Barnum convinces these benighted folks to join his circus, housed in a building in Manhattan just as the city’s concrete grandeur is locking into place — the new world being constructed around horse-and-buggy paths. This song in particular is one of my favs and I’m sure it’ll be yours too. Add some side, odd museum displays, some other unique attractions, peanuts, popcorn and some razzle-dazzle to Barnum’s show—and to “The Greatest Showman”–and you have the foundation for a great story about Barnum’s life, career and family—all of which form the basic story and plot elements of “The Greatest Showman.”. Subscribe and join our creative community to keep updated with our weekly-ish* Newsletter from The Independent Initiative. I wanted the story to go deeper.

“The Greatest Showman” is a concoction, the kind of film where all the pieces click into place, yet at an hour and 45 minutes it flies by, and the link it draws between P.T. The Greatest Showman hardly wastes any time to establish the lead characters as most scenes erupt into song sequences. The songs incorporated feel very much like modern, 21st century songs. You can follow her on Instagram @charisjoyjackson. It’s a very hopeful and enthusiastic outlook on life, which can feel two-dimensional and naive. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who has yet to see it, but the story is full of great moments that left me wanting to be a better person. It measured about 40-feet tall and 400 feet long. Pasek’s and Paul’s songs in “Showman” are even better, more accessible and more positive and upbeat than their also-great work in “Land.” The songs have memorable melodies, hooks, rhythms, beats and—naturally—lyrics. He brings a personal flair and charisma that not a lot of other actors can do. Settle could have played Lutz in a comic manner strictly for laughs, but screenwriters Bicks and Condon and director Gracey are smarter than that easy-out. I said absolutely “yes” for several reasons. Tell us about some of your other lighting innovations? Zendaya, Sam Humphrey, Keala Settle and the entire cast of performers all demonstrated the energy and vigour that is to be expected from this kind of musical, which makes the choreography much more magical. Barnum slyly gathered together a second family of original sideshow attractions—people attractions, that is, and simply presented them to a curious, awe-struck public: the Bearded Lady; the Large Woman or Large Man; the Tall Man; Tom Thumb, a little person; the Tattooed Man; the Trapese Woman; and all sorts of other uniquely-looking people who the public simply could not get enough of and who introduced the public to different people who were previously hidden in the shadows of society. Filmmakers need to produce more such biographies in the future—the stories are out there, and they need to be told. SM: We shot this in the big top that had been erected in the Brooklyn Armory. Follow The Initiative Production Company (theInitiativePro) on your favorite social media to stay the most up to date on our current productions. Shooting with Alexa 65 and Alexa Mini cameras, the 14-week production encompassed physical locations around New York City, as well as major set builds at Steiner Studios, including the rooftops scenes above the Barnum’s humble tenement.

There were some days when we had to shoot in the city on Sundays, but generally the weekends were free. Source: 20th Century Fox. We don’t appreciate Barnum’s show because he created it almost instantaneously in the film. Depending on the shot, we might have Maceo Bishop on A-camera/Steadicam weaving carefully in and around the dancers on the floor, with Jack Donnelly on B-camera and Patrick Capone on C-camera strategically-placed to shoot wides, close-ups and other insert material for the edit. While the film tends to be entertaining and grand, CGI work seems to be sloppy in most parts. Form is being submitted, please wait a bit. “Showman’s” first-time film director Michael Gracey, who made a name for himself with his work on commercials and music videos, infuses “Showman” with an overriding, over-arching mood of pure fun and entertainment—appropriate, of course, considering that he’s telling the tale of master showman P.T. They have more of a period feel than ARRI Prime 65 lenses that I used on Life, and I love that effect. . Rebecca Ferguson makes a strong impact in her short but powerful role. Original title: The Greatest Showman. The movie "The Greatest Showman" has easily become my new favorite movie (considering I saw it three times in a two-week span) and easily has the best soundtrack. These cookies do not store any personal information. However, having seen the digital storyboards and previzualised scenes, I knew that some of the camera moves would prove too athletic for the Alexa 65. “Barnum pulled people together who the world might otherwise have ignored. We reasoned that it would be too elaborate to create and control something as sophisticated as that Technicolor look on-set, and that it would be much better to hone the look later on in the DI with our brilliant colourist Tim Stipan.