Thank you, Spinner44.
For a second I thought you were spinner44.com - another member named John
I take it you live in Spain? That's a truly beautiful country, and I haven't been back in many years - I envy you.
I vaguely remember reading the names of the production crew and companies hired to work on the film, and I trust that Rafaella DiLaurentis used her extensive European contacts to find only the best talent available. It's truly amazing that a woman like that with no prior experience with movies of such an epic scale pulled off such a miracle in terms of costumes, sets, and props (I don't count her
Conan films). The originality and Baroque quality of the designs still blow me away after all this time... The
Star Wars movies have NOTHING on DUNE in that regard.
Her genius as a producer was to move the entire production to Mexico, thus allowing her to fulfill Lynch's grand vision within the budget constraints. A fascinating timeline of the production, directing, and script history can be read here:
http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/timeline.asp
Blade Runner fans would be delighted to know that Ridley Scott was signed on by Dino DeLaurentis to direct the film before Rafaella asked David Lynch, but due to the long ramp-up time and the untimely death of his brother, Scott decided to leave the production and go to work on
Blade Runner. But not before he left his mark on the production, along with H.R. Giger (both were brought in after they worked together on
Alien).
Ron Miller told me over the phone that his wife, Judith, befriended Rafaella on the set and even helped her with casting when Rafaella asked her if she thought Kyle MacLachlan was a fit for the role of Paul.
I wish I'd known more about the Spanish contribution to the film, but at least I can post a few more production photos that may look familiar to you...
Mentor Heubner, Tony Masters, and David Lynch:
The costume shop's fabric-dying station (recognize her from Cornejo?
):
Judith Miller test-modeling a Sardaukar suit:
Atreides ornithopter under construction:
The set where Paul impresses Dr. Kynes with his intuitive familiarity with Fremen stilsuits before the ornithopter mining tour:
A Caladan Castle room (notes are by Ron Miller):
The Caladan Castle hall where Paul reunites with Duncan Idaho:
Here's an impressive concept painting by Ron Miller detailing the final battle. I didn't have the heart to shrink it all the way down to fit in the thread because it's so beautiful and grand in scope, so click on it to enlarge and then click on the bottom right corner to see it even larger (unless you have a 30 in. monitor
:
[attachmentid=5503]
Thanks again to everybody for stopping by and sharing in my shock & awe, lol. It's really been an amazing week, and I hope I've done Ron, his art, and DUNE justice.
- Gabe
