Even though Mars Fargo knew the film would ultimately be in Black and White, he shot the film in Color so that the VFX artists had the luminance data needed to make it. From this, two different versions of a shot would be created; a Black and White print and a seperate Color print.
They could then place these two prints on top of each other, motion-tracking the Color footage on top of the Black and White footage, then rotoscope out everything but the glasses by hand. The hardest part was matching the motion blur on individual frames. Essentially it was a combination of rotoscoping to remove the background, and computer animation.
They could then place these two prints on top of each other, motion-tracking the Color footage on top of the Black and White footage, then rotoscope out everything but the glasses by hand. The hardest part was matching the motion blur on individual frames. Essentially it was a combination of rotoscoping to remove the background, and computer animation.
In the official Q&A panel at the film's premiere, Mars Fargo stated he "liked the idea of creating a visual status quo, then just throwing it out the window. There's nothing quite as subtly intense for an audience as when they become situated with a structure, only for that structure to be taken away."
Essentially, Jim is something very unusual and foreign to the main character's environment. Jim's presence breaks his comfortable status quo. Thus, Mars Fargo wanted to make him VISUALLY foreign, such as his introduction also introducing Color into the Black and White world. Just like Jim's presence interrupts Ringo's normalcy, his Color interrupts the world's Black and White normalcy.
Essentially, Jim is something very unusual and foreign to the main character's environment. Jim's presence breaks his comfortable status quo. Thus, Mars Fargo wanted to make him VISUALLY foreign, such as his introduction also introducing Color into the Black and White world. Just like Jim's presence interrupts Ringo's normalcy, his Color interrupts the world's Black and White normalcy.
Knowing the film would likely not exceed 10 minutes, that the filmmakers more willing to attempt a visually advanced post-production process. It came down to having planned the film thoroughly, and having 3 years of post-production.
This film only had 5 total crew members, including Mars Fargo. Apart from directing and co-starring in it, there was also the lead actor (Brian Lachowski), the Assistant Director (Patrick Grealis), the Production Manager (Lauren Koleszar), and the Key Grip (Alex Feliciano). Mars Fargo typically works with skeleton crews.
No. On this film he was the Writer, Director, Co-Star, Cinematographer, Production Designer, Crafts Food Services, Editor, Sound-Mixer, Colorist, and Visual-Effects Designer. So while it's a lot, that's only 10 jobs this time around.
It largely stems from the nature of the comedy. Fargo wanted to be able to employ awkward silence at a moment's notice, and having music playing underneath a lot of the spontaneous improvisational lines of dialogue seemed distracting (an ambient cover of "Jarabe Tipatío" plays in the end credits, but otherwise the film contains no music).
Mars Fargo wanted to use the time-travel to tell a story that is both non-linear AND linear.
If we follow the story from the perspective of ONE character, the story occurs in a linear sequence. If we follow the story from the perspective of the OTHER character, the story occurs in a non-linear sequence. Mars Fargo wanted to do both at once, because it showed a clash of incompatible perspectives.
If we follow the story from the perspective of ONE character, the story occurs in a linear sequence. If we follow the story from the perspective of the OTHER character, the story occurs in a non-linear sequence. Mars Fargo wanted to do both at once, because it showed a clash of incompatible perspectives.
He has expressed that "in actuality, I find them rather repulsive."
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