A shooting diary of Dune

cinema was on location in Mexico to witness the filming of Dino De Laurentiis` most ambitious project to date  - this is the diary of a film crew, that was sent into the desert onto the traces of a legendary novel

January 20th 1983, Universal Studios, Los Angeles

The conference room of the Universal studios: Among others, producer Raffaela De Laurentiis, writer and director David Lynch and the vice-president of the  public-relations-team, Gordon Armstrong, are present. Now it´s official: "Dune" will become a feature film.

April 20th 1983, Churubusco Studios, Mexico City

North Africa, England, Tunesia, India, Australia, the Sahara and Italy were options for filming "Dune", but finally Mexico City was first choice. The unique desert landscape, the high number of trained and cheap workers, and most of all the "Estudios Churubusco", the greatest independent film studio in Latin America were the decisive factors. Churubusco is a giant area surrounded by walls with red brick and concrete buildings visible from far away. Approaching the studio area, it becomes immediately visible how giant the production machinery of  "Dune" really is. The employees of a three-floor administration building are entirely devoted to making this film. The whole place is filled with eager activity.

At stage 2 the full-size inside of a Harkonnen-Ornithopters has been build up. From the distance you see nothing but cables, small lights and wires. Right now a young man in a light brown uniform with a high collar climbs out of it - with speckles of blood on his right sleeve. No doubt it`s Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto, played by Kyle MacLachlan.

Two locations are reserved for the underground tunnels, set in the rocks beneath the huge castle of the Atreides. In reality they are cold unpleasant paths linking the rooms number 6 and 7 where people can get lost during the shooting. The production design is convincing even in its details - black and light rocks, with veins of "Spice".

One set is even more impressive than the one before. Rarely were the sets of film constructed with so much care and love for details as in this case. It`s almost a crime to pull them down after a scene is finished. But there is no alternative as the number of stages is limited to eight: In case there will be a sequel, the sets have to be rebuild according to sketches.

At stage 7 the Great Hall of Arrakeen is erected, one of the most impressive sets of this film. The greatness and uniqueness of the interieurs are essential to it. The hall`s floor is striking - an extraordinary arrangement of colourful bricks. It`s almost incredible, that the pieces of the floor are hand-cut and arranged in the patterns of symbols. It took two months to build. It`s quite silent for there are few electrical tools and most is done by hand.

April 22nd -27th 1983, Churubusco Studios, Mexico City

Inbetween the stands filled with colourful costumes is Dune`s costume designer, Bob Ringwood. Silent Mexican seamstresses sit close eagerly working on the fluent, filmydress, that Lady Jessica will wear during the "Water of Life"-scene. "Actually there are ten distinct styles for each of the four planets` people in this movie", says Ringwood, "Based on that, we designed about 400 costumes, all unique. So I`m not talking about 400 copies of one of the 10 basic styles, but 4000 original pieces. If you add up all costumes used in this film, you`ll have a number of no less than 10 000 costumes."

Ringwood smiles stretching out his arms: "I have never worked on a film of these dimensions before", he says. "It`s really confusing."

The property room is almost bursting: reflecting balls, precious old leatherbound books and a giant number of life-size rubber dolls, that will fill up the spaces in batlle scenes and serve as extras to evoke the impression of great crowds. There are 20 cheap plastic guns on the table and  two big open boxes with the inners of an animal close to the door: heart, liver, guts. But in this Mexican heat, the parts don`t remain fresh for a long time. "It`s the inners of a cow", the friendly property master explains. "At the beginning of 'Dune' Kyle take a film book into his hands  - a small flat screen - and questions it about sandworms. The book shows a lesson about it. Then a cross-section  of an alive worm appears. David wanted to use a dissected cow for this scene. They were delivered deep frozen by the slaughterhouse, but still they defrosted to quickly and decayed."

Apparently Lynch has contributed more to this film than merely his modus operandi.

