as much information as possible directly from her cerebral cortex, to check the minority report for him to find out more about the murder he's about to commit in a few hours.
The prison of the past
An essential part of the movie is about visions and virtual/optical fractions which can be used as specific information or viewed for simple personal pleasure.
John is secretly taking drugs and watching old recordings of his lost son and former wife. When he tries to get Agatha's vision about him, forcing Rufus and her, you can literally observe his obsession of images from the past.
Another part of the PreCrime institution is the enormous underground facility in which all the arrested (presumed future) murderers are kept for an unknown time. Ironically, similar to the precogs, the "prisoners" are narcotized, shaved and even their own dreams and fractions of memories that cross their sleeping minds are visible and recorded on a transparent display right on their chest. This "prison" is quiet an interesting issue. It is the most sci-fi like set design of the movie, in a traditional sense. It seems utopian, strange, and it reminds me strongly of frozen embryonic storage facilities. Of course, the most important question about this PreCrime institution (and the storage especially) would be: How long are you gonna keep all these people underground and what about the space? Will there never ever be murder again? A real solution?
The future in this movie is not far away from our own technological standard and trends indeed.
An essential part of the movie is about visions and virtual/optical fractions which can be used as specific information or viewed for simple personal pleasure.
John is secretly taking drugs and watching old recordings of his lost son and former wife. When he tries to get Agatha's vision about him, forcing Rufus and her, you can literally observe his obsession of images from the past.
Another part of the PreCrime institution is the enormous underground facility in which all the arrested (presumed future) murderers are kept for an unknown time. Ironically, similar to the precogs, the "prisoners" are narcotized, shaved and even their own dreams and fractions of memories that cross their sleeping minds are visible and recorded on a transparent display right on their chest. This "prison" is quiet an interesting issue. It is the most sci-fi like set design of the movie, in a traditional sense. It seems utopian, strange, and it reminds me strongly of frozen embryonic storage facilities. Of course, the most important question about this PreCrime institution (and the storage especially) would be: How long are you gonna keep all these people underground and what about the space? Will there never ever be murder again? A real solution?
The future in this movie is not far away from our own technological standard and trends indeed.
Considering transparency everywhere, highly advanced digital devices and information available every time, and the fusion of commercial virtual pleasure with architecture, internet and the human mind, and so on - At least in 2002 (the movie's year of release) most of the things seemed familiar but still futuristic. Now, ten years later, we came far more closer to the world of Minority Report.
Homes of the future
Leo Crow's apartment, the place where John is supposed to kill him in the near future, is one of theses so called "social apartments" in D.C. Quiet big, bright and modern. But also based on minimalistic design, and darker colors. It illustrates again the everyday life style of 2054, barely different from ours. It's the actual key sequence that takes place in here, the action which seemed impossible to John (dedicated to prevent murder) and the audience, killing a man he doesn't know before. Nevertheless, it happens. The first thing he discovers (together with Agatha) is a huge bunch of photos on the bed, hundreds of children portraits, reflecting the sunlight shining through the big window front. John sees a picture of Sean and immediately thinks that Crow must be his son's kidnapper. He attacks Crow, who just entered the apartment, and is about to shoot him, right before an essential part of the story plot gets revealed.
Again, this future everyday style of the apartment and the whole scene, combined with the almost ever shining sunlight (or artificial light) fascinates me. Watching the scene without knowing about the year the story supposed to be set, it could easily take place in our present. But it's very much about the cinematography of Janusz Kaminski whose remarkable and significant handwriting has never been more obvious than in Minority Report.
When Lara, John's former wife, gets questioned by Witwer who wants to find out more about their past and John's private life, you can see her rural house and its porch, which appears again later.
This place is quiet the exact opposite of the modern, high-tech city center and the PreCrime facilities. Distant, old fashioned and mostly wooden style. It's filled with echoes and feelings from the past (also told by Lara) and at the same time, she seems to have found some kind of peace here. Later, when John arrives and introduces Agatha to her, he feels the same way about the house. The emotional center of the place is Sean's old bedroom. They didn't change anything in it, and Agatha is even able to explore the invisible past by touching the walls and objects. She's got a vision of Sean, imaging him growing older, seeing an alternative future which deeply touches and confuses John and Lara.
Soon after that, PreCrime comes after John, getting him arrested by two teams of cops who just arrived with hovercrafts over the idyllic house. The cruel side of the future has taken over again.
Leo Crow's apartment, the place where John is supposed to kill him in the near future, is one of theses so called "social apartments" in D.C. Quiet big, bright and modern. But also based on minimalistic design, and darker colors. It illustrates again the everyday life style of 2054, barely different from ours. It's the actual key sequence that takes place in here, the action which seemed impossible to John (dedicated to prevent murder) and the audience, killing a man he doesn't know before. Nevertheless, it happens. The first thing he discovers (together with Agatha) is a huge bunch of photos on the bed, hundreds of children portraits, reflecting the sunlight shining through the big window front. John sees a picture of Sean and immediately thinks that Crow must be his son's kidnapper. He attacks Crow, who just entered the apartment, and is about to shoot him, right before an essential part of the story plot gets revealed.
