One of the most impressive aspects of “Dune 2” is its incredible work on the sets. Director Denis Villeneuve did not skimp on the means to implement his vision of this titanic work created by Frank Herbert.
Dune 2, sequel to the epic directed by Denis Villeneuve, is finally released in theaters! The Canadian filmmaker took on an astronomical challenge: adapting the legendary work of Frank Herbert. One of the most difficult challenges was finding the settings that would become Arrakis, the arid planet in which the story takes place.
One of his conditions for carrying out this task was to film most of the scenes in the desert, in real locations. Denis Villeneuve wanted to immerse his actors in an environment larger than life.
The infinity of the desert
“It’s like Jaws: they didn’t film in a swimming pool! The film is called Dune and so you have to feel the infinity of this desert unfolding in front of you. For me, Dune, it is the tragedy of a family going through an upheaval in their environment.
It’s a film about the ability we have to adapt in the face of any extreme situation… a bit like what we’re going through right now.”analyzed the filmmaker at our microphone in September 2020.
Producer Joe Caracciolo, Jr. was impressed by the Canadian director’s approach. The latter consisted of giving his film as much authenticity as possible. “Very early on, Denis Villeneuve warned us that he did not want to rely heavily on visual effects, except when it was absolutely necessary”confides the producer.
“There are, of course, but he wanted to physically shoot as many scenes as possible, with authentic lighting, real reflections and shadow play, and he wanted the actors to really be in contact with the sand, dust and earth.”
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Arrakis in Jordan
The Dune 1 and 2 team therefore filmed on real locations in Hungary, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Italy and Norway. The director and his artistic teams were thus able to create their own planets.
To help him with this difficult task, Villeneuve notably hired production designer Patrice Vermette, with whom he has already worked on Sicario, Enemy, Prisoners and First Contact.
“In Jordan, we loved Wadi Rum where we shot for the first film, but Denis and I were looking for other sites to multiply the points of view, the landscapes and the configurations of locations.
Furthermore, there were torrential rains in the desert in 2020, so that the spaces we had used previously were covered with vegetation while, of course, there are no trees or plants on Arrakis.indicates Patrice Vermette.
Wadi Rum is also known as the Valley of the Moon, because of its surreal landscape, carved out of granite and sandstone. “We chose a rock formation in Wadi Rum, Jordan, for the wind traps. It’s a technology that exists: the nets capture humidity in the atmosphere carried by the wind, then transform it into drops of water which flows to the foot of the traps”, explains the production designer.
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“They were built in Budapest, then transported by helicopter because they each weigh 400 kg. Our graphic designer was inspired by the drawing of a spider that I gave him, a spider that weaved its own web, and the underside of the trap is the spider’s belly.”
The planet Arrakis isn’t nicknamed Dune for nothing. It is covered in its entirety by sand, offering desert beauty stretching as far as the eye can see. For Villeneuve, his cinematographer Greig Fraser and his production designer Patrice Vermette, the challenge was to forgo green backgrounds to create the ideal Dune landscape on Earth.
They therefore filmed on the sets and exteriors of the Origo studios in Budapest, Hungary, and on natural sites in Jordan.
“Patrice Vermette is one of the most gifted people I know. His mental creations are a little frightening because he has this innate gift for creating an extraordinary setting.
His sets even surpass those he developed for the first film, although they had already blown me away at the time. What he came up with for the second part is astonishing. I had to pinch myself to believe it, as a cinematographer, because it was a real dream to be able to light such sets.”underlines Denis Villeneuve.
What he came up with for the second part is astonishing.
Don’t rely on digital
“What Patrice Vermette built in Budapest was reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood. You rarely see sets of this scale these days when everything is digitally transformed. But for this project, it all comes down to Denis’ vision who wanted that the whole thing is actually filmed, without relying on digital.
We therefore built permanent sets on a much larger scale than most current productions.“, specifies producer Mary Parent. In addition, the decoration team was made up of around a thousand people!
Note that Villeneuve had already filmed in Jordan. He was therefore aware of the treasures that this country had to offer. “I remember falling in love with the people and the landscapes of Jordan which are magnificent. It’s amazing to see the landscape change every 40 kilometers. There are many types of desert there, which exceeds the ‘understanding”indicates the director.
“The first time I went there, I remember saying to myself that, if I ever made a film like Dune, it would be the dream location. It’s linked to the luminosity, to the soul of the country that we have rendered on the screen, in my opinion.
I haven’t felt this kind of emotion anywhere else. There is a rather grandiose atmosphere in these landscapes which suits Dune perfectly.”analyzes the Canadian.
Giedi Prime in Hungary
The sequences on the planet Giedi Prime (notably that of the fight in the gigantic arena) were filmed in the Hungexpo studios in Hungary. For Patrice Vermette, the story of Dune is unusual and it was therefore necessary for the sets to reflect it.
“We filmed on a set, which isn’t really one: it’s an exhibition space in Budapest called Hungexpo. It’s over 9,500 m2 and almost 14 m high, which was perfect for us, and another space of almost 5400 m2 completes it.
This allowed us to build sets at the right scale for Giedi Prime and the Imperial Tent and a few other sets. There were a few things that didn’t fit in this space, but we learned a few things from the first game to cheat the laws of physics.”.
A secret sanctuary
In this second part of Dune, Denis Villeneuve and his teams were also able to shoot scenes in a location where no one had yet set up their cameras. For plans concerning the discussions between Charlotte Rampling (Mohiam) and Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), the Dune team flew to Italy, to San Vito d’Altivole near Treviso.
Here, we find a sanctuary designed by the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa between 1968 and 1978. “We spent a few days in Italy at the start of filming and we went to a very specific location, the sanctuary of Brion. It’s an architectural marvel that we owe to Carlo Scarpa. It’s absolutely astonishing and singular”reveals producer Tanya Lapointe.
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“This is what inspired the architecture of Caladan in the first film, but we had never filmed there. For the second opus, Patrice Vermette contacted the Brion family and asked them if it was possible to ‘turn there.
They had always refused – no film had been filmed on site until then – but the Brion family had read Dune by Frank Herbert and loved Denis’ film and so they agreed to film on their site.explains the producer.
“So, when we see the Reverend Mother Mohiam and Princess Irulan strolling through the gardens, it is the Brion sanctuary. We simply arranged some furniture there to create the Princess’s office.
Otherwise, it was so beautiful as it was that we didn’t have to do anything. We even see the water lilies in the koi pond, and we filmed them. It was a good way to start filming, with Charlotte Rampling, Florence Pugh and Léa Seydoux in this intimate setting.”
The Brion family even said no to the production of Star Wars!
For production designer Patrice Vermette, Carlo Scarpa is a “God”. “He had already had a big impact on me for the sets of Dune. We were trying to imagine an imperial garden for this new opus. I showed Denis my reference works and when we saw the Sanctuary of Brion, he said to me, ‘It’s surreal. This is exceptional. Let’s try to shoot there’. No film had ever been filmed there. The Brion family even said no to the production of Star Wars!”reveals the artist.
“But when Brion’s son knew it was for Dune 2, he met us and gave us his approval. It was extraordinary: it’s the first time I started crying while visiting a place. J “I met Carlo Scarpa’s son, Tobias, and they all spotted Scarpa’s influence in Dune. So there was a real logic to it.”concludes Patrice Vermette.
Dune 2 was released in theaters on February 28.