By Fred Topel | Images property of Rogue Pictures.
The Hitcher
Commercial and music video director Dave Meyers makes his feature film debut with the remake The Hitcher. Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes production company has given many such filmmakers their first break. Music remains a key factor in the film though, as the new hitcher takes out a whole caravan of cop cars set to the beat of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer."
Interview: Dave Meyers on The Hitcher
"I had a play list that I used to inspire me for the characters of the film," said Meyers. "It came through my exposure of music and what I love and I was distinctly told by the producers I’d never afford any of it. So, the film came out we put it together and we had all that music in there as my own personal thing. And then one day Brad [Fuller] called me and said, ‘Guess what. The studio likes it and they are going to pay for this song.’ I called Dave Matthews' people and got a deal on that song. And then I started going and Trent Reznor signed off on it, and then like three or four days ago the studio paid for it, so it was just hanging on it. ‘No, no, no, OK.’"
The massively destructive scene boasts all practical stunts. "There is no CG at all in it. The only thing that was done was that we broke cameras. I gambled correctly and put the camera right in harms way. So, we shot each sequence with ten cameras. So, four or five of the cameras would see the other cameras and we had to erase them. It’s kind of just the art of invisibility."
Other violent scenes include bloody stabbings, head shots and a twist on the famous truck stretch scene from the original. Surprisingly, everything made the R-rated cut. "I had a really great MPAA experience. I didn’t focus on violence in the film even though there is some. I tried to keep everything on thrills and suspense. We cut most of it out before we actually filmed it which is sort of how we kept the budget was extremely low, and yet we still have huge car action and all that stuff. So part of the relationship I had with the producers was trying to cut that stuff before we filmed it and really cutting the fat everywhere we could. I pulled from my commercials and video background and keeping things really succinct."
That sometimes meant trimming the script on the day of the shoot. "The structure of it stayed pretty close. We pretty much improv'd the whole movie. There was a greenlit draft that had a structure that had certain scenes that are still in the movie. I think one of the biggest things these movies is creating a believability. Everyday we’d show up and see a block of the scene and go, ‘Oh, that’s not very real.’ So we’d all go back to our corners and a lot of time it was the cast that would find the soul of it and we’d help guide it. That’s why there is an authenticity in the film."
The Hitcher opens to theatres on January 19th, 2007.
For the trailer, poster, more interviews, movie stills and more movie info, go to The Hitcher Movie
Page.
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