From sundown to sunrise, the movie extras raced up and down Lewers Street, trying their best to look as if their lives depended on how fast they could go.
But each time the producers of the newest version in the "Godzilla" franchise called for "action," the result felt more like a fun run for 300 people wearing slippers. No screaming was encouraged out of fear of disturbing hotel guests.
If it weren’t for the stunt crew running over the parked cars, it could have been a scene from the Honolulu Marathon.
The magic of Hollywood will mask all that by the time the film hits theaters in May.
"Godzilla" closed Lewers Street between Don Ho Street and Kalia Road from Wednesday evening until Thursday morning, a first for the area. British film director Gareth Edwards needed a controlled environment to create the chaos of fleeing people.
His extras ran through the street, along the sidewalk and outside businesses on the second floor of Waikiki Beach Walk. Edwards had his camera crew shoot a variety of angles — from the sidewalk, from atop a 12-foot ladder, from the back of a golf cart driving in the middle of the extras. Each change of vision required half-speed rehearsals and on-camera sprints.
There were obstacles, too: stunt riders on mopeds, that 12-foot orange ladder (and the production assistants holding it down) and boom operator Charlie O’Shea, who was probably the only person truly running for his life because he often ran ahead of the stampede while recording ambient sound.
The crowd that came to see the production stood right on the curb, prompting warnings from production assistants: "Be careful not to get trampled" and "Don’t touch that, it’s high voltage." The onlookers seemed to enjoy watching, and each time the call was made to "roll cameras," a dozen or more cellphone cameras were held overhead.
Alex Gayner, first assistant director on the film, gently ruled the extras with a megaphone. From the start he told them to pace themselves because it was going to be a long night. He was worried they might get hurt, too. It’s one thing to start a stampede and quite another to stop it.
"The most important thing to do tonight is not get hurt," Gayner said. "Really come to a stop smoothly. Don’t push someone out of the way. We can always shoot again."
No serious injuries were reported, although one woman hurt her ankle when she was stepped on, and another young woman hurt her head when she fell.
It took a few rehearsals for the extras to get into character, though. When they first started, there were a lot of smiles and even a few people taking photos of themselves.
"No smiling," Gayner said. "No laughing. You’re running from a giant tidal wave. It’s a very serious scene."
That’s right, he said "tidal wave," and that’s the scene description the extras received. Of course — wink, wink — everyone knows the name of the movie is not "Tsunami," it’s "Godzilla."
Edwards definitely got his chaos. Some of the extras tried to run closer to the cameras, crossing in front of one another. A couple of them thought they could even join the stunt team and went over some of the cars. And one of his stunt runners broke the windshield of the car he ran up and over.
But it turns out the best thing about running for your life, again and again (and again), is lunch.
When production took a break after midnight, the SAG-AFTRA union extras were treated to dinner at Roy’s and the nonunion extras to meals at Cheeseburger in Paradise.
AND that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
