Filming In Brooklyn

The special effects technique of greenscreening (or, officially, “chroma key“) is used in film and TV for everything from putting Sam Champion in front of a weather map to showing fleeing, screaming people running from a big monster without risking the lives of hundreds of extras.  But sometimes the process involves more than just putting people in front of a green backdrop and then replacing the backdrop with something else.  This looks to be the case with a very cool set that was built out at Floyd Bennett Field to double as the Marcy Avenue Subway Station for the Nicolas Cage movie The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Last month, very frequent tipster Doug sent in some pictures of the set being built.  He’s followed up with some fabulous pictures of the set painted partially green.  I’m absolutely fascinated by the task of mixing shots filmed in an actual subway station with shots filmed outside in a field combined with something shot some other place and stuck into the green sections.  This is why movies cost so much.

I’m guessing from this first picture that the big area of green will be replaced with a shot of the track and tunnel view of the city going off into the distance (it’s an elevated station).  As long as you’re not showing a train pulling into the station, this seems like a good way to shoot a lot of scenes on the subway platform without being confined to an actual subway station, which has to be a nightmare to light and move around in.

Thanks so much, Doug.  Fantastic behind-the-scenes pictures!

Originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn. Have a location shooting tip or some on location pictures? Please email Amy, or text the pictures to Amy@FilmingInBrooklyn.com, or tweet the pictures to @FilmingBrooklyn.

Shop Amazon