Taglines: Dark secrets will come to light.
A supernatural love story set in the South, “Beautiful Creatures” tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers: Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich), a young man longing to escape his small town, and Lena (Alice Englert), a mysterious new girl. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.
When newcomer Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) arrives in the small town of Gatlin she quickly captures the attention of Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), who only wants to escape what he views as a boring and dead end town. He quickly gets more excitement than he bargained for, as Lena possesses strange powers that has long kept her at a distance from others in her life.
Their budding romance is threatened by the dangers posed by the Lena being a Caster and her family’s dark heritage, for upon her sixteenth birthday Lena must undergo the Claiming, a process that will decide her fate forever: light or dark. Her dread is only further encouraged by the small minded actions and pettiness that she receives from several teens and adults in Gatlin.
About the Production (2013)
Gatlin, South Carolina might seem like a sleepy Southern town where nothing ever happens. But, beneath the surface, there are strange and magical forces, rooted in the past, that are about to re-emerge in ways the townspeople can’t even begin to imagine.
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, a New York Times bestseller and first in the series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, has been popular all over the world. At the center of the tale is Ethan, a high school senior who wants to break free from his small town existence, and Lena, a Caster, who possesses supernatural powers. She longs to break free from a family curse as she turns 16 and faces The Claiming… and being chosen by the forces of either the Light or the Dark.
The worldwide appeal of the story seems to lie not only in the question of whether love can conquer all between two star-crossed souls, but whether each soul has a choice in his or her own destiny.
That is precisely what drew Academy Award-nominated writer Richard LaGravenese to not only adapt the book but also direct the film. He notes, “I love mythologies, and the mystical world hidden in this small town was very rich. But I was even more intrigued with the bigger idea in the book, this initiation story, which Kami and Margaret told so well. How a young girl who is going to be Claimed must find out who she is, and, at the same time, so must this young man who dares to stand up for her. I thought it was a great, universal idea to play with because all of us have to claim who we are, as individuals, apart from our inherited circumstances.”
Producer Erwin Stoff adds, “The movie is really about a very universal experience in growing up: the ability for somebody at a young age to decide that they don’t necessarily need to accept the role that’s been predetermined for them, but have the opportunity and right to choose a path that suits them.”
The film is being produced under the Alcon Entertainment banner. Producer Andrew A. Kosove states, “The book offered a great combination of romance and supernatural elements. We also really enjoy working with Richard LaGravenese.”
“It’s a Romeo and Juliet love story with a fresh take,” says producer Molly Mickler Smith. “I liked being introduced to this world of the Casters through a Mortal’s point of view, specifically Ethan. Because we are, in fact, Mortals, we can relate to his sense of awe and fear, even as he’s falling for her.”
That point of view interested Alden Ehrenreich, who stars in the role of Ethan Wate. “Ethan believes he can make his world what he wants it to be and win this new girl, who is clearly out of his realm. I think audiences will have fun going on the ‘ride’ with him and being inside his head as he tries.”
It is Lena’s individuality in a town of conformity that immediately strikes a chord with Ethan. Alice Englert, who plays the young Caster, shares, “What really drew me to the film was the idea of these huge supernatural struggles between good and evil told through the context of very human feelings.”
That dance between the Caster and Mortal world is not only one of Light and Dark but of the past and present, all of which weaves an intricate adventure that impacts the future.
Producer David Valdes comments, “The whole concept of the juxtaposition of contemporary time with the history of generations of Casters that have lived in this little Southern town really grabbed me. I think Richard did an amazing job capturing this familiar yet otherworldly milieu.”
“Richard had a very unique way of getting into the book, balancing the dark aspects of fantasy and humor, which fascinated us. We were also very grateful to have the authors’ enthusiasm and support of his vision,” adds producer Broderick Johnson.
Author Margaret Stohl says, “From the very beginning, Richard and the producers really got the characters and understood the universe we had established. We really trusted that their goals aligned with ours, which was very important to us.” “I was amazed with Richard’s screenplay,” Stohl’s writing partner, Kami Garcia, shares. “It was overwhelming to see him take that much care and put so much detail into a world that existed only on paper and in the readers’ minds.”
Past and Present (2013)
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES was filmed on location in Louisiana with the majority of production taking place in and around New Orleans. An abandoned factory across the bridge from the city was converted to soundstages that housed most of the sets, except for Lena’s room, which was constructed on a stage in Baton Rouge.
LaGravenese collaborated with director of photography Philippe Rousselot, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, and production designer Richard Sherman. The four worked together closely to create a grounded world with a supernatural presence.
From the outset, LaGravenese approached the material differently from his previous adaptations. “After reading the book, I decided to get a feel for locations before writing, which is a first,” he recalls. “I flew to South Carolina, and took photographs in a small town outside of Charleston, called McClellanville. Then I started writing. Being in that place, for me, a kid from Brooklyn, was like being in a foreign country. I was fascinated by it.”
Given the direction to find unique places that had not been shot before, Sherman began discovering “small areas that felt hidden from the world.” Covington, Louisiana doubled as the town of Gatlin. It also houses the church in which Mrs. Lincoln and Macon first lock horns. Although the town is picturesque, Sherman searched for something less bucolic than beautiful porches, ultimately finding buildings that had been collapsed and blown out, corrugated tin warehouses, lean-tos and rubble.
