Rendering 11: the rendering of the article “Ancient Redwood Forests Evoke Look of Future in 'After Earth'”

The article which is titled “Ancient redwood forests evoke look of future in 'After Earth'” was published May 22, 2013 in “Los Angeles Times” by the journalist Richard Verrier carries a lot of comment on how Will Smith and his son, Jaden, was filmed in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Northern California.

This article reports at length that When producers of the movie "After Earth" wanted to create an image the planet 1,000 years in the future, location manager Dow Griffith knew just the place. Speaking of this decision it is necessary to note that he immediately thought of the mystical redwood forests in Northern California where his parents had taken him on a camping trip as a child. The article discusses the situation when filmmakers had to take special precautions to film amid groves where trees are 1,100 to 1,600 years old.

Analyzing the situation in "After Earth", it is interesting to emphasize that the film faces tax credit problems and as a result its budget exceeded $75 million. Nonetheless, California did offer something of value not available anywhere else — ancient redwood groves where some trees reach nearly 380 feet and are more than 20 feet in diameter.

It is an open secret that the coastal redwoods of Humboldt and Del Norte counties have appeared in many movies, among them the 1938 film "Valley of the Giants," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Outbreak" and the 2001 movie "The Majestic," starring Jim Carrey. By the way "After Earth" represents the first major feature film in many years to shoot in the area, which makes profits, indie features and nature programs.

There is a general feeling to believe that Hesseltine spent a week in April 2012 visiting more than two dozen redwood groves in Humboldt and Del Norte counties with Griffith. It is very likely that the images helped convince Shyamalan and production designer Tom Sanders that the park would be the ideal setting for the place where the characters played by Will and Jaden Smith crash-land and confront an evolved animal species that rules the planet.

The article concludes by saying that filmmakers had to follow strict guidelines to minimize their impact on the largest collection of old-growth redwoods in the world.

Personally I think that this problem is very important today for the industry of movie-making. It is not an easy way to a director to find a good place to make a film.