May 29th Churubusco Studios, Mexico City

We`ve returned to Mexico City after more than a year of absence. The set of "Dune" has remained the same in some aspects, but there are differences as well. The "Great Hall" isn`t finished yet; it gets its finishing touches. As with any large-scale production, Dune is produced with different specialized units, for example for the special effects and stunts, that are marked by a specific colour. Lynch`s unit`s colour is black, the director`s favourite colour.

On stage 8 Fred Elmes and his "green unit" are filming a scene with Max von Sydow. He plays Dr. Kynes, a planet scientist working for the Emperor who is also maintaining a friendly relationship with the Fremen. Paul Smith (known for his part as Bluto in "Popeye") plays the monster Rabban, the merciless nephew of Baron Harkonnen, who has installed his bloody reign over Arrakis. In this scene Rabban wants to kill Kynes by destroying his still suit. He takes his water before forcing him to leave into the desert. But for this take neither von Sydow nor Smith are present, for only the inside of Kyne`s still suit and Rabban`s hands are filmed.

June 23rd 1983, Churubusco Studios Mexico City

Dino De Laurentiis and visual-effects-director John Dykstra have arrived in Mexico City. The "Great Hall" is finally finished and it looks breathtaking indeed. It´s even more exciting to watch Sting and Freddie Jones testing a few scenes on an almost empty set. In "Dune"  Jones plays Thufir Hawat. But Sting, bass-player, writer and lead-vocalist of the band "Police", receives the main attention.

He wears a shimmering green Harkonnen-suit he keeps on during his dinner breaks. Being asked why he stars in "Dune", he only responds: because of David Lynch. He stars because of him only thinking Lynch is a madman in disguise.

June 30th 1983 "Great Hall", Churubusco Studios, Mexico City

Hundreds of extras have joined the protagonists for the final scene in the "Great Hall". Paul gains control over Arrakis and the entire galaxy. All parties struggling for the reign over "Dune" are present.

The take needs hours of preparation, the whole "action" is carefully choreographed. Lynch remains cool and calm in the face of this real orgy of activity.

The director of photography Freddie Francis uses a special filter in many scenes - A "Lightflex" -, allowing him to pre-expose the film, to "cloud it" artificially. He already used the "Lightflex" in "The French Lieutenant`s lover" ["Die Geliebte des französischen Leutnants"] and he wants to achieve this 'candlelight-effect' in Dune once again. The lighting is okay, the actors are ready. In the first take the "water keepers" of the Fremen walk past the camera to welcome Paul and his mother. After a few tests the shooting begins. The filming in the "Great Hall" continues, until suddenly at four o`clock in the afternoon the property master Kuki Lopez Rodero enters the stage to shout first in English then in Spanish: "That`s it for today!" All of a sudden the place has become completely silent. Hundreds of eyes stare at Lopez like he just dropped his pants. Usually the sessions last until early evening. But he only adressed Sting. For him, it was indeed the last day on location. He will only be needed later for the looping.

January 30th 1984, Churubusco Studios Mexico City

The filming of "Dune" in Mexico City is almost done. After a year of intense work most units have completed their tasks and the set lights are turned off now. The crew was invited for a test screening with a rough cut the day before, for Lynch wanted to experience the response of his team. Meanwhile the Rockwall has been pulled down with only a pile of dirt remaining at its place. The huge "blue-screen" is gone. Other parts of the buildings have disappeared as well: the massive "Hall 2 of the Knights", a narrow box-like room, hundreds of feet long and twenty feet high; a miniature "Fremen-Sietch", a cave-like fortress, with hundreds of tiny warriors on assembly lines - there`s nothing left but empty spaces.

Studio 6, which is where the set decoration for the "City of the Emperor" was build, is dark, empty and deconstructed. Likewise is Studio 4, were the worms were filmed. At least there`s some activity at the parking lot, that serves as a location for some smaller sets. Danielle Verse is busy placing sand on a flat wooden platform, a few other sets are covered by sheets.

There`s still something to watch - some takes of the worms and two or three minor explosions.