Sherman also succeeded in finding practical exteriors for the main sets, including Ravenwood Manor, where Ethan first meets Lena’s formidable Uncle Macon. They discovered an antebellum rectangular exterior in Morganza, two-and-a-half hours north of New Orleans, to which they added hanging moss. The interior, however, was more complicated.
At first, Sherman and his team followed a traditional design based on a real plantation, but LaGravenese envisioned something more unusual. The director says, “I wanted more of a surprise, so I said, ‘a sophisticated Caster who’s been all over the world is stuck in this house and he’s bored. What’s he going to do?’ Richard ran with that and came back with an extraordinary design that was just fantastic.”
Sherman notes, “Macon lives on a whim. In whatever frame of mind he wakes up that day, then that’s how the house looks. There’s also no cohesiveness from room to room, they’re all very different. I decided it would be awesome to come up to this angular house, which is creepy and overgrown, and into this amazing round room with a free form staircase swirling up through the middle.”
The massive staircase and the mezzanine above were all cantilevered and counter-weighted. Structural engineers came in to make sure it was safe, because it not only had to look majestic, it had to support cast, crew and equipment. A light track framed the whole perimeter of the room so the walls glowed above the gray floors.
The near absence of furnishings was also part of the concept. The pieces in the mansion were designed by Sherman’s friend Rick Owens, a successful fashion designer with a line of furniture in Europe. “It’s basically sold as art,” Sherman says. “I told him I needed some unusual pieces and he flew them over from Paris.”
Just as the house is fluid, reacting to Macon’s preference, it also changes color for whatever mood Lena is experiencing. “It reflects Lena’s inner life, so when she’s angry, it grows more menacing,” LaGravenese explains.
Englert notes, “What I loved about the story was how the places were as much characters as the people were, especially Ravenwood Manor, which has this fabulously absurd contradictory interior and exterior that changes and morphs with the moods and feelings of the people inside it. ”
To underscore Lena’s darkening mood as she approaches the Claiming, Sherman’s team removed everything and painted the entire interior black, except for the window frames and the staircase. Sherman explains, “It’s very theatrical. All you see is windows, a staircase, and a fireplace. There’s nothing else; it’s like you’ve entered a void.”
The challenge for the adjacent dining room was building a space that would physically move, jump and turn in a seminal scene in which Lena and Ridley engage in a showdown of Caster powers. The entire room was built on a gimbal and donuts, so it could shake and spin. The table could rotate and the floor underneath the table was on a separate donut, which made it spin in the opposite direction. “On a speed scale of one to ten, the actors are spinning at eight,” LaGravenese smiles.
“I wanted as little green screen as possible,” LaGravenese remarks. “We shot on film. I wanted to create as realistic an environment for the actors as possible. Richard and his team did an extraordinary job giving the cast real moving targets to play with.”
Ehrenreich recalls, “It was like being stuck at an awkward family holiday dinner, except when the fighting starts, it gets way more out of hand. We had a lot of fun.”
LaGravenese did not originally plan to have the entire cast on the contraption. However, he recalls, Jeremy Irons thought it would be more dynamic if the elder Casters were involved, so everyone joined in. “I had to take a Dramamine every day just watching it,” he laughs.
The scene took three days to shoot and LaGravenese admits it was one of the most demanding sequences. Director of photography Rousselot captured the cosmic battle using four cameras. LaGravenese says, “Philippe creates beautiful images, and he understands storytelling. He’s very creative in how he moves the camera and you are immersed in this wonderful atmosphere. He’s a master.”
Although the family wants them apart, Ethan and Lena scale the wall between Ravenwood and Greenbriar to meet. Sherman’s crew had to actually build a wall that was used at the Ravenwood set then moved to the Greenbrier set in Fulsom, Louisiana.
The Civil War battle sequences took three weeks to shoot and were accomplished with four cameras, over 400 extras, and many munitions for battleground explosions. David Valdes found a local group to hire. “They take their re-enactment skills very seriously, they have battles scheduled for six months at a time,” he relates.
But before they could shoot the Battle of Honey Hill, they had to find an actual hill. LaGravenese says, “Louisiana, as it turns out, is flat. I was only a few weeks out from shooting and I did not have a hill. Our incredible location manager, Ed Lipscomb, finally found the perfect spot.” It was actually more of a little valley with a lone tree in St. Francisville, about two hours outside of New Orleans. All of the incarnations of Honey Hill, past, present, and dream sequences were shot there.
One of the most pivotal sets that bridged past and present and Mortal and Caster worlds is the Caster library. It houses all the histories and secrets of the Caster world and its existence beneath the Gatlin library is unknown to most Mortals. This set was another large undertaking for Sherman’s team to design and build.
LaGravenese allows, “The Caster library needed to represent many civilizations, all fashions of life, and all sorts of cultures because these tunnels spread out over the world.”
Beautiful Creatures (2013)
Directed by: Richard LaGravenese
Starring: Emmy Rossum, Alice Englert, Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons, Thomas Mann, Lucy Faust, Andrea Frankle, Lindsay Clift, Beau Brasseaux
Screenplay by: Richard LaGravenese, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
Production Design by: Richard Sherman
Cinematography by: Philippe Rousselot
Film Editing by: David Moritz
Costume Design by: Jeffrey Kurland
Set Decoration by: Matthew Flood Ferguson
Art Direction by: Lorin Flemming, Troy Sizemore
Music by: Thenewno2
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, scary images and some sexual material.
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 14, 2013
Visits: 98
