The Original Ghostbusters: History of Creation
The team of ghost hunters first appeared on the screens in 1984, having managed to win the hearts of millions of viewers around the globe on the move. Over the years, based on the story of New York parapsychologists, several animated series have been shot and many comics and video games have been created, but even more than three decades later, the franchise does not lose its popularity. Already at the end of this month, a reboot of " Hunters " will be released on USA screens, the creators of which intend to turn the famous film series into an endless saga.The history of the cult franchise dates back to the turn of the 70s and 80s, when the actor Dan Aykroyd wrote the script for a fantasy film about ghost catchers, which takes place in the distant future. The comedian's father and grandfather were fascinated with supernatural phenomena, which gave Dan an interest in ghost stories from an early age. Aykroyd planned to make an on-screen duet with John Belushi, but in the spring of 82, his friend died of a drug overdose. Aykroyd removed the script for "Ghostbusters" on the shelf, but after a while he decided to submit it to director Ivan Reitman , who made himself a big name in Hollywood thanks to his work on comedies such as Meatballs and Reluctant Volunteers. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , the eminent director recalled how the cult film was created, on which more than one generation of cinema lovers grew up.  “ Dan wrote a 70- or 80-page script proposal for“ Hunters ”in his day, Reitman said. -Unfortunately, he was unable to implement this project due to the death of John Belushi . I don't know if he was planning on finding another filming partner. It was rumored that he discussed it with Eddie Murphy, but I cannot vouch for this information. One day, Dan decided to show his text to Bill Murray , who loved his ideas. Then Aykroyd approached me with an offer to read the script. The main action of the tape was to unfold in distant space. The plot featured several rival groups of ghostbusters as it was about that in the future this profession will become quite common. Dan has also come up with many amazing monsters. Even with current technologies, it would be extremely problematic to translate all his ideas into reality, what can we say about the times when we could not yet resort to using computer graphics.  I thought Dan created a completely brilliant concept, but put the heroes a little at the wrong time. I invited him for breakfast at Art's Delicatessen . Aykroyd and I have known each other since time immemorial, having crossed paths early in my career working on a Canadian game show ... I loved the idea that ghostbusters could do a job like a firefighting service. At the same time, it seemed to me that it makes sense to transfer the story to a modern metropolis like New York, because the heroes of the film would look much more appropriate on city streets than in outer space. Dan said that he is not at all opposed to such a change of scenery.  I also thought he should have added the story of the formation of the hunter team to the plot. So the idea was born to make the central characters researchers of the paranormal. This move gave us the opportunity to show how they first lose their previous job and then start their own business. I am grateful to Dan for being open to all my ideas. He really wanted to get the most out of this story. Then I suggested that he involve in the project Harold Ramis , with whom I first met on the set of "Menagerie". He was supposed to be something like a conductor of my ideas when working on the film script.  Within a couple of days, I got an audience with the president of the Columbia Pictures film company, Frank Price. Several years ago, he was the one who agreed to give the green light to my “ Unwilling Volunteers ” solely on the basis of a short script application. The film fully met the studio's expectations, and therefore its bosses were looking forward to the opportunity to continue our cooperation. When I showed them the concept of Ghostbusters , they thought it was a great idea for a movie. Frank asked, “How much money do you need?” At one time, they allocated for the creation of “ Volunteers against their will ” $ 10 million . I poked my finger at the sky, estimating the value of " Hunters " in $ 30 million . Price nodded and said the studio would be ready to go into production if I could release it on June 8, 1984. It was May '83 in the yard. There were still thirteen months ahead of us, but we had no ready-made script, no work schedule, no studio support for creating special effects.  After about three weeks, the Wrightman and Ramis families traveled to Martha's Vineyard Island in Massachusetts, where Dan Aykroyd was located. Our loved ones rested in rented houses, and every day we went to the basement of Aykroyd's villa to work on the film script. We have been working on the text for several weeks. We spent about six hours a day together, after which Dan and Harold continued to work on different parts of the text separately. To save time, we even had to combine our families' breakfasts, lunches and dinners. We were forced to take emergency measures, but we managed to successfully complete work on the text around the Independence Day.  The hardest part was figuring out who our main antagonist is and what he wants? How could we even show ghosts? Personally, it was difficult for me to accept the concept of the Marshmallow Man , which migrated into our script straight from the original Dan application. If a significant part of the plot looked quite believable, then the idea of showing a thirty-meter marshmallow man on the streets of New York simply could not but cause conflicting emotions in me. I was very worried about how the audience would react to this scene. Curiously, we have kept the original design of the monster by one of Aykroyd 's friends. He also authored the famous “ Hunters ” logo, which was later slightly modified by producer Michael Gross. As a result, we got perhaps the most famous trademark in history.  At that time in the world of big cinema there was only one major special effects studio - Industrial Light and Magic . It so happens that Steven Spielberg has already used all his resources to work on the film "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." We needed about 630 frames with visual effects, and apart from ILM then no one could master such a difficult task. And I remembered Richard Edlund, who became famous for his work on Star Trek ( Star Trek ). I thought I might try to build a whole new company around him. I convinced the bosses of Columbia Pictures to invest $ 5 million in this project so that Edlund could hire staff and buy the right equipment. All this happened right at the time how we brainstormed in the basement of Aykroyd on Martha's Vineyard. Fortunately, Frank Price realized that we needed a special effects company.  