“Into the Storm” is an upcoming natural disaster film with a story that centres around, you guessed it, storms. Coupled with whipping winds and torrential rain, the “eye” of the film focuses on the events and aftermath of a devastating tornado. The idea behind “Into the Storm” is of course loosely based on the actual events that were some of the US’ worst natural disasters in history such as Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Sandy (2012).
“Into the Storm” embraces the “found-footage film” concept, much like “Cloverfield” or “Blair Witch Project”. To be more precise, a “found-footage film” is a film in which all or a substantial part of a film is presented as discovered film or video recordings. It usually involves one or more characters, who often speaks off screen, complete with shaky camera work and all that jazz.
Now, before you head out to catch it with it’s released in cinemas nationwide at the end of this week, here are some things you need to know about the film:
- When New Line cinema got the green light for the film project, they codenamed it “Category 6 Tornado project film”. To put that into perspective, Hurricane Katrina was a “Category 5” at its strongest, taking at least 1,833 people’s lives in the hurricane and subsequent floods on top of raking up a total property damage at an estimated USD108 billion.
- In August 2012, “Category 6 Tornado project film” got the title “Black Sky” while filming in Detroit. Slightly more than a year later, New Line retitled the film to “Into the Storm” and set 8th August 2014 as a release date.
- “Into the Storm” director Steven Quale was a second-unit director and visual effects supervisor for James Cameron’s “Avatar”. Let’s just say that he has a wealth of 3D experience, has worked for one of the toughest directors in Hollywood and survived the experience. Which is why New Line engaged him for “Into the Storm”.
- The movie defied the odds because despite unleashing dozens of CG-rendered twisters, it was produced for a thrifty budget of USD50 million. Of that, only about USD23 million was spent on visual effects. Also, Steven Quale preplanned every shot of the 55-day shoot to do “the bare minimum without excess and waste”.
- The film initially contracted with VFX house Rhythm & Hues, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013. As such, Steven Quale USD3 million worth of work. After that, in the wake of Rhythm & Hues’ exit, instead of entrusting the project to a single vendor, Steven Quale spread the work among 15 effects houses, based on each type of tornado and its “personality”.
Intrigued? Thought so. Let us fuel that a little bit more with its official trailer:
“Into the Storm” will be released in cinemas nationwide on 8th August. You may purchase your tickets via GSC or TGV!
For more information, visit the movie’s official website.
