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Mach Go Go Go, Speed Racer

Speed Racer in front of the Green Screen

Many of you will be well aware, and maybe just a little smitten with the late 60s cartoon series, Speed Racer. Some of you may have encountered it as it made its way to screens from Japan; others will have encountered it in subsequent re-runs on the Cartoon Network. 

I am of the latter, but I am just as excited for the live action movie that is coming May of next year.

However, live action may be a little misleading, if reports are to be believed. Of course, these reports are coming from the star of the film, one Emile Hirsch.

Spun from the original Japanese anime series, Mach Go Go Go, Speed Racer developed a sort of cult status that would later be emulated by such shows as Pokémon and Naruto.

Speaking to Emile Hirsch recently was Olly Richards of Empire Magazine. He questioned Hirsch on how the film was shot, and the answers have surprised many.

“Nope, it’s all green screen,” Hirsch said. “There were no sets, just us and the green background. I haven’t seen anything of it finished yet, there was a lot of trust [in the Wachowskis] involved. It’s going to be crazy.”

The Wachowskis are, of course, the same pair that brought us the Matrix trilogy. The technological advances for that movie were astonishing, and brought us a trilogy that, while not necessarily flawless from top to bottom story wise, was exceptional to watch.

So the news that Speed Racer has been filmed entirely in front of a green screen has definitely raised some eyebrows.

Devin Faraci over at CHUD commented on the rumor that the film would be shot so that everything was in focus; just like in a real cartoon series. Devin was disappointed that he wouldn’t get to see this process done on actual film sets and sound stages, and wondered as to why it was they had to fly to Babelsburg, Germany to film it in the first place.

Filming it on a green screen, for those not initiated in to the world of movie making is simple.

When you want to film a group of actors in front of a mesmerizing backdrop that simply doesn’t exist – for example on a distant alien planet, or on the top of a moving train – you use a green screen. The actors must imagine that they are in the scene, acting accordingly, but without any of the visual aids to help them, and surrounded by a green walls, floors, etc.

Then, in post-production, the digital effects wizards input the relevant surroundings on top of the green.

The bright fluorescent green is used as a color that is easily replaced, compared to other colors, which may blend in with the actors or props.

Without a doubt, the movie is going to be an interesting movie to watch. I’m a huge fan of the TV series, and can’t wait for the movie. They have cast it flawlessly in my opinion, and it sounds as if whatever the brothers Wachowski do, it is going to be spectacular. Let’s just hope, like the second and third Matrix movies, it is more than just pretty effects.