Fairytale measure: how the movie "Finist. The First Bogatyr
"Finist. The first bogatyr" will tell the backstory of the beloved characters of the fairy tale movie universe. The picture from January 1 at the box office and is already gathering full halls in cinemas. The prequel trilogy "The Last Bogatyr" is called one of the most anticipated films of the New Year vacations. Colorful costumes, elaborate sets, expensive special effects and, of course, stars in the credits. Kirill Zaitsev as Finist, Yulia Peresild and Elena Yakovleva as Yaga and Fedor Dobronravov as a brilliant alchemist-inventor. On how to shoot a fairy tale, "Izvestia" learned from the creators of the picture.
What is not a page - an attraction
Belogorie is full of its fabulous inhabitants. Among them there is the strongest, handsome, lucky bogatyr Finist. Girls look at him. And the fortunate man in love with himself is in no hurry to perform feats. He has enough legends about him. But to know what it is the burden of glory of a real hero, and go for new accomplishments Finist will still have to.
The young man was carried away to faraway lands, but he will not perish in the darkness of ignominy. Finist's name will be known throughout the world. A difficult journey will take him to the eastern lands. There the hero will realize a simple truth - one is not a warrior in the field. To help him will come faithful assistant Melekha (Sergei Lavygin) and young Yaga (Julia Peresild). The road will lead them to the inventor Anarif (Fedor Dobronravov), will bring them together with a talking camel Jamal (voiced by Pavel Priluchny), his driver (Fedor Gamaleya) and the beautiful Zlata (Kristina Stroiteleva).
A still from the set of "Finist. The First Bogatyr."
To create a magical world requires its own specificity. There are no exact laws here - you have to be original, but fantasy must be justified.
- In our movie, the prototype of the inventor was Leonardo da Vinci, - says production designer Fyodor Savelyev. - He invented fantastic things that were realized centuries later. This is the eastern Leonardo, the inventor. Anarif observed the fall of maple seeds and developed his flying machine based on that. It's a kind of fairy-tale helicopter.
The artists were inspired by the script. As Saveliev admits, it was interesting to work with such material. What is not a page - an attraction. And it really helped to be creative. For example, Belogorie in the movie resembles fairy-tale worlds from the paintings of Ivan Bilibin.
A still from the set of "Finist. The First Bogatyr."
Moscow scenery block placed on the studio "Amedia". There in the space of two pavilions artists created a complex of scenery. In one built the hold of the slave ship and the interior of the house Finist. And in the pavilion with an area of 3 thousand square meters. m erected the castle of Zlata, the inner courtyard of the palace of Anarif and his laboratory.
Sandstorm on the Singing Dunes, scorpions and snakes
The project turned out to be very large-scale. Huge sets replaced one another. According to executive producer Irina Vintovkina, more than six days in none of them the film crew did not linger.
- The most intense and dynamic work was in the expedition in Kazakhstan - she recalls. - A month and a half was shooting at different sites. We filmed on the Pochiye dune, where we were caught in a sandstorm. Were in the Charyn canyon, in the mountains and forests around Alma-Ata.
Artists-directors restored the sketches of the eastern city in the vicinity of the fortress Nomad, built in 2004 for the movie "Nomad". They repaired the walls of the fortress and built an incredibly beautiful city around them, as if from the paintings of Vasily Vereshchagin.
A still from the set of "Finist. The First Bogatyr."
During the filming the team managed to work in absolutely different weather conditions - from 40 °C during the day to temperatures closer to 0 °C on night shifts.
- On the dunes was such a strong wind that the main character part of the beard flew away - said the makeup artist Olga Afinogenova.- Thank God, there was a bush nearby. And this part of the makeup caught on it.
Filming took place in the reserves and national parks, where there was a lot of dangerous animals - poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions. A resuscitation vehicle with all the antidotes was constantly on duty, but there were no incidents.
A still from the set of "Finist. The First Bogatyr."
On the role of Jamal's camel was a real casting. It was necessary to take into account not only the bright external data, but also the peculiarities of molting of the animal because of the difference of climates on locations. Shooting began in the set in Russia in the spring and continued in the summer in Kazakhstan. Because of the hard-to-reach locations and long jeep rides, the expedition was complicated.
- Each shift required special preparation: rain, strong wind, heat, frost, sometimes shooting took place at night - recalls the operator-director Nikolai Bogachev. - In the desert, the sandy wind clogged the equipment, because of which we had to constantly clean the lenses. In the mountains of Kazakhstan, we encountered snow, and in the summer in the pavilion on the site used ice, which was constantly melting. Each shift was a little adventure with its own technical and natural challenges.
