THE MAKING OF RAIDERS

OF THE LOST ARK

GEORGE
LUCAS
& STEVEN
SPIELBERG
LUCAS HAD FINISHED A
POPULAR MOVIE,
AMERICAN GRAFFITI, AND
WAS WORKING ON STAR
WARS.
SPIELBERG HAD FINISHED
JAWS.
STAR WARS
MADE
HOLLYWOOD
INTERESTED IN
WHAT LUCAS
WOULD DO NEXT.
AT HIS HOME IN
CALIFORNIA, LUCAS HAD
WRITTEN SOME IDEAS
ABOUT AN ADVENTURER.
HE NAMED THE
ADVENTURER AFTER HIS
DOG, INDIANA.
THEY BOTH HAD LOVED OLD MOVIE SERIALS
SERIALS WERE SHOWN EVERY WEEK BEFORE A MOVIE, AND THEY HAD CLIFFHANGER ENDINGS.
LUCAS ASKED
SPIELBERG TO
DIRECT, AND THEY
MET WITH
LAWRENCE KASDAN,
WHOM THEY ASKED
TO WRITE THE
SCRIPT.
OVER THREE DAYS IN 1978,
THEY SHARED THEIR IDEAS
OF AN ADVENTURER
SEARCHING FOR LOST
SUPERNATURAL TREASURE.
THEY SHOWED KASDAN THIS
PICTURE FROM A ZORRO
SERIAL.
THE LOOK
THEY RECALLED
HUMPHREY BOGART IN
THE FILM, THE TREASURE
OF THE SIERRA MADRE.
THEY LIKED THAT LOOK,
ESPECIALLY THE FEDORA.
THEY HAD SKETCHES OF WHAT
INDIANA SHOULD LOOK LIKE.
LUCAS HIRED AN ARTIST TO MAKE FOUR
PAINTINGS TO SET THE LOOK FOR INDIANA
SMITH. SPIELBERG DIDN'T LIKE SMITH AND
CHANGED IT TO INDIANA JONES.
THEY HAD TO
GET VISUALS
OF THE BAD
GUYS, TOO.
THE BIONIC ARM WAS
DROPPED LONG
BEFORE SHOOTING
STARTED.
ONCE THE SCRIPT WAS FINISHED, THEY HIRED ARTISTS TO DEVELOP THE LOOK OF THE
SET PIECES FOR THE FILM.
STORYBOARDING
ONCE KASDAN FINISHED
THE SCRIPT AND THEY
GOT THE LOOK, THEY
MADE STORYBOARDS
FOR EACH SCENE.
THEY HAD TO STORYBOARD EACH
SCENE AND EACH SHOT IN THE SCENE.
EVERY SCENE
AND EVERY SHOT
WAS
STORYBOARDED.
WITHOUT THE
STORYBOARDS,
THE DIRECTOR
AND CREW
WOULD ALL
HAVE
DIFFERENT
IDEAS ABOUT
WHAT THE FILM
WOULD LOOK
AND FEEL LIKE.
AS LUCAS AND SPIELBERG WORKED OUT A DEAL WITH PARAMOUNT
PICTURES FOR A $17 MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET AND TO START
SHOOTING IN 1980, VISUALS WERE BEING CREATED.
THEY SPENT MONTHS CASTING BUT COULD
NOT FIND INDIANA. SPIELBERG WANTED
HARRISON FORD, BUT LUCAS WAS RELUCTANT
TO USE SOMEONE WHO HAD APPEARED IN HIS
OTHER FILMS.
HE WAS HIRED MAY 1, 1980, JUST ONE
MONTH BEFORE SHOOTING STARTED.
SPIELBERG TOOK THE
STORYBOARD AND
HAD MODELS OF EACH
SET MADE TO BRIDGE
THE SCRIPT TO
STORYBOARD TO
ACTUAL FILM.
IN THE TOP PICTURE,
HE LOOKS AT THE
MODELS TO SEE THE
BEST ANGLES TO
SHOOT THE SCENE.
