Fiction Adaptation: Filming Inside a Car- Children of Men

Filming inside the confined space of a car can be difficult, especially if you want to do it in one take, so I was extremely interested to find out how director Alfonso Cuarón was able to do both in his 2006 film 'Children of Men'.

FILMING INSIDE A CAR- CHILDREN OF MEN

Here is the scene in question:

In this scene, the camera easily moves around the interior of the car, follow the action as it unfolds in this 4 minute continuous shot. It is clear that this scene required a lot of choreography, but it also required the invention of a new piece of filming gear: a two axis dolly. They had to build a special rig that could be placed on top of the car, and allow the car to move freely around the interior. The actors seats were built with backs that could quickly fold down so they could move out of the way of the moving camera when they weren't on screen. The special rig had space for the director, camera operator, and focus puller to sit on top of the car during the scene. The roof and windows of the car had to then be digitally replaced in post production. The car was also fitted with a driving controls on the front, and back, so a stunt driver could operate the car, so the actors could focus on the scene.

Here is a video about the special camera rig:

For my one take idea, I will obviously not be able to use a rig like this, but it has inspired me to think of new and innovative ways of filming, that allow a story to be told in an even more visual manner, without distracting the audience from what is actually going on.