In this Collider interview, writer-director-producer Zach Cregger and star Austin Abrams reveal what went into making Resident Evil, from months of nocturnal filming to slippery stunt work and the logistical headache of maintaining snow between takes. Cregger explains why footprints alone could create major continuity problems and recalls having only a handful of attempts to capture a difficult cop-car rollover.
Abrams also discusses the physical risks of performing on slippery ground, while the pair remember one especially impressive practical creation: a roughly 2,000-pound, life-size puppet used for a sewer sequence. Cregger also explains how he approached the movie's music during production and how that process differed from Weapons, which was scored before filming began.
For more on the Resident Evil behind-the-scenes process, practical effects, stunt challenges, and Cregger's approach to filmmaking, watch the full conversation.
Chapters: 0:00 Filming Resident Evil in the Snow 0:18 The 2,000-Pound Sewer Puppet 0:47 Why Snow Created a Continuity Nightmare 1:15 Months of Freezing Night Shoots 1:52 Running Through Artificial Snow 2:11 The Difficult Cop-Car Rollover 3:02 Building the Resident Evil Score
The speakers discuss the grueling logistical and physical challenges of filming a movie set at night in the snow. They detail the difficulties of maintaining visual continuity in snow, the dangers of stunt work, the use of toxic artificial snow, and the process of coordinating the film's musical score.
Somebody walking through the snow is a nightmare,
because after take one, you got tracks everywhere.
What do you do?
Really doing your best, like, not to slip,
because if you do slip at this one moment,
you're going to be, like, pretty screwed.
Not to mention you're freezing cold,
and the whole movie takes place at night.
So we were, like, nocturnal for months.
I'll never do this again.
I'll never, ever do anything like this.
You know what?
In the sewer with the big man.
That was really, really impressive.
That was like a 2,000-pound life-size puppet
that was, like, shipped over from the States
in pieces and assembled there in Prague.
And it seemed to have, like, a sweat on it,
and it was, like, breathing.
And it felt like a really real, like, huge dude.
Yeah, that was awesome.
That was cool.
If you're ever going to make a movie,
make it into summer, make it inside.
I mean, dude, first of all, somebody walking through
the snow is a nightmare, because the ground, you know?
Like, after take one, you've got tracks everywhere.
What do you do?
So then you've got to guise out with rakes,
or you're going to have to pay a ton of money to VFX it.
It's just, like, every little moment
is such a logistical nightmare.
And then there's the snow falling from the sky.
So you've got the snow candles, which are toxic,
and they tend to go upwards or horizontal, never down.
I mean, dude, it was a true nightmare,
not to mention you're freezing cold,
and the whole movie takes place at night.
So we were, like, nocturnal for months.
I'll never do this again.
I'll never, ever do anything like this again.
Yeah, I mean, there were some slips,
and there was, you know, especially with the stunts,
I mean, there's, like, really doing your best,
like, not to slip, because if you do slip
at this one moment, you're going to be, like, pretty screwed.
So it's, like, making sure the ground is OK to walk.
And then what he was talking about would be candles,
because it's, like, there were some days,
there were a couple days where we had some real snow.
We had real snow.
But, like, for the most part, it was these candle things,
which are basically, like, ash.
So you're, like, running in this ash fall.
Yeah, and it's, like, banned in a lot of countries,
because it's so toxic, but not where we were.
I know.
So, yeah, it doesn't matter.
Let's not talk about that.
Well, you know, there's a scene early in the movie
where a car, like, goes off the road and rolls.
And we went out, we only had, like, four bites at the apple
to try and get this car to go off.
And it was freezing cold and, you know, freezing snow.
I think that was, like, one of the worst days.
That was one of the absolute worst days.
And we rolled this cop car four times,
and it just never really looked good ever.
And so it's, like, there's moments like that
where you're, like, can we go again?
They're, like, no, we can't go again.
And you're, like, what?
And so you have to get real creative.
And I'll spare you all of the logistical nightmares
that we had to go through to get that thing dialed in right.
But it looks great in the movie.
It's exactly what I wanted it to be.
But it's, stunts are always really stressful,
because you have such a finite amount of attempts, you know.
And they're dangerous.
So it's, like, A, you might not get it.
B, someone could get hurt.
You know, it's just such a pressure.
And then you wonder, like, should we go again?
If, you know, something.
Yeah, it's a nightmare.
Yeah, I know my butt's still a little bit,
you know, still got a limp a little bit, but, you know.
You cracked your coccyx, I believe.
Yeah, my coccyx, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That takes a long time to recover.
I mean, you do most of it in post-production.
On this movie, Ryan and Hayes' holiday really did the score.
And I was just kind of, you know, a cheerleader.
You know, but I kind of know the vibe of the music
as we're shooting and what it's gonna be.
And so it's good for me to kind of have that in mind.
On weapons, we actually scored the movie
before we shot the movie, which was really helpful.
But on this one, we didn't have that luxury.
So it was just me kind of imagining, like,
bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop.
I added a couple of bop, bop, bop.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, too, for sure.
Thanks for talking to us.
Thanks, man.
Cheers. Thank you.
