“The Creator”: That’s why the science fiction spectacle looks better than most blockbusters despite its small budget

Whether the story could move you emotionally remains to be seen at this point. But there’s no doubt that “The Creator” is probably the most visually impressive blockbuster of the year. That was actually to be expected from director Gareth Edwards, who already conjured groundbreaking images on the screen with ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Rogue One’. But the visual power of “The Creator” becomes surprising when you look at the budget.

In fact, “The Creator” didn’t gobble up $250 million (or more), as is common with today’s blockbusters. The science fiction epic with John David Washington (“Tenet”) in the lead role cost approximately $80 million. Director Gareth Edwards explained during a preview how he managed to stage such an extensive science fiction film – and for a budget that is very small in the blockbuster segment.

Real acting instead of CGI

The plan was for The Creator to succeed, but not be cornered financially. When Gareth Edwards presented his vision for the film to those in charge at New Regency, they naturally assumed that the sci-fi actor would have a pretty hefty budget. Edwards was quick to explain why there’s no need to dig deep into your pockets. The secret lies in the fact that less use was made of digital effects and that the film was shot almost exclusively on real locations. Something that is becoming increasingly rare in today’s blockbuster cinema:

“Usually you do all this design work and people say, ‘We can’t find these places.’ You have to build sets in a green screen studio and that costs a fortune. We thought, ‘We want to shoot the film in real places, in real parts of the world that are closest to the footage.'”

To prove that it was possible to film The Creator in real locations, Gareth Edwards and his team traveled to 80 locations, which is significantly more than would normally be used for a film of this size. By means of interview the filmmaker explained:

“We didn’t really use a green screen. Every now and then there was a little bit here and there, but very little. If you do the calculations and keep the crew small enough, the theory is that the cost to build a set is about $200,000. In any case, you can fly anywhere for that money. So it was like, ‘Let’s keep the crew small and fly to all these amazing places.'”

Gareth Edwards has made the most of every penny

So Gareth Edwards’ approach was to make the most of every cent. Of course, the real locations alone wouldn’t have been enough. So the director developed a lightweight, mobile lighting system that could move a crew member in seconds instead of minutes. This saves a lot of time and ensures that you can work more intensively with the actors:

“I could move and suddenly the lighting could adjust. And what would normally take 10 minutes to change took four seconds. So we did 25 minutes of footage where we replayed the scenes three or four times and just gave everything that atmosphere. This allowed me to achieve the naturalism and realism that I really wanted to create, even though it was unscripted.”

It’s also fascinating that Gareth Edwards shot “The Creator” on a Sony FX3. A mirrorless full-frame camera that offers cinema quality at IMAX resolution – and costs just over 4,000 euros. Gareth Edwards has proven on several levels that you don’t need a lot of money to make a great movie. You just have to be creative enough and with $80 million you can create a brutal sci-fi spectacle.