Then it came to casting. We looked at a lot of actresses for the role of Dana Barrett . One of the first to come to audition was Julia Roberts, who showed herself from the very best side. I even told our casting director, "She's definitely going to be a real star." And once Sigourney Weaver entered the room ... Despite the fact that initially we wanted to find a younger actress, she bribed us with her understanding of her character. “I think you should show how Dana is captured by evil spirits, - said Sigourney . "Imagine that she will behave like that dog on the roof." She immediately got down on all fours, and then began to howl heart-rendingly. Sigourney can be hilarious, but she also knows how to behave like a real screen queen. It was a great success to get her into our film ... Before she left the room, I rushed to call Harold : “You won't believe Sigourney Weaver just howled right in the middle my office ”. And at that moment I finally realized how interesting her idea is, because we just had problems with the final act on the roof. We ended up adding a scene where Dana becomes Gatekeeper . Sigourney hadn't left the building yet, and our team was already in full swing reworking the script. how interesting her idea is, because we just had problems with the final act on the roof. We ended up adding a scene where Dana becomes Gatekeeper . Sigourney hadn't left the building yet, and our team was already in full swing reworking the script. how interesting her idea is, because we just had problems with the final act on the roof. We ended up adding a scene where Dana becomes Gatekeeper . Sigourney hadn't left the building yet, and our team was already in full swing reworking the script.  The role of Louis we wanted to give to John Candy, who starred with me in “ Involuntary Volunteers ”. He read the script, but only called me back two days later. John said he did not fully understand this character. “Maybe I should play it with a German accent,” suggested Candy . “He could have a pair of shepherd dogs.” Ultimately, John chose to withdraw from the film. Then Rick Moranis passed the audition, who hastened to say: “ John Candy was stupid. You offer a brilliant role, and I clearly understand how to play it. " Rick turned out to be a great addition to our main cast.  By the time “ Hunters ” began filming, I already had to work with Bill Murray a couple of times. I knew how good he could be on set, but I was also familiar with his quirks. Aykroyd and I even had to go to the airport to make sure Bill left the terminal and did not change to some other plane. We brought him to the set, dressed up as a hunter and sent him along with the rest of the guys to the streets of New York. We shot the first scene on Madison Avenue. The actors looked great in the frame. Even before I gave the go-ahead to the operator, a chill ran down my spine. At that moment, I felt that we were at the origins of creating something completely unique.  Filming started in mid-October 1983. We spent six weeks in New York. I liked working in this city, but then, of course, everything was much easier, because for the filming of a Hollywood film, the city hall could easily block several avenues. We had to rely mainly on practical effects. For example, we filmed the scene with book cards live. I remember bringing my son Jason, who is now a pretty good director, to the set. He usually hated watching me work, but this time around the flying library card trick he was thrilled with. “Cool done. Show me one more time! ”He exclaimed. Our special effects masters did this trick using ordinary thread and compressed air. As a result, I was able to shoot the scene with only three takes. Several cameras were involved in the work on it: one shot the boxes in close-up, the second was focused on the librarian, and a couple more worked in a general shot. I felt like a kind of conductor, as each catalog was numbered. I mentioned a number, and then the guys blew cards out of the right box.  The New York phase of the work was completed before Christmas, after which we traveled to Los Angeles, where at Burbank studio, production designer John DeQuir's team built a delightful set for us. The hardest part was working on the rooftop scenes. It was very stuffy in the pavilion because of the lighting lamps, and the decoration itself was located on such a high platform that it was very difficult to get there. Nobody would work like that today. The whole scene would have been filmed against a green screen, but then our team had to draw a stunning 360-degree panorama of the city. We even added a lot of lights to it to make it look more like a living metropolis. We needed so much energy that the electricians had to connect four additional generators. At the time of filming “ Hunters ”Studio Burbank suspended work on all other projects because our team was consuming all the power.  The main filming period took only 62 days. The last working days fell on January 1984. Curiously, Sheldon Kahn began editing the film while filming. There is nothing to be done, because we had to turn in the tape by the beginning of June. While we were working on the new scenes, Sheldon edited the footage that had already been shot. This non-standard approach even turned out to be useful, because I always imagined whether I should start increasing or slowing down the rhythm of further narration. Surprisingly, during all this time, I never felt any crazy tension. There have been times in my career when working on films has been very difficult, but when creating “ Ghostbusters ” I felt extremely excited. I had a rare opportunity to work with some of the most talented comedians in American history.  Three weeks after filming ended, Columbia Pictures decided to set up a test screening for two hundred people from the street. There were no special effects in the movie yet, but I wanted to see how the audience would react to the story itself. The private screening took place in one of the pavilions of the film company. I spoke to the audience, reminding them that they were going to evaluate the draft of the tape. The result exceeded all my expectations: people constantly laughed and applauded. In that scene, when Dana opens the refrigerator, we had to put the caption `` Frame missing '', since the desired visual effect was still at work. The audience almost went crazy, wanting to find out what really should have been there. That version of the film only included a couple of moments with Marshmallow Man, who at that time was just a guy in a suit against the backdrop of miniatures. But even a few close-ups of the monster were enough for the audience to start cheering and clapping. Then we realized that we had nothing to worry about.  “ Ghostbusters ” started from the first place in the box office. For the entire summer of 84, they dropped to second place only once, when The Loop with Clint Eastwood appeared on the screens. What can I say, it was a great adventure!”. Source: The Hollywood Reporter The Topic of Article: The Original Ghostbusters: History of Creation. |