Again, this future everyday style of the apartment and the whole scene, combined with the almost ever shining sunlight (or artificial light) fascinates me. Watching the scene without knowing about the year the story supposed to be set, it could easily take place in our present. But it's very much about the cinematography of Janusz Kaminski whose remarkable and significant handwriting has never been more obvious than in Minority Report.
When Lara, John's former wife, gets questioned by Witwer who wants to find out more about their past and John's private life, you can see her rural house and its porch, which appears again later.
This place is quiet the exact opposite of the modern, high-tech city center and the PreCrime facilities. Distant, old fashioned and mostly wooden style. It's filled with echoes and feelings from the past (also told by Lara) and at the same time, she seems to have found some kind of peace here. Later, when John arrives and introduces Agatha to her, he feels the same way about the house. The emotional center of the place is Sean's old bedroom. They didn't change anything in it, and Agatha is even able to explore the invisible past by touching the walls and objects. She's got a vision of Sean, imaging him growing older, seeing an alternative future which deeply touches and confuses John and Lara.
Soon after that, PreCrime comes after John, getting him arrested by two teams of cops who just arrived with hovercrafts over the idyllic house. The cruel side of the future has taken over again.
The (happy) end of the future
After the final showdown and the conclusion of the story, you can see the three precogs living in an old hut, in some mud-like countryside. Surrounded by water and grass, they're studying a lot of books and an open fire is burning.
Many viewers and critics very much appreciated the technological level and sophisticated visual style of the movie. They also praised it's nearly perfect, realistic future vision, just as I do, but nevertheless, the ending seemed to disappoint them, because it doesn't fit to the rest of the film's mood at all. In a way, I agree with them. This image almost looks like a happy comic ending or an original painting of romanticism. Not a single digital device under the fingertips of Agatha and the others, no buttons, no concrete walls, no modern architecture - they seemed to have left almost everything behind what defines the progressive future. And they read again, in books. Lots of books.
You could interpret these elements as a conservative vision of a happy ending in this progressive, aggressive and dark future of 2054. Or it simply appears as "Spielbergian" kitsch to you, typically overloaded with emotional (and conservative) content and signs as he often showed us in some of his earlier films. When the camera's view is moving backwards, leaving the PreCogs' house, you can recognize a large landscape of waters and nature around it. Untouched and very distant from (future) civilization.
To me, after all it's obvious that this final shot of the house and its interior got a different atmosphere and mood than the rest of the movie. And indeed, it seems kind of conservative and looking back, into the past, instead of the future.
After the final showdown and the conclusion of the story, you can see the three precogs living in an old hut, in some mud-like countryside. Surrounded by water and grass, they're studying a lot of books and an open fire is burning.
Many viewers and critics very much appreciated the technological level and sophisticated visual style of the movie. They also praised it's nearly perfect, realistic future vision, just as I do, but nevertheless, the ending seemed to disappoint them, because it doesn't fit to the rest of the film's mood at all. In a way, I agree with them. This image almost looks like a happy comic ending or an original painting of romanticism. Not a single digital device under the fingertips of Agatha and the others, no buttons, no concrete walls, no modern architecture - they seemed to have left almost everything behind what defines the progressive future. And they read again, in books. Lots of books.
You could interpret these elements as a conservative vision of a happy ending in this progressive, aggressive and dark future of 2054. Or it simply appears as "Spielbergian" kitsch to you, typically overloaded with emotional (and conservative) content and signs as he often showed us in some of his earlier films. When the camera's view is moving backwards, leaving the PreCogs' house, you can recognize a large landscape of waters and nature around it. Untouched and very distant from (future) civilization.
To me, after all it's obvious that this final shot of the house and its interior got a different atmosphere and mood than the rest of the movie. And indeed, it seems kind of conservative and looking back, into the past, instead of the future.
Minority Report is an extremely well done adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel.
Some of you may say that Mr. Cruise and Mr. Spielberg created their own, egomaniac roller coaster, filled with a lot of splendid technical gadgets, an appropriate, excellent score, destined to make a huge amount of money. In a way, you are right. Of course it's a very commercial and a typical "Mr.Cruise gets set up-runs miles over miles like a pro-sprinter - Mr. Cruise solves the problem and becomes the hero"-movie, but first, I still don't think that he's such a bad actor at all (even more adaptable than a lot of other wannabe performers) and, far more important - the whole production design, the entire cast and nearly every technical / optical detail in this movie is perfectly done. It just plays everything very well together. The set design converges with the physical and emotional performances, the armory of PreCrime is more than authentic, this future including a one-eyed man, a guy who gets both of them removed, the Orwell-like totalitarian system, hidden (or not) behind perfect metallic, concrete and glass surfaces, the commercials that "capture" the costumers and citizens right away, and so on, in my opinion, Steven Spielberg created an amazing masterpiece of a science-fiction vision. Together with one of the most genius production designers of our time: Alex McDowell.
I'm seriously considering a special post about Mr. McDowell, in the future.
I'm seriously considering a special post about Mr. McDowell, in the future.
All pictures shown in this post and its previous parts are copyright of 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks, 2002
