Mid-April 2003: Ron Frankel from Proof starts work on previs. Although it’s not yet certain how Steven will want to work, we know that previs will be an inevitable part of the process, and, by May, Ron has set up a small team to start transferring all the design work into their animation (XSI) environment. The initial explorations of the set lead to the positioning of Viktor’s entrance, and sets up the powerful reveal of the Concourse architecture in contrast to the monotonous and institutional Immigration offices that are all that Viktor will have seen up till this point in the film.

An initial 3D rendering of truss ceiling versus the final set.

May 1, 2003: We move into Hangar 703 to set up the Construction shop and a small art department office. The 3D design of the trusses are in the hands of the steel foreman, who begins to lay out the physical steelwork and jigs to start working with the huge rolled steel members.

Early May — Steven sees the first previs movies. He has been clear that he does not want to storyboard this film so our approach to previs is a little different from the past. We create overview studies of the space, based on scripted action using each sequence as a way to explore the space and how the camera might move within it. When Steven sees these movies, he can make adjustments based not on specific camera angles or narrative beats but on how he wants the camera to move, and what he wants it to see. It’s an insightful example that contradicts many directors’ belief that using previs ties them down. Here, using previs liberates for the director, informs for the crew and enables rapid modifications to the set design.

Mid-May 2003: Ron Frankel has taken the architecture of our Terminal and laid it into a satellite photo of JFK New York, placing it between Terminal 3 and Terminal 4. He now adds Mirabel Airport so that the Arrivals Hall of Mirabel fits the JFK curbside. Working out the geography of our fictional airport is a perfect job for previs. As the design develops, we determine where the satellite departure gates, Immigration Hall and Offices, Arrivals Hall, Baggage Handling, main runways, direction of take off and landing, etc., all are in relation to one another. By this time the previs model has been color coded to separate and identify locations, sets and the fictional architecture.

This previs shot literally flies into the terminal.

This is a use of previs that isn’t often considered but one that I use increasingly. All through preparation, previs will provide accurate data for everything from crowd size and direction to signage and (constantly updating) location of stores, as well as giving a basis for screen direction during shooting. All in addition to the specific planning of the vfx work.

May 2003: Decorator Anne Kuljian, with whom I’ve worked with on several films, including Minority Report, begins sorting out the complex product placement aspects of the food and retail areas. Since much of the furniture is likely to come from Europe, which shuts down for vacations in August, she must get her orders in early.

Although we find the process of product placement distressing and tedious, for a film like The Terminal it is essential, in order to add that layer of retail dressing and consumer graphics without which an airport would completely be unrealistic. But it is an aspect of the film that will have Anne and me agreeing that we must work on a fantasy next so we can get a break from those corporate politics!