TO SAVE MONEY, RAIDERS WAS SHOT ON
LOCATION IN FRANCE, TUNISIA, THE U.S., AND
ON SET IN LONDON. THE USED ELSTREE STUDIO,
THE SAME STUDIO AND CREW THAT SHOT STAR
WARS.
THEY BUILT THE GERMAN AIRPLANE IN LONDON, TOOK IT
APART, AND REBUILT IT IN TUNISIA. (TO SAVE MONEY, THEY
BUILT IT WITH TWO ENGINES, NOT FOUR.
THEY BUILT THE GERMAN AIRPLANE IN LONDON,
TOOK IT APART, AND REBUILT IT IN TUNISIA.
THE PLANE DID NOT FLY, AND TO MAKE IT MOVE IN
THE SHOT, THE CREW HAD TO PULL IT.
HERE THE CREW IS PREPARING TO SHOOT THE
SCENE WITH THE PLANE. NOTE THE CAMERA ON THE
DOLLY SO THE CAMERA CAN MOVE AS THE SHOOT
CONTINUES.
SHOOTING STARTED IN JUNE 1980 IN FRANCE, USING
A U-BOAT FROM ANOTHER MOVIE TO SAVE MONEY.
THE SCENES WERE NOT SHOT IN ORDER. THESE
SCENES ARE AT THE END OF THE MOVIE.
THE SUBMARINE
AT SEA WAS
REALLY A
TWELVE FOOT
MODEL.
A SPECIAL EFFECTS
CREW SAILED IT BY
REMOTE CONTROL TO
A SMALL ISLAND IN
WASHINGTON STATE.
AN ARTIST CHANGED
THE ISLAND INTO A
TOP SECRET NAZI
ISLAND IN THE
MEDITERRANEAN.
HERE'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SPECIAL EFFECTS.
THE SECOND CREW SHOT THIS SEAPLANE ON LAND
THEN PAINTED IN AN OVERLAY OF WATER.
BACK IN LONDON, THE CREW BUILT HUGE SETS. THIS
IS THE CAVE FROM THE BEGINNING. NOTE THE
BOULDER TO THE RIGHT.
HERE IS A LOOK
AT THE BOULDER
AND THE TRACKS
UPON WHICH IT
WOULD ROLL.
THE CREW SET
UP THE ICONIC
OPENING
SCENES OF THE
FILM. NOTE THE
DOLLY CAMERA
SO THE CAMERA
COULD ZOOM IN
AND OUT.
EVEN THE HUGE
SCENE OF THE
OPENING OF THE
ARK WAS SHOT
INSIDE THE STUDIO
IN LONDON.
IN THE FALL 1980, THE SCENES IN EGYPT WERE SHOT
IN TUNISIA, CLOSE TO WHERE MUCH OF STAR WARS
HAD BEEN SHOT.
RECALL LUCAS'S AND SPIELBERG'S VISION WITH THE OLD MOVIE SERIALS.
IT TOOK 73 DAYS
(TWO AND A HALF
MONTHS) TO SHOOT
318,755 FEET OF
FILM. IT WRAPPED
TWO WEEKS AHEAD
OF SCHEDULE.
As Spielberg edited the
movie, the Paramount
Pictures marketing
department started
using images to create
movie posters and
previews to sell the
film.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK GROSSED $242,374,448 AT THE
BOX OFFICE (ON A FINAL $18 MILLION BUDGET). LUCAS'S
AND SPIELBERG'S VISION OF BRINGING OLD MOVIE
SERIALS BACK TO THE SCREEN WAS A HUGE SUCCESS.
THE IDEA WAS WAS WRITTEN AS A SCRIPT, ARTISTS MADE THE LOOK, THE SCRIPT WAS STORYBOARDED,
THE SETS WERE MADE, AND THEN THE FILM WAS SHOT. MOVIES ARE A LONG PROCESS!