Bylinic motifs
On the fantasy-adventure movie "Finist. The First Bogatyr" the best costume designers worked on it. Hundreds of original costumes were sewn for the Bogatyr universe. The task was to intertwine modernity and ancient motifs, historical trends, and also to look to the East.
- We made a kind of compilation of oriental costumes, - shared the artist of Irina Chepenko. - When creating oriental images, we wanted to arrange a variety of color, which would contrast with the minimalistic, gentle Belogorie. We were inspired by oriental bazaars: there is always a lot of color in embroideries, carpets, spices and finishes.
A still from the set of "Finist. The First Bogatyr."
Costume designer Marina Ananyeva admits that in the work they focused on local, bright colors, allowing only stripes or some carpet inserts.
- The colors of sand, blue sky gave us the opportunity to use yellow to turquoise or blue to sand, - says Marina Ananyeva. - But it was important for us not to get carried away with patterning, as we did in Belogorie, for which we thought out every trim, every ruffle.
The movie involved about 300 actors of mass scenes. And each had to come up with a costume. As the artists say, folk costume is often perceived as a cliché - a dance group in sundresses and kokoshniks. The artists of the painting didn't want that. They were inspired by Mordovian, Mari, South Russian folk costumes. In them, the sarafan as a fact is absent. The outfit is based on shirts, ponevahs, skirts. And the color scheme is more restrained. The main color is white. The White Mountains. And the East on the contrast - an explosion of color.
A brutal image for Finist and a fur coat for Yaga
It was interesting to create the image of young Baba-Yaga. Performing her brilliant Yulia Peresild walks in dresses, fur coat, caftan. Yaga follows herself and knows how to dress up. Even showed cleavage. Heroine Peresild from the sequel had to differ from the image from the prequel "Finist. The First Bogatyr." She gets high from trying to hold on to her youth. So by role, the sorceress not only uses potions, but she also sticks to a healthy diet.
- She is looking for herself, she is in search of endless eternal love, adventure, the elixir of youth, well, and in general in search, - added Julia Peresild.- That's why she is going to the East. She really likes all these oriental costumes here. And, of course, oriental men.
A still from the set of "Finist. The First Bogatyr."
By hairstyles, the heroine of Yulia Peresild is similar to the character in age, which is played by Elena Yakovleva. Only young Yaga's dreadlocks are red.
The image of Finist for the prequel was decided to be more brutal.
- It was impossible to burden the characters with the weight and richness of the costume. Lightness, color, fairy tale," said Marina Ananyeva. - We applied another technique of decorating the metal from which the armor is made. A master worked on the costume, and the actor was present. The parts were forged right in front of him and immediately tried on. We wanted to make it more masculine. We kept the combination of colors in the suit - red and gold.
The first is used in the costume of the Russian bogatyr. And in the East Finist wears a caftan of red leather embroidered with gold. It used elements of Indian jewelry, details of wedding attire. Finist has five shirts, six caftans, a pair of armor. And also had to dress understudies and stuntmen. And the costumes had to be duplicates of the outfits of the heroes - with the same seams, darning, decor - and other handmade elements. While for everyday people fabric is color and name, for professionals it's also texture, quality, cost, substance, and even drama. Materials artists washed, dyed, recolored, textured, aged. And then they were sewn, embroidered, darned.
- The fairy-tale genre allows creative freedom, but it also relies on archetypal images, such as Finist," says Olga Afinogenova, a make-up artist. - It was important for me to update his image while maintaining respect for the traditions of Russian and Soviet fairy tales. My goal is to make these characters close and understandable to modern viewers so that they remain role models.
And the makeup artist also wanted to see Finist sexy and groomed. So that he did not become plastic. After all, he is a bogatyr.
A still from the set of "Finist. The First Bogatyr."
The movie received an original musical accompaniment from the popular band The Hatters.
- In the song for the fairy-tale blockbuster "Finist. The first bogatyr" we tried to combine our creativity, modern rock with the fortunate bogatyr strength, - said the soloist of the group Yuri Muzychenko. - We got such a synthesis of fairy tale and modern sound. We wanted to convey a very powerful feeling of the story, so our song is perfect for the grand finale of the picture. Imagine, a good, fairy-tale movie ends, our music plays and everyone is inspired to do good deeds.
"Finist. The First Bogatyr" is a joint project of the studio Yellow, Black and White, online cinema START and TV channel "Russia" with the support of the Cinema Fund. The film was released in wide distribution by distributor NMG Kinoprokat (part of the National Media Group